This verse hasn’t made sense to me for a long time. It just seemed out of place. It’s placement in the book of Rev. seemed illogical because I always assumed it was speaking of the rapture. I was discussing this with a post-tribber but it really doesn’t fit in with the post-trib scenario either. So, I’ve been pondering and praying for understanding for quite a while and here is what I’ve learned. I think the problem lies in the verses we normally associate with it.
I have a KJV study bible with many editorial comments. I keep forgetting that these comments are based upon the presumptions of their (the editors) beliefs. The editors are pre-trib and their comments reflect that belief and thus their relating scriptures may not always be the best, but are assumed because of their pre-disposition to pre-trib theology. I’ve seen this in other translations as well on other topics. The identity of the church as the bride is one that comes to mind.
With all that said, let’s take a closer look at the verse in question: Rev. 16:15 - “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”
The “relating” verses in my study bible are Matt. 24:43 and 2 Co. 5:3.
Matt.24:43 & Luke 12:39
- “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.”
2 Cor. 5:1-4
- “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 4For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life
."
I added vss. 1,2,4 for the sake of context. The word “naked” (according to the editors) in this verse implies, “without a body”. That didn’t make a lot of sense to me either?!
I put in bold (back to Rev. 16:15) and underlined the important parts of our study. If we were to look at this verse literally and as it seems upon reading it, woe to the person who is showering or in a state of undress at the rapture. They would become the “laughingstock” of heaven. I’m sure in decades past many a sermon was preached on the dangers of sleeping in the nude based on this verse. However, a deeper look into this verse shows that a very different concept is in mind. Here are some other verses commonly associated with this theme.
1 Thess. 5:2-6
- “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.”
2 Pet. 3:10
- “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
Rev. 3:3
- “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”
The first two say that “the day of the Lord” will come as a thief in the night. Now we know that the day of the Lord is a multi-themed event spanning over a millennia, so these three verses as well as Matt. 24:43 seem to be speaking of the sudden, unannounced arrival of these events. I don’t believe any of these tie into Rev. 16:15. If you remember, prior to this verse the two witnesses were making God’s forthcoming judgments known to the world (Rev. 11:3-12) and we had the three angels announcing to the world the same, (Rev. 14:6-9). With these facts in mind, His “coming as a thief” as normally understood, seems unlikely. While the world may not believe or heed the warnings they won’t be able to claim unawareness or ignorance.
We also need to decide who is Christ speaking to. There are three possibilities:
1. The church
2. Believing Israel in hiding, or
3. The unbelieving world.
I readily admit that I’m studying this with my own pre-disposition towards a pre-wrath rapture and will use scriptures that seem to support my understanding, however, I hope that this study will at least have most of you re-examining how you have previously interpreted the scripture.
Within the context of Rev. 16:15, just prior to this verse we have the three frogs going out to the three kings (kings of the east, north and south: the a/c is already there.) to call them to the “great battle”. The very next verse affirms that they are gathered to Armageddon.
Seeing as I believe the church to already be in heaven at this time, I believe this verse is speaking to the remaining two parties. “Behold I come as a thief,” is spoken to the world and the second part, I believe, is spoken to believing Israel in hiding. I think the best concept that the word “thief” implies is with the context of John 10:10 - “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
Christ is coming to Armageddon to reclaim (steal back) His throne, to kill and destroy His enemies (those who persecuted His church during the great trib.) and the enemies of Israel.
The second part of John 10:10 is the promise to those who heed the second part of Rev. 16:15 - …”Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. They will have an abundant life if they “watcheth and keepeth” their garments. This abundant life is depicted in many of the OT prophecies about the millennium. What garments are these?
Again, we have three choices:
1. Normal every day garments.
2. Wedding garments.
3. Garments of righteousness.
Here are a few verses that may shed light on this subject:
Rev. 3:4
- “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.”
Rev. 3:18
- “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”
Matt. 22:11-12
- “And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.”
