1 Thessalonians 5:1 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

The apostle having described the coming of Christ to raise the dead, judge the world, and carry the righteous with him to heaven, does not quit the awful subject, but proceeds in this chapter to foretel the terror which his appearance will occasion to the unrighteous, and the punishment which he will then inflict on them: a circumstance this which merits the reader's attention, because it proves that, in describing Christ's second coming, the apostle had some further end in view besides that of comforting the Thessalonians under the death of their relations. But of the times As if he had said, I have been warning you that the solemn day of universal judgment will certainly come, and have been endeavouring to lead your minds to those views of it which must be consolatory to every true believer; but concerning the precise period of time when this grand event, which will close the economy of providence, shall take place; or of the seasons Which God hath appointed for the accomplishment of his promises and predictions, preparatory thereto; you have no need that I write unto you No occasion to know these things particularly, since the general knowledge thereof is sufficient to render you watchful, and to excite you to make preparation for them. It is probable that, when he was with them, he had repeated to them Christ's injunction to watch, because at such an hour as men think not, the Son of man cometh, Matthew 24:44. By making this observation, the apostle represses that vain curiosity which is natural to mankind, who, not content with the knowledge of things useful, indulge an immoderate desire of searching into things which, because the discovery of them would be hurtful, God hath determined to conceal.