Paul’s Letters to the Thessalonians
Paul’s letters to the church at Thessalonica were written in AD 50 and AD 51 i.e., during his second missionary journey (AD 50 – AD 53). Thessalonica is situated in the Roman Province of Macedonia (Northeast Greece). The modern state of Northen Macedonia is considerably smaller than the Roman province of the same name.
Thessalonica was one of the first cities to be evangelised when Paul and Silas landed in Macedonia. The church there was established along with those in Philippi and Berea.
Acts 16: 9.
“And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
After receiving violence and imprisonment in Philippi, they moved on to Thessalonica (Acts 17), enjoying some success with Gentiles and with Jews, but also arousing strong opposition among the Jews. Paul proceeded from Thessalonica to Athens and Corinth where he remained for “a good while”.
In Athens, Paul heard that the believers in Thessalonica were being persecuted. He tried to visit them “but Satan hindered” him (1 Thessalonians 2: 17 and 18).
Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica shortly after establishing the church there, to see how they were doing. Timothy reported back that they were doing well despite the persecution but that they had some questions of doctrine. Thus, Paul wrote his letters very soon after he had established in Thessalonica in AD 51.
He probably wrote from Corinth in the Roman Province of Achaia (southern Greece). His stay there may have been as long as 18 months.
In answering the doctrinal questions raised by the Thessalonians, in 1 Thessalonians Paul produces a powerful document. False teachers were raising concerns and uncertainties among the new believers, and this prompted Paul’s second letter in AD 52.
So, 1 Thessalonians was written the year after Paul had established the church there, in response to issues that Timothy had identified when Paul sent him to ascertain the situation there, being aware that the believers were facing persecution.
So, what were the theological issues concerning the Thessalonians which Timothy identified?
Paul, in his first letter, reviews certain basics of the faith and applies these to the daily lives of the believers. He challenges them to persevere in godly living despite persecution.
He extended the comfort of the Resurrection to those who were mourning and wrote in detail about the Lord’s Second Coming. This wide-ranging letter covers such areas as the tri-une godhead; the deity of the Lord Yeshua; the power of the Holy Spirit; the nature of scripture; the timing and events of the Second Coming; the “day of the Lord”; the assurance of salvation; conversion; sanctification; the Resurrection; the relationship between love and service; and the relationship between patience and hope.
Both letters have been referred to as “eschatological epistles” because of their emphasis on the return of the Lord Yeshua.
2 Thessalonians written in AD 52 answered false ideas about the Second Coming that had arisen within the church. 1 Thessalonians emphasised the suddenness of the Lord’s Second Coming to those who were unprepared. 2 Thessalonians highlights some of the events which will occur before His return. Paul also had to correct false thinking which had crept into the church.
So, we may see the purposes of 2 Thessalonians as follows: – to comfort persecuted believers; to correct false teaching which was frightening believers; and to confront disobedient and undisciplined believers.
In more detail then, Paul further explains and corrects the Thessalonians understanding of the Second Coming and the revelation of “the man of sin”.
The Thessalonians were being misled concerning “the day of the Lord” and needed to be enlightened. Regarding the “day of the Lord”, being in the midst of persecution, some believers were fearful that they were already in the Tribulation. Their fears were strengthened by false rumours that Paul himself was teaching that “the day” was now present. So, Paul set the record straight.
We should be clear that “the day of the Lord” is not the same as “the coming of the Lord” (the latter being the Rapture). These believers in Thessalonica were fearful that they were in the Tribulation (the first phase of “the day of the Lord”). Paul had never taught that any event had to occur before the Rapture. But in 2 Thessalonians he teaches that before “the day of the Lord” begins, the restrainer will be removed and the “man of sin“ revealed. This will lead to ever greater sin in the world.
In the meantime, Paul argues, it is essential for the Thessalonians to maintain a healthy church with an effective testimony arising from sound eschatology and obedience to the truth.
No wonder this small letter’s most significant contribution to scripture is its detailed explanation of the Lord’s Second Coming.
Sadly, we must limit ourselves here to a few extracts from these amazing and far-reaching letters.
