1 Thessalonians 5:1 - Exposition

This verse is connected with what precedes. The apostle was comforting the Thessalonians under the loss of their deceased friends by the assurance that both the living and the dead would be gathered together at the advent. The question would naturally arise, "When shall these things be?" ( Luke 21:7 ); and it would appear that the Thessalonians expected an immediate advent. The apostle represses their curiosity on this point by reminding them of the uncertainty of the time of the Lord's coming. But of the times and the seasons, brethren ; that is, of the time and the precise period of the Lord's advent. "Times" and "seasons" are elsewhere united together ( Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 .; Daniel 2:21 ; Acts 1:7 ). The word translated "times" denotes time absolutely without regard to circumstances; and the word rendered "seasons" denotes a definite point of time; not merely the day, but the hour ( Mark 13:32 ). Ye have no need that I write unto you ; literally, that ought be written unto you (R.V.); comp. 1 Thessalonians 4:9 . The reason why it was not needful for the apostle to write unto them was, not because he regarded the information unprofitable or superfluous, or because he knew it to be impossible, but because he had already informed them when at Thessalonica that the time of the advent was beyond the sphere of his teaching. The apostle mentions this to repress that vain curiosity which is natural to man, and which was the occasion of so much disorder among the Thessalonians. Our duty is, not to pry into the times and seasons which the Father hath put in his own power ( Acts 1:7 ), but to exercise constant watchfulness.