The Thief in the Night

 Brian Hennessy

It has been a popular end time Christian teaching to suggest Jesus is coming like a “thief in the night” for His church. It is easy to see why since Jesus Himself says, “Behold, I am coming like a thief” (Rev. 16:15). And therefore, if He has cast Himself in this role, then it is assumed His brand of “thievery” must necessarily be a good thing that will bless believers.

This understanding – or misunderstanding, as I hope to show – has led many Christians to believe the “good thing” Jesus is coming to do is to steal His saints away at the time known as the “rapture of the saints.”  But if the premise is false, any logic that follows from that premise must be false also. So what is the truth? Let’s take a closer look at the Scriptures and find out.

The Thief Motif

I will list all twelve passages in the New Testament that refer to a “thief” and let them speak for themselves, followed by my own observations and inspirations. All the Scriptures come from the New American Standard Bible. The Greek word translated as “thief” in each of these Scriptures is the word kleptes. It differs from the word lestes, which is usually translated “robber,” in that a thief uses quiet and stealth and surprise to steal from his victim, while a robber plunders openly and with violence.

1.) John 10:1

“Truly, truly, I say unto you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.”

2.) John 10:10

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

3.) John 12:6

“Now he [Judas] said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief.”

4.) 1 Peter 4:15

“Make sure none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler.”

5.) Luke 12:33

“Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.”

Those first five verses clearly define “thief” in terms we readily understand, namely that he is a bad person. In John 10:10 the thief is described by Jesus as one who “steals, kills and destroys,” and who is understood by most Bible teachers to be the very personification of evil - Satan himself. Jesus clearly contrasts and separates Himself from the thief by declaring Himself to be the One who comes to give us something (life abundantly) – not to take something away from us. So right there we are given a major piece of information that would strongly argue against Jesus ever being considered the “thief in the night” so far as believers are concerned.

Who Gets Stolen?

6.) Luke 12:39, 40

“But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. You too be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

7.) Matthew 24:42-44

“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you think He will not.”

These two passages, one written by Luke and the other by Mathew, are obviously just slightly different versions of the same teaching where Jesus introduces the concept of a “thief” in regard to His second coming. At first reading (and even after a second and third) you might think Jesus is identifying His coming for the church with that of a thief.

This is where a lot of Christian teaching spins off course and has Jesus coming to steal the saints away in a secret rapture. It is usually premised on the preceding verses in Matthew 24 where Jesus likens His coming to the flood of Noah and says, as at that time, “one will be taken, and one will be left” (Matt 24:40). The assumption is made that the believer is the one who is taken (stolen) and the unbeliever the one who is left. But if you go back a couple of verses to the story of Noah it is clear that the ungodly are the ones who are taken (drowned) and Noah’s family who is left behind. So that contradicts that whole understanding.

The idea that the good are taken and the bad are left is also contradicted by the kingdom parables that Jesus taught. In the parable of the tares and wheat, it is the tares that are gathered first and burned with fire, while the wheat gets stored in the barn (Matt. 13:30). And in the net full of fish it is the good fish that are kept and the bad expelled. The point is, as Jesus explains: “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous” (Matt. 13:49).

Again, it makes no sense that Jesus would come as a thief to His own people because by His own words He defined His ministry as being opposed to that of a thief who “comes only to steal, kill and destroy.”

Therefore, we must look for another understanding.                  

The simplest understanding is that Jesus is just comparing the suddenness of His coming with the suddenness of a thief’s coming to emphasize the need for readiness. That is obvious when He says, “For this reason you too be ready.”

 But the question remains, why would Jesus equate His joyous second coming with the jarring event of a robbery? You can sense that there’s more going on here than just a message about “suddenness.”

The True Thief

Let me just state up front that I believe when the “thief motif” is employed it is never directed at the true believer. But is always directed at either the unbeliever or the carnal Christian. We see this when Peter, obviously concerned that he and his fellow disciples might be caught unaware by his coming, asks Jesus: “Lord are you addressing this parable [about the thief] to us or to everyone as well?” (Luke 12:41) Jesus responds with another parable about an unfaithful servant and says, “The master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers” (v. 46).  Inferred, of course, is that faithful servants have nothing to worry about.