According to Strong’s, the words “watcheth and keepeth” combined have two possible meanings: The first is to “keep awake and guard from loss”. This one is probably the most considered, however, I think the second meanings are more appropriate to this verse: “To be vigilant and take note of prophecy.” The bible doesn’t tell us what believing Israel is doing for the 1260 days they are in their place of safety but I believe that they are being instructed by the 144,000 on the ways of salvation, the OT prophecies and their fulfillments regarding the Messiah, the NT and their prophecies, (taking note of prophecy) to give them an understanding of what’s going on in the outside world.
I believe the garments also apply to “believing Israel” who I believe is depicted in Rev. 19:8 - “Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) (NIV) This verse implies they are given their garments because of their righteous acts while the church has their garments washed in the blood of the Lamb. Rev. 7:14 - “And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
I believe the latter part of this verse: “he walk naked, and they see his shame “ also has a different not so apparent meaning. The Strong’s definition is simply: “he walk nude and they see his indecency”. There must be a different meaning behind this phrase. Here’s my opinion. According to Rev. 19:8, their garments are the result of their righteous acts. Rev. 3:18 above can imply that without acts of righteousness they will have no garments (clothing).
As I believe the 144,000 to be the bride of Christ; Matt. 22:11-12, also listed above, can take on a deeper meaning because these garments of righteous acts also double as wedding garments when they are described as the “wife” of the Lamb. Rev. 19:7 - “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.”
Only Israel has ever been referred to as the wife of God. The book of Hosea (with his unfaithful wife) outlines the history of God’s relationship to Israel and their future restoration of fellowship. There are several other “word” pictures that depict Israel as an unfaithful “wife” in the OT. It can also be implied that the description given to John in
Rev. 19:10
- “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
This identifies the church (that have the testimony of Jesus, see also Rev. 12:17) as someone other than the woman of vss. 7-8. So, to sum it all up, this is my opinion of what Rev. 16:15 is saying:
The time of my vengeance has come (Lk 21:22 & 2 Thes. 1:8-10) Behold! I come to reclaim my crown and to kill and destroy the enemies of my church and of Israel. Be vigilant, take heed of the prophecies lest you are judged unfit to wear the wedding garments of righteousness and be seen walking unprepared as if naked and ashamed.
I have a KJV study bible with many editorial comments. I keep forgetting that these comments are based upon the presumptions of their (the editors) beliefs. The editors are pre-trib and their comments reflect that belief and thus their relating scriptures may not always be the best, but are assumed because of their pre-disposition to pre-trib theology. I’ve seen this in other translations as well on other topics. The identity of the church as the bride is one that comes to mind.
With all that said, let’s take a closer look at the verse in question: Rev. 16:15 - “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”
The “relating” verses in my study bible are Matt. 24:43 and 2 Co. 5:3.
Matt.24:43 & Luke 12:39
- “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.”
2 Cor. 5:1-4
- “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 4For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life
."
I added vss. 1,2,4 for the sake of context. The word “naked” (according to the editors) in this verse implies, “without a body”. That didn’t make a lot of sense to me either?!
I put in bold (back to Rev. 16:15) and underlined the important parts of our study. If we were to look at this verse literally and as it seems upon reading it, woe to the person who is showering or in a state of undress at the rapture. They would become the “laughingstock” of heaven. I’m sure in decades past many a sermon was preached on the dangers of sleeping in the nude based on this verse. However, a deeper look into this verse shows that a very different concept is in mind. Here are some other verses commonly associated with this theme.
1 Thess. 5:2-6
- “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.”
2 Pet. 3:10
- “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
Rev. 3:3
- “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”
The first two say that “the day of the Lord” will come as a thief in the night. Now we know that the day of the Lord is a multi-themed event spanning over a millennia, so these three verses as well as Matt. 24:43 seem to be speaking of the sudden, unannounced arrival of these events. I don’t believe any of these tie into Rev. 16:15. If you remember, prior to this verse the two witnesses were making God’s forthcoming judgments known to the world (Rev. 11:3-12) and we had the three angels announcing to the world the same, (Rev. 14:6-9). With these facts in mind, His “coming as a thief” as normally understood, seems unlikely. While the world may not believe or heed the warnings they won’t be able to claim unawareness or ignorance.
