Verse by Verse

⁵ Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?

⁶ And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.

⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.

⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.

you know (v.6) — Paul wasn’t going into detail here. He had already told the Thessalonians everything they needed to know, and not long before. Here he was just reminding them.

restraining (v.6) = holding fast, actively and purposefully — Here it is lawlessness which is restrained in its development

he (v.6) — the Antichrist. He is currently restrained, but will one day be unrestrained

in his own time (v.6) — and not before. The time will come for him to play his part in God’s plan, and at that time the man will appear.

When Paul says Antichrist will be “revealed in his time” (v.6), Isaiah predicted the Lords “little ones” (cf. Matthew 10:41-42) would one day be a majority and the “nation” (Matthew 21:43) of the “little flock” (Luke 12:32) would become “a strong nation” in the kingdom.” Redeemed Israel has always been a minority on earth, but that will change “in his time,” and Antichrist will be revealed “in his time.” And the time of a prophetic figure can’t come during the age of the mystery. — Kurth

for (v.7) — explaining why restraint of lawlessness is necessary at this time.

mystery (v.7) — something that can only be known by revelation from God (see Romans 16:24-25). A mystery, in Scripture, is never something that cannot be known, incomprehensible, or “mysterious” in the usual sense of that word.

lawlessness (v.7) — overthrow of the Divine order, not necessarily confusion and disorder

How did we believers come to know and love the Lord Jesus Christ? This was accomplished, not in some dramatic, outward way, but by the quiet working of the Holy Spirit, as we received the Word as the truth of God.

Satan works in the same way, only from sinister motives. He is called in Ephesians 2:2, “the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” And as “the mystery of godliness” quietly does its work in the saints, so “the mystery of lawlessness is already at work” in the children of disobedience, behind the scenes, but very effectively, for the Prince of Lawlessness is the driving force that carries it forward. …

What is it that restrains the Antichrist from being revealed and hinders this wicked world from “going the limit” in sin?

Some say it is Satan, who is holding on to his place in the heavenlies “until he be taken out of the way (Revelation 12:9), but it is hard to imagine Satan, even in and by his personal absence from this earth, restraining evil.

Others believe that the restrainer is the Holy Spirit. [But] the Holy Spirit will continue working on earth during the Tribulation, helping the believing remnant to remain faithful to the end.

The author holds that it is the Spirit in the Church, the Body of Christ, that is referred to, or we might say, the influence of the Spirit through the Church for, remember it is not the police forces of this world, or its armies, that restrain the evil. It is the true Church, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. When the Church is “taken out of the way,” the Spirit’s ministry through its members will no longer function on earth to restrain lawlessness or the manifestation of Antichrist. This we believe is the only consistent solution to the identity of the Restrainer and is another strong proof that the rapture of the members of Christ’s Body will precede the manifestation of Antichrist. — Stam, pages 129-130.

When I first read the passage, I assumed the Restrainer was simply Christ who is preventing lawlessness as long as the Age of Grace lasts. I’m still not entirely sure why this can’t be the case, although the commentaries I’m using have other ideas (such as Stam, above) or Ryrie (who believes it is either the Holy Spirit indwelling the Church, or human government, which the Antichrist will overthrow). The Holy Spirit restraining lawlessness through the Church makes sense too.

already (v.7) — Even in Paul’s day, the forces of evil were at work to undermine the truth (see 1 John 2:18).

only (v.7) — Paul is about to explain why the lawlessness is limited at this time.

out of the way (v.7) = lit. “out of the midst”

with the breath of His mouth (v.8) — quoted from Isaiah 11:4, LXX, “with the breath of His lips shall He slay the impious one”; a vivid metaphorical statement of the effect of His voice, cp. Job 4:9; Psalm 29:3-6; Psalm 33:6. — Vine, page 122.

destroy (v.8) = to render inactive, or useless

brightness (v.8) = a showing forth

of His coming (v.8) — Christ’s second coming, when He will set up the Millennial Kingdom

1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you,

² not to be 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.

