Introduction to the Book of 2 Thessalonians

Introduction

The Need for a Second Epistle

It appears that only a few months had passed since Paul wrote his first epistle to the Thessalonians. Even though not being able to visit them, Paul remained in contact with the church. The persecution that began when Paul was with them was intensifying and their suffering was great. In response to the first epistle that described the sequence of events with the rapture removing believers before the wrath of God would commence, the believers in Thessalonica believed that they must have missed the rapture as they thought, due to their persecution, that the Tribulation had begun. This is the first problem that Paul will address in chapter two. The second problem which will be addressed in chapter three was idleness, something that Paul apparently was concerned about in his first epistle (see 1 Thessalonians 5:14).

Due to the continuity of these epistles, it is strongly recommended to read and study the first epistle to the Thessalonians before reading the second epistle.

More Eschatology

In his first epistle Paul discussed the coming rapture and briefly reviewed the Day of the Lord. Now in order to explain that the rapture had not yet occurred, Paul offers some details regarding the beginning of the end times. Things that would take place after the rapture. But first he assures them that they are worthy to be saved and that God will indeed judge and punish those who have persecuted them and those who have rejected His plan for salvation.

Paul then selects several key elements of the Day of the Lord to demonstrate to the believers in Thessalonica that by the fact that none of them have come to fruition, that the Day of the Lord indeed had not yet begun. In this brief account Paul offers some interesting facts and features regarding the end of times.

Persecution Versus Punishment (Wrath)

There is no question that believers will face persecution, as Jesus Himself warned of coming persecution (see Matthew 5:10-12; Luke 21:12; John 15:20; 16:33), and Paul warned that it was inevitable (see 1 Corinthians 4:12; 2 Corinthians 4:9; 2 Timothy 3:12, see also Acts 14:22). There are several Greek words that are translated as ‘tribulation’ and ‘affliction’. Some believe that whenever these words are used in the New Testament that the writer is referring to affliction or tribulation a Christian faces due to persecution as a believer, but fail to recognize the difference in the context of the text. Some passages indeed refer to persecution, but there are several that refer to the judgment of unbelievers, which is not to be shared with believers. Paul wrote in his first epistle, "For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:9, ESV) We can see that there are a number of examples from the Bible that show God removing His people before His wrath, for example: Lot’s family out of Sodom (see Genesis 19:1-29), and Noah’s family being on the ark protecting them from the flood (see Genesis 6:9-22). Believers will not face God’s wrath.

Legitimacy Debated

Many believe that this epistle was not written by Paul and as such should be considered one of the several pseudepigraphical (a document written by someone other than who is claimed to be the author, see below) epistles that falsely name Paul as the author. The key issue appears to be based on the differences of how Paul emphasized in 1 Thessalonians an imminent (sooner than later) rapture, with words like, “we who are still alive” (see 1 Thessalonians 4:15), as compared to 2 Thessalonians which some believe teaches a different timeline that requires a number of events to occur prior to the rapture. Effectively stripping the concept of Jesus’ imminent return from 1 Thessalonians.

In addition, many of these same scholars believe that 2 Thessalonians was written after Paul’s death by some unknown person who was motivated to write it because several of the Thessalonians were “sitting around” waiting for Jesus (see 2 Thessalonians 3:16-18) and by forging a letter from Paul they would embrace the words as truth and go back to being productive citizens.

These modern ’scholars’ believe that beyond what they consider to be inconsistencies between the first epistle, that the writing style lacks the typical “warmth” of Paul’s writing. However, this epistle was accepted by the early church leaders as being written by Paul and accepted into the early canon with no doubt.

Pseudepigraphical Books
A falsely attributed writing; the claimed author is not the true author. Since much of the world was eager to find more information about God and Jesus by the end of the first century, several pseudepigraphal books began to appear, many included the title of ‘gospel’, playing on the name given to the books that described the real story of salvation. Some titles include: the Book of Noah, Prayer of Joseph, Testament of Job, Elijah the Prophet, Secrets of Enoch, Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Judas, Gospel of Peter, Epistles of Barnabas, Apocalypse of Peter, Apocalypse of Paul, Acts of Paul, Third Epistle to the Corinthians, The Prayer of the Apostle Paul, Epistle to the Laodiceans, etc. Most of these are very limited in number and in some cases only one copy was found, many of those have missing pages and words. Recently some scholars have included Ephesians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Timothy, and Titus in this category, referred to as the Deutero-Paulines.

Navigation

Outline

I. Chapter One (2 Thessalonians 1:1-12)

A. Greeting (2 Thessalonians 1:1-2)

B. Giving God Thanks (2 Thessalonians 1:3-4)

C. Judgment at Christ’s Return (2 Thessalonians 1:5-12)

II. Chapter Two (2 Thessalonians 2:1-17)

A. Problem Number One - Hoodwinked! (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2)

B. The Man of Lawlessness Will Come Before Jesus Returns to Earth (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12)

C. Meanwhile Stand Firm as You Wait for the Rapture (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17)

III. Chapter Three (2 Thessalonians 3:1-18)

A. A Request for Prayer (2 Thessalonians 3:1-5)

B. Problem Number Two - Idleness (2 Thessalonians 3:6-15)

C. Benediction and Closing (2 Thessalonians 3:16-18)