2 Thessalonians 1:7-10

7 And to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,

in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,

10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.

All this indicates that the Rapture of the members of Christ’s Body will mark the close of the day of grace and usher in the day of judgment. God will not allow the rejection of His beloved Son to go on forever. The present dispensation of grace will not continue on indefinitely. It has lasted now for [close to 2,000] years, but He will bring it to a close and speak to this Christ-rejecting world in His wrath (Psalm 2:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:3). Almost 20 centuries ago, the world declared war on God (Psalm 2:1-3), and if anything is clear in Scripture it is the fact that He will make a counter-declaration of war on them. As now, for all this time, He has proclaimed “grace and peace,” He will then “judge and make war” (Galatians 1:3-4; cf., Revelation 19:11). — Stam, pages 113-114.

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rest (v.7) = a loosing, a relaxation of strain. The apostle did not pray for these afflicted saints that their trials might cease; he reminded them of the certainty of the relaxation of the strain of endurance to which they were subjected because of their allegiance to the kingdom of God. For this easement, however, they were not to look to death, but to the return of the Lord Jesus. — Vine, pages 106-107.

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The words “and to you that are troubled rest with us,” are an incidental extension of the idea of recompense, and are to be read parenthetically, permitting the words that follow to be connected directly with the close of verse 6, thus: “affliction to them that afflict you [and to you that are troubled rest with us], at the revelation of the Lord Jesus.” The time indicated is not that at which the saints will be relieved of persecution, but that at which their persecutors will be punished. The time of relief for the saints had been stated in the earlier letter (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). — Vine, page 107.

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Verse 7 is an exhortation as well as a prediction. We will be resting when the Lord comes in flaming fire (v.8), but we can rest in that prediction now. Paul was already resting in the midst of his tribulations (2 Corinthians 11:23-33), and he is telling the Thessalonians to rest with him. — Kurth

revealed (v.7) = uncovered, unveiled

in (v.8) = encompassed with

vengeance (v.8) = lit. “that which proceeds out of justice”: not, as is often the case with human vengeance, out of a feeling of indignation or a sense of injury. There is thus no element of vindictiveness, of “taking revenge,” or of self-gratification, in the judgments of God; they are both holy and right (Revelation 16:7). — Vine, page 108.

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The Lord will come “with His mighty angels.” … The “angel of the Lord” is sometimes a theophany, but not here. Notice it doesn’t say He’ll come with “some” of His mighty angels, indicating He’ll come with all of them, “an innumerable company” (Hebrews 12:22). … They will gather out of God’s kingdom all that “offend” (Matthew 13:41). … In addition to His mighty angels, the Lord will come “in flaming fire.” … The flaming fire will come from the Lord’s mouth (Isaiah 30:33). … He’ll slay the wicked “with the breath of His lips” (Isaiah 11:4). … Revelation 19:11-15 says He’ll smite the nations with a sword that will come out of His mouth, not fire—a two-edged sword (Revelation 1:16), the Word of God (Hebrews 4:12). But remember, God’s Word is “like a fire” (Jeremiah 23:29). — Kurth.

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those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (v.8) — Two classes are intended, as the repetition of the article shows. The first of these includes all Gentiles who have refused such knowledge of God as is to be had from the light of nature. (cp. Acts 10:34; Romans 2:10-15). The second includes all, Jews and Gentiles, who, having heard the gospel, refuse to submit to the claims of God therein declared. — Vine, page 109.

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everlasting, (v.9) — Here, [it means] that the punishment with which the passage is concerned is not temporary, but final, and, accordingly, the phraseology throughout shows that its purpose is not remedial but retributive. — Vine, page 109.

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everlasting destruction (v.9) — Not annihilation, but ruin by reason of separation from the presence of the Lord [destruction of well-being—to render permanently unfit for intended use]. In 1 Thessalonians 5:3 the destruction is said to be sudden; here, eternal. — Ryrie, page 1845.

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It is not the unbeliever’s misfortune that He does not know God; it is his sin. — Stam, page 115.

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from the glory of His power (v.9) — from the outward and visible expression of the inherent personal power of the Lord Jesus. The punishment here described is thus irrevocable banishment from the presence of the Lord and from the unapproachable light in which He dwells (1 Timothy 6:16), into the “outer darkness,” where, as He Himself said, “shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30). — Vine, page 110.

to be glorified in His saints (v.10) — His glory will punish unbelievers and be exhibited in His saints by way of their likeness to Him. (Romans 8:29; Philippians 3:21).

As the artist or the sculptor is honored and admired because of the work of his hands; as men gaze at his workmanship and lavish praise upon him; as the philanthropist is honored and admired for all the good he has done for others; as men see his philanthropic projects and lavish praise upon him, so one day, angels and men will gaze upon our Lord’s masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10), “the Church, which is His Body,” and “admire” and “glorify” Him. — Stam, pages 116-117.

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because our testimony among you was believed (v.10)  — a parenthesis to comfort these distressed saints by an explicit assurance that they would be included among those thus blessed at the coming of the Lord. — Vine, page 110.

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