³ 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,

⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

shaken in mind (v.2) = excited, violently disturbed. It also has the sense of “to move away from,” like a ship that slips away from its moorings in a storm.

Having at once quieted their hearts as to their present sufferings, the Apostle now proceeds to prove to them that “the Day of the Lord” with its terrors and judgments had not then set in. He had told them in [1 Thessalonians 5:4] that they should be raptured to Heaven prior to those judgments, and that when the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to execute them they would appear with him (1 Thessalonians 3:13; Colossians 3:4). So they were shaken in mind and troubled; for if the Day of the Lord had set in, the Apostle’s teaching about the hope of the Rapture was false, and if he erred on so important a matter, what security had they that his gospel was infallible? — Williams, page 949.

concerning (v.1) = in the interests of—to correct their thoughts about

The appearance of the article “the” (v.1) before “coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is not repeated before “our gathering together to Him” indicates that these are two aspects of the same event.

so soon (v.2) — Paul was telling them not to be swayed by first impressions but to think things through.

shaken in mind (v.2) — controlled by emotion, given to anxiety

by spirit (v.2) — those who claim to have spiritual gifts and insight. Their claims need to be carefully scrutinized

by word (v.2) — by reasoning, by statement, or by supposed word-of-mouth messages from Paul

or by epistle (v.2) — a written message, pretending to be from Paul. See 2 Thessalonians 3:17 where Paul explains how they can know.

from us (v.2) = through, by means of. Paul did not claim to be a source of knowledge in himself; he was merely a channel through which God revealed His mind to men. — Vine, page 115.

day of Christ (v.2) — same as the “day of the Lord”

Even though the Tribulation was only found in Jewish Scriptures, the Thessalonians knew how bad it would be, for they hung around the synagogue even before they were saved (Acts 17:1-4). So they knew “perfectly” how bad it will be (1 Thessalonians 5:1-2), knowing verses like Deuteronomy 28:65-67; Luke 21:26; etc. No wonder they were troubled!

Words and phrases have different meanings. The “coming” of the Lord (v.2) can refer to the Rapture, as it does here, or to the Second Coming (Matthew 24:27-29). Matthew 24 can’t be the rapture, for it speaks of the gathering of the eagles” for Armageddon (Revelation 19:17-19). The “gathering” of Matthew 24:31 can’t be the “gathering” of our text for there the Lord sends angels to gather the elect in Israel, while “the Lord Himself” comes for us (1 Thessalonians 4:16). — Kurth.

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[Some commentators, when referring to “the falling away” (v.3), think Paul was referring to people turning away from God.]

[But] our English word apostasy, is not an exact equivalent of the Greek apostasia. The English word apostasy means rebellion, or revolt, against a faith once embraced, but the Greek apostasia means departure, nothing more. …

The fatal mistake the translators made was in failing to take into consideration the definite article before the word apostasia. The article here denotes previous reference, for this wording clearly implies that they already knew about it. The meaning of Paul’s words in v.3, then, is that before the Tribulation can come, the “man of sin” must be revealed, and before this can happen “the departure” must come “first.”

No “falling away” or “apostasy” had been previously mentioned in either epistle, but in the whole of 1 Thessalonians and also of 2 Thessalonians up to this point, the Apostle’s very theme had been the rapture of the members of the Body of Christ. Thus here in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 he must be referring to “the departure” of the Church to be with Christ. This falls naturally into place with the whole context, for why should Paul exhort these believers not to be “shaken” or “troubled,” merely because the apostasy must precede the Tribulation? This would be no comfort. Further, how could they recognize “the” apostasy, much less “a” falling away when it came? The fact is that apostasy is raging now, in our day; it has been throughout the Church’s history. Indeed, it began in the days of Paul himself, and he wrote to Timothy, instructing him what to do about it. Thus “a falling away” could be no definite guide-post to the Thessalonian believers. But if, as we have contended, the beginning of the Tribulation awaits the rapture of the members of the Body of Christ, then the very fact that the Thessalonian saints were still on earth was in itself positive proof that the day of the Lord had not yet come. — Stam, pages 121, 123-124.