1 Thessalonians 1: 5 – 7. The power of the Holy Spirit.
“For the gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us and the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia …”
For three weeks Paul had reasoned with them from the scriptures, demonstrating that the Lord Yeshua had to suffer and rise again from the dead as atonement for sin. But as we have noted to also wanted to reinforce the doctrine of the tri-une godhead, “not in word only, but also in power”. Paul realized that without the convicting word of the Holy Spirit, no one would turn to the Lord Yeshua.
John 16: 8.
“And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness and of judgment …”.
The doctrine of the tri-une godhead would be particularly difficult for new Jewish believers brought up with a strong aversion to anything which suggested polytheism. They would have to learn to be aware of the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit within.
Paul urges the believers in Thessalonica to follow the example of godly living which he and his fellow workers had exhibited amongst them as they sought to follow the Lord Yeshua.
With God’s blessing, Paul’s preaching in Thessalonica had persuaded some Jews in the synagogue together with “a great multitude of the Greeks, and not a few of the leading women” (Acts 17: 4).
It was “in power”, “in the Holy Spirit” and “with much assurance”, that the gospel was received. This was not just a lecture on religion; but the message worked in their lives with supernatural energy producing conviction of sin, repentance and conversion. This power was produced by the Holy Spirit. The message was proclaimed with the certainty that only the Holy Spirit can give and thus it was accepted by the Thessalonians as the infallible word of God.
The result in their lives was the full assurance of faith and Paul wanted to remind them of this transformation in their lives. The Lord Yeshua was first and supreme. Paul and his companions followed His example. The Thessalonian believers followed the example of Paul and his companions amid suffering and persecution. Their perseverance showed the reality of their salvation and Paul urged them to continue in the faith which had produced in them the “Joy of the Holy Spirit”.
Paul commended them (as encouragement) for being model believers leaving their mark on other believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Thessalonians are commended for having seized the gospel with joy even if it meant facing persecution.
Note that they received the word with “affliction” and “joy”. This is how they had imitated the Lord and His apostle. Externally they had affliction; internally they had joy. This is a rather unusual combination. For the man of the world, it is impossible to experience affliction and joy simultaneously; to him suffering in the opposite of joy. But the believer has “joy in the Holy Spirit”, which is independent of circumstances. To him the opposite of joy is not sorrow but sin. For the affliction they endured was the persecution which follows their conviction.
So, in this passage we see Paul’s work to reinforce aspects of the faith: -the tri-une godhead and the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. These insights are offered to the Thessalonian believers to encourage their perseverance in the faith they had eagerly grasped as Paul had taught them.
This passage provided a powerful reminder to us of the first rush of power and exuberance we enjoyed when we first believed.
So, let us take a second extract from 1 Thessalonians.
1 Thessalonians 4: 13 – 17.
“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will be no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will come from heaven with a shout, with the voice of archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
It would seem that the Thessalonians were fully informed about the day of the Lord but not about the Rapture.
Here we see Paul answering questions about believers who had already ”fallen asleep” i.e., had died. Timothy had obviously encountered further questions on this subject. Paul wanted them to be informed and comforted in the knowledge that they would see their deceased loved ones who would not miss out on the glory of the Lord’s return. A hope which only believers can have. The dead in Christ would be resurrected along with the rapture of the living saints, and all will join the Lord in the air and then proceed with Him to heaven, where the resurrection bodies of the dead will be reunited with their soul and spirit.
Without this further explanation, the believers in Thessalonica would probably have held at that time, that at a person’s death they descended to “Shoel” which had one compartment for the righteous and one (completely separate) for the wicked. This place was where both categories existed until the general resurrection at the end of the age and final judgment. This is what Lazarus’s sister, Martha, believed (John 11: 24).
But the Lord Yeshua showed that the believer on death now departs to be with Him. Only the body descends into the grave. Soul and spirit ascend to heaven. We know that not all believers will die, but that all will be changed. At the Rapture, only believers will be raised; the unsaved will be raised at the end of the one-thousand-year reign of the Lord Yeshua.
