The Thief in the Night Misconception

Now let's look at the mystery of the thief in the night, because this is another widespread misconception. You hear it everywhere: "He comes as a thief in the night — no one knows the day or the hour." Without the Torah, the Prophets, and the full context of Holy Scripture, this teaching leads to ignorance of what the Bible is actually saying.

So where did the "thief in the night" tradition originate? Back in the days of the Temple, guards were stationed to watch through the night. The high priest would make rounds to ensure the guards were not sleeping. If a guard was found asleep, the priest would take a torch and light the guard's garments on fire. The guard would shed them and run naked to find new clothing. Messiah used this cultural tradition — this slang that the Jewish people would have immediately understood — to communicate a specific truth. Just as a Southerner understands certain expressions that a Northerner might not, Messiah identified with the people He was speaking to through this imagery.

Now let's look at the scriptures to confirm exactly who Messiah comes to as a thief in the night. Revelation 3:1–3, addressing the dead church of Sardis, says: *"These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you."*

Messiah is telling us plainly: the dead church — because it does not understand the calendar, because it does not understand the feast days — will be caught off guard. He says, "If you do not watch, if you are not attending the divine appointments, if you are not understanding the prophecies, I will come upon you as a thief." And then He says, "You will not know what hour I will come upon you" — because this is the feast that no man knows the day or the hour. He is pointing you to the Feast of Trumpets.

Now let's look at the lukewarm church in Revelation 3:16–18: *"So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing' — and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked — I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see."*

He is telling you: both the dead church and the lukewarm church are the ones who will be caught as a thief in the night. Period.

Now let's look at the faithful church. Does He come upon them as a thief in the night? In 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11, Paul writes: *"But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, 'Peace and safety!' then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing."*

Paul is telling us: the Thessalonian church was a faithful church. They knew the times and the seasons — they knew God's calendar — and that is why he wrote to them the way he did. You need not worry; you know the times and the seasons, unlike the lukewarm and the dead church. You understand God's calendar and His feast days.

Turning to Matthew 25, the parable of the foolish and wise virgins reinforces this. All ten are believers — all ten are virgins. Five are wise and five are foolish. At the midnight cry — "Behold, the bridegroom is coming!" — they all rose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out." But the wise answered, "No, lest there should not be enough for us and you. Go to those who sell, and buy for yourselves." While they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut — just as in the days of Noah, when the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came and said, "Lord, Lord, open to us!" But he answered, "Assuredly I say to you, I do not know you. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."

He is telling you it will be on the Feast of Trumpets. The bridegroom comes on the last trump, which points directly to the seventh trumpet in the Book of Revelation. In this parable, half of the believers did not understand the time of their visitation. As Luke 19:44 declares, we must understand the time of our visitation — and there is no way to do that without understanding God's calendar, without understanding the Leviticus 23 feast days, His divine appointments. That is the calendar He will follow at His second coming, and it is our job to be worshiping Him on that calendar now.

So the day of the Rapture — the resurrection — will be on the Feast of Trumpets, whether you hold to a pre-trib, post-trib, or any other position. That much is certain. But I would encourage you, if you are pre-trib, to consider the scriptures I have mentioned — I say this in love, and I say it having once been pre-trib myself, until I believe my eyes were opened. One would have to reconcile Matthew 24 — the chronological account of the seven-year tribulation — and explain why, if the Rapture is pre-tribulation, Messiah says He gathers the saints *after* the tribulation. That is where he says the gathering occurs: immediately after. Something to study and consider.