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Conclusion

1) The word apostasia and its root verb aphisteemi, do not, used by themselves, mean “apostasy” and “apostatize.” They mean “departure” and “depart,” nothing more.

2) 2 Thessalonians 2:3 states in the Greek, that the day of the Lord will not come “except the departure come first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.”

3) The term “the departure,” with the definite article, denotes previous reference.

4) Paul had written to the Thessalonians in his previous letter about the departure of the members of Christ’s Body from this earth (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) and had even disassociated this from the prophesied “day of the Lord” with the use of the word, “But” in 1 Thessalonians 5:1. He had also referred to this “departure” in the phrase “our gathering together unto Him,” in 2 Thessalonians 2:1. Indeed, this was the basis for his appeal to the Thessalonians not to be “shaken” or “troubled” by those who would lead them to believe that “the day of the Lord” had already begun. Also, he had “told” them about “these things” while he was yet with them (2 Thessalonians 2:5).

5) “The man of sin” must also be manifested before the “day of the Lord” can come, first as a great leader (Revelation 6:2) and then in all his blasphemy and wickedness (2 Thessalonians 2:8), and he cannot be manifested until “the departure” takes place “first.”

6) Thus, in addition to the many clear proofs that the rapture of the Body will precede the Tribulation we also have a passage which “explicitly affirms” this. — Stam, page 125

Kurth has a different view:

[Paul] revealed “a falling away” had to come before the day of the Lord. Many good pastors say this is the Rapture, arguing that the Greek word just means departure. But the Greek word is apostasia, from which we get apostasy, a departure from the truth. The only other place the Greek word is used bears this out (Acts 21:21). That’s the meaning here as well. … There is no need for Paul to introduce the Rapture at this point in his argument. He already begged them on the basis of the Rapture not to let anyone deceive them, knowing it must come before the day of the Lord. He’s already made that argument, now he is arguing that something else must come first, an apostasy. But there are two comings, one before the Rapture (1 Timothy 4:1) and one after. Since this passage started by talking about the Rapture, this is speaking about an apostasy that will come after the Rapture. — Kurth.

I find Stam’s argument, that the “falling away” means “departure” and is referring to the Rapture much more compelling both on the strength of his argument, and for a clearer, more logical reading of the text. In a section I haven’t included, Stam shows how the verb for of the Greek word is frequently used in Scripture to simply mean “departure.”

man of sin (v.3) — … A man over whom sin will have absolute dominion, the willing and efficient instrument of sin. A various reading is “man of lawlessness”; for this there is considerable manuscript authority, it agrees, moreover, with the words of vs. 7-8. … Here, perhaps the word includes the idea of contempt of [divine] law. If Antichrist denies the existence of the lawgiver he is not likely to respect His laws. — Vine, page 116.

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son of perdition (v.3) — If “man of lawlessness” refers to character, then “son of perdition” refers to the proper destiny of such a one, who like Judas, must “go to his on place” (Acts 1:25). … [Perdition] is a general term for disaster, material and spiritual, temporal and eternal. — Vine, page 116.

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Only one other person in Scripture is called “the son of perdition. … Judas Iscariot (John 17:12). … This has led some to conclude that “the son of perdition” of 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and Judas Iscariot are one and the same, both being Satan incarnate. They believe that Judas will be brought back to earth to fulfill his role as our Lord’s traitor. While this may be so, the Scriptures do not exactly say so, thus we merely point out what the Scriptures do reveal. — Stam, pages 128-129.

