That makes no sense. If we see Jerusalem expanding and prospering, as it has in the last 70-odd years, how can the Lord come like a thief in the night?
Israel hasn't expanded it's borders in all direction yet nor have they been as prosperous as the bible prophesied: the wealth of all nations will be brought to the temple in Jerusalem during the first half of the tribulation. There hasn't been a temple built in Jerusalem for almost 2000 years for this to happen yet.
Haggai 2:6-9 Good News Translation (GNT)
6 “Before long I will shake heaven and earth, land and sea. 7 I will overthrow all the nations, and their treasures will be brought here, and the Temple will be filled with wealth. 8 All the silver and gold of the world is mine. 9 The new Temple will be more splendid than the old one, and there I will give my people prosperity and peace.” The Lord Almighty has spoken.
Isaiah 14:1-2 Good News Translation (GNT)
1 The Lord will once again be merciful to his people Israel and choose them as his own. He will let them live in their own land again, and foreigners will come and live there with them. 2 Many nations will help the people of Israel return to the land which the Lord gave them, and there the nations will serve Israel as slaves. Those who once captured Israel will now be captured by Israel, and the people of Israel will rule over those who once oppressed them.
Zechariah 1:16-2:5 Good News Translation (GNT)
16 So I have come back to Jerusalem to show mercy to the city. My Temple will be restored, and the city will be rebuilt.”
17 The angel also told me to proclaim: “The Lord Almighty says that his cities will be prosperous again and that he will once again help Jerusalem and claim the city as his own.”
18 In another vision I saw four ox horns. 19 I asked the angel that had been speaking to me, “What do these horns mean?”
He answered, “They stand for the world powers that have scattered the people of Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
20 Then the Lord showed me four workers with hammers. 21 I asked, “What have they come to do?”
He answered, “They have come to terrify and overthrow the nations that completely crushed the land of Judah and scattered its people.”
1 In another vision I saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 “Where are you going?” I asked.
“To measure Jerusalem,” he answered, “to see how long and how wide it is.”
3 Then I saw the angel who had been speaking to me step forward, and another angel came to meet him.4 The first one said to the other, “Run and tell that young man with the measuring line that there are going to be so many people and so much livestock in Jerusalem that it will be too big to have walls. 5 The Lord has promised that he himself will be a wall of fire around the city to protect it and that he will live there in all his glory.”
Zechariah 8:1-23 Good News Translation (GNT)
1 The Lord Almighty gave this message to Zechariah: 2 “I have longed to help Jerusalem because of my deep love for her people, a love which has made me angry with her enemies. 3 I will return to Jerusalem, my holy city, and live there. It will be known as the faithful city, and the hill of the Lord Almighty will be called the sacred hill. 4 Once again old men and women, so old that they use canes when they walk, will be sitting in the city squares. 5 And the streets will again be full of boys and girls playing.
6 “This may seem impossible to those of the nation who are now left, but it's not impossible for me. 7 I will rescue my people from the lands where they have been taken, 8 and will bring them back from east and west to live in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, ruling over them faithfully and justly.
9 “Have courage! You are now hearing the same words the prophets spoke at the time the foundation was being laid for rebuilding my Temple.10 Before that time no one could afford to hire either men or animals, and no one was safe from enemies. I turned people against one another.11 But now I am treating the survivors of this nation differently. 12 They will plant their crops in peace. Their vines will bear grapes, the earth will produce crops, and there will be plenty of rain. I will give all these blessings to the people of my nation who survive. 13 People of Judah and Israel! In the past foreigners have cursed one another by saying, ‘May the same disasters fall on you that fell on Judah and Israel!’ But I will save you, and then those foreigners will say to one another, ‘May you receive the same blessings that came to Judah and Israel!’ So have courage and don't be afraid.”
14 The Lord Almighty says, “When your ancestors made me angry, I planned disaster for them and did not change my mind, but carried out my plans. 15 But now I am planning to bless the people of Jerusalem and Judah. So don't be afraid. 16 These are the things you should do: Speak the truth to one another. In the courts give real justice—the kind that brings peace. 17 Do not plan ways of harming one another. Do not give false testimony under oath. I hate lying, injustice, and violence.”
18 The Lord Almighty gave this message to Zechariah: 19 “The fasts held in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will become festivals of joy and gladness for the people of Judah. You must love truth and peace.”
20 The Lord Almighty says, “The time is coming when people from many cities will come to Jerusalem. 21 Those from one city will say to those from another, ‘We are going to worship the Lord Almighty and pray for his blessing. Come with us!’ 22 Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord Almighty and to pray for his blessing. 23 In those days ten foreigners will come to one Jew and say, ‘We want to share in your destiny, because we have heard that God is with you.’”
Israel and Jerusalem won't expand it's borders till only months before the start of the tribulation. Prosperity for Israel begins in the first year of the tribulation --- once the foundation of the temple has been completed --- and will last till the middle of Daniel's 70th week while the rest of the world endures a time of God's judgement.
And if He's to come like a thief in the night, we know it won't be in daylight hours so that considerably whittles His ETA down a bit.
A thief in the night is just figurative. When one part of the world is in daylight, the other side of the world is night.
A temple finally being built in Jerusalem would cause worldwide praise among Christians. Good. We would be too busy to panic.
During the tribulation, the Christians that will be here (minus the new believers) are professing Christians. Some even deny the creation of a new future temple in Jerusalem.
.