As far as understanding the event of the Day of the Lord is concerned, Paul told the believers at Thessalonica that unbelievers would misinterpret its signs. They may see that the times were about to change, but they would interpret them as good omens for the nation. Like the false prophets of the Old Covenant, they would believe God was for them, declaring peace and safety, but all the while destruction was on its way (1Thessalonians 5:3). Nevertheless, just as the time of birth can’t be known, until the birth pains begin, so, too, one was unable to predict anything specific about the time of the Day of the Lord. Moreover, just as a woman in pain before the birth of her child was unable to escape the birth of her child, neither would the unbelieving Jews be able to escape the fulfillment of bringing the fruit of their evil works to pass.
In 1Thessalonians 5:4 Paul changes the direction of his epistle to point to the believers at Thessalonica. He claimed that, although unbelievers wouldn’t be able to see the danger coming, believers would. Why would this be the case? It is because believers weren’t in the dark. Darkness is able to hide clarity and detail, but the light of day reveals them. Paul defines believers as children of the light (1Thessalonians 5:5), which in the context of his epistle would make unbelievers out to be children of the night. In other words, the unbelievers would be unable to see clearly and would miss the details of the coming danger, but believers in Christ would understand the Lord intended to judge human behavior in terms of how one received the Gospel and how folks treated his messengers. This was understood and embraced by the children of the light but missed by the children of the night. Therefore, the Day of the Lord couldn’t come upon believers in the same manner as it did upon unbelievers. It would be much more difficult for a thief to surprise a person expecting him than it would for one who wasn’t expecting him at all.
In 1Thessalonians 5:6 Paul encourages his readers not to sleep (G2518) as others (unbelievers) do, but, rather, stay awake and watch. In other words be aware of what is transpiring with a view of the Lord’s hand in men’s affairs. Paul uses a different word here for sleep (G2518), than he used in 1Thessalonians 4:13. There he spoke of those who slept (G2837) in the sense that they had died. The two Greek words are synonyms, but in 1Thessalonians 5:6 Paul’s meaning points to those who are in darkness, and can’t see clearly. As far as reality is concerned, they are asleep (G2837), but Paul wants believers to remain awake to reality and not allow the slumber of false doctrine to influence their ability to understand events as they transpire.
Paul also draws upon the metaphor of drunkenness and sobriety (1Thessalonians 5:7-8) in order to point out the differences between those who walk in darkness and those who walk in the light. The one who is drunk, not only cannot think clearly, his walk isn’t steady and straight. His feet don’t move properly nor do they support his body in the manner in which they should. So too, are they who don’t believe in Christ or his promise to return in judgment. That is the reality, but they interpreted world events in an effort to change that reality, and even persecuted to the death those who warned them of their error.
On the other hand, believers had been raised from the dead, so to speak (i.e. out of the darkness and into the light) and began to behave differently from how the rest of the world reacted to Christ. Believers were marked as folks who trusted Christ had come and was about to judge the world, especially the Jewish nation, for the works they had been doing against the truth (Ephesians 2:1-2). So, Paul’s metaphors of sleep and awake, night and day; darkness and light refer to the differences between believers and unbelievers. On the one hand Paul pointed to unbelievers as those who slept, avoiding the reality of the coming judgment, they loved the night and darkness that proves to be unclear and lacking detail. Therefore, they were able to create their own story and interpretation of events that foreshadowed the return of Christ. However, in contrast to all this, believers in the first century AD were awake and walked in the light, because they were the children of the day (the true Light—Christ) and warned the world of the coming judgment, despite the efforts of the children of darkness to silence them (1Thessalonians 5:7-8).
Smoodock's Blog 
3 responses to “People of the Day and People of the Night”
Eddy, so much of what you say rings true because so many people today laugh and mock at the idea of the Second Coming. I’m not sure what end times judgment is supposed to look like. The story of the wheat and the tares has the angels weed out the tares planted by the devil. And then they throw the tares into the furnace, into a huge energy system….
Dr. Turner, I edited your comment. It wasn’t a comment in the true sense of the word, but rather a short dissertation of ideas of your own. If you want to exercise your right to free speech etc. why don’t you get a blog of your own. I welcome commentary, but yours wasn’t that. It was 382 words in my Word document all about things I don’t believe are true. Yet, you tell me above “…so much of what you say rings true…” That’s about the only thing we agree on.
Eddie, I appreciate the fact that you feel it necessary to show only an “ED IT ED piece of what I wrote so that your readers relying on “ED IT ED versions of the Gospel would not get confused about your posts. Forgive me, my reply was more like an Almond Branch blooming than a comment. Some environmentalists say the Almond Tree is bad for the environment because it uses too much water to produce fruit. So, you are right. I should be posting on my own website!