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“Man of sin” is Antichrist in the first half of the 70th week [of Daniel], but when he dies and rises (Revelation 13:1-3) he becomes “the son of perdition.” He’ll be reanimated by Judas, the son of perdition (John 17:12) when he who was on the earth before that time, “was not” at that time, but who will rise out of the pit of hell (Revelation 17:8). … Elijah’s coming back (Malachi 4:5), why not Judas? Psalm 55:12-14 describes Judas, 55:20:21 describes Antichrist, because he dies and rises in between (v.15). — Kurth

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It is not difficult to identify this “man of sin” the “son of perdition” as the Antichrist, for v.4 declares that he will “sit in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” This is said of Antichrist and is called by Daniel and our Lord, “the abomination of desolation” (Daniel 9:27; 11:31: 12:11; Matthew 24:15).

Having made a seven-year covenant with Israel, Antichrist will break it after three and a half years, setting himself up in the rebuilt temple as God in the flesh (Matthew 24:15). This breach of contract will trigger the “great Tribulation,” concerning which our Lord has said, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (Matthew 24:15, 21-22). — Stam, page 128.

who opposes (v.4) = lit. “to be set over against, the opponent.” John referred to this person as the Antichrist (1 John 2:18).

against all that is called God (v.4) = against all that is said to be Divine, against the conception of deity

[all that is] worshiped (v.4) — against religion in any form, idolatry as well as the worship of God.

in (v.4) = “into,” making the case that his is the culmination of the Antichrist’s rebellion

showing himself (v.4) — The Greek word apodeiknumi was in common use for the proclamation of a sovereign on his accession, or of an official on his entry into office.

We know this verse describes the last three and a half years of Antichrist’s career because during the first half of Daniel’s 70^th week, he will not exalt himself above all that is called God—he will be a good Jew who will honor all that is called God. That’s why he’ll be honored by Israel. Midway through the 70^th week he will exalt himself. During the first half of the 70^th week he will be exalted by Israel and the world as a peacemaker (Daniel 11:21,24) who brought peace to the Mideast. But after he dies and rises (Revelation 13:1,2) he will exalt himself as God (2 Thessalonians 2:4 cf. Isaiah 14:13,14).

Daniel tells us he will exalt himself against “the prince of the host,” Christ (cf. Joshua 5:14), by claiming that he is Israel’s Christ. He adds that the Beast will “exalt himself above every god” (Daniel 11:36), similar to how Paul says he’ll exalt himself “above all that is called God.”

Satan will infect Judaism with idols again. The whore of Babylon will be Jewish. … Revelation 17:1-3 says that the whore will sit on the antichrist to symbolize how Antichrist will honor all that is involved with Judaism during the early part of his career. This is why he is called “the idol shepherd” (Zechariah 11:7).

However, Zechariah 11:7 goes on to describe his deadly wound that is healed (Revelation 13:1,2) after he rises from the dead after his assassination. He will then exalt himself above the idols that are called gods by “showing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

But how will he sit in the temple, as Paul says, when the temple had no chair? Since the people kept sinning, the priest had to keep sacrificing and so there was never time for him to sit, unlike Christ, who offered one sacrifice for sins for ever (Hebrews 10:11). … The mercy seat above the ark was a chair, it was the throne of God (Numbers 7:89). Antichrist “as God” will sit on that seat “shewing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4). — Kurth

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

⁸ 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.

⁹ 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.

⁴ So that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure,

⁵ which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer;

⁶ since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you.

for (v.4) = on account of

patience (v.4) = abiding under

“Persecutions” describes the hostile actions of others; “afflictions” are the various forms of injury to body and mind suffered by those who are persecuted.

that you endure (v.4) = to bear up. The present continuous tense indicates that the afflictions which beset them at the beginning (1 Thessalonians 1:6; 2:14) had been continued or renewed. — Vine, page 105.

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The Thessalonians were enduring persecution so patiently that Paul boasted of them to others. [It isn’t OK] to boast about yourself though (Proverbs 27:2). … When David boasted (Isaiah 17:34), he was boasting about what the Lord could do through him (vs. 45-46). And when Paul boasted (2 Corinthians 11:5) he too was boasting about the Lord (2 Corinthians 10:8).

