1Th 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh
as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then
sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Would you agree that This is also "connected" by similar language to this?:
Revelation 3:3
3 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.
If Rev 3:3 speaks of the same Coming as a thief as 1 Thess 5:2 and
2 Peter 3:10, your challenge is to demonstrate how your view aligns with the fact that the Glorified Christ, from Heaven PROMISED this same thief's coming would befall actual 1st century peoples at Sardis.
He's telling them TWO things that will happen here IF they don't "hold fast and repent"; # 1: He will come upon them "as a thief" AND # 2: they will not know the hour.
Rev. 16:15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!)
How could this other "thief" warning, in between the 6th and 7th bowl, be as a surprise to anybody after experiencing most of the events of the Great Tribulation. It can't because it's not a surprise, it's just like in the days of Noah and Lot and the DofJ. What else was going on in the days of Noah, Lot and 1st century Jerusalem? They were living in a time prior to a very large and destructive outpouring of God's wrath.
Jesus came "as a thief" to the people in the days of Noah and Lot and 1st century Jerusalem.
John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy."
And He's due to come again, "like a thief!" during our appointed time of the end.
Rev 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Rev 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Again, all classic OT Apocalyptic phrases that the Prophets used Metaphorically, without fail, every time..
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Can you show the scriptural instruction you have to abandon the metaphoric precedent set by the OT prophets, in favor of the hyper literal interpretation you seem to champion? Where does this shift occur and where does scripture instruct us to make that shift?
Are you sure that it is not your theology that is assuming there was a "metaphoric precedent set by the OT prophets". Are you sure that the OT prophets weren't, in some cases, talking about actual earthquakes and celestial events? What if there really is a literal earthquake on the way that moves literal islands and literal mountains out of their places which will conclude the destruction during our appointed time of the end.
No, I don't think that Lucifer will appear as a fire breathing Dragon that falls from Heaven. He'll look like a regular guy, it's just that he'll have the ability to make fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people. I can't wait.
"And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth,
even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs (winter fruit),
when she is shaken of a mighty wind"- Rev. 6:13
Stars of Heaven = Angels, one for each person saved, both the dead first and then we who remain alive and are left.
"And they shall gather together his elect from the four winds"
"and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him"
Fig Tree = The Commonwealth of Israel or the Israel of God, believers in our Glorious Lord Jesus.
"Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season"
Untimely figs = Everyone who ever died in Christ, plus a numberless multitude of the living.
"One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe"
Its Winter Fruit = Everyone who ever died in Christ, plus a numberless multitude of the living.
"the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing"
She = His Bride has made herself ready.
"Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb"
Shaken of a Mighty Wind = The Second coming.
"And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind"
