Paul’s
second letter to the Thessalonians was written in the months following his
first letter or 1 Thessalonians. The first epistle was positive and expressed
Paul’s joy at the receipt of good news about how the Thessalonians were
persevering despite persecution.
In
this letter, Paul addresses three main issues: Persecution (1
Thessalonians 1:6, 2:14-16, 3:2-4), church members who refuse to work (2:9,
4:11, 5:14), and questions related to the “coming” of Jesus (4:13-18,
5:1-11).
In
the interim since Paul’s first epistle, persecution had increased (2 Thessalonians
1:5-10) and idle church members had become a bigger problem (3:6-13).
The
problem with idleness was due in part to excitement and confusion about the
coming of Jesus. Paul’s focus in the first chapter of this letter is on
persecution and what it means in the light of the coming of
Jesus. He also sets the stage for the discussion in chapter 2 of why
the Day of the Lord has not yet arrived.
“We ought to be thanking God at all times
concerning you, brothers, according as is fitting, because your faith is
greatly increasing and the love of each of you all is abounding to one another,
so that we ourselves are boasting in you among all the assemblies of God on
account of your endurance and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations,
which you are enduring” (2 Thessalonians 1:3-4).
Paul
declares it is fitting to thank God always for the faithful perseverance of the
Thessalonians. This sets the tone for the next paragraph. Paul refers to
“persecutions,” plural, indicating a hostile environment for some period. The
word translated “tribulations” is plural, also.
This
is the same Greek word used elsewhere in the New Testament for the Great
Tribulation (Matthew 24:21, Revelation 1:9, 7:14.
See also Matthew 24:29, Mark 13:19, 13:24). This
does not mean the tribulations endured by the Thessalonians were identical with
that one, but Paul’s use here demonstrates that he did not believe Christians
were tribulation (cp. 1 Thessalonians 1:6, 3:3, 3:7, 2
Thessalonians 1:6).
(2 Thessalonians 1:5-7) - “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 affliction to those afflicting 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.”
Their
persecution and perseverance constitute “evidence” of God’s just judgment on
the behalf of the Thessalonians. Judgment means a decision in favor
of or against someone and results in vindication or condemnation.
It
is not clear whether “evidence” refers to their endurance, persecution or
both. If the former, then perseverance is evidence of the rightness
of God’s decision for them to inherit His kingdom. If the latter,
then the persecuting activities by opponents validates God’s sentence of
destruction on them. In light of verse 6, probably both options are
intended in light of verse 6.
“Requite” translates the Greek verb antapodidōmi,
“to give back, repay, requite, give in return.” The emphasis is on
equal payback, to recompense someone what he or she has earned. This verb here
describes recompense by God to two different groups: the persecutors
and the Thessalonian Christians. To the former God will repay
“affliction,” to the latter “rest.”
The
persecutors will be repaid “tribulation” or “trouble.” The
Thessalonians, on the other hand, will receive “rest with us.” This
“rest” will come at a specific time, “the revelation of
the Lord Jesus from heaven.” The word translated “revelation”
is apokalypsis, meaning, a “revealing, uncovering, disclosure,
unveiling.” It is used elsewhere for the coming of Christ (1
Corinthians 1:7, 1 Peter 1:7, 1:13).
This
“revelation” will occur when Jesus arrives “from heaven.” This is
precisely the same clause Paul used in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 when
“he descends from heaven with a shout.” to raise the
righteous dead and gather both dead and living saints to himself. In that
previous passage Paul labeled this coming as the “arrival” or parousia of
Jesus. This shows Paul applying both Parousia and apokalypsis to
the same event; the terms are used interchangeably.
(2 Thessalonians 1:8-9) - “In flaming
fire giving vengeance to those who know not God and to those not hearkening to
the gospel of our Lord Jesus, who will pay a penalty, everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.”
“In flaming fire” may go with “the
revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his angels of power in
flaming fire,” but more likely refers to “fire” of destruction that
will fall upon the wicked (i.e., “in flaming fire giving vengeance to
those who know not God”). This last clause alludes to Isaiah 66:15,
“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.”
This
vengeance will come upon those who do not know God and who do not hearken to
the Gospel. “Hearkening” in verse 8 translates a Greek
compound verb, hupakouō, with the sense, “hearken, submit, yield,
obey.” This refers not just to a failure to hear but a conscious
refusal to submit. In other words, the refusal to obey “the gospel of our
Lord Jesus.”
When
Jesus is revealed “from heaven” those who refuse to obey receive “everlasting
destruction.” This is set in apposition to “penalty”;
everlasting destruction is the penalty they pay. “Everlasting” (aiōnion)
refers to the length of time the results of this destruction
last. There will be no appeal or reprieve.
“Destruction”
translates the noun olethros or “ruin, destruction, undoing,”
the same word Paul used in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 for “unexpected destruction”
that will come upon the unprepared when the day of the Lord
arrives. This is parallel to Jesus’ portrayal of the final judgment
of the nations in Matthew 25:46, “and these will go away
into everlasting (aiōnion) punishment,
but the righteous into eternal life.” The final fates of the righteous and
the unrighteous are thus contrasted.
This
verse likely alludes to Obadiah 12-13 (Septuagint): “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.”
In
Obadiah, this was a judgment pronouncement against Edom for its treachery
against Israel. It is now applied to wicked men at Thessalonica that persecute
the church.
This
“everlasting destruction” cannot refer to a tribulation period before the end
since it will be “everlasting.” Moreover, this punishment coincides with the
arrival of Jesus from heaven. It means here separation “from the presence of
the Lord” (cp. 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 “the
glory of his might.” This alludes to a saying of Jesus
recorded in Matthew 24:29-31:
“Immediately after the tribulation of those
days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the
stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; 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 coming [parousia]
on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will
send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
(2 Thessalonians 1:10) - “Whenever he
shall come to be made all-glorious in his saints and to be marveled at in all
who believed, because our witness to you was believed, in that day.”
Paul
states one’s reward or punishment will be received “whenever he comes,”
now using the Greek verb erchomai or “come.” The same verb is
used elsewhere several times for Christ’s “coming” (Matthew 24:30, 24:42-46,
25:31, Mark 13:26, 13:35-36, Luke 21:27).
When
Jesus is revealed from heaven, his faithful saints are gathered before him
where they glorify and admire him. Nothing is said here about Jesus bringing
his saints with him from heaven; both believers and unbelievers are present
before him when he arrives from heaven.
Throughout
this passage future vindication of faithful believers is contrasted with the
condemnation of the wicked. Both occur at the same time, “on that
day,” a reference to the “day of the Lord” to be discussed in the next
chapter of this letter.
Paul’s
purpose in this passage is to encourage the Thessalonians to persevere through
persecution and “tribulation.” He does so by emphasizing what
awaits faithful believers when Jesus comes in contrast to what awaits the
disobedient.
Vindication
of the righteous and the condemnation of the wicked are not separate events
that require separate “comings” of the Lord. The arrival of Jesus means the
vindication of some and the punishment of others. Both occur at his one “revelation
from heaven.”
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