Commentaries:
Christ is pictured as coming as a "thief." Does this mean He will return secretly—invisibly—in a clandestine manner? That is a fair question. But here is another question to ponder: When thieves or burglars rob a home, do they come invisibly? Of course not!
A thief, however, usually comes at night when the household is away or asleep. He catches them unaware, off their guard—he surprises them! One never knows when a thief is coming. If one did, one would call the police and be prepared for him. The big question a person would want answered if he already knew a thief was planning to rob his home would be when.
So it is with the coming of Christ. He will not come invisibly—any more than a thief comes invisibly. But He will come unexpectedly! No one will know exactly when He is going to come.
Jesus Himself explained: "Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 24:42-44).
And so Jesus likened His coming to a "thief" in respect to the time of His coming and the element of surprise—not whether He would be seen (Revelation 1:7)!
The Sensational Return of Jesus Christ!
Here is an explicit warning: that Christ will come as a thief. In the midst of disaster upon disaster and global war, some in God's church will be surprised by it. It seems ironic how that could happen, but it is apparently going to happen that way.
Here also is a conditional promise: Those who watch and keep their garments will be blessed.
Revelation 16 does not just reveal prophetic information about the future like some type of crystal ball. No, the prophecy is capped with a command to act: to "watch" and to "keep." Choosing not to remain vigilant, choosing not to guard our spiritual condition from atrophy, we can become complacent. We can become neglectful. Our obedience to the commands to watch and to keep is what is truly important to this particular scripture—not a full understanding of every nuance of this chapter.
In fact, what God wants to see—and in fact, expects to see—is our obedience in faith to the commands of this passage notwithstanding our lack of understanding of the details. In this sense, the blessing promised in verse 15 comes in spite of our full understanding of this prophecy, or lack thereof. Knowledge is not a prerequisite to receiving the blessing. Obedience is.
We believe God's word of prophecy, though we may not always necessarily understand it. Nevertheless, God wants the prophecy to motivate us to obedience, and our obedience will bring a blessing with it.
Charles Whitaker
To Watch and Keep
The Devil will again go on the offensive against God with the same results: He is cast back down to earth. In his anger over his defeat, he will savagely persecute God's people and gather the armies of man to fight against Christ when He comes. He and his human agents will be soundly defeated, and Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit for a thousand years.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Basic Doctrines: Satan's Origin and Destiny
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Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Luke 21:36
Revelation 1:3
Library resources that contain this verse:
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