Paul Writes the Second Letter to the Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians 1:1-2 KJV 1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the
church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ: 2 Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Introduction
2 Thessalonians is considered to be a sequel to 1 Thessalonians. It appears to be written shortly after the first epistle was written. Even though this cannot be proven beyond the shadow of a doubt, most scholars believe this to be the case.
We are given no indications of just how the first letter was delivered to the Thessalonians, but we can guess that it was probably through Timothy.
Timothy probably delivered the letter and observed their response, which upon his return to Corinth, related such to Paul. Unless there was some other possibility, of which there could always be, Paul would not have known about their reaction to his first letter.
It appears that there was some misunderstanding or misinterpretation concerning Paul’s first letter to them.
It is apparent that certain expressions in Paul’s first epistle to this church, had been misinterpreted.
When he had referred to the uncertainty of the time of Christ’s coming, his words had been understood as teaching that the day of the was just at hand.
This resulted in undue excitement. The converts were “Shaken in mind,”
ch. 2:2. They were entertaining wrong views as to the nearness of the Lord’s advent which unsettled their lives.
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Some have thought from the wording of verses two and three, of chapter two, that the church had received a forged letter which had added fuel to the fire. This is purely conjectural. There is not much doubt that the epistle was the outcome of an excited state of the church.1
In order to understand this Second Epistle, we must endeavor to ascertain the condition of the Thessalonian Church when the apostle wrote to them.
Paul had been compelled to leave the Thessalonians only partially instructed in Christianity; they were defective both in the knowledge of its doctrines and in the practice of its precepts. He had written them an Epistle to correct abuses and to supply what was lacking in their faith (1 Thessalonians 3:10).
The intelligence brought back to the apostle by the bearer of the First Epistle, or through some other channel, was the occasion of this Epistle. The apostle received a good report of the Thessalonians, and is enabled to express his joy and thankfulness to God that their faith grew exceedingly, and the love of every one toward each other abounded (2 Thessalonians 1:3). But still the erroneous views concerning the advent, and the consequent disorders to which he had adverted in the First Epistle, bad rather increased than diminished. The Lord Jesus Christ had left the world only twenty years before. He had promised to return at an uncertain date, and therefore nothing was more natural than that the Church in general should have expected his immediate return. Various circumstances, both in the Church and in the world, heightened this expectation. Such a view of an immediate advent had taken possession of the minds of the Thessalonian converts. Their anxiety for the loss of their deceased relatives, who, they thought, would lose all the benefits occurring at the advent, had indeed been assuaged by the former Epistle, but the expectation of the immediate advent itself had grown in strength. The Thessalonians, it would seem, from misapprehending some passages of the First Epistle, considered that the day of Christ was at band (2 Thessalonians 2:2). Mistaken and enthusiastic men had also nourished this deception by appealing to visions and to the traditionary sayings of the apostle; and it would even appear that an Epistle had been forged in the name of the apostle. The Church was thrown into a state of wild excitement; an impatient and fanatical longing for the instant 191
when Christ would come seized upon one portion, whilst fear and consternation at the awfulness of the event overwhelmed another. The consequence was that many of the Thessalonians were neglecting their secular business and living idle and useless lives, conceiving that there was no use of working in a world which was so soon to be destroyed, or of performing the duties belonging to a state of things which was so soon to terminate. Their only duty they felt was to be in readiness for the immediate coming of their Lord.2
Overview of the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians
What follows is an overview of the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians. It is taken from e-Sword, Version 13.0.0, Copyright 2000-2021 Rick Meyers, Albert Barnes Commentary.
This Epistle appears to have been written soon after the First Epistle, and from the same place - Corinth. See the
introduction to the First Epistle, 3. The proof of this indeed is not certain, because there are no marks of time or place in the Epistle by which these points can be determined. The probability rests upon these grounds:
(1) That the same persons - Paul, Silas, and Timothy - are
associated in both Epistles, and are mentioned as being together at the time when they were written 1Th_1:1;
2Th_1:1. However, since there is reason to believe that they
did not continue long together, it is to be presumed that one Epistle was written soon after the other.
(2) Paul refers to an error which had grown up, apparently in consequence of a misunderstanding of his First Epistle 2Th_2:1-2, an error which he regarded as of great
magnitude, and which was producing very unhappy results
2Th_3:11-12, and it was natural that he should hasten to correct that error as soon as possible.3
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2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 KJV 1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That
ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by
word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
2 Thessalonians 3:11-12 KJV 11 For we hear that there are some which
walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. 12
Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus
Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.
(3) There is some probability, as Benson has remarked, that
the Epistle was written before the troubles came upon him at
Corinth under the administration of Gallio Act_18:12-16, and yet that he saw that the storm was approaching, and hints at it in 2Th_3:2, “And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men.” If so, this Epistle was written only a few months at the most after the First Epistle.
