BUT YOU, BRETHREN, ARE NOT IN
DARKNESS, THAT THE DAY SHOULD OVERTAKE YOU LIKE A THIEF: humeis de,
adelphoi, ouk este (2PPAI) en skotei, hina he hemera humas hos kleptes katalabe, (3SAAS): (Romans
13:11-13;
Colossians 1:13;
1 Peter 2:9,10;
1 John 2:8)
(Deuteronomy
19:6;
28:15,45;
Jeremiah 42:16;
Hosea 10:9;
Zechariah 1:6)
But you - Paul dramatically shifts from the third person plural pronoun
(3 times in v3) to the second person plural. Because the church is
raptured before the judgment of the Day of the Lord, believers will
not be present on earth to experience its terrors and destruction
(v3).
Brethren (80)
(adelphos from collative a = copulative prefix {joining
together coordinate words} or connective particle serving to join or
unite + delphús = womb) is literally one born from same womb
and literally identifies a male having the same father and mother.
Figuratively (as used throughout this epistle) adelphos refers
to a close associate of a group of persons having well-defined
membership, specifically identifying fellow believers in Christ united
by the bond of affection.
We are (2075)
(este) is in the
present tense
indicating that this is the continual state of the unbelieving world -
in mental, moral and spiritual darkness. because they are still
in Adam, in sin and in unbelief (in Christ) (See Jn 1:5; 3:19; 8:12;
2Cor 4:6; see notes
Ephesians 4:17,
18;
5:8;
5:8,
5:11).
As such they are children of Satan (John 8:44) who is called the
power of darkness (Lu 22:53).
Not in darkness - Not is (ou)
which is the Greek negative meaning absolutely not. It means as
believers our position is sure in Christ, the Light of the world. Yes,
we can choose to walk in the darkness, for we still have the
flesh
nature within these decaying
physical bodies. The difference is that now that we are children of
light, do not have to stay in the darkness under the dominion of
Sin.
How tragic, when a genuine believer chooses to "go back to the leeks,
and the onions, and the garlic" of Egypt for a moment, a day or a
season. If one habitually, continually abides in the darkness despite
a profession of being a child of the Light, their persistence in the
darkness proves that they is none of His. Do not be deceived, God is
not mocked. Repent. Believe. Come out from the darkness. Come out from
their midst and be separate, for "what fellowship (koinonia
- association involving close mutual relations and involvement)
has light with darkness"? (2 Cor 6:14-18)
Spurgeon writing to
believers says...
You know that Christ will come. You
expect the dissolution of this present state. To you therefore, it
will come as one who calls at daytime. You cannot know the hour. You
must not know it; but since you know that he will come, and come to
your joy; and since you are in the light, you look with gladness to
that coming.
Darkness (4655)(skotos
from skia = shadow thrown by an object, shade caused by the
interception of light. Skia it can assume the meaning of
skotos and indicate the sphere of darkness) is literally that
sphere in which light is absent.
In spiritual terms, absence of light by default pictures that which is
ensphered in evil and sin.
Furthermore, the opposite of
light is absolute darkness. Where God is there can be no darkness.
Conversely where the darkness is indicates separation from God. God’s
children have been "qualified... to share in the inheritance of the
saints in light... delivered... from the domain of darkness
and transferred... to the kingdom of His beloved Son" (notes
Col 1:12-13). The children of the
devil, especially his servants who masquerade as ambassadors of light,
walk around in spiritual darkness (and separation from God), but their
darkness is but a foretaste of the utter "black darkness" that awaits
them when they die. Not only is their eternal destiny of purposeless
existence horrible but their present life is utter emptiness and
purposelessness. All life lived without the spiritual goals of
glorifying God and worshiping Him is an empty and purposeless
existence!
TDNT notes that skotos...
denotes darkness experienced as an
enveloping sphere that has significance for existence, e.g., by
hampering movement or foresight, or causing anxiety or danger. If
light means potentiality, going into the dark means death. The realm
of the dead is a dark realm. It projects already into the present
life. Darkness can take the form of blindness. The transferred senses
arise as follows. Subjectively, darkness is (1) secrecy or deception,
(2) the obscurity of an object or speaker, or (3) lack of knowledge or
insight. (Kittel,
G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the
New Testament. Eerdmans)
Skotos as used in
1Thessalonians figuratively refers to spiritual or moral darkness
(including a lack of understanding) as in the following examples
(Jesus declared) And this is the
judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the
darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. (John
3:19)
(the gospel would) to open their
eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the
dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness
of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by
faith in Me.' (Acts 26:18) (Comment: Night people
have Satan as their master and father , John 8:44).
