Roughly 25% of the book of 1 Thessalonians is dedicated to the subject of end-times related events. We find a large portion of that 25% here in the opening ten verses of 1 Thessalonians chapter five. That section begins with the following message…
“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-2).
This reference to “the times” is a shorthand way of referring to a historic timeline of events. The “seasons” are associated with the individual characteristics of a given age. For instance, we might associate the 18th and 19th centuries (“the times”) with the first Industrial Revolution (or “the season”) that characterized that age. We often combine these two ideas whenever we speak of “the signs of the times” to describe a quality or characteristic of a particular time period.
There are only two other references to “times and seasons” in the Biblical Scriptures. The first occurs in the book of the prophet Daniel…
“…Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him” (Daniel 2:20-22).
The other Biblical reference to “times and seasons” appears in Acts 1:6-7 where Jesus answered the following question from His disciples: “…they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.'”
We can glean some important insights from these references. First, we can say that God ultimately orchestrates the events of human history (“…He changes the times and the seasons“). And while God may elect to reveal “…deep and secret things,” He has sovereignly declined to provide us with a detailed timeline of end-time events (“…It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority“).
Nevertheless, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 provides us with a significant descriptive element in the form of a phrase that is rich with Biblical significance: “…the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.” We’ll take a closer look at this reference to “…the day of the Lord” next.