It must be OK to brag about others, though, since Paul did it. If it wasn’t, Solomon would have said “don’t let another man praise thee.” Of course, when we praise men in spiritual areas, we are praising the Lord for what He is doing through them. That’s why Paul praised the Thessalonians. … It’s not a natural thing for faith to grow amidst tribulations. It’s natural for faith to be shaken instead of growing, or Paul wouldn’t have warned us not to let it happen (1 Thessalonians 3:3). — Kurth

which is (v.5) — not in the Greek, but necessary in English to complete the thought. They refer to the Thessalonians patience and faith, not to the persecutions.

manifest (v.5) = not secret. The persecutions the Thessalonians were enduring were evidence of the righteous judgment of God, a sign that God will someday judge the persecutors in righteousness.

manifest evidence (v.5) = proof. … That they had endured patiently and that faith had not failed, was proof of the new life, and a guarantee that, in the end, God would vindicate Himself and them. — Vine, page 105.

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The aggravation and hatred of the persecutors [while they were at the same time] beholding the peace and joy of those they persecuted was “a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God,” for already the persecuted believers were better off than their persecutors! Note: this was but a “token,” though a “manifest” one, of the actual judgment to come, when verses 6-10 will be fulfilled.

A comparison with Philippians 1:28 makes it appear further that this situation was a “manifest token” to them, the persecutors, of judgment to come. Mark well: “… in nothing terrified by your adversaries; which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.”

“Their hearts and consciences are troubled with foreboding thoughts as they see your constancy,” says the Apostle, “while you are encouraged with the assurance that He who sustains you now will bring you through victorious.”

Their present situation was but “a … token of the righteous judgment of God, for the judgment itself was still to come. — Stam, pages 112-113.

righteous (v.5) = just, without prejudice or partiality.

judgment (v.5) = the act of distinguishing and separating.

counted worthy (v.5) — Fitness, not merit. There was no intrinsic merit in the exercise of faith and patience such as would establish a claim to the kingdom of God; their faith and patience testified … to the working in them of the powers of that kingdom. It was fitting and right, then, that persons in whom those powers were operating, and in whom consequently a character in harmony with that kingdom was being produced, should be given a place in it at its manifestation. — Vine, page 106.

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The “kingdom” here is the kingdom of God in heaven, the one your body can’t go to without being “changed” (1 Corinthians 15:50-51). But the subject of 1 Thessalonians … is the pre-tribulation rapture. So Paul is talking about going to the kingdom of God in heaven in the pre-tribulation rapture. What made them worthy of this? Well, what made their persecutors worthy of the Tribulation? They had a covenant with God and they broke it. What made the Thessalonians worthy of the pre-tribulation rapture instead? They never broke the law that they were never under (Romans 6:15), so they were worthy of the rapture. God would be unrighteous to make them go through the Tribulation. — Kurth

you … suffer (v.5) — Suffering with Him now is the condition of reigning with Him then. (Romans 8:17, cp. also 2 Timothy 2:12; Acts 14:22).

with God (v.6) — in the estimation of God, in the sight of God

God planned to judge their persecutors with the Tribulation (v.6). … A token [evidence] is often a sign of a covenant (Genesis 9:12-13; 17:11), and their persecutors were Jews (Acts 17:1-8). The Jews had a covenant with God called the Law, a covenant that said God would punish them if they were bad. Their persecution was a sign of their rebellion against God, so it was a sign that when God judges them with the Tribulation, He will do so in righteousness. This is similar to how Daniel mentions God’s righteousness three times in speaking of how God judged Israel with the captivity (Daniel 9:7-14).  God would have been unrighteous if He didn’t judge them when His covenant with them said He would if they rebelled against Him. — Kurth

affliction (v.6) = (here) retribution to the ungodly in the future

Verse 6 sounds a lot like Isaiah 49:25, which is spoken to the Jews, the seed of Abraham, fulfilling Genesis 12:3. So why is Paul saying things like that to us, i.e., that God will recompense tribulation to those that trouble the Body of Christ? Paul says a lot of things like that. [For example] he applies Hosea 13:14, which is about Israel’s resurrection (Hosea 13:9-14) to us (1 Corinthians 15:51-55). That’s one of the ways he uses the Old Testament—he applies the principles. There is no sting in death for the believer no matter what dispensation you are in, and if you mess with God’s people you mess with Him, no matter what dispensation you are in. Although now that the dispensation of grace has fully set in, He will delay recompensing tribulation to persecutors until after the Rapture. — Kurth.

