1. “If the householder had known in which watch the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have allowed his house to be broken into”; “If therefore you will not watch, I will come as a thief” (Matt. 24:43; Rev. 3:3; see also 16:15).
One aspect of the Lord’s second coming involves a coming that is hidden and secret, like the coming of a thief in the night. The hidden and secret aspect of the Lord’s second coming occurs before the beginning of the great tribulation; it is not related to His manifestation at the end of the great tribulation. We need to watch and be ready in order to participate in this hidden and secret aspect.
1. “Just as the lightning comes forth from the east and shines to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be...All the tribes of the land will...see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:27, 30).
Although there is a secret and hidden aspect of His coming, which will be seen only by those who are watchful, the Bible also speaks of His coming as lightening across the sky, which will be seen openly by everyone. These are not contradictory speakings, because these portions speak of two different aspects of the Lord’s second coming: the hidden, secret aspect and the manifested, open aspect. The hidden aspect is His parousia, and the open aspect is His epiphaneia. The Lord’s parousia, the coming of His presence, secretly begins before the great tribulation. At this time the Lord will come and secretly rapture the overcoming believers to His presence, just as a thief steals precious things. The Lord considers His lovers, His overcoming believers, to be precious. Before the great tribulation comes upon the earth, the Lord will come secretly in a hidden way when people least expect it to rapture His beloved overcoming believers to the heavens to His presence. When He does this, it will seem as if He has stolen His beloved believers. When He steals these believers by rapturing them, they will be gone before people realize that they are missing, just as precious things are gone before a householder realizes that a thief has broken into his house. Before the great tribulation, the Lord will come to steal, to rapture, the overcoming believers. This is the hidden aspect of His second coming at the beginning of His parousia.
At the end of the great tribulation, however, the Lord will descend from heaven and be manifested. He will descend on the clouds and appear in the sky. His coming will be sudden like lightening, but all the people on earth will be able to see it. This is the open aspect of His second coming at the manifestation of His parousia.
The Lord’s second coming involves a hidden aspect and an open aspect. Only watchful, overcoming believers who are waiting for Him will participate in the hidden aspect. All the world will see the open aspect, and all believers will participate in it. If we want to participate in the hidden aspect of the Lord’s second coming, having a part at the beginning of the Lord’s parousia, we must be a watchful, ready overcomer waiting for the Lord’s coming. If we are not, we will participate only in the open aspect of the Lord’s second coming, the epiphaneia, the manifestation of His coming, at the end of the Lord’s parousia.
1. “Concerning that day and hour, no one knows”; “Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord comes” (Matt. 24:36, 42; see also 25:13; Rev. 3:3).
No one knows the hour or day of the Lord’s second coming. This refers to the hidden aspect of the Lord’s second coming. No one knows the day and hour, because it is hidden. Therefore, we must be watchful!
2. “Like a thief in the night, so the day of the Lord comes” (1 Thes. 5:2, see also v. 4; 2 Pet. 3:10).
The day of the Lord’s second coming is like a thief in the night. This refers to the hidden aspect of the Lord’s second coming. Since the Lord’s second coming is like a thief in the night, no one knows the day of His second coming.
1. “The day of the Lord...will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition” (2 Thes. 2:2-3).
Although the Bible says that no one knows the day of the Lord’s return, these verses suggest that it is possible to know the general time of the Lord’s second coming because the apostasy must come and the man of lawlessness, the son of perdition, must be revealed before the second aspect of the Lord’s coming is fulfilled. When people see the apostasy and the manifestation of Antichrist, the day of the Lord’s coming is near. These verses refer to the open aspect of the Lord’s second coming. The open aspect of the Lord’s second coming will be at the end of the great tribulation, but Antichrist will be manifested before that day.
2. “The lawless one...(whom the Lord Jesus will slay by the breath of His mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of His coming)” (2 Thes. 2:8).
The Lord will use the manifestation of His coming to bring Antichrist to nothing, that is, to destroy him. This is related to the open aspect of His return. According to Revelation 13:5, this will occur at the end of the three and a half years (forty-two months) of the great tribulation. The time of the hidden aspect of the Lord’s coming cannot be determined, because there is no basis on which to make such a determination. No one can determine when His hidden coming will begin. However, the open aspect of the day of the Lord’s return will be at the end of the great tribulation, that is, after Antichrist has been operating on earth for forty-two months. When Antichrist begins to openly operate, it will be possible to more closely know when the Lord will return.
The hidden aspect of the Lord’s return will occur at the beginning of the great tribulation, and the open aspect will occur at the end of the great tribulation. Between the hidden aspect and the open aspect, there will be a period of at least three and a half years. This is similar to the period of time between packing luggage for travel and actually boarding an airplane. The time of packing and preparing our luggage is hidden, but the time of boarding an airplane is open for all to see. At the time of the Lord’s return, only the Lord’s overcomers will participate in the hidden, preparatory aspect, but all the believers will participate in the open, manifested aspect. The overcoming believers will be raptured at the time of the Lord’s hidden coming; they will participate in His parousia. The remainder of the believers will be raptured prior to the Lord’s open, manifested coming; they will participate in His epiphaneia. No one can determine or know when the overcoming believers will be raptured, but it is possible to determine and know when the rest of the believers will be raptured. The overcomers will be raptured before the great tribulation at the beginning of the Lord’s parousia, and the remaining believers will be raptured at the end of the great tribulation at the manifestation of the Lord’s parousia.