1 Thessalonians 5:1-4, Part 1

[Hidden In Him]

Worshippers Of The Beast Will Walk In Darkness, Part 1

     Pre-tribulationists teach that the rapture could come at any time. It could come today, it could come tomorrow. Believers therefore need to be ready to meet their Lord at any time because nothing needs to be fulfilled before He can return.
     Is this teaching truly scriptural, or does it not imply that the rapture can even overtake faithful believers like a thief in the night? The language of the New testament consistently suggests that that Day of God's wrath will not come as a thief in the night for the faithful. While they may not know the hour, they will clearly know when they are in the times and seasons in which it will take place. The Day of the Lord is only prophesied to overtake the wicked by surprise, and this is the clear implication of Paul's next teaching to the Thessalonians:

     But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to be written to, for you yourselves know accurately that the Day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, "Peace and security," then sudden destruction shall come upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness that the Day should overtake you as a thief, for you are all sons of light and sons of the Day. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-4)

     As we saw in the previous study, the pre-tribulation rapture theory has now become deeply ingrained in the Western Protestantism. As the following excerpt from a web article on the pre-trib rapture theory points out, most people raised in Western Protestantism have been so indoctrinated by it that they now simply assume the pre-tribulation rapture has always been the doctrine of the church. In reality, however, it has not:

     The advancement of the pre-tribulation rapture theory over the last century has become so successful among Western Protestants that the younger members of these denominations are not even aware of its novelty. I too was taught and taught others that the Church would be removed from the earth before the opening of Revelation's Seven Seals. But as I studied my Bible I began to find that some scriptures spoke differently than I had been taught; and I realized that I would not have come to the pre-trib conclusion by reading the Bible on my own. That's when I began to research the history of the pre-trib teaching. I was shocked. Why wasn't I told that the theory was new? - so new that most Christians over the last 2,000 years had never even thought of the idea! And that the Catholic and Orthodox churches (the majority of today's Christians) don't believe it either. (Why Most Christians believe in a Post Tribulation Rapture, Prophecylight.blogspot.com)

     As we shall see, the primary sign Paul told the Thessalonians to look for would be when the citizens of the Roman Empire finally declared "Peace and Security." For having rejected the warnings spoken by the saints and prophets in both the Old and New Testaments, they would be walking in darkness as they marched headlong towards their own destruction.
     While these prophesies were not fulfilled during New Testament times, there is now every indication they will be in ours, and during a time when the earth's population is again proclaiming "Peace and Security" has finally come. But they too will be walking in darkness. The saints, however, must be prepared for when that Day comes by walking in the light. If not, they will not take the proper precautions, and end up paying a great spiritual price for it as a result.


The Dangers Of "Peace And Security" Under Roman Rule

     Caesar Augustus, the Roman Emperor when Christ was born, made great strides in instituting peace under Roman rule throughout the entire ancient world. In many ways he was a good man, a wise ruler, and sought to instill in the public a strong sense of duty.
     According to Wikipedia:

     The reign of Augustus initiated an era of relative peace known as the Pax Romana (The Roman Peace). Despite continuous wars or imperial expansion on the Empire's frontiers and a year-long civil war over the imperial succession, the Mediterranean world remained at peace for more than two centuries. Augustus dramatically enlarged the Empire…, secured the Empire with a buffer region of client states, and made peace with the Parthian Empire through diplomacy. He reformed the Roman system of taxation, developed networks of roads with an official courier system, established a standing army, established the Praetorian Guard, created official police and fire-fighting services for Rome, and rebuilt much of the city during his reign.