If we say that we have fellowship
with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not
practice the truth (truth is not only something we should believe and
teach but also something we should practice, otherwise our life is a
"lie") (1John 1:6)
And do not participate in the
unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;
(see note
Ephesians 5:11)
For He delivered us from the domain
of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved
Son, (see note
Colossians 1:13) (Comment: The
domain of night people is the kingdom ruled by Satan not
the Son)
The night is almost gone, and the
day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness
and put on the armor of light. (see note
Romans 13:12)
The Day of the Lord in
one sense is just a preview of "coming attractions" for night people
as Jesus describes their ultimate destiny declaring that...
the sons of the kingdom (speaking
of the Jews who had the special privilege as the chosen nation - but
by way of application this includes all who are still in Adam and not
in Christ by grace through faith) shall be cast out into the outer
darkness (the final hell); in that place there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth (Mt
8:12) (Comment: Weeping and gnashing of teeth
indicate that separation from God will not be a mindless eternal soul
sleep but a conscious awareness of eternal torment! "Believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved" from such a fate is the
clarion call that day people as ambassadors of reconciliation need to
continuously sound forth with their supernatural, Spirit filled lives
and their Scripturally sound speech.)
The day (2250)
(hemera) here refers to the specific Day of the Lord.
Overtake (2638)
(katalambano from katá = adds intensity to the meaning
of the verb + lambáno = take) means to
take eagerly, grasp with force, lay hold of, seize with hostile intent
(this literal meaning vividly depicted by the demon who seizes the son
and dashed him to the ground in Mark 9:18). Katalambano was used in the sense of
laying hold of so as to make one's own or to take possession of.
Here in 1Thessalonians katalambano is used figuratively to
describe the Day of the Lord "seizing upon" or coming suddenly upon
unbelievers in the same way a thief would come into our house and
seize our possessions!
Jesus uses katalambano
with a similar meaning declaring to the multitudes...
For a little while longer the light
(He is alluding to Himself, John 1:9, 8:12) is among you.
Walk
(present
imperative) while
you have the light, that darkness (skotia - absence of light,
personified by John of the forces hostile to God) may not overtake
(katalambano - grasp or seize) you; he who walks (present
tense = as the
habit of their life, as manifest by their lifestyle) in the
darkness (skotia) does not know where he goes. (John 12:35)
Thief (2812)(kleptes from
klépto = steal) is a stealer or thief who acts with stealth or
subterfuge.
Kleptes contrasts with lestes (3027), Jesus
using both terms in His discussion of sheep and security in John 10...
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who
does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up
some other way, he is a thief (kleptes) and a robber
(lestes)...All who came before Me are thieves (kleptes) and
robbers (lestes), but the sheep did not hear them. (Jn 10:1,8)
The kléptes steals by fraud
and in secret (Mt 24:43; Jn 12:6) whereas the robber or
lestes
steals by violence and openly. The NT
uses kleptes in a figurative sense to describe the false teachers
and deceivers who "steal" men away from the truth. In the present
context kleptes is used as a figure of speech ("like a thief" -
see term of comparison = simile)
to describe the sudden and unexpected appearance of the Day of the
Lord.
The concept of classifying people
spiritually as day people or night people is not new to Paul but was
seen in the OT as exemplified by this passage from the Psalms...
Psalm 107:10 There were
those (referring His chosen people Israel) who dwelt in darkness
and in the shadow of death, prisoners in misery and chains (Why were
they in darkness?) 11 Because they had rebelled against the words of
God, And spurned the counsel of the Most High.
And so here in Thessalonians we get
a picture of the terrible bondage of being in the night and in the
darkness. As an aside we should note that it is never God's desire
that men and women stay in the bondage of spiritual darkness but to be
set free, a desire that reverberates through the following passages...
The people who walk in darkness
(here refers to Gentiles - see Mt 4:14-16) will see a great light (an
allusion to the advent of the Messiah) Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them. (Isaiah 9:2)
Again therefore Jesus spoke to
them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall
not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John
8:12)
(Jesus sent Paul to speak the
Gospel to the Gentiles) to open their eyes so that they may turn from
darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that
they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those
who have been sanctified by faith in Me.' (Acts 26:18)
