“If therefore you shall not watch, I will come on you as a thief, and you shall not know what hour I will come on you.”* (Revelation 3:3).
*”Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”* (Revelation 1:7)
Literally, these two types of prophecies seem to contradict each other: Since one says that the Lord will come like a thief, which means that no one knows about it, why does the other say that every eye will see him?
There is no contradiction there. You are lucking contextual reading on both.
Its doesn’t say you can’t see the thief, it says you don’t know the ‘HOUR’ . it only means unannounced.
The Two verses are addressing different issues here.
Well 1st of all in 3:3 He is speaking to and warning the church of Sardis which was in Asia (one of the churches that the letter was written to) that was not staying alert, He is telling them to be watchful or they will be caught off guard. In 1:7 He is speaking to all 7 churches in Asia and telling them when He does come in judgment on Israel (and He did shortly after the letter was written in 70 AD) they would see His coming and they did, Israel and temple were judged and destroyed (even those who pierced Him, the generation that killed him were there 40 years previously). Josephus records the events and they were gruesome indeed.
That’s why you read it in the full context. In the same way you carry on a conversation. Hence the error in taking random verses to make a point. It is invalid unless the verse truly conveys the full meaning when taken as the whole it was a part of.
Wong Shan, Jesus will come like a thief, At the pre-tribulation rapture, Then He will come back after the Great tribulation period And that’s when every eye will see Him.
The first is the smatching away of His bride. The second is His coming in all His glory
I was going to answer but Mike seems to have covered it.
Didn’t he live on a Mediterranean Island? I’ve been to the Aeolian Islands. Wormwood grows there. It is a hallucinogen. They used to put it in absinthe. And didn’t Revelations only just scrape into inclusion in the canon? It doesn’t look very reliable to me.
The first one simply states that those that claim to Be Christians will not be ready, they will be surprised .
It’s two different events:
One was His return in AD70 to destroy the Temple and Judaism. That is the one that everybody saw.
The other one, where He comes as a thief, is a personal return for every single person, individually, at the end of their earthly life.
The same type of language is used in Matt 24 where you get detailed, specific events and symbols that warn of the coming destruction and tribulation of AD70; and then there’s a completely different, contradictory description of an event that happens without warning where one is taken (by death) and another is left behind.
He comes as a thief to those who are not watching As in the days of Noah they were eating and drinking and giving away in marriage until the day flood came and destroyed them all except Noah and his family so it will be in the last days
My advice would be to be careful with Revelation. Quite hallucinatory
One says he’ll come like a thief in the night meaning unexpected and you never know when it’ll be. And when he does everyone will see him. No contradictions there
Wong Shan No contradiction. What Jesus said means He will come again like a thief. No one can predict the exact time. But when He does, He will be witnessed by everyone.
Yes, a noisy thief and he isn’t here for your silverware
Well let’s look at what the desiples asked Jesus:
“Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?”
Mark 13:4
Notice it says signs of you coming and Jesus in the olivet discourse never says you will see him physical. He does say:
Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. Mark 13:26
Jesus is quoting for Daniel
“I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.
Daniel 7:13-14
So what’s the big deal with the clouds? God the father came in the clouds in judgment but know one SEEN The father physically. The Old Testament. The Literal Cloud. Natural phenomena involving clouds are depicted occasionally in the Old Testament, but far from being only “natural,” these are invariably linked with the direct activity of God. Especially in the books of Job and Psalms, cloud-related phenomena are described as evidence of God’s mighty, wondrous works and inscrutable ways ( Job 22:14 ; 26:8-9 ; 35:5 ; 36:28-29 ; Job 37:11 Job 37:15-16 Job 37:18 ; Job 38:9 Job 38:34 Job 38:36-37 ; Psalm 77:17 ; 147:8 )
The Eschatological/Apocalyptic Cloud. The eschatological day of the Lord is several times described as a day of cloud-mass and dark storm cloud for the nation(s) being judged ( Ezek 34:12 ; Joel 2:2 ; Zeph 1:15 ; cf. Ezek 30:2 ). On that day the anger of Yahweh will burn with “a thick rising (smoke-) cloud” ( Isa 30:27 ). Clouds of theophany are also associated with eschatological judgment/salvation ( Isa 4:5 ; Nahum 1:3
So back to signs. Jesus told them in the olivet discourse everything they would see. Why would they need signs because they would not see him physically.
So let’s see what the passage says about seeing him.
Behold , He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.
Revelation 1:7
Noitce it goes back to the clouds again. In the Greek it says pas ophthalmos horaō autos (every eye will see him)
In the Greek this means
-the eye
-metaph. the eyes of the mind, the faculty of knowing
-to see with the eyes
-to see with the mind, to perceive, know
When the Greeks used this word it was metaphorical.
So all that together they would see the signs that Jesus spoke of and when they seen them they would know in there mind consciously that he was there.
To those who did not believe he was coming back he came like a thief upon Jerusalem.
He comes like a theif as in we don’t know when. Not that we don’t know where.
It means He will come when you least expect it…
There are 2 stages to Christ’s coming.
The first is at the first resurrection where he comes “in the air” to gather his saints, whether living or in the grave.
The second is his coming as king and ruler of all people.
The first is a warning – that if you Do Not Watch, then the End Times and Christ’s Return will catch you off guard when you do not expect it.
IE Anyone who is not noticing the signs happening *these days* are about to very surprised soon…
And the second passage tells us one difference between the antichrist and the real Jesus Christ- the antichrist is called the beast out of the sea, but when Christ comes out of the sky to make war with the beast, every eye will see Him coming from heaven in all His glory!
One is saying the exact day and time is unknown. The second is saying when God returns- it will be a spectacle. Not a contradiction at all.
After reading everyone’s message, can I understand it this way？
Actually, they are not contradictory, because these two types of prophecies are not fulfilled at the same time, but one is fulfilled first and then the other, that is, God first comes in a secret way and then appears publicly.
According to the Lord’s prophecies, He comes back in two ways: He will first descend in secret, and afterward appear publicly.That’s to say, Lord Jesus descends in secret before the great tribulation, and appears publicly after tribulation.
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