Although the coming of Jesus will have the suddenness of a “thief” to those who are not ready, I believe Jesus is also warning us of a real thief in Luke 12 and Matthew 24 also. A thief who can be defended against by an alert “head of the house.”  I believe Jesus was informing His disciples (and us) that just before He returns, this real thief will show up... namely Satan. Therefore we need to be on guard, because as the time of Jesus’ coming approaches this thief will try to break into our house and rob us. is comingcomin

According to the warning this can only happen if the man of the house is asleep when the thief shows up. This is just another way of warning us not to be so caught up in the pursuits, pleasures and anxieties of this world that our spiritual porch light goes out and our understanding is darkened. If we want to avoid getting robbed, we should act like the owner of the house who knew what hour the thief was coming and stayed awake to prevent a break-in. This is a clear encouragement from the Lord, that no matter how great the deception of Satan... or his antichrist, we will not be deceived if we take the Lord’s words to heart. “Be dressed in readiness and keep your lamps alight. Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from [preparing] the wedding feast so that they will immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks” (Luke 12:35,36). Our life should always be a lit lamp that allows the light of the One who dwells within to shine forth.

 If we successfully withstand the thief’s attempt to extinguish our light and plunder us, we will then be ready, willing and able to open the door when Jesus suddenly returns so we can go into the wedding feast with Him (like the five wise virgins in Matt. 25).

This understanding is confirmed, I believe, when you read all of Matthew 24. Just look at the first answer Jesus gives to His disciple’s anxious question, “When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matt 24:3). Jesus responds, “See to it that no one misleads (deceives) you.”  He issues that same warning several times throughout the chapter. And since we know that the way the Devil deceives us is with lies, then the way to keep the thief from breaking into our house is by holding on to the truth.

Therefore, you have to ask yourself: What is it he wants to steal from me? What truth do I need to guard most? I believe the answers to those questions will become clear as we continue to study the rest of the “thief” Scriptures.

A Clash of Civilizations

8.) 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3

“For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”

9). 1 Thessalonians 5:4

“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief.”

10.) 2 Peter 3:10

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”

In these passages, two written by Paul and one by Peter, the concept of “thief” is expanded to include the entire time frame the Bible calls the “day of the Lord.” All the prophets spoke of that “day” as a time of worldwide catastrophic judgment upon a sinful mankind. For example:

“Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation; and He will exterminate its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light; the sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will not shed its light. Thus I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud, and abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.” (Isaiah 13:9-11)

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them all ablaze,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” (Mal 4:1)

These prophecies of a final judgment by God upon a sinful world system, which we know is Satan’s kingdom, is continued by the writers of the New Testament. We see it front and center in Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians, in Peter’s letters, in the Book of Revelation, and it certainly lines up with the words of Jesus in Matthew 24 about the flood of Noah.

This judgment is the cleansing process needed to eradicate all sin and rebellion with its worldwide corrupting effect before the coming of Jesus and the setting up of His kingdom on earth. That’s why “fire” is mentioned so often. The Greek word for fire is pur, from which we get the English word “purify.” Therefore the coming of the kingdom of God will result in an epic clash of civilizations, in which the satanically inspired kingdoms of mankind will be burned up and replaced by God’s everlasting kingdom. Nowhere is this said more clearly than in the Book of Daniel.

“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms [of men], but it will itself endure forever.” (Dan 2:4)

“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, so 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...and the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come” (Dan. 7: 13,14,18)

But why is this invasion of God’s kingdom with its attendant judgment described as coming like a “thief,” when it sounds like it will be even more tumultuous than World War II? I would make two observations.

 First, I think it is very clear in these three Scriptures (8, 9, 10) that it is only an analogy. That is, the day of the Lord will come like/ as/ in the same way a thief comes...unexpectedly. Even WWII in the Pacific began with a sneak attack at Pearl Harbor. And in Europe, the Allied invasion at Normandy caught the Germans unaware. Therefore, the day of the Lord will begin as a surprise to those who are spiritually asleep... just as Noah’s flood did. It will come when a self-satisfied world is resting in a false peace and security. It will come like a thief and quickly remove the illusion of peace and contentment – and worse, the hope of salvation.

Second, the object of this surprise judgment are “those who did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved” (2 Thess. 2:10).  Again, it is not designed to surprise the believer. “For you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief....For God has not destined us for wrath” (1 Thess. 5:4, 9).

This also gives further confirmation that Jesus is not coming in the manner of a thief for us. Otherwise we would want His ministry to overtake us on that day.

But again, when we couple these three Scriptures with the whole teaching of Luke 12 and Matthew 24, 25, it is clear that some Christians will be as shocked as the unbelieving world. It is these who need to wake up and repent or they will find themselves trapped in the day of the Lord.

“Be on guard that your hearts may not be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life and that day come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come on all who dwell on the face of the earth. But keep alert at all times, praying in order that you have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:34-36).

Plenty of Warning

Although Jesus told us that not even He knew the exact day or the hour, “but the Father alone” (Matt 24:36), He did tell us that when we start seeing certain signs, “recognize He is near, right at the door” (Matt 24:33). So again, if we are paying attention we won’t get caught napping.

In addition to the list of worldwide catastrophes Jesus gave us, Paul gave us two very definite signs that must occur prior to the coming of the Lord. In his second letter to the Thessalonians he states emphatically, “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God” (2 Thess. 2:3, 4).

Clearly this antichrist and his satanically inspired corruption of the truth must take place before the coming of the Lord. This thief will come “with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness, for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they may believe what is false” (2 Thess. 2: 9-11).

I would not be surprised to see this man of sin come forth from the church with the deception of a great “anointing.” That he will be a well-recognized and trusted member of the body of Christ... as Judas was, who I believe is a foreshadowing of the true antichrist.  The words of the apostle John give added credibility to this thought: “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know it is the last hour. They went out from us [or came out of us], but they were not really of us” (1 John 2:18, 19).

Another antichrist who comes to mind is the Emperor Constantine, who, when he converted to Christianity, was no doubt a cause of great rejoicing among Christians of that day. It meant the end of persecution and the beginning of acceptance in the Empire. Little did they realize that this man, who carried the title of pontifex maximus, the chief priest of all the religions of Rome (a title later claimed by the Popes), would try to take his seat in the temple of God (the church assembly) and declare what was and what was not sound doctrine. But that is exactly what happened. He united the church with the world system and established Christianity as a religion (which it is not!). And believers, who later disagreed with the false doctrinal teachings endorsed by the ecumenical councils that he and subsequent emperors presided over, were harshly persecuted by the state. 

So again, we see why we must stay awake and be walking in truth when this satanic personality finally shows up. Otherwise we could be deluded along with the rest of the world and suffer great loss. (For the three levels of punishment that can befall a sleeping “believer” who gets trapped, read Luke 12: 40-48.)

Here now are the last two “thief” Scriptures.

The Clothes of the Saints

11.) Revelation 3:3-5

“Remember therefore what you have received and heard; and keep it and repent. If therefore you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white; for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life.”

12.) Revelation 16:15

“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”

          Here we are confronted with Jesus personally equating His coming with that of a thief. Does this contradict all that has been said so far? Not at all. It is really no different than saying the “day of the Lord” is coming like a thief. It is still just an analogy stressing the suddenness of the coming judgment of God upon a rebellious world and the loss they will suffer. It is especially addressed again to the disobedient, sleeping servants of Jesus.

This understanding is very different from the “rapture” scenario where everyone who has accepted Christ as Savior is caught up to be with the Lord - even those who have been walking in the flesh their whole Christian lives. In the popular Left Behind books, only the “non-Christians” are left behind to face whatever. But as the mature believer knows, nothing happens in God’s kingdom that doesn’t happen by faith and obedience. So we can be certain a step of faith and obedience will be required by all believers when the time comes for “our gathering together to Him” (2 Thess. 2:1). Of course, if we have not been walking in faith all along (trusting God and submitting to the Holy Spirit) it will be very difficult to jump into it at the last minute, as the five foolish virgins found out (see Matthew 25:1-13). This is why we all need to keep our lamps continually filled with Holy Spirit oil and our wicks trimmed (i.e. a clean conscience before God).

More importantly, in these two verses we finally find the answer to the question raised earlier: What does the thief most want to steal from us?

We find the answer revealed in the words of Jesus when He says that the one who stays awake “will keep his clothes” and “not walk about naked and men will not see his shame” (Rev 16:15). From this we can deduce that the one who falls asleep will have his clothes stolen and will end up naked and ashamed. Therefore, we can see that it is our clothes the thief seeks to steal in advance of Jesus’ coming!

