I Thessalonians
Chapter
5
1~~Now
concerning the times . . .
[de peri chronos (meaning the various Dispensations)]
and
the seasons
[kai kairos (refers to this specific dispensation - the Church Age)]
brethren,
[adelphos]
you
have absolutely no need
[echo (present active indicative) ouk chreia]
[for
me] to be writing you.
[grapho (present passive infinitive) humin]
{Note: Paul had already taught the Thessalonians about dispensations and he did not need to go into detail again.}
2~~For
yourselves [gar autos]
know/perceive
with results that go on forever,
[oida (perfect active indicative)]
accurately
[akribos]
that
the day of the Lord
[hoti hemera kurios]
in
this manner comes itself as a thief
[houto erchomai (present middle/passive indicative) hos kleptes]
in/by/with
the night.
[en nux]
{Note: This refers to the Rapture of the Church. When Christ returns and we meet him in the air it will be very quick and sudden - like a thief of the day would strike without warning in the middle of the night.}
3~~For
when they may say,
[gar hotan lego (present active subjunctive)]
"Peace
and safety/security . . .
[eirene kai asphaleia - referring to people declaring there will
be human security arrived at apart from the cross]
then
sudden destruction shall itself come upon them
[tote
aiphnidios olethros ephistemi (present middle indicative) autos]
just
as the [sudden pain and agony of]
[hosper]
one
having labor pangs in the womb during childbirth
[odin en gaster echo (present active participle)]
they
may absolutely not, no way, escape/'seek safety by flight'."
[ekpheugo (aorist active subjunctive) ouk me]
[Note: This is saying that as unbelievers are working hard for "world peace" and declaring security for the world is here - boom - the rapture of the Church will come and the "Restrainer" will be removed from the earth. The forces of evil will run wild for seven years. The world (particularly the Jews since, in analogy, they are in the persistent "pain of childbirth" since they rejected the baby in the manger) will experience a pain only to be compared with the pain of child birth. Unbelievers say humans can negotiate peace. Christ said there will be wars and rumors of wars until He comes. Whose viewpoint is the one to accept as Truth? That is a personal choice.]
4~~Moreover/Now
you, brethren, [de humeis adelphos]
are
absolutely not in/by/with darkness/deceived/ignorant
[eimi ouk en skotos (to be ignorant means they do not
know the doctrine, but they do know it)]
with
the result that . . . [hina]
that
day should overtake you
[hemera katalambano (aorist active subjunctive) humas]
as
a "sneak thief".
[hos kleptes (the sneak thief as opposed to the violent thief)]
{Note: Darkness here has two meanings. Darkness means to be without bible doctrine in the soul. Walking without light is to "walk in darkness". The Church Age is also "light/day" and the Tribulation is "dark/night". This indicates also that the believers belong to the light and will be removed BEFORE the night begins.}
5a~~You
all are the "adult children" of light
[humeis pas eimi huios phos]
and
the "adult children" of the day.
[kai huios hemera]
5b~~We
are absolutely not of the night
[eimi ouk nux ]
{referring to the Tribulation to come}
nor
of darkness/deceived/ignorant.
[oude skotos]
[Note: Darkness is used for the alternative system to that taught by the Light of the Word. "Darkness" is actually "the absence of light".}
[Note: As believers we are secure in knowing we will not be part of the Tribulation. And, in the Church Age, we should take in doctrine (Light), so as we walk, we do not stumble in darkness.]
6~~So
then consequently
[ara oun]
let
us possibly not sleep
[katheudo (present active subjunctive) me -
implies lack of awareness]
even
as also/and the rest/others,
[hos kai loipoy]
but,
in contrast, [alla]
let
us possibly watch/"give strict attention"
[gregoreuo (present active subjunctive)]
and
possibly be sober/"calm and collected in spirit".
[kai nepho (present active subjunctive)]
[Note: The analogy continues. If you are a child of the light, you do not sleep in the day. Keep taking in doctrine, apply it to experience, and do not be oblivious to your surroundings - as you are when you sleep. The second analogy is comparing be drunk out of your mind verses being sober. When you are intoxicated, you do not think clearly. To be sober is a picture of a clear thinking person with a stabilized mental attitude.]
7a~~For
the ones sleeping,
[gar katheudo (present active participle)]
sleep
. . . [at] night.
[katheudo (present active indicative) nux]
7b~~And
the ones receiving drunkenness
[kai methusko (present passive participle)]
drink
. . . [at] night.
[methuo (present active indicative) nux -
this is "the usual situation" today and back then also]
{Note: As children of the light we are "mixed up" when we sleep or are not sober of mental attitude.}
8a~~Moreover/Now
may we be sober
[de nepho (present active subjunctive) hemeis]
who
are of the day.
[eimi hemera]
8b~~"Clothing
ourselves with
[enduo (aorist middle participle)]
the
breastplate of faith/doctrine
[thorax pistis]
and
"impersonal love".
[kai agape]
[Note: Believers in Christ protect ourselves by "putting on Christ". That means to study and absorb His Divine Viewpoint and then live by that Viewpoint. Putting our faith in Him and His teaching, allows us to understand what it means to "agape love our neighbors as we love ourselves (based on who and what we are)."]
8c~~And
a helmet . . .
[kai perikephalaia]
of
the hope/"absolute confidence" of salvation/deliverance.
[elpis soteria]
[Note: Soteria has two meanings and they both are in view here. When a believer becomes spiritually mature, he grows to understand that "doctrine is reality". The Bible doctrine of eternal salvation (an unearned or undeserved gift of God once given can not be lost by doing or not doing something). So, first we know our salvation is "absolute" and our "hope" becomes "absolute confidence". Next, in context, we are talking about the Church Age (light) and the Tribulation (darkness). The second meaning then is the calmness of soul that comes when you have absolute confidence that we will be delivered from the Earth before the Tribulation begins.]