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other.

Silvanus (v.1) = The full name of Silas, the man beaten and jailed with Paul in Philippi (Acts 16:19-24) who then helped Paul found the Thessalonian church. As co-writer of the first epistle (1 Thessalonians 1:1), Silvanus is part of the “we” (2:2), and there was no Silvanus in Philippi, only a Silas. So Paul mentions Silas in the opening salutation since the Thessalonians knew and loved the man who suffered with Paul and then helped found their church along with Timothy. — Kurth

in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (v.1) = the believer’s position in Christ. All men are born into Adam but are baptized into Christ when they are saved (1 Corinthians 12:13).

grace (v.2) = gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). Believers are saved by grace, but also need grace to deal with the problems of life.

peace (v.2) — Believers have peace with God when they are saved (Romans 5:1), but Paul was reminding them that they couldn’t lose this peace when they sinned because they had it “in Christ,” not because of their own works.

[Paul] pens this blessed benediction without any word of warning, comfort, or encouragement concerning “the day of [God’s] wrath,” evidently because [the Thessalonians] have no connection with this. Certainly, if they were to be called upon to go through the prophesied Tribulation, the omission of such comfort and encouragement would be unforgivable.

For another thing, these verses speak of a growing ministry of grace, not a last stand against the forces of evil such as well be taken by the remnant in the Tribulation. — Stam, page 111.

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we are bound (v.3) = under legal or moral obligation, in debt, owing. Paul felt he owed a moral debt to God to thank Him that the faith and love of the Thessalonians had grown because He had prayed that their faith and love would grow (1 Thessalonians 3:10-12). No wonder he said he was bound to think God for them “as it is fitting,” for it is not fitting to not thank God when He answers prayer. — Kurth

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give thanks to God always for you (v.3) — The apostle had been so tried at Corinth and on the way thither, and at the same time so filled with apprehension for the converts at Thessalonica, that it seemed to him as though his very life depended on their steadfastness (1 Thessalonians 3:1-8). Receiving confirmation of the former favorable report of their welfare, he acknowledges his own sense of indebtedness to God for what he looked upon as a mercy to himself. — Vine, page 103.

grows (v.3) = the growth of living things, as seeds

faith (v.3) — faith is the noun, believe is the verb — Kurth

In his first letter, Paul expressed concern about the Thessalonians’ faith (1 Thessalonians 3:5, 10). In his second letter, he thanked God that their faith had grown. The growth is given by God (1 Corinthians 3:6; 2 Corinthians 9:10).

Faith grows by the Word of God (Romans 10:17).

love (v.3) = agape

every one of you (v.3) — not just the church was growing, but the individual members were growing

abounds (v.3) = more than enough, increasing

In Paul’s first epistle he thanked God for the Thessalonians faith and love and hope (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3), but doesn’t mention their hope here. Their hope was not just the Rapture (Titus 2:13), it was the pre-Tribulation Rapture—that God will call us home before the Tribulation. Because of the tribulations the Thessalonians were enduring (1:4), they had begun to believe that they were in the Great Tribulation. But Paul had said “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22), and had told these very Thessalonians the same when he was with them (1 Thessalonians 3:3-4).

The troubles of the [Great] Tribulation are all sent from God. Even those that come from Satan are just God using him as a chastening tool. Your troubles do not come from God—they are not “acts of God” as the insurance companies claim. But you serve a God that can bring good things out of your troubles (Romans 8:28), good things like patience, experience, and hope (Romans 5:3-4). — Kurth

The Thessalonians faith and love were growing, but their hope wasn’t. That’s why Paul wrote this letter.