We also need to decide who is Christ speaking to. There are three possibilities:
1. The church
2. Believing Israel in hiding, or
3. The unbelieving world.
I readily admit that I’m studying this with my own pre-disposition towards a pre-wrath rapture and will use scriptures that seem to support my understanding, however, I hope that this study will at least have most of you re-examining how you have previously interpreted the scripture.
Within the context of Rev. 16:15, just prior to this verse we have the three frogs going out to the three kings (kings of the east, north and south: the a/c is already there.) to call them to the “great battle”. The very next verse affirms that they are gathered to Armageddon.
Seeing as I believe the church to already be in heaven at this time, I believe this verse is speaking to the remaining two parties. “Behold I come as a thief,” is spoken to the world and the second part, I believe, is spoken to believing Israel in hiding. I think the best concept that the word “thief” implies is with the context of John 10:10 - “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
Christ is coming to Armageddon to reclaim (steal back) His throne, to kill and destroy His enemies (those who persecuted His church during the great trib.) and the enemies of Israel.
The second part of John 10:10 is the promise to those who heed the second part of Rev. 16:15 - …”Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. They will have an abundant life if they “watcheth and keepeth” their garments. This abundant life is depicted in many of the OT prophecies about the millennium. What garments are these?
Again, we have three choices:
1. Normal every day garments.
2. Wedding garments.
3. Garments of righteousness.
Here are a few verses that may shed light on this subject:
Rev. 3:4
- “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.”
Rev. 3:18
- “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”
Matt. 22:11-12
- “And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.”
According to Strong’s, the words “watcheth and keepeth” combined have two possible meanings: The first is to “keep awake and guard from loss”. This one is probably the most considered, however, I think the second meanings are more appropriate to this verse: “To be vigilant and take note of prophecy.” The bible doesn’t tell us what believing Israel is doing for the 1260 days they are in their place of safety but I believe that they are being instructed by the 144,000 on the ways of salvation, the OT prophecies and their fulfillments regarding the Messiah, the NT and their prophecies, (taking note of prophecy) to give them an understanding of what’s going on in the outside world.
I believe the garments also apply to “believing Israel” who I believe is depicted in Rev. 19:8 - “Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) (NIV) This verse implies they are given their garments because of their righteous acts while the church has their garments washed in the blood of the Lamb. Rev. 7:14 - “And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
I believe the latter part of this verse: “he walk naked, and they see his shame “ also has a different not so apparent meaning. The Strong’s definition is simply: “he walk nude and they see his indecency”. There must be a different meaning behind this phrase. Here’s my opinion. According to Rev. 19:8, their garments are the result of their righteous acts. Rev. 3:18 above can imply that without acts of righteousness they will have no garments (clothing).
As I believe the 144,000 to be the bride of Christ; Matt. 22:11-12, also listed above, can take on a deeper meaning because these garments of righteous acts also double as wedding garments when they are described as the “wife” of the Lamb. Rev. 19:7 - “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.”
Only Israel has ever been referred to as the wife of God. The book of Hosea (with his unfaithful wife) outlines the history of God’s relationship to Israel and their future restoration of fellowship. There are several other “word” pictures that depict Israel as an unfaithful “wife” in the OT. It can also be implied that the description given to John in
Rev. 19:10
- “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
This identifies the church (that have the testimony of Jesus, see also Rev. 12:17) as someone other than the woman of vss. 7-8. So, to sum it all up, this is my opinion of what Rev. 16:15 is saying:
The time of my vengeance has come (Lk 21:22 & 2 Thes. 1:8-10) Behold! I come to reclaim my crown and to kill and destroy the enemies of my church and of Israel. Be vigilant, take heed of the prophecies lest you are judged unfit to wear the wedding garments of righteousness and be seen walking unprepared as if naked and ashamed.
