FOR THIS REASON IT SAYS:
dio legei, (3SPAI): (Isaiah
51:17;
52:1;
60:1;
Romans 13:11,12;
1 Corinthians 15:34;
1 Thessalonians 5:6;
2 Timothy 2:26)
For this reason
(1352)
(dio) is a relatively emphatic marker of a result, usually
denoting that the inference is self-evident. Synonyms - So then.
Consequently. For that reason. On which account.
What “reason”?
In context Paul is alluding to the truth of the previous verses in which
he had just explained that light exposes and manifests the darkness.
It says (3004)
(lego) speaks, here possibly picturing the Scripture (some think
he is referring to a Christian hymn) as speaking forth, as for example
in
Isaiah 60:1 "Arise, shine; for your
light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
AWAKE
SLEEPER AND ARISE
FROM THE DEAD:
Egeire, (2SAAM) o katheudon, (PAPMSVocative) kai anasta (2SAAM) ek ton
nekron:
(2:5;
Isaiah 26:19;
Ezekiel 37:4-10;
John 5:25-29;
11:43,44;
Romans 6:4,5,13;
Colossians 3:1)
Awake
(1453)(egeiro)
means to waken, rouse from sleep, from sitting or lying, from disease,
from death; from inactivity, ruins, nonexistence. The
aorist imperative
is a command calling for them to do this now.
MacDonald
rightly observes that...
The life of the believer should
always be preaching a sermon, should always be exposing the surrounding
darkness, should always be extending this invitation to
unbelievers...awake...arise from the dead. (MacDonald,
W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson)
Awake sleeper
and arise from the dead - The meaning of Paul's quote from Isaiah
(some say from Isaiah 26:19 and others from Isaiah 60:1) is debated.
Some evangelical writers believe that Paul is extending an invitation for salvation to the unsaved, in order that
they may be transformed from children of darkness into children of light.
Authors favoring this interpretation include John MacArthur (ref),
William MacDonald (ref).
Calvin, Hodge.
It is interesting
that there is no clear consensus on this verse, and one commentator says
it applies to both believers and unbelievers. And thus we read...
Believers are called on to “awake”
out of sleep; unbelievers, to “arise” from the dead (compare Mt 25:5; Ro
13:11; 1Th 5:6, with Eph 2:1). (Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset,
A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on
the Old and New Testaments)
In the context of
chapters 4 and 5, Paul has been speaking to believing Gentiles, those
who had once walked in total darkness, and those who were still
surrounded by that darkness. The temptation to drift back into that
darkness would be an ever present danger. In fact the repetition of
negative commands in the present imperative (Stop doing this or that...)
clearly indicates that the readers were involved to some degree in the
deeds of darkness. In that context, it would be reasonable for Paul to
issue a call to those believers to wake up.
Paul uses the
metaphor of sleep in his address to the saints at Thessalonica
writing...
But you, brethren, are not in
darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are
all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness;
6 so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and
sober. 7 For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who
get drunk get drunk at night. (1Thes 5:4-7)
In the "practical"
(a misnomer because all Scripture is practical) section of Romans 12-16,
Paul uses the metaphor of sleep, clearly referring to believers,
exhorting them...
And this do, knowing the time, that
it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now
salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. 12 The night is almost
gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of
darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave properly as in
the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and
sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. (See
notes
Romans 13:11;
13:12;
13:13;
13:14) (Comment:
We ought to be like the little boy whose family clock malfunctioned and
struck 15 times so that he rushed wide-eyed to his mother crying, “Mommy,
it’s later than it’s ever been before!” What sanctifying logic! We
should also keep in mind that if Christ does not return in our time, He
will certainly come individually for us in death. Each ache, pain, gray
hair, new wrinkle or funeral is another reminder that it is later than
it has ever been before. It is time to love our neighbors as ourselves.
IT'S LATER THAN YOU THINK. Redeem the time!)
