Children of Light and Darkness

In 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, this is the separation of the children of the light and the children of the darkness. My Christian friends, if they really understood what Paul was really speaking about right here, they would read 1 Thessalonians 5 in a very different manner, and also 1 Thessalonians 4 as well. But we have to understand where Paul was getting all of these things from, these concepts, these ideas, the scriptures from the Torah and the prophets and the Psalms. So, if we don't understand where Paul's coming from, then we're going to take him out of context.

So, let's read what the Apostle says here. This is where the theme becomes explicitly prophetic and eschatological. Okay. 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 1-2: "But concerning the times and the seasons," which is the calendar, the biblical calendar and the feast days, "brethren, you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night." So, immediately Paul introduces the Day of the Lord. Then he describes a distinction between two groups of people.

1 Thessalonians 5, verses 4-5: "But you, brethren, you are not in darkness." He's talking about the faithful Thessalonian church because they were faithful. They knew the times and the seasons. They were obedient. They were following the biblical calendar. They were following the feast days. They understood what was going down. He says, "You are not in darkness, Thessalonians, so that this day, the Day of the Lord, should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day." Why are they called sons of the light and sons of the day? The Thessalonian church was because they were faithful and they knew the times and the seasons. That is totally related to the times and the seasons of what Paul's talking about by being the children of the light in this passage, and he relates it to the Day of the Lord. And it says that they will not escape. Who doesn't understand the times and the seasons? So, 1 Thessalonians 5 is a really huge amount of information for us to really digest as far as prophecy is concerned, eschatological, you name it, because he goes through many, many crucial understandings in 1 Thessalonians 5. But if we don't understand the calendar, if we don't understand the feast days, if we don't understand how that all works with the second coming events when Yeshua returns, we're not sons of the light as far as what Paul is saying.

Okay. "But you, brethren, are not in darkness." Those who keep the times and the seasons, all of you, so that the Day of the Lord should not overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. He does not say that about the ones who do not know the times and the seasons. "We are not of the day nor of the darkness," as he concludes. Okay. So, there is a difference. Just like Yeshua separated, just like God separated the light from the darkness in Genesis 1, Paul's doing that with the believers. Yeshua is doing that with the people. Not believers. The believers are sons of the light. Those who follow the times and the seasons, those who follow the commandments, those who obey God, they're the sons of the light. If one is not obeying God and not observing the Sabbath, feast days, all of these things, then they're not. Okay? That's just the bottom line.

Now, you're going to see that throughout the book of the Holy Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, it's going to get very personal for all of us on what God is trying to tell all of us to be in the light and not of the darkness. How do you be in the light? Follow His commandments and be saved by Yeshua the Messiah, and be led by the blessed Holy Spirit. Okay? But people are forgetting about the commandments. And Paul is trying to tell everybody concerning the times and the seasons. If you don't understand that, you're not a son of the light because you'll be caught as a thief in the night. So, you'll be in the night because you'll be caught as a thief in the night, right? So, again, he makes it very clear if we break him down. What does this mean? He wants us to follow God. Follow the calendar. Follow the feast days. Follow Yeshua. Okay? These are for Yeshua to fulfill. Okay? And if we're not observing them as spirit and in truth, worshiping Him together, then we're not sons of the light. We're just not. Okay? That's what Paul says. He wants you to be obedient. If anyone can show me in the Bible where people are disobedient in the Bible and God's like, "Okay, you got the grace. Go ahead." Never. Okay? There's always a time period of grace, and then after that grace is up, here comes the gleam. And that's the way our Lord is. And that's how some people don't want to view the Lord. But the Lord is a man of justice, righteousness, obedience. And then whenever people get out of alignment, then He will warn them. And after He warns them for whatever period of time He wants, then here comes bad stuff.

As we all know, my friends, if you study 1 Thessalonians 5, my Christian friends out there, if this is Chinese to you right now, then that's for a reason. Because if you read 1 Thessalonians 5 and you're not calculating the calendar and the feast days with what Paul's saying, don't even read it because it's not going to make sense to you anyhow, or to me anyhow. Okay? Because we've got to have the education to read Paul. If we don't, we're all going to look stupid. Okay? We've got to have the education to read this man, the Torah-based gospel that he would have understood. We've got to understand that as well, and it's really beautiful.

