Whenever it is that they are saying, “Peace and security!” then sudden destruction is to be instantly on them, just like birth pains on a pregnant woman, and they will by no means escape. (1 Thessalonians 5:3)
Concerning this verse the Watchtower society states:
“One of these developments was prophesied by the apostle Paul when he stated: “You yourselves know quite well that Jehovah’s day is coming exactly as a thief in the night. Whenever it is that they are saying: ‘Peace and security!’ then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them.” This prophecy makes it clear that, just prior to the end of this system of things, “peace and security” will be declared in some exceptional way, whether by the United Nations or independently by political and religious leaders. What will follow that declaration? Paul said: “Then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them.”—1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3. (The Watchtower May 15, 1984 pg. 6)
This was also recently featured on JW Broadcasting in a 2022 morning worship talk by Leonard Myers
However, the entire “peace and security” prophecy is somewhat of a Watchtower invention.
First of all, consider the precise choice of wording: “peace and security”.
Most English Bibles translate 1 Thessalonians 5:3 as “peace and safety.” (NIV, NASB, KJV, ASV, Darby, English Revised Version, Webster’s, Weymouth, World English Bible) Even the King James Version of the Bible which the society began printing on its own presses in 1942 said “peace and safety”[1]. However, when the Watchtower society released the New World Translation in 1950 they rendered the phrase “peace and security.” With that, every time the expression appears in the Watchtower, it is “peace and security”, whereas before, the phrase was “peace and safety”.
Why not “peace and safety”? It would seem likely that this word choice was made in order to capitalize on what world leaders had been saying for 30 years to make it seem like prophecy was being fulfilled.
The League of Nations used the expression “peace and security” in its charter in 1920.
Article 39 of the United Nations charter states:
“The Security Council shall determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression and shall make recommendations, or decide what measures shall be taken in accordance with Articles 41 and 42, to maintain or restore international peace and security.” The Charter was signed on June 26, 1945
FDR re-popularized the term and it’s been used regularly by almost every United States president since then. Thus it is not surprising that the unique choice of wording of this particular verse in the New World Translation was not changed with the coming of the 2013 revision.
The following is a list of times politicians have uttered the words “Peace and Security”:
Roosevelt
Statement on the Postwar Security Organization Program.
June 15, 1944
“The maintenance of peace and security must be the joint task of all peace-loving Nations. We have, therefore, sought to develop plans for an international organization comprising all such Nations. The purpose of the organization would be to maintain peace and security and to assist the creation, through international cooperation, of conditions of stability and well-being necessary for peaceful and friendly relations among Nations.” http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=16524
Truman
In addition, we will provide military advice and equipment to free nations which will cooperate with us in the maintenance of peace and security.
– http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/truman.asp
Eisenhower
Thereby we have helped to maintain peace and security during a period of great danger.
– http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=11007
John F Kennedy
In short, our leadership in science and industry, our hopes for peace and security, our obligations to ourselves as well as others, all require us to make this effort, to solve these mysteries, to solve them for the good of all men, and to become the world’s leading space-faring nation.
L B Johnson
Is the aggression a threat not only to the immediate victim but to the United States of America and to the peace and security of the entire world of which we in America are a very vital part?
Richard Nixon
We hope that the United States of America will continue her efforts for a just and lasting peace in the area so that it may live in peace and security, because it is peace and security that form the basis for its development and prosperity.
– http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=4253
Gerald Ford
As a major world power, we in America have an obligation to maintain peace and security both here and abroad.
– http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=5879
Jimmy Carter
Together as one people, let us work to build our strength at home, and together as one indivisible union, let us seek peace and security throughout the world.
– http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=33079
Ronald Reagan
We strive for peace and security, heartened by the changes all around us.
– https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan%27s_Second_Inaugural_Address
George H W Bush
What is at stake is more than one small country [Kuwait], it is a big idea—a new world order where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind: peace and security, freedom and the rule of law.
– https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_H._W._Bush
Bill Clinton
Because we are blessed to be a wealthy nation with a powerful military and a worldwide presence active in promoting peace and security, we are often a target.
– http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/t_0026.asp
George W Bush
America and our friends and allies join with all those who want peace and security in the world
– https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_W._Bush
Barack Obama
I believe that America holds within her the truth that regardless of race, religion, or station in life, all of us share common aspirations – to live in peace and security;
– https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama
Donald Trump
November 16, 2017
We have established a new framework for trade that will ensure reciprocity through enforcement actions, reform of international organizations and new, fair trade deals that benefit the United States and our partners.
And we have laid out a pathway toward peace and security in our world, where sovereign nations can thrive, flourish and prosper side by side. This is our beautiful vision for the future. https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/trump-we-have-laid-out-pathway-toward-peace-and-security-our-world
Secondly, was Paul uttering a prophecy? Was he giving the Thessalonians a sign to watch for that would signal the beginning of the great tribulation as the Watchtower society claims? Consider the context of his statement:
“Now as for the times and the seasons, brothers, you need nothing to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that Jehovah’s day is coming exactly as a thief in the night. 3 Whenever it is that they are saying, “Peace and security!” then sudden destruction is to be instantly on them, just like birth pains on a pregnant woman, and they will by no means escape. 4 But you, brothers, you are not in darkness, so that the day should overtake you as it would thieves, 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We belong neither to night nor to darkness. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-5)
Regarding these verses R.C.H. Lenski writes:
“The times and seasons” repeat Acts 1:7 and imply that the writers were acquainted with this word of Jesus’…
…He was acquainted with Acts 1:7 and never pretends to know more than Jesus himself said on this subject. The extravagant ideas of the Thessalonians were in no way traceable to Paul. Such ideas have appeared in far later times and will probably appear again, all that Jesus has said and all that Paul has written to the contrary notwithstanding.
Paul acknowledges that nothing needs to be written to the Thessalonians about the times and the seasons;…From previous instruction on the part of Paul and Silvanus the Thessalonians know accurately (the same adverb that occurs in Luke 1:3) what is the main thing to be known “concerning the times and the seasons,” namely “that the Lord’s day so comes as a thief at night.” The years may pass on, one period after another may bring this or that, no one can be sure when the Lord’s day will arrive…
The writers know the contents of Matt. 24:43 and Luke 12:39 just as did Peter (II Pet. 3:10; compare Rev. 3:3; 16:15). They had undoubtedly told the Thessalonians what Jesus had said when he used this illustration of the thief. (R.C.H. Lenski Interpretation of First Thessalonians pg. 339-341)
Lenski makes an excellent point. Since Paul knew that Jesus told the disciples according to Acts chapter 1 that it was not for them to know the times and seasons which the Father has placed in his own jurisdiction, how could he possibly give them a sign of when that day would occur? (Compare Matt. 24:42,44)
Also, Jesus himself did not know:
“Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father. (Matthew 24:36)
If Jesus did not know the day or hour how could Paul? Some might argue that Paul is not speaking of the specific timing but of an event that would indicate the time is near. But in reviewing all that he said about his second coming did Jesus ever mention a cry of peace and security?
Moreover, just as it occurred in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of man: 27 they were eating, they were drinking, men were marrying, women were being given in marriage until that day when Noah entered into the ark, and the Flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it occurred in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building. 29 But on the day that Lot went out of Sodʹom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 It will be the same on that day when the Son of man is revealed. (Luke 17:26-30)
What was the point of comparison in Jesus likening the day of his coming with the days of Noah and Lot? During either of those times was there a public proclamation of peace and security? Or rather was it a complacent attitude, a lack of watchfulness that manifested itself in how people carried on with their lives as if everything was normal right up until the day destruction came upon them? It’s just such a complacent attitude and in addition one of defiance toward God and his servants that Peter mentions in his letter:
Beloved ones, this is now the second letter I am writing you in which, as in my first one, I am stirring up your clear thinking faculties by way of a reminder, 2 that you should remember the sayings previously spoken by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. 3 First of all know this, that in the last days ridiculers will come with their ridicule, proceeding according to their own desires 4 and saying: “Where is this promised presence of his? Why, from the day our forefathers fell asleep in death, all things are continuing exactly as they were from creation’s beginning.” (2 Peter 3:1-4)
But Jehovah’s day will come as a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, but the elements being intensely hot will be dissolved, and earth and the works in it will be exposed. (2 Peter 3:10)
In this chapter, like Jesus, Peter compares the days of Noah to the promised presence of Jesus. But there is no mention of a proclamation of “peace and security”.
In the New World Translation there is a marginal reference linking 1 Thessalonians 5:3 to Jeremiah chapter 8:
“The wise have been put to shame. They have become terrified and will be caught. Look! They have rejected the word of Jehovah, And what wisdom do they have? 10 So I will give their wives to other men, Their fields to other owners; For from the least to the greatest, each one is making dishonest gain; From the prophet to the priest, each one is practicing fraud. 11 And they try to heal the breakdown of the daughter of my people lightly, saying, “There is peace! There is peace!” When there is no peace. (Jeremiah 8:9-11)
Interestingly, the Watchtower comments on the situation that then existed in Jeremiah’s day:
7 “And they will be certain to fight against you,” warned Jehovah, “but they will not prevail against you.” (Jeremiah 1:19) Now why would the Jews and their rulers want to fight against this prophet? Because his message attacked their complacency and their formalistic form of worship. Jeremiah did not pull his punches: “Look! The very word of Jehovah has become to them a reproach, in which word they can take no delight. For from the least one of them even to the greatest one of them, every one is making for himself unjust gain; and from the prophet even to the priest [the very ones who should have been the guardians of moral and spiritual values], each one is acting falsely.”—Jeremiah 6:10, 13.
8 True, they were leading the nation in making sacrifices. They were going through the motions of true worship, but their hearts were not in it. Ritual meant more to them than right conduct. At the same time, the Jewish religious leaders were lulling the nation into a false sense of security, saying, “There is peace! There is peace!” when there was no peace. (Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11) Yes, they were fooling the people into believing that they were at peace with God. They felt that there was nothing to worry about, for they were Jehovah’s saved people, possessing the holy city and its temple. But is that how Jehovah viewed the situation?
9 Jehovah commanded Jeremiah to take a position in full public view at the gate of the temple and deliver His message to the worshipers who entered there. He had to tell them: “Do not put your trust in fallacious words, saying, ‘The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah they are!’ . . . It will certainly be of no benefit at all.” The Jews were walking by sight, not by faith, as they boasted in their temple. They had already forgotten Jehovah’s cautionary words: “The heavens are my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where, then, is the house that you people can build for me?” Jehovah, the Sovereign Lord of this vast universe, was certainly not restricted to the confines of their temple, no matter how glorious it might be!—Jeremiah 7:1-8; Isaiah 66:1.
10 Jeremiah continued with his stinging public rebuke: “Can there be stealing, murdering and committing adultery and swearing falsely and making sacrificial smoke to Baal and walking after other gods whom you had not known, . . . and must you say, ‘We shall certainly be delivered,’ in the face of doing all these detestable things?” The Jews, as God’s ‘chosen people,’ thought he would tolerate any kind of conduct, as long as they were bringing their sacrifices to the temple. However, if they perceived him as a sentimental father pampering a spoiled and only child, they were in for a rude awakening.—Jeremiah 7:9, 10; Exodus 19:5, 6. (The Watchtower April 1, 1988 pgs. 11-12 pars. 7-10)
Clearly, rather than a public pronouncement of “peace and security” whether political or otherwise, the problem was a pervasive attitude of complacency among the people toward maintaining a good relationship with God. As existed in Jesus day there was contempt for Jeremiah’s ministry to call the nation to repentance. At the same time they felt that there still existed peace between them and God, that God would not take the drastic action that Jeremiah warned them about. The same attitude existed in Noah’s day and according to Jesus and Peter would occur prior to the future day of the Lord. Rather than watching for some peculiar announcement that would be the signal of imminent destruction Peter admonished Christians to pay attention to themselves:
Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, consider what sort of people you ought to be in holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion, 12 as you await and keep close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah, through which the heavens will be destroyed in flames and the elements will melt in the intense heat! (2 Peter 3:11, 12)
During Rutherford’s presidency it was taught that the cry of “Peace and Safety” would come from Christendom because of their success in being able to shut down the preaching work of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
However, in 1945 World War II ended and the work of the Witnesses was still active.
Since that time it was highly unlikely that the Roman Catholic Hierarchy would have any ability to influence the governments to stop the preaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Hence, Paul’s words received a new interpretation. It is now seen as a political cry of peace and security. However, in the absence of evidence that Paul was uttering a prophecy about a future proclamation, the discussion of who makes it, the specific wording and what form it would take becomes a complete non-issue scripturally. On the other hand, keeping people on heightened awareness every time a political figure mentions the phrase “peace and security”, in an effort to keep them in a perpetual state of the end is near is exactly the tactic Jesus warned about.
Then he said to the disciples: “Days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, but you will not see it. 23 And people will say to you, ‘See there!’ or, ‘See here!’ Do not go out or chase after them. 24 For just as lightning flashes from one part of heaven to another part of heaven, so the Son of man will be in his day. (Luke 17:22-24)
When Paul, writing in 50 CE, said that Jehovah’s day would come as a thief would we expect that he would not have in mind the coming destruction of Jerusalem that Jesus warned about? Why would he skip over an event coming in his own generation to warn about developments that were not due to occur for more than 2,000 years in the future? Was there a pervasive attitude of complacency among the people toward maintaining a good relationship with God prior to the destruction in 70 CE? Note what the Watchtower itself has to say:
Events that took place in Jerusalem in the year 66 C.E. illustrate the advantage of godly wisdom over money. After repelling the invading Roman armies, the Jews in Jerusalem apparently believed that business prospects were now good. Indeed, they began to mint their own money in celebration of their newfound freedom. Their coins were stamped, in Hebrew, with such expressions as “For the freedom of Zion” and “Jerusalem the Holy.” Each new year, they struck new coins with inscriptions that identify them as of “year two,” “year three,” and “year four.” Archaeologists have unearthed even a few rare coins with the inscription “year five,” corresponding to the year 70 C.E. (The Watchtower February 15, 1993 pg. 9)
Isn’t it more likely that this belief among the Jews that God would never allow his temple to be destroyed which contributed to a false sense of security before the day of Jehovah’s judgment upon Jerusalem is the real fulfillment of Paul’s words?
However, in his second letter to the Thessalonians Paul warned them of another day of Jehovah that was not to occur for some time. This day is associated with Christ’s presence and the resurrection. Instead of peace and security he said that day would be preceded by apostasy:
Let no one lead you astray in any way, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed, the son of destruction. 4 He stands in opposition and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits down in the temple of God, publicly showing himself to be a god. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I used to tell you these things? (2 Thessalonians 2:3-5)
Obviously, Christ’s presence and the resurrection has yet to occur. So, it would seem that instead of being on the alert for some outstanding cry of peace and security the real question for Christians should be who is the man of lawlessness?
[1] See Proclaimers book pg. 93