As noted above,
while there is not a consensus, the majority of evangelical writers
interpret Paul's call to "Awake sleeper" not as a call to the spiritually dead to arise but instead
as a call to believers who have been lulled asleep and lapsed into some
of the "deeds of
darkness".
NIV College
Press writes that...
these words do call the
Christian to abandon the domain of darkness and death, and to forsake
fellowship with those who dwell there. (Boles, K. L.. Galatians &
Ephesians. The College Press NIV Commentary. Joplin, Mo.: College Press)
Ryrie
writes that this section (beginning with "Awake sleeper...) is...
Perhaps a portion of an early
Christian hymn exhorting the sinning believer to Awake and arise. (The
Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Translation: 1995. Moody
Publishers)
Warren Wiersbe
writes...
When you think of light, you think of
waking up to a new day, and Paul presented this picture (Eph 5:14),
paraphrasing Isaiah 60:1. You have the same image in Romans 13:11-13 and
1Thessalonians 5:1-10. That Easter morning, when Christ arose from the
dead, was the dawning of a new day for the world. Christians are not
sleeping in sin and death. We have been raised from the dead through
faith in Him. The darkness of the graveyard is past, and we are now
walking in the light of salvation. Salvation is the beginning of a new
day, and we ought to live as those who belong to the light, not to the
darkness. “Lazarus, come forth!” (Wiersbe,
W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor)
S Lewis Johnson
believes this text is addressed to believers writing that...
This is a text taken from the Old
Testament, but it is applied by the Apostle to the believers. He is
telling them that if their lives are not characterized by this purity of
which he is talking, they are sleeping morally, and they should awake,
and they should arise from the dead and Christ will give them
light...Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ
shall give thee light. It’s a promise that as we, by the grace of God
and the enablement of God, get down upon our knees and ask him to
deliver us from the failures of our Christian life, well we have the
assurance that God will undertake for us and we shall be given light. (Ephesians 5:3-21 Purity in the
Christian Life (Audio)
Life
Application commentary writes that just...
As the prophets appealed to Israel to
awaken from its state of darkness and death, so Paul was appealing to
the Ephesians to wake up, stay alert, and realize the dangerous
condition into which some of them had been slipping by listening to
false teachings. (Barton,
B, et al: The NIV Life Application Commentary Series: Tyndale)
Blaikie
writes that...
This is evidently intended to give an
additional impulse to the Ephesians to walk as children of the light..
But the fundamental idea in the prophecy is, that when the Church gets
the light of heaven, she is not to lie still, as if she were asleep or
dead, but is to be active, is to make use of the light, is to use it for
illuminating the world. The apostle maintains that the Ephesian Church
had got the light of heaven; she, therefore, was not to sleep or loiter,
but spring forth as if from the grave, and pour light on the world. The
changes which the apostle makes on the form of the prophecy are
remarkable, and show that it was to its spirit and substance rather than
to its precise form and letter that he attached the authority of
inspiration. (The Pulpit Commentary)
The KJV
Bible Commentary writes...
Awake thou that sleepest. This
is a call from drowsiness to spiritual life. Arise from the dead.
Stand up from the dead among you. Christ shall give thee light.
Make day dawn upon you. (Dobson,
E G, Charles Feinberg, E Hindson, Woodrow Kroll, H L. Wilmington: KJV
Bible Commentary: Nelson)
Jon Courson
writes...
“Wake up!” says Paul. “Look what’s
happening in your lives.” I know of young men who could have turned this
world upside down for the Lord. I know of young guys who could have
really made a mark for the kingdom. But because they weren’t awake to
what the Word of God says concerning filthiness, coarse jesting,
uncleanness, fornication, and pornography, they’re ineffective to this
day. (Courson,
J. Jon Courson's Application Commentary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson
)
Hoehner
explains it this way...
A believer who has committed “deeds
of darkness,” is to wake up and rise from the dead since he was involved
with the deeds of evildoers. Christ’s shining on him speaks of His
approval, an indication that he is discerning and following what is
pleasing to the Lord (Eph. 5:10). (Walvoord,
J. F., Zuck, R. B., et al: The Bible Knowledge Commentary. 1985. Victor).
McGee
writes...
Here is a command which is humanly
impossible to obey. How can a person awake from the dead? How can a
person awake out of spiritual death? Only God can awaken us. I think
what Paul means here is that the believers who have fallen into a
spiritual stupor are to wake up. (McGee,
J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson)
Wayne Barber
feels that Paul is speaking to believers writing...
Most people think Paul is using that
verse to say, "This is God’s plea to the whole world, ‘Wake up and I’ll
shine on you. Once I shine on you, you can become light for other
people.’" I disagree with that. Looking at the context Paul is saying,
"You Christians, you see in Isaiah 60:1 when God spoke that, He spoke it
to His people."
To me Paul is saying, "God is saying the word to the church, ‘Wake up!
You are sleeping! Death is all around you. Darkness has enveloped you.
Wake up. Let Jesus shine on you first and reprove you for the things
wrong in your life. Then Jesus can shine through you and we can start
seeing darkness dissipate because it is light that puts out the
darkness.’"
Folks, when you walk into a dark room
in the morning, you don’t switch the darkness off and switch the light
on. No, you just switch the light on and the darkness has to flee.
Darkness does not put out light. Folks, darkness is not the problem, and
it never has been the problem. The problem is no light. Christians are
sound asleep. You don’t have to go out on the street corner and get a
box and tell the world. Live it! Your neighbors will see the difference.
Your wife will see the difference. Everybody will see the difference. It
is incredible when you put the garment on. It is incredible when you are
strengthened in the inner man. Immediately people are affected. You
don’t even know it, but that light is penetrating the deeds of darkness
and the world of evil. When you put on that garment, it puts out
darkness.
Sleeper
(2518)(katheudo
from katá = an intensifier + heúdo = to sleep) can refer
to literal sleep but here is used figuratively to refer to those who are
spiritually asleep, feeling secure and unconcerned in sin, indolent and
careless in the performance of duty.
Arise (450)
(anistemi from ana = up, again + histemi = stand)
means to stand up. It describes a figurative change of position, rising
from sleep.
Dead
(3498)(nekros)
is a body without life and here is used figuratively of those who have
no spiritual life for they are dead in their trespasses and sins.
The
aorist imperative
is a command calling for them to do this now.
Expositors
Greek Testament explains that...
The passage is introduced in
Connection with the reference to the effects of a faithful ‘reproof’ and
under the impression of the figure of the light. It takes the form of an
appeal to wake out of the pagan condition of sin, described by the
two-fold figure of sleep and death, and of a promise that then Christ
will shine upon the sinner with the saving light of His truth. The
quotation comes in relevantly, therefore, as a further enforcement both
of the need for the reproof which is enjoined, and of the good effects
of such a reproof faithfully exercised. (Nicoll, W Robertson, Editor:
Expositors Greek Testament: 5 Volumes. Out of print. Search Google)
AND CHRIST WILL SHINE ON YOU:
kai epiphausei (3SPAI) soi o Christos
:
(John
8:12;
9:5;
Acts 13:47;
2 Corinthians 4:6;
2 Timothy 1:10)
Christ
(5547)
(Christos from chrio = to anoint, rub with oil, consecrate
to an office) is the Anointed One, the Messiah, Christos being
the Greek equivalent of the transliterated Hebrew word Messiah.
Shine
(2017) (epiphauo
from epí = upon, to, + phaúo = to shine) means to shine
upon, give light to. The means employed by Christ are compared to the
rays of the rising sun (Son).
Thayer
comments that...
Christ will pour upon thee the light
of divine truth as the sun gives light to men aroused from sleep.
