Will the Day of the Lord come as a thief, or will there be signs first?

[Desopixi Seilynam]

For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction comes upon them,
as labor pains upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

But you are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief.
1 Thess. 5:3-4

If you will not watch, I will come upon thee as a thief,
and you will not know what hour I come upon thee.
Rev. 3:3

Therefore let us not sleep, as do others;
but let us watch and be sober.
1 Thess 5:6

 

[Diaste]

On 2/9/2023 at 8:18 AM, iamlamad said:

At the harpazo, will there be a gathering? Of course there will be. There will also be a departing as those who are suddenly caught up fly up into the air: they are departing earth. A departing therefore relates to apostasia. All these great men translated apostasia as a departing.

1384 Wycliffe N.T.
That no man deceyue you in any maner / for no but departynge aweye (or dissencon) schal come firste & the man of synne schall be schewid [shewed] the sone of perdicioune.

1534 Tyndale N.T.
Let no ma deceave you by eny meanes for the lorde commeth not excepte ther come a departynge fyrst and that that synfnll man be opened ye sonne of perdicion

1535 Coverdale Bible
Let no man disceaue you by eny meanes. For the LORDE commeth not, excepte the departynge come first, and that Man of Synne be opened, even the sonne of perdicion.

1539 Cranmer Great Bible
Let no man deceaue you by any meanes, for the Lorde shall not come excepte there come a departinge fyrst, & that that synfull man be opened, the sonne of perdicion.

1549 Matthew's Bible
Let no man deceyue you by any meanes, for the Lord commeth not, except there come a departyng first, and that, that sinful man be opened, the sonne of perdicyon

1565 Beza Bible
Let no man deceiue you by any meanes: for [that day shall not come,] except there come a departing first, and that man of sinne be disclosed, [euen] the son of perdition.

1575 Geneva Bible
Let no man deceiue you by any meanes for that day shal not come, except there come a departing first, and that man of sinne be disclosed, euen the sonne of perdition.

Notice what follows the departing in EVERY case: it is the man of sin being revealed.

Verses 6 to 8 tell us that the revealing CANNOT take place until the power restraining has been taken out or the day. Therefore, "taking out of the way" and "revealing" are connected.

6 And now you know what is restraining him [from being revealed at this time]; it is so that he may be manifested (revealed) in his own [appointed] time.

7 For the mystery of lawlessness (that hidden principle of rebellion against constituted authority) is already at work in the world, [but it is] restrained only until he who restrains is taken out of the way.

8 And then the lawless one (the antichrist) will be revealed and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of His mouth and bring him to an end by His appearing at His coming.

Almost all English translations show "He" so it is a BEING that is restraining, not anything else.

WHAT exactly is being restrained? It is the revealing. The revealing will initiate the days of great tribulation and God knows exactly when He wants those days to happen. It just makes good sense that it is GOD restraining or holding back the revealing until the proper time.

Look at verse 7: "until He would restrains is taken out of the way, or "gone from the midst." What will happen then? The start of the Day? NO!

Look at verse 8: then the man of sin gets revealed.

Why would Paul write, "and now you know who is restraining" (or holding back the revealing).... I believe Paul wrote that because he had just told us. In fact, he did just tell us, but not in so many words.

The restrainer being taken out is hidden in the word apostasia. So either a significant falling away (from what is not written) or a significant departing (from what is not written) then allows the man of sin to be revealed.

There is no way around, over or under this truth: the man of sin IS revealed in the same verse. How could he get revealed? Only one way: the one restraining or holding back the revealing has been removed.

So Paul wrote that he is revealed, then later wrote HOW he was revealed.

In addition to the rebellion and the revealing of the beast there will also be signs like the A of D, the flight to the mountains, GT, the Sign of His coming, His appearance and at least one loud trumpet.