When Paul first went to Thessalonica, he taught about the Lord Yeshua coming to reign on the earth and the events that would follow. But the question was raised: what about the saints who had died? Would their bodies remain in the grave until the last day? Would they be excluded from participation in Yeshua’s coming and His glorious kingdom? To answer these questions, Paul describes the events at the time of the Lord Yeshua’s coming for His people.
“I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren.” Paul confirms the importance of what he can explain about those who have “fallen asleep”. Of course, only their bodies are asleep not their souls and spirits which are already in heaven. Regarding the saints who have died, there is no need for helpless sorrow; that is only for those who have no hope of heaven.
The basis for the believer’s hope is the resurrection of the Lord Yeshua. Just as surely as “we believe that Jesus died and rose again”, so we believe that those who have fallen asleep in Him, will be raised and participate in His coming. His resurrection is the proof and pledge for our resurrection.
Our positive assurance concerning those who have died in the Lord is that “God will bring” them “with Him”. When the Lord comes back to the earth to reign, God will bring back with Him those who have died in faith.
But how can this be if their bodies remain in the grave? The answer is that before the Lord Yeshua comes back to set up His kingdom, He will return to take His own people to be home with Him in heaven. Then later, He will come back with them.
How does Paul know all this? The answer is in verse !5; “this we say to you by the word of the Lord”. He received this as a direct revelation from the Lord. We are not told how he received it – whether by a vision, by an audible voice or by an inward impression of the Holy Spirit – but it was definitely a truth unknown to mankind up to that point.
Paul explains that when the Lord returns the living saints will not have any precedence over sleeping saints. When will He come? We should look to the Lord coming at any moment, whilst realizing that we may be called to home to heaven by way of physical death.
In verse 16, Paul explains the order of events for the Lord coming for His saints, as it has been revealed to him. The Lord Himself will descend from heaven; He will come in person “with a shout”, “with the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God”. He is not going to come quietly but He announces a great victory after thousands of years of conflict with Satan.
The bodies of “the dead in Christ will rise first”. This is not a general resurrection; not all the dead are raised at this time, only “the dead in Christ”. Paul is talking here about resurrected bodies – a physical resurrection. Bodily existence will be restored to those who have died but these bodies will be immortal and incorruptible and yet flesh and bone.
With the resurrection of those who died in Christ, those remaining alive “shall be caught up” (the Rapture). Note that we meet Him in the “air”; that is, in Satan’s sphere. So, this is a triumphal gathering in open defiance of Satan in his own stronghold!
It’s an amazing thought. The earth and the sea yielding up all the dust of all who have died in Christ. Then, the transforming miracle by which that dust is transformed into the glorified bodies, forever free from sickness, pain and death. Then off to heaven in the twinkling of an eye to be forever “with the Lord”.
What a blessing Paul’s words must have been to the Thessalonians, as they are to us. The more we know of our faith and out Lord, the greater our peace and our happiness.
The dead will be resurrected and participate in the Lord’s coming for His own (the Thessalonians feared that they would miss out). When He comes, the living saints will be reunited with their believing loved ones and they will be together with the Lord eternally.
So, let us turn to 2 Thessalonians and select two extracts.
2 Thessalonians 2: 1 – 4. More information about the Lord’s second coming.
“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you not to be so soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”
After writing 1 Thessalonians, Paul received word that that the believers in Thessalonica were being misled by false teachers who were confusing them with erroneous ideas about the Lord’s second coming. Paul’s second letter was intended to correct these misconceptions concerning the “coming of the Lord” and the “day of the Lord”. The saints were suffering such severe persecution that it was easy for them to think that they were already in the first part of the day of the lord i.e., the tribulation period.
And rumours were floating about that Paul himself believed and taught that the day of the Lord had arrived. So, he wanted to set the record straight.
Paul tells them that on the basis that the Rapture will come first, they should not fear that they are in the day of the Lord. The Rapture must take place first. Believers will be taken home at that time to heaven and will escape the wrath of the day of the Lord. The expression “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him” refers to the Rapture. That is the time when we will be gathered to Him in the air.
Clearly the Rapture is not the same as the day of the Lord. The Thessalonians were not worried that the Lord had come; they knew that He had not. But they were worried that the day of the Lord had begun. The intense persecution they were enduring made them think they were in the Tribulation, the first part of the day of the Lord.