                                                         

     Such were his accomplishments that later emperors had Paci Avgvstae, "The Peace of Augustus" inscribed on the back of Roman coins. Other coins bore similar insignias such as Secvritas Avgvsti, "The Security of Augustus." The implication was that there was peace and security under Roman rule. The saying, "Pax et Secvritas," (Peace and Security) became a popular slogan of the Roman state. Later coins bore insignias such as Securit Imperii, "The Security of the Empire," and Securit Orbis, "The Security of the World," making it perfecty clear what Rome's intentions were: An attempt to bring peace and security to the planet; by diplomacy whenever possible, but by conquest whenever necessary.
     Unfortunately, in the hands of a wicked ruler, power over the entire world posed a serious threat to the Jews. While they willingly submitted to Roman rule, their religion strictly forbid them from participating in anything even resembling emperor worship, and this increasingly put them at odds with Rome. Just seven years after Christ's crucifixion, Gaius Caligula rose to power. Up until this time, previous emperors had merely encouraged the worship of past emperors long dead. But Caligula wanted the world to worship him as a living god, and even began setting about a plan by which he would force his worship upon the Jews by having a massive statue of himself constructed in secret, transported to Judea when it was finished, and installed in the temple in Jerusalem. (For more on this episode in history, see 2 Thessalonians, Study 3).
     Had Caligula's plan not been thwarted, the prophesies regarding the Antichrist as predicted in the Book of Daniel might have been fulfilled early in the 40s A.D. The Jews would have been strictly forbidden from keeping Jewish law, and prohibited from worshipping their own God on threat of death, thereby turning the Roman dream of "Peace and security" into a nightmare for the Jews.

                                                                     

     This is why the apostles believed the Antichrist could appear at any time, and why they urged believers to remain alert and keep watching. All it would take was for another emperor to arise and succeed at what Caligula was trying to accomplish. It is why Paul would tell the Thessalonians in his second letter that the mystery of lawlessness was already on its way to realization, only the Antichrist himself had not yet manifested "out of the midst" was all:

     No one should deceive you in any way if the apostasy has not [yet] come first and that man of lawlessness has been revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above everything that is called God or is worshipped, so as for him to sit down in the temple of God, exhibiting himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was with you I was telling you these things? And you know it yet remains for him to be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already on its way to realization, only he is holding back at present until he manifests out of the midst, and then shall that lawless one be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus Christ will annul with the breath of His mouth and depose with the brightness of His coming. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-8) 

     The suggestion is that the teachings Paul gave them "when he was with them" were the prophesies mentioned in Matthew 24, regarding the coming of the Antichrist as foretold by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself:

     “When you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel - let the reader understand - then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again… (Matthew 24:15-22)


Promises Of "Peace And Security" Under Islam's Messiah

     So what are the signs that these prophesies may finally be on their way to fulfillment during our time? According to Islamic writer and author Adnan Oktar, Islamic prophecy states that a time is coming when the Madhi (the Islamic Antichrist) will arise and bring about peace throughout the entire world. Oktar's review and commentary on Muslim prophesies makes this abundantly clear. From one of his web articles:

     Not a single drop of blood will be spilled in the time of Hazrat Mahdi.... Everyone will live together in peace. The world will overflow with justice. All enmity, conflict, war, disagreement and fighting will come to an end. This important fact is imparted for certain in the hadith handed down from our Prophet. People will seek refuge in the Hazrat Mahdi as honey bees cluster around their sovereign. He will fill the world that was once full of cruelty with justice... The Earth will return to the age of happiness. (The time of the Mahdi is one in which Muslims, Jews and Christians will live together in peace, Andan Oktar, Harunyahya.com)

     Oktar even uses the words "peace and security" together in the same sentence at one point, not once but twice in a single paragraph:

     As the hadith handed down from our Prophet clearly show, peace, love and affection will reign on earth in the time of Hazrat Mahdi. All Muslims, Jews and Christians will live in comfort, peace and security. That same climate of peace, abundance and security will continue in the time of Hazrat Messiah; not a single unbeliever will be left in that time, and the whole world will believe and be Muslim. Almighty Allah has revealed this in the following verse: There is not one of the People of the Book who will not believe in him before he dies; and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them. (The time of the Mahdi is one in which Muslims, Jews and Christians will live together in peace, Andan Oktar, Harunyahya.com)

     In other books and articles, Hyrun Yahya continues to use these same words in combination often. "Security and peace" will be enjoyed on earth after the Mahdi finally rises to power:

     Upon the emergence of Hazrat Mahdi, all religious innovations and superstitions that began to be widely practiced throughout the world after the demise of the prophet Muhammed will be wiped out, and the world will attain security and peace as it exists in the essence of the Qur’an… all weapons will fall silent and wars will come to an end, and peace, love and justice will rule the world following the coming of Hazrat Mahdi. (America’s Failure To Perceive the PKK, Adnan Oktar [Harun Yahya], P.373-375)

     Reminiscent of how Rome put the dream of "peace and security" in only the most positive light, Oktar also promises that the Mahdi will force no one to convert to Islam; Christians and Jews will convert only because they want to:

     In the time of Hazrat Messiah all the People of the Book, all Jews and all Christians in other words, will be Muslims. The whole world will convert to Islam, and Israel will be Muslim. This will be with love and affection, not through force. Every Christian and every Jew will convert to Islam, out of love and of their own free will. No duress of pressure will be used against the People of the Book, and the conversion to Islam will be a totally sincere one.
     Hazrat Mahdi will tell Muslims of the proper moral values of the Qur’an, and will treat Muslims in the light of proper, Qur’anic virtues. But he will rule Christians with the Gospels, that part of them which has not been corrupted or distorted, and will rule the Jews with the true Torah, the genuine Torah. Therefore, Hazrat Mahdi will not, as some Christians believe, force Christians and Jews to convert to Islam. He will rule them with those parts of the Gospels and the Torah that are compatible with the Qur’an. (The time of the Mahdi is one in which Muslims, Jews and Christians will live together in peace, Andan Oktar, Harunyahya.com)

                                                           

     But as both the scriptures and even many Muslim leaders today predict, the Mahdi will not be merciful to those Christians and Jews who refuse to honor the Qu'ran as the most authoritative of religious sources. Scripture states that he will eventually turn on both, and that his short reign on earth will be one of unparalleled genocide.
 

The Mahdi's Reign Will Turn Into A Bloodbath

     Despite empty promises that the Mahdi will not force anyone to convert to Islam, Muslims are notorious for sometimes being duplicitous liars when it suits their purposes, and there are other Muslim prophesies that clearly state otherwise. The Mahdi will lead the Islamic nations in the war against the Jews, and their own prophesies state in no uncertain terms that this war will end in the complete extermination of the Jews.
     The following are excerpts from the sermons of Sheikh Ibrahim Madhi, the Imam of the Palestinian Authority:

     "We the Palestinian nation, our fate from Allah is to be the vanguard in the war against the Jews until the resurrection of the dead, as the prophet Muhammad said: 'The resurrection of the dead will not arrive until you will fight the Jews and kill them...'" (Richardson, The Islamic Antichrist, P.114)

     By "kill them," he is not here simply referring to killing just a few random Jews here or there. This expression is a reference to the complete annihilation of the Jewish race, as becomes evident from subsequent quotes:

     "The battle with the Jews will surely come ... the decisive Muslim victory is coming without a doubt, and the prophet spoke about it in more than one hadith and the Day of Resurrection will not come without the victory of the believers [i.e. the Muslims] over the descendants of the monkeys and pigs [i.e. the Jews], and with their annihilation." (Richardson, The Islamic Antichrist, P.114-115)

     Is this merely an exaggeration on the part of one man? If one takes the scriptures seriously, it would not appear so, for the Lord Himself warned the disciples that the wrath of the Antichrist against the Jews would be so great that unless God cuts the time of the tribulation short, no flesh would be saved, and by that, in context He meant no Jewish flesh:

     “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel - let the reader understand - then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains... How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened." (Matthew 24:15-22 NIV)

     Scripture states that this period of genocide will last for "a time, times, and half a time," which is a cryptic way of saying three and a half years. And three years is a long time for a ruler with massive armies at his disposal to wage a war of extermination on a largely defenseless people:

     And he said, "The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom on the earth, which shall excel all [other] kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and trample and destroy it. And his ten horns are ten kings [that] shall arise: and after them shall arise another, who shall exceed all the former ones in wickedness, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak words against the Most High, and wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and law. And the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time." (Daniel 7:23-25, LXX)

     But Revelation also states that the Antichrist will not be able to completely exterminate them all. Believers among the Israelites will be led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness, where they will be supernaturally protected by God from the Antichrist's wrath:

     A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. Then … the great dragon was hurled down - that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him... When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. (Revelation 12:1-9, 12-17)

     In retaliation, the Beast will therefore instead turn his rage upon "the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." This is a reference to the church. Unable to annihilate the Israelites, the Antichrist will then turn upon the Christians, and eventually everyone who does not bow down to Islam:

     Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring - those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus. (Revelation 12:17)


The Birth Pangs, And Signs In The Heavens

     In the midst of thinking they have finally gained "peace and security," world dominion, and power of over the infidels, the worshippers of the Beast will suddenly be gripped with terror at witnessing great signs taking place in the heavens. These will signal that the wrath of Almighty God has finally come upon them:

     Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound the alarm in My holy mountain. Let the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the Day of the Lord is coming, it is near. A day of darkness and gloominess, as when the morning spreads upon the mountains… I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord. (Joel 2:1-2, 30-31)

     Joel here specifically gave the extent to which darkness will cover the earth. Even at midday, the sun will only shine dimly, as when rising upon the mountains at dawn. 
 
                                             

     The same things are predicted in Isaiah, where the prophet likewise used the analogy of terror coming upon them like birth pangs, just as Paul did:

     Wail, for the Day of the Lord is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty... all hands will go limp, every heart will melt with fear. Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other, their faces aflame.
     See, the Day of the Lord is coming — a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger — to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless. I will make men scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the Lord Almighty, in the Day of His burning anger. (Isaiah 13:4-13)

     Notice that Isaiah here described the Day of the Lord as "the Day of His burning anger." One truly frightening prediction of scripture is that when this time comes for the Lord to carry out His wrath, His anger will burn so intensely against the wicked that it will literally melt the stars of the heavens. This is a claim made twice in scripture; once by the apostle Peter and once by Isaiah, both referring to the same event:

     But the Day of the Lord shall come like a thief, in which the heavens shall pass away with a rushing noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with burning heat, and the earth and all the works in it shall be burned up. Seeing then, that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of person ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, expecting and hastening the coming of the Day of God by reason of which the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements, burning with heat, shall melt? (2 Peter 3:10-12)

     Draw near, O you nations… for the wrath of the Lord is upon all nations, and his anger upon the number of them, to destroy them and give them up to slaughter… And all the powers of the heavens shall melt, and the sky shall be rolled up like a scroll: and all the stars shall fall like leaves from a vine, and as leaves fall from a fig tree. (Isaiah 34:1-4 LXX)

     "Elements" is a term used in Greek for the planets, as is the expression "the powers of the heavens." Some have thought the sun and moon being darkened and the moon turning to blood would be merely the result of changes in the earth's atmosphere, but this is not what these passages actually teach. God's anger will burn so greatly that it will literally melt the stars of the heavens. Stars are in effect the suns of other galaxies, which suggests our sun will likewise not give its light because it too will be partially burned away by the anger of the Lord. This would account for the moon also not giving its light, since the moon derives light by reflecting the sun.
     Thus, because the wicked loved spiritual darkness rather than the light, God will cover their kingdom in darkness to reflect their true spiritual condition. Why will these signs come as a shock to them? Because they were spiritually walking in darkness, and unable to see. Believers in Jesus Christ, however, will not be in darkness that this Day will overtake them "as a thief." They will be children of light and of the day, and therefore see it coming through the signs of the times, just as when night watchmen can see the day coming from the signs in the night sky.




Article links:
http://www.harunyahya.com/en/Articles/20629/the-time-of-the-mahdi
http://www.harunyahya.com/en/New-Information/17245/the-environment-of-peace-in