But concerning the calendar and the seasons, brethren, all of you out there, you faithful believers, you sons of the light, there is no need that I should write to you or even talk to you, for you yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. He's comparing the Day of the Lord to the times and the seasons, to understand the times and the seasons. And if we don't, then we're going to be caught as a thief in the night. So, again, look at 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 4-5: "But you, brethren, are not in darkness." You Thessalonian church, because you're faithful, you're observant, you're following Shabbat, you're following the Passover, you're following the feast days, you understand these things, so that the Day of the Lord should not overtake you as a thief because you're faithful. And look at what he says: "You are all sons of the light and sons of the day." Why? Because they understood the times and the seasons. This is very important. "We are not of the night nor of the darkness." Which means the people who do not know the times and the seasons. And Paul goes on to say that they will not escape. Okay? And they will be judged tremendously.

So, this is a tremendous connection. Paul identifies believers, excuse me, sons of the light, sons of the day, those who understand the time and the seasons, those who are not in darkness, those who should remain spiritually awake and sober. Now, consider Genesis again. God divided the light from the darkness. Paul describes a spiritual distinction between those belonging to the day and those belonging to the night. The separation established in the language of creation becomes a description of two spiritual conditions within humanity, mankind. Okay? Obedient or disobedient, light or dark, good or evil, hot or cold, wise or foolish. I mean, all throughout the Bible, it makes a very clear distinction of in or out. Very clear distinction. Okay.

Paul also connects the distinction directly with understanding the time and the seasons and the Day of the Lord. The prophetic significance of this, Paul is not merely discussing personal morality. He is discussing how crucial it is to understand the times and the seasons and people's readiness for the coming Day of the Lord. Those in darkness are portrayed as unprepared, just like the foolish virgins, right? Those belonging to the light are instructed to watch and remain sober, which are the wise virgins, which brings us to that as well. So, this connects beautifully with Yeshua's teachings in Matthew 24-25.

In Matthew 25, the wise virgins are prepared for the bridegroom's arrival, while the foolish virgins are not. So, remember, they all had lamps. Everybody had a lamp. All 10 of them. Five of them had oil to have the light. If you don't have the oil, you have no light. What is the oil? Torah. Okay? We've got to have the light, everybody. Because that's what Yeshua said about the Torah. Okay? King David as well. So, again, all 10 virgins were believers. I love Jesus. Five of them were wise and obedient. Five of them were unwise and disobedient, and they did not have oil to have a light. So, they were in darkness, right? Even though they were believers, they were in darkness because they had lamps with no oil for light. So, again, He makes it very clear, friends, there's going to be a lot of believers who love Jesus who are going to be caught as a thief in the night, knocking on the ark and saying, "Let me in! Let me in!" And He's going to say, "I never knew you. Get away from me, those who practice lawlessness, those who do not practice the Torah, the law." Okay? That's what He's going to say. And so that's another scripture that goes into this. He says it Himself: "Get away from me, those who do not follow My Father's commandments, the Torah," is what Yeshua says. Jesus says that. So, again, take it from the Master's mouth, my Christian friends, who is not obedient right now to the Sabbath, Passover, feast days, new months, all this. Please understand this now that you're not in the light, not because of what Yeshua says, what Paul says, what God says in the Torah. I mean, we're just not if we're not keeping the commandments and following Him. It's really that clear.

So, in Matthew 25, the wise virgins are prepared for the bridegroom's arrival while the foolish virgins are not. So, again, five had oil, five did not. So, no oil, no light. That means darkness. Although Matthew 25 uses the imagery of lamps and readiness rather than Paul's exact terminology, the parallel is still significant. Light, oil, watchfulness, preparedness, and the coming of the Messiah belong together, not separate. Again, you can have your lampstand all you want, my Christian friends, but if you don't have the Torah, the oil in it, then you have no light. No light.