We may regard the evidence, therefore, as sufficiently clear, that this Epistle was written at Corinth sense time during the latter part of a.d. 53, or the beginning of a.d. 54.
There is little doubt as to the design for which it was written.
Either by a false interpretation of his former Epistle, or by an epistle forged in his name and sent to them, the opinion
had become prevalent in the church at Thessalonica that the
Saviour was about to appear, and that the end of the world
was at hand; see 2Th_2:2, compare Hug’s Introduction, section 94, and Stuart’s Notes on the same passage, pp.
741ff. Correct this impression was the leading purpose of this Epistle. Some people had become alarmed, and were suffering from unnecessary apprehension 2Th_2:2; and
some, under the natural belief that labor then was useless, and that property was of no value, had given up all attention 193
to their worldly concerns 2Th_3:10-11; and it was of the utmost importance that the error should be corrected. This
was done in this Second Epistle, and in doing it. As usual,
Paul intermingled several other topics of importance,
adapted to the condition of those to whom he wrote.
This Epistle, though short, has great permanent value, and is indispensable to a proper understanding of the great doctrine of the Second Advent of the Redeemer. It was written, indeed, to correct an error in a single church, and at a particular time, but history has shown there is a tendency toward that same error in all ages, and that there was need of some permanent inspired statement to check it. It was inferred from the First Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians, that he meant to teach that the day of judgment was not far
off. If this Second Epistle had not been written to correct that false interpretation, and to show what Paul’s true belief was, it would have been charged to Paul that he was mistaken, and then the inference would have been naturally made that
all the prophecies respecting that event were false! The distance between this and absolute infidelity, it is easy to see, is very small. Paul, by his prompt explanation, arrested that danger, and showed that he intended to teach no such doctrine as had been drawn from his first letter to them.
There this Epistle is of importance to show:
(1) That the apostle did not believe, or mean to teach, that the end of the world was very near. There are many
expressions, indeed, which, like those in First Thessalonians, would seem to imply that the apostle held that belief, but the explanation of an inspired apostle of his own sentiments at
the time, settled that matter. No one now has a right to charge that belief on him, or on others who then used the same language. No one can pretend that they held the opinion that
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the end of the world was very near. There is no stronger language on that subject in any of their writings than occurs in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, and Paul in the Second Epistle expressly says that he held no such opinion,
and meant to teach no such thing.
(2) This Epistle is a standing rebuke of the kind of interpretation which attempts to determine the time when the
Saviour will come, and of all those theories which represent
“the day of Christ as at hand.” The declarations in the Scriptures are positive and abundant that the time of his appearing is not made known to mortals (Notes on Act_1:7),
and it is not possible now to make out a stronger argument
to prove that that time is near, than could have been made
out from the First Epistle to the Thessalonians; and yet Paul deemed it necessary to write them a second letter, expressly
to show them that the interpretation which they put upon his
language was unauthorized. The truth is, that it was not the
design of God to make known to human beings the exact time when the Lord Jesus will return for judgment; and all
attempts since the time of Paul to settle that have failed, and all will doubtless continue to fall, as they always have done.4
THE PECULIARITIES OF THE EPISTLE.
The great peculiarity of this Epistle — that which
distinguishes it from all Paul’s other Epistles, and imparts to it a peculiar importance, and at the same time renders its exposition a matter of great difficulty — is the prediction of the man of sin, contained in the second chapter (vers. 1-12).
This section is distinguished from all the other writings of Paul, and is closely allied to the prophecies of Daniel and the apocalyptic visions of John. Here the apostle glances into the future, and predicts what is to happen in the latter days.
There are other portions of his Epistles in which he refers to 195
what will occur in the last days, and at the period of the manifestation of the sons of God (2 Timothy 3:1-5; Romans
8:19-24), and he also foretells the full conversion of both Jews and Gentiles to the faith of Jesus (Romans 11:25); but
this is the only passage in all his Epistles where a detailed prophecy is given. This prediction of the man of sin, as already observed, had peculiar attractions to the early Church suffering from persecution; and it has been the subject of numerous dissertations in modern times; its very
obscurity being one cause of the interest attached to it, and of the amount of ingenious labour expended on its
elucidation.5
Conclusion
In the next part, we will consider the third epistle that was written by Paul, probably while he was still at Corinth. That book would be the letter to the Galatians.
1 The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible New Testament, B.B. Kirkbride Bible Company, Inc., Indianapolis, IN; copyright 1964, p. 218
2 e-Sword, Version 13.0.0, Copyright 2000-2021 Rick Meyers, Pulpit Commentary.
3 e-Sword, Version 13.0.0, Copyright 2000-2021 Rick Meyers, Albert Barnes Commentary.
4 IBID
5 e-Sword, Version 13.0.0, Copyright 2000-2021 Rick Meyers, Pulpit Commentary 196