9~~Because
God Himself has absolutely not
established/"set
forth"/ordained us
[hoti Theos tithemi (aorist middle indicative) ouk hemas]
toward
wrath/"anger exhibited in punishment" [eis orge]
but,
in contrast, [alla]
toward
obtaining/preserving/possessing deliverance/salvation
[eis peripoiesis soteria]
"by
means of"/through our Lord Jesus Christ.
[dia hemon kurios Iesous Christos]
[Note: Again both meanings (deliverance and salvation) may be in view here. This would mean Jesus will deliver us from the horrors of the Tribulation (which is true). And, it also means that believers in the Church Age obtain salvation by faith in the One Invisible God. The only manifest member of the Godhead is Jesus Christ. God the Son "took the outward form of a man" Who we call Jesus Christ. If you believe that Jesus came from the Father and His Miracles were powered by God, you believe in God and that faith is the non-meritorious thought that God said results in salvation. At the point of faith, God imputes His Righteousness in you. Your human righteousnesses will never qualify you for heaven. His Righteousness is your never-ending Way into heaven.]
10~~Who
{Jesus} dying as a substitute for us
[apothnesko (aorist active participle) huper hemon]
with
the result that, [hina]
whether
if we . . [eite eite ("either or")]
[are]
awake/"give strict attention to"/"[are] alert"
[gregoreuo (present active subjunctive) -
in the analogy, to still be alive at the time of the Rapture]
or
sleep/"[are] in a state of lack of awareness"
[eite katheudo (present active subjunctive) -
technical for a believer in "status dead" at the time of
the Rapture]
may
we "live our lives"/"Walk through life" together
with Him.
[zao (aorist active subjunctive) hama sun autos]
[Note: Again, the possibility of a double meaning continues. After salvation, we are to Walk our lives with Him and His Thinking in mind (together with Him). Second, concerning "deliverance" and this time concerning deliverance from the Tribulation, we are back on the rapture of the Church. The Thessalonians thought that if you died before the Rapture that you would miss the rapture. So Paul is talking about being alive or in Christian sleep (death) at the time of the Rapture. We will all be part of the Rapture.]
11~~Therefore,
[dio]
comfort/encourage
one another of the same kind,
[parakaleo (present active imperative (an order)) allelon]
and
edify/"grow in wisdom"
[kai oikodomeo (present active imperative (another order))]
one
another . . . [heis heis]
even
as also/and you [already] do.
[kathos kai poieo (present active indicative)]
[Note: Means to study and understand doctrine. Then apply it to other believers. First, if they understand that salvation is a gift that can NEVER be taken back (even by God Himself because He says He will not and God never lies), it will give the person who has "absolute confidence" in this will have "inner happiness'. Second, for those who worry their loves ones will miss the Rapture because they died, the absolute confidence in this doctrine will give them great comfort. One believers' obligation to another is to not "teach them doctrine". It is to encourage them to study doctrine for themselves so that they can come to understand it. God has given people the gift of pastor-teacher to greatly assist others in reaching spiritual maturity.]
{Now
words for the leaders of the Churches}
12~~Moreover/Now
And we ask/request of you, brethern
[de erotao (present active indicative) humas adelphos]
to
know/perceive with results that last forever
[eido (perfect active infinitive)]
them
who [are] laboring to exhaustion in/by/with/among you,
[o kopiao (present active participle) en humin]
and
themselves "preside over you" in/by/with the Lord
[kai proistemi (present middle participle) humon en kurios]
and
admonish/warn/exhort you [noutheteo].
[kai noutheteo (present active participle) humas]
[Note: Proistemi is a military term. It describes a general who leads his men from the front instead of from the rear. Paul is reminding those with the gift of pastor-teacher how they should work hard and then lead by example. In Christ, the Church leaders should be respected and followed. That does not mean the Church leaders should meddle in the lives of their congregation outside of Church. Instead, in Church, the congregation should be quiet, listen, concentrate, accept what is Truth, and apply it themselves to their own lives.]
[Note: Noutheteo means "to put good sense in a head where there is already bad sense". And, remember it is the Church leaders who are to exhort the congregation to do better. In the Church Age, all believers in Christ are priests. We are responsible for our own spiritual well-being before God. Church leaders and pastor-teachers are to supply us with the tools to be spiritually self-sustaining. They are to teach the Bible word by word, verse by verse. When a "thou shall not" passage comes up, they should exhort their congregation to "not do this". When a positive passage comes up, they should exhort their congregation to "do this". Then, outside of Church, they also should mind their own business/affairs. A believer can come to them if they have a problem they need to discuss.]
13a~~And
to esteem/"have high regard for" them . . .
[kai hegeomai (present middle infinitive) autos]
super
abundantly . . .
[huper ek perissos (literally "over beyond out from exceedingly")]
in/by/with
"impersonal love" [en agape] . . .
"by
means of"/because of their "Divine Good Production".
[dia (the grounds by which something is done) autos ergon ]
[Note: It is God Who gives out the spiritual gifts. If a pastor-teacher diligently allows God to produce Divine Good through him, he should be held in high esteem. Not because of their personality, but because of their commitment to "study and teach", "study and teach" (their spiritual gift). Now it is only the church leaders/pastor-teachers in view here. But the principle holds true for the person with the gift of evangelism, helps, encouragement, etc. If that person learns how to exercise their gift and they do . . . allowing God to produce Divine Good through them . . . they also should be held in high esteem. Can an eye function without a brain? Can an ear walk? All parts of the Body of Christ are important.]
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