Coming As A Thief

The Pre-tribulation Thief

Danny McDowell

Pre-tribulationists frequently cite scriptures concerning Christ’s “return as a thief in the night” to support their doctrine of “imminence.” The reasoning behind the use of the “Thief” passages is to establish and promote the notion that “Christ’s” coming as a thief, in an hour and day that no man knows” supports their position of Imminence. Pre-tribulationists teach that the Gathering of the Church (Rapture) has been imminent since the establishment of the church at Pentecost. Here are the verses commonly used in this position.

Matthew 24:42-44

“⁴²Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. ⁴³But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. ⁴⁴Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”

MARK 13:32-33

"32 but of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the SON , but the FATHER, 33 take ye heed ,watch and pray; fo ye know not when the time is"

Luke 12:40

“⁴⁰Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.”

I Thessalonians 5:2

“²For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”

Revelation 3:3

“³Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”

Revelation 16:15

" Behold I come as a thief, Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."

These are, in fact, the totality of verses used in support of imminence regarding the gathering of the elect (the Church). Is this the intent of those particular passages?

Let’s see what the Bible

REALLY SAYS. Read On Below

The Thief

Matthew 24:44

“⁴⁴Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”

The strong admonition of the Lord in this verse is to KNOW THE WATCH! Jesus clearly uses the example of “The Goodman of the House” who “if he KNEW in what hour the thief would come, he would NOT allow his house to be entered. What possible intent could Jesus possibly have in using this parable? Is it to say that we SHOULD NOT or COULD NOT know the WATCH? This is an absurd notion indeed. Can you imagine? Pre-tribulationists would have us believe that “being ignorant of THE WATCH is a good thing. Let’s follow up with verse 44.

Matthew 24:44

“⁴⁴Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”

“Be ye also ready…” Let me say this more clearly,

BE YE ALSO READY

Can it be truthfully proclaimed by any stretch of the imagination that Jesus is suggesting that there will be NO signs prior to his coming for the church. We must remember the context of this entire passage is in regard to “The Last Days.”

Pre-tribulationists would have us believe that Jesus suddenly, and without warning, departs from his discourse and crashes into another direction, i.e. “Imminence.” This is an assault on common sense! The ONLY person who will be caught “off guard” in this passage is found in verses 48-51.

He is that “EVIL SERVANT!” The “DAY” in this passage refers to the “time frame” of the passage, and the “HOUR” refers to the actual advent of the gathering of the “ELECT,” verse 31. (“³¹And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”)

Luke 12:39

“³⁹And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.”

The same reasoning is applied to this verse. Pre-tribulationists simply disregard context to make their point. Let’s read the entire context.

Luke 12:35-46

“³⁵Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; ³⁶And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. ³⁷Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. ³⁸And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. ³⁹And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. ⁴⁰Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. ⁴¹Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all? ⁴²And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? ⁴³Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. ⁴⁴Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. ⁴⁵But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; ⁴⁶The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.”

Note in verse 38 that the Lord again refers to “THE WATCH.” This is a military term and it is NEVER applied to a “momentary” point in time. It is always speaking of “FRAMES of TIME.” Anyone who has served in the armed forces can easily understand the meaning of “THE WATCH.” The “WATCH” begins at a predetermined point in time, and ends in the same way.

When Jesus uses the terms “2^nd watch, 3^rd watch” he is referring to “time frames” with the church age. Once again Jesus points to the “Goodman of the House” as the example for “KNOWING the WATCH.” It is simply amazing to me that “WATHCING” has been interpreted as “Being caught by surprise” by the pre-tribulationists. The S-T-R-E-T-C-H of this interpretation simply boggles the mind.

Note verse 41-43: “⁴¹Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all? ⁴²And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? ⁴³Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.”

It is said in pre-tribulationism that the Olivet Discourse is pertinent to only those “left behind” and the “Jews.” Look closely at verse 41. Peter asks the question, “Are you speaking to us ONLY, or to ALL?” Jesus’ reply answers the question unequivocally – This is meant for the Church of ALL AGES!

Pre-tribulationists emphatically claim that the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24 and Mark 13 does not apply to the Church of all ages since the Church will be “raptured” prior to those events, yet Jesus uses this SAME parable (the Goodman of the house) in this passage and clears up the question, “who does he speak to here.” The answer is unquestionably ALL!

I Thessalonians 5:2

“²For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”

Interesting that only the first verse of this thought is used to support imminence in this passage. Let’s take some time to develop the teaching that Paul is expounding to the Thessalonians. This is the entire context of this thought.

I Thessalonians 5:1-11

“¹But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. ²For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. ³For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. ⁴But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. ⁵Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. ⁶Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. ⁷For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. ⁸But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. ⁹For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. ¹¹Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.”

Verse 1: the Thessalonians have already been informed of the times and seasons by Paul’s prior personal teaching to this church.

Verse 3: speaks of “THEY” – the unbeliever. When “they” say “Peace and Safety” is this a sign? Of course it is, and yet the pre-tribulationists declare “there are no preceding signs.”

Verse 4: “⁴But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” Emphatically YOU WILL NOT BE CAUGHT OFF GUARD!

WHY?

“⁴But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”

Verse “You ARE THE CHILDREN of LIGHT” the light of Paul’s teaching about “THE DAY OF THE LORD.”

Verse 6: “. ⁶Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.”

LET US WATCH!

Verse 9: “⁹For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” This verse is frequently used to support a pre-tribulation rapture since the apostle guarantees the church exemption from God’s wrath, which they, in error, interpret as the entire 70^th week of Daniel.

[see “Day of the Lord”]

II Peter 3:10

“¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”

Isn’t it interesting to note that this passage regarding the “thief coming” is totally ignored in teaching on pre-tribulation imminence. This verse simply DOES NOT EXIST for the pre-tribulationist! Why? Because the passage leaves absolutely NO ROOM for a “seven year tribulation” in which “millions” of those “LEFT BEHIND” will be saved and become the famed “Tribulation Saints” of Hal Lindsay, Dave Hunt, Wolvort, Pentecost, Hagee, Nehemiah, LaHaye, Ice and others. This is pre-meditated perversion of doctrine!

II Peter 3:12

“…¹²Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?”

Looking for? Need I say more regarding “the Watch?”

Revelation 3:3:

“³Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”

Please read this verse carefully. If you will not watch, THEN you will be caught off guard. Over and over again, we are admonished as the “Goodman of the house” to KNOW THE WATCH! Over and over again the pre-tribulationists attempt to “crush” context in an attempt to build evidence circumstantially. There is not a single element of pre-tribulationism that is not under girded by this foul process – NOT ONE!

Revelation 16:15

“¹⁵Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”

Once again the Lord admonishes his church to WATCH for the signs of his coming. Please note that this admonition arrives under the 6^th vial of the WRATH of GOD. This is an admonition to avoid His judgments through faithfulness in WATCHING for THE SIGNS of his coming!

COMING AS A THIEF TO THE CHURCH…

IMPOSSIBLE