Rumours had been circulating that Paul had said that the day of the Lord had arrived. These rumours may have been received “by spirit”, or “by word” or “by letter as from us”. The final part suggests the possibility of a forged letter. None of these sources were to be trusted. They were not to be troubled. The day of the Lord would not come until certain realities were in place.
In verse 3, Paul explains why the Thessalonians could not be in “that day”. Certain events must take place first. After the Rapture, these things will begin to appear. First of all, there will be the “falling away” or the apostacy. This will be a definite rejection of faith in the Lord Yeshua.
Then a powerful world figure will arise. As is his character, he is “the man of sin” or “the man of lawlessness” i.e., the very embodiment of sin and rebellion. As to his destiny, he is “the son of perdition” i.e., he is doomed to eternal judgment. In scripture he is known by several names. The man of sin will lead the world in rebellion against God, perform wonders through Satan’s power and finally will present himself as a god to be worshipped.
For the first three-and-a-half years of the Tribulation period, he maintains relations with Israel but turns on Israel for the last three-and-a-half years. This is the great tribulation under his reign, leading to the final part of the day of the Lord.
The man of sin will violently oppose every form of divine worship and will enthrone himself “in the temple of God” in Jerusalem. Those who refuse to worship him will be persecuted and martyred.
It will be a blessing indeed to be part of the Rapture generation. Currently, we see apostacy all around us. The time is coming! Thank the Lord for inspiring Paul to write this contribution to 2 Thessalonians for our understanding of these events.
Our final extract reflects Paul’s desire to inform the Thessalonians on how to deal with disobedient and undisciplined believers.
2 Thessalonians 3: 6 – 15.
“But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us for we were not disorderly among you; nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labour and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread. But as for you, brethren, do not weary in doing good. And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”
Paul here uses a strong word “command”. This is not a suggestion; it is a binding order in the name of the Lord Yeshua. Paul’s instruction to “withdraw” from that person means to withhold fellowship.
It seems clear that some saints at Thessalonica had stopped working for a living, intently waiting for the Lord’s return. Paul does not encourage this as a spiritual attitude but presents definite instructions on how to deal with such a brother. The “tradition” which the Thessalonians had received from Paul was one of industry and being self-supporting.
Paul kept working realizing that the Lord may not return in his lifetime. He did not want to be a burden to anyone; he made tents to provide for his needs whenever it became necessary on his missionary journeys.
As a preacher of the gospel, the apostle had the right to be supported by those who were converted through him. But he preferred to forgo this right in order that he might be an example of noble independence and unswerving diligence.
The Thessalonians had already been commanded not to support shirkers. It is not a kindness to encourage laziness. Idleness breeds sin. Those who are disorderly and not working at all become “busybodies” causing trouble and division in the church.
All those who can work but are not supporting themselves are commanded and exhorted “through our Lord Jesus Christ” to work and earn their own living. This is a good testimony and glorifies God.
The Thessalonians are not to “keep company” with blatantly disobedient believers who do not accept the apostolic authority. They are to be disciplined to produce shame and, hopefully, repentance. If they refuse to obey the word of God, their pagan neighbours might think that the Thessalonian believers approve of that person’s activities.
The purpose of this church discipline is not final rejection. While an unrepentant pattern of sin is to be dealt with decisively, it is to be continually kept in mind that the one with whom one deals is a brother in the Lord. So, all further warnings to him about his sin should be done with a brotherly attitude. Hate the sin, love the sinner! He should not be treated as “an enemy”, but rather as a brother.
It seems strange that the Thessalonians were so ardently looking for the Lord’s return that they were abandoning daily duties. Perhaps the danger for us is the opposite extreme. We can get so busy with life’s daily demands that we do not focus sufficiently on the Lord’s return.
Conclusion.
Even in these four extracts from Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians, there are riches of learning and wisdom to apply to our lives.
The more thoroughly we understand scripture, the more we will find that the gospel bless us and produces happiness. Each word which eternal wisdom speaks is pure. We must therefore give heed to the sure word of scripture; it will bring us through danger and difficulty and reward us with great delight.
AMEN.