All we have to do now is discover what biblical truth these clothes represent? And how do we keep from being robbed? The simplicity of the answer gives us much hope that being 100% ready for the Lord’s return does not require a masters in theology to figure out. Or the idea we have to become a Mother Theresa to earn it. No, it just requires that we remember and hold on to what we have already “received and heard” (Rev 3:3). In other words remember the gospel we first received and keep walking in it. And not let go of our first love - Jesus.

The clothes of the saints are discussed several times in the Book of Revelation. They are usually described as being “white” or as being “fine linen, bright and clean.” They are always pictured as a reward given to the “overcomer”... the believer who endures to the end.  

For example, in Revelation 3:3-5 (see above) Jesus tells the believers at Sardis to “wake up” or experience sudden loss at His return. He then commends a few members for not having “soiled their garments” and tells them that their reward will be to “walk with Me in white.”

Later in the same chapter Jesus addresses the church in Laodicea. He is very critical of them also for their worldly arrogance and pride and urges them to repent and “buy from Me gold refined by fire [a life purged of impurities by the testing fire of the Holy Spirit... 1 Pet. 1:7], that you might become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed.” (Rev 3:18).

Although white garments are mentioned in several other places, such as upon the 24 elders (4:4), the martyrs (6:11), and the armies of heaven (19: 14), the definition of the “white garments” for the saints isn’t revealed until we read Rev. 19: 7, 8.

“Let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.

And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”

In the Amplified Bible, verse eight reads:

“She has been permitted to dress in fine (radiant) linen, dazzling and white - for the fine linen is (signifies, represents) the righteousness (the upright, just, and godly living, deeds, and conduct, and right standing with God) of the saints (God’s holy people).”

So here in a nutshell is my understanding of all this.

Got Righteousness?

When we believed on Jesus as our Savior we accepted the gospel of faith righteousness as the way to be forgiven for our sins and to walk with God. That is, we understood that we could never earn His righteousness by good works. Or keep it by good works. His salvation must be accepted by faith and continued to be adhered to by faith. “For in it [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live [keep on living] by faith” (Rom 1:18). There was to be no turning back to a gospel of works righteousness, such as the Galatians were doing which caused Paul to write his powerful letter urging them to stand fast in the freedom of Christ.

It was the snare of works righteousness that caused most of the Jewish people to stumble and miss the first coming of Messiah.

“What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone....For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end [goal, purpose] of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Rom. 9:30-10:4).

          For the better part of 19 centuries, most of the church of Jesus Christ has not been walking in faith righteousness. We have been walking to some degree in works righteousness. That is, after believing in Jesus as Savior, most Christians ignorantly turn back to trusting in some form of religious activity to justify themselves before God. This turning away from totally trusting God for our salvation to some form of religion, started as early as the second century. It eventually reached the level of a full-blown apostasy. Thankfully, God had mercy on us and sent the Reformation to reintroduce the gospel of faith righteousness. But the pure gospel was too difficult for most of the Reformers to accept, having been in the habit of practicing some form of self righteousness for centuries. So they held on to a milder version of their Catholic religion (since called “Protestantism”), teaching that believers still had religious requirements to meet even after receiving their free gift of righteousness. So they continued to promote an organized church system with all of its temples of worship, its holy days of obligation, its separation of clergy and laity, its hierarchical system of authority, it’s structured services, and many more such man-made traditions.

          In other words, like the churches of Sardis and Laodicea, we have stained our garment of faith righteousness by trusting to some degree in our own works instead of resting fully in the atonement work of Jesus. Not all have, of course, because God always has His remnant. But probably most. But that is God’s business, since only He can look on the heart and know where our trust truly lies. But all His people need to wake up now and repent of our “Christianity,” because the hour is late.

We need to see that, at the very least, our systemized religious system is the vestibule to works righteousness. And the further we enter into the sanctuary the closer we come to worshipping the works of our hands. Which will eventually cause us to prostrate ourselves before the “abomination of desolation,” however that satanic idol becomes manifest. It matters not if our religious organization embraces the true message of salvation through Jesus Christ. If our actions deny it, our confession is meaningless The same is true if we try to add to our faith parts of the Mosaic Law, as many Christians in search of their Hebraic roots are starting to do. Although the Covenant at Mount Sinai was the only biblical religion God ever gave mankind, with the introduction of the New Covenant it is now defunct. It is just another form of works righteousness. And without the temple it can’t be kept anyway, so why bother?

The point is that all religion is a “stumbling stone” for those who have put their complete trust in the finished work of Messiah, the Son of David. Religion is just busy work that makes us think we are serving and pleasing God, when we are not. Rather, we are just working on our own plan of salvation. Worse, we are not doing the work He has called us to do. We have buried our “talent” (Matt 25:25). 

          That’s why all true believers must awaken and realize that our religious addiction is setting us up to be deceived by the coming thief. I have no doubt this master of deceit will introduce the most exciting, appealing religious environment ever seen on planet earth. So much so, that Jesus said if it were possible, “even the elect would be deceived.” If we get caught in his trap, we will not walk in white with Jesus when He returns. The thief will have stolen our clothes and our crown, and nakedness will be our shame.  Like Adam and Eve who had it all and then suddenly realized they had lost it all...we too will suddenly realize we are naked.  

Then there will be much weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The Reward of Readiness

But the servants of the Lord will have a different experience. “They will walk with Me in white; for they are worthy” (Rev. 3:4).

 I believe the white garment of righteousness we will receive at the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-9) will be simply a manifestation of  the righteousness we wore by faith during our lifetime.

You see, we have already received the righteousness of God when we believed on Jesus. At that moment of faith He exchanged our sin for His righteousness. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). That means we now have as much “right-standing” with God as we will ever have. Indeed we have as much as Jesus does, since it is He who dwells in us. We must believe that and act accordingly. If we think we still need to add some kind of religious activity to our faith, then our actions show we really don’t believe we are righteous enough. Or understand that righteousness is a free gift and can’t be earned by good works. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast” (Eph 21:8, 9). It can only be received by faith and walked out through obedience. Like Father Abraham, it is reckoned to “those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead” (Rom. 4:24). It just comes with the package. Therefore, consider yourself “reckoned.” And rest in that knowledge.

Right now our righteousness is invisible. We can’t see it. Or feel it. We possess it only by faith in the truthfulness of God’s word which tells us we have it. However, on the day Jesus is revealed our righteousness will suddenly become manifest. It will shine forth with blinding brightness transforming our bodies to be like His. It will be the morning star arising in our hearts. And when it shines forth, the whole world will see it. The night will be over. It will be a new day.

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you, and nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising” (Isa. 60:1).

“I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness” (Isa. 61:10).

          I believe this white garment of righteousness was modeled for us by Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. “And six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and brought them to a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light” (Matt. 17:1, 2). A verse earlier (16:28) Jesus had said that a few of His disciples would not die until they had seen “the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom” in the “glory of the Father.” Now three of them had. He had given them a preview of His coming.

          Peter, one of the three who witnessed this amazing event, later testified to its truthfulness. “For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty...on the mountain. And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your heart” (2 Pet 1:16-19).

          Peter was telling us that the words of prophecy we have are like a beacon of hope to us right now in an ever darkening world. But on the day of His coming forth the glory of God will outshine those words, as the rising morning sun does the streetlights. That light will be the radiance of the glory of God shining forth through us and we will then truly become “the light of the world, a city set on a hill” (Matt 5:14).

“And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp [as in the Holy Place] nor the light of the sun [as in the Outer Court], because the Lord God shall illumine them [with the light of His shekinah glory from the Holies of Holies]; and they shall reign forever and ever.” (Rev 22:5)

          This manifestation of God’s glory upon us will take place in the twinkling of an eye when our mortality puts on immortality. It will fulfill, I believe, the answer to the oft repeated prayer of the Psalmist: “God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause Thy face to shine upon us” (Ps 67:1). His face literally will shine forth upon us and the world will see Jesus in His body – His holy, chosen ones - as we never imagined. “Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father” (Matt 13:43). This will also be the glorification of God’s temple, His body of believers, fulfilling the words spoken by the prophet Haggai: “The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former” (Hag 2:9).

          And all this is linked to the white garments of righteousness that we will put on when Jesus returns... if we don’t fall asleep and get robbed.