Here is the passage I'm referencing with some surrounding verses for context:
1 Thess 4:14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. 5:1 Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, Paul was writing about the second coming of Christ here and he first focused on what will happen to believers when Christ returns. The dead in Christ will be resurrected and those who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air.
Then Paul shifts the focus to what will happen to unbelievers at that point. He talks about how they are in spiritual darkness, unlike believers who "are all children of the light". And he indicates that the day of the Lord, which is the day Christ returns, will come like a thief in the night (Jesus Himself said this as well - Matthew 24:42-44, Revelation 16:15). Which means He will come suddenly and unexpectedly, which is what Jesus Himself indicated when He said that no one knows the day or hour of His second coming (Matt 24:36,42-44; Matthew 25:13). And destruction will come upon believers at that time and it will be such that "they will not escape" it. And, based on 1 Thess 5:9, we can deduce that this destruction Paul was talking about is a result of God's wrath that believers, of course, will not have to experience.
So, it should be clear that 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 is talking about something that will happen on the day Christ returns. I think most of us here agree with that, whether we are pre-trib or post-trib and whether we are premil or amil. But, we don't all agree on what exactly Paul is saying in that passage in terms of who exactly will be experiencing the destruction resulting from God's wrath that he references there.
And this leads me to the main point that I'm intending to make in this thread. Those of us who are Amillennialists (except for some partial preterists who relate 1 Thess 4-5 to what happened in 70 AD) believe that the sudden and unexpected destruction that Paul wrote about will come upon all unbelievers in the world. That is why he said "they will not escape". None of them will. If any of them could escape it, then I don't believe he would have said "they will not escape". But, does it say that no unbelievers can escape it specifically? No. Is there any other scripture we can use to support that claim? Yes, there is.
Keep in mind that Paul is writing about the day of the Lord coming like a thief in 1 Thess 5:2-3. If the following isn't speaking of the same event, then I don't know how two scriptures can ever be related together. It's clear to me that Peter wrote about the same event here:
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
When I read 2 Peter 3:10-13 and then I read 1 Thess 5:2-3, it occurs to me that it's no wonder that Paul said "they will not escape". How could anyone escape fire coming down upon the entire earth? Obviously, they couldn't. Only believers who will be changed and have immortal bodies could survive that.
So, with all of this in mind, how exactly is it possible that anyone could survive the sudden destruction resulting from God's wrath that will come down on the earth when Christ returns? Jesus Himself indicated that no unbelievers will survive that just as none survived the flood (Peter makes this same point in 2 Peter 3:5-7).
Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
It seems clear to me that Paul and Peter taught the same thing that Jesus taught, which was that no unbelievers will survive His wrath when He comes again. As Jesus Himself indicated, just as "the flood came and took" all unbelievers away and killed them, "That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man". No unbelievers will survive His second coming, either. As Peter said in 2 Peter 3:13, we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth in accordance with the promise of Christ's second coming. So, why look forward to an earthly millennial kingdom in accordance with the promise of His second coming instead? Especially when scripture indicates that no mortals will survive His return?