Just Judgment

The arrival of Jesus will mean vindication and rest for the righteous, but everlasting loss for the wicked - 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10.

The “Revelation” of Jesus “from Heaven” will mean vindication and reward for his faithful followers but great loss to all men and women who reject the Gospel, especially those who persecute the Church. The return of the Lord will generate “just judgment” for the righteous and the wicked.

Paul’s second letter was written after he departed from Thessalonica. His first letter expressed his joy at the good news that the congregation had remained faithful despite hostility and trials. His second addresses three main issues: Persecution, believers who refuse to work, and questions about Christ’s “arrival” and the “Day of the Lord.”

[Photo by Davide Cantelli on Unsplash]

Persecution has increased, and some members of the Assembly have refused to work. Paul begins by discussing persecution and its significance considering the approaching return of Jesus. In doing so, he sets the stage for the discussion in the second chapter about the “Day of the Lord” and the “Man of Lawlessness.”

Paul thanks God for the perseverance of the Thessalonians and refers to “persecutions” in the plural, suggesting an ongoing hostile environment. The Greek word translated as “tribulations” is also plural - (2 Thessalonians 1:3-4, Matthew 24:21, Revelation 1:9, 7:14. See also Matthew 24:29, Mark 13:19, 13:24).

• Persecution is “evidence of the just judgment of God so that you be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, on behalf of which also you are suffering, since it is just for God to requite tribulation to those troubling you, and relief to you, to those being afflicted with us; at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his angels of power” - (2 Thessalonians 1:5-7).

Judgment means a decision for or against someone. The term “evidence” here refers either to the endurance of the Thessalonians or their persecution.  If the former, “perseverance” demonstrates the rightness of God’s decision for the Thessalonians to inherit His Kingdom. If the latter, the persecuting activities validate God’s judicial sentence on the persecutors of His Assembly since “it is just for God to requite affliction to those afflicting you and relief to you.” Both senses may be intended.

The Greek verb translated as “requite” or ‘antapodidōmi’ means “to give back, repay, requite, give in return.” It stresses equal payback, and here, it refers to the “recompense” given by God to two groups, the persecutors and the Assembly. God will repay “affliction” to the persecutors, but rest or “relief” to His saints. Both results will be received at “the Revelation of the Lord Jesus from Heaven.”

The word translated as “revelation” is ‘apokalypsis’, meaning, “revealing, uncovering, disclosure; an unveiling.”  Elsewhere, it is used several times for the coming or "revelation" of Jesus from Heaven - (1 Corinthians 1:7, 1 Peter 1:7, 1:13).

EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION

This “revelation” will occur when Jesus arrives from Heaven. This parallels the clause Paul used in his first letter when describing how Jesus will “descend from Heaven with a shout.” Previously, he labeled the event as the “arrival” or ‘Parousia.’ Paul applies both terms to the same future event - (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

The clause translated as “in flaming fire” may go with the preceding sentence. It would then read, the “revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his angels of power, in flaming fire.” Or Paul is referring to the “fire” of destruction that the wicked will receive on the “Day of the Lord.”

• (2 Thessalonians 1:8-10) - “In flaming fire giving vengeance to those who know not God and to those refusing to heed the gospel of our Lord Jesus, who will pay a penalty, everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his might. Whenever he shall come to be made all-glorious in his saints and to be marveled at in all who believe because our witness to you was believed.”

“In flaming fire” also alludes to a passage in the Book of Isaiah - “Yahweh comes with fire and like a storm-wind are his chariots, to render with fury his anger and his rebuke with flames of fire” - (Isaiah 66:15).

Vengeance will come on those who refuse the Gospel, “everlasting destruction.” This is the “penalty” they will pay. The term “everlasting” or ‘aiōnion’ refers to the length of time the results of this destruction will last.

The English term “destruction” translates the Greek noun ‘olethros’, meaning “ruin, destruction, undoing.” Paul used the same word for the “unexpected destruction” that will overtake the unprepared in 1 Thessalonians. The clause alludes to a prophecy by Obadiah as translated by the Greek Septuagint version of Obadiah:

• (Obadiah 12-13) - “You should not have looked on the day of your brother in the day of strangers; nor should you have rejoiced against the children of Judah in the day of their destruction [‘olethros’] neither should you have boasted in the day of tribulation [‘thlipsis’]. Neither should you have gone into the gates of the people in the day of their troubles.”

Obadiah pronounced judgment on Edom for oppressing Israel. Paul applies his words to the persecutors of the Thessalonian congregation. “Everlasting destruction” does not refer to the “tribulations” that will occur before the End since it will be “everlasting” and coincide with the “Revelation of Jesus” - (Matthew 7:23, 22:13, 25:41, Luke 13:27).

Those who oppose the Gospel will be excluded from the presence of the Lord and his “glorious might,” an echo of Christ’s saying from his Olivet Discourse - “Immediately after the tribulation of those days… then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man arriving [‘parousia’] on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” - (Matthew 24:29-31).

Reward or punishment will be received “whenever he comes.” Note well how Paul applies both “come” and “revelation” to the same final event, the future arrival (singular) of Jesus from Heaven - (See Matthew 24:30, 24:42-46, 25:31, Mark 13:26, 13:35-36, Luke 21:27).

On that day, his faithful saints will be gathered to admire him. Believers and unbelievers alike will be presented before him. Paul contrasts the future rewarding of the faithful with the condemnation of the wicked that will occur on the “Day of the Lord.”

Regardless of which term he uses, “coming” or “arrival,” the noun is in the singular number and refers to the same final return of Jesus from Heaven.

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SEE ALSO:

• Rumors and Disinformation - (Rumors about the Day of the Lord caused alarm and confusion in the Thessalonian congregation – 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2)

• Salvation for the Nations - (The Good News announced by Jesus of Nazareth offers salvation and life to men and women of every nation and people)

• Waiting for His Son - (The Thessalonians received the Gospel in tribulation but remained faithful while anticipating the future return of Jesus – 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10)