It is thought that this letter was sent to Thessalonica in A.D. 51, maybe just a couple of months after the first letter. For more background on the city of Thessalonica and the church there, read my introduction to 1 Thessalonians.

[The belief that the Day of the Lord had begun] not only furnished a new argument for the idle but rekindled the fears of the fainthearted. If the Day of the Lord had come, no time remained to acquire the holiness and the faith, hope, and love on which Paul had insisted in his first letter (cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 5:8). The wrath reserved for unbelievers would certainly overtake the Christians as well! When the elders saw that the crisis was more than they could cope with effectively, they sent word to Paul by the first of their number who had occasion to journey to Corinth [where Paul, Silas, and Timothy were] (cf. 2 Thessalonians 3:11, “For we hear that …”).

Paul’s intention was not to introduce new truths but to remind the Thessalonians of the oral instruction the apostle had given while still in their midst (2:5). …

What is particularly significant in this second letter is the role assigned to “tradition” both in the discussion of the day of the Lord and in the treatment of the idle. In the first instance the Thessalonians are urged not to be unsettled in their convictions because of some prophetic utterance or even a letter purporting to be from an apostle (2:1-2); the tradition of teaching delivered to the church remains normative for the testing of doctrine (2:5: cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:21. At the conclusion of chapter 2 Paul writes: “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter” (2:15). Similarly, the offense of the idle in the congregation is twofold: not only were they living in idleness, but their conduct indicated a rejection of “the tradition that you received from us” (3:6). That the second letter is itself a repository of the tradition Paul makes clear when he says: “If any one refused to obey what we say in this letter, note that man, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed” (3:14). — The New Testament Speaks, by Glenn W. Barker, William L. Lane, and J. Ramsey Michaels — Harper & Row, Publishers (1969)

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[When Paul wrote his second letter to the believers in Thessalonica] there was still much among them to be commended. Unlike those at Corinth, they had grown in grace; their faith had “grown exceedingly,” and their love for one another “abounded” (1:3). Not only that, but they were enduring fierce persecution with “patience and faith” (1:4).

When Paul wrote his first letter to them he wrote in part, evidently, to allay their fears that those of their loved ones who had died in Christ might thus miss the Rapture. Explaining the plan of God as to this, he pointed out that the Rapture would include the whole Body of Christ, both living and dead, and that it would precede the Day of the Lord and the outpouring of His wrath.

Evidently erroneous teaching as to this latter was already incipient at Thessalonica at this time, that he should write on it so emphatically as he did in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5.

By now this teaching had gained ground, however, and with persecution raging, some of them had been led to believe that the Day of the Lord was “at hand” (2:2). Indeed, it seems that a letter had even been forged, to make it appear that Paul himself not taught this.

It may well be that those who thus confused the Thessalonian brethren were Jewish believers. Jewish hopes had been earthly in sphere, and they may well have confused the Rapture with our Lord’s return to reign on earth at the close of the Tribulation. And since Paul evidently expected to be alive at the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:17) they apparently concluded that the Day of the Lord had already begun.

It would follow from this, of course, that they would be called upon to endure the most horrible suffering this world has ever known or ever will known until that time (Daniel 12:1; Matthew 24:21). Only after this pouring out of the bowls of God’s wrath, the argument went, would the Lord come to receive His own to Himself.

It is this error that the Apostle refutes in the strongest terms in his second letter to the Thessalonians. — Stam, pages 108-109

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The principal aim of the two epistles was to recall the Thessalonians to hold fast the heavenly hope which the Apostle had taught them. They were “called on high” to a greater glory than that of Zion. [Paul] reminded them that the “Day of the Lord”—the present day is man’s day and it is darkness—was to be preceded by the appearing of the Anti-Christ (2:3) and the False Prophet (2:9), and that prior to their destruction at some unrevealed point of time, the Thessalonian believers both living and dead would be caught away from the earth and its kingdoms and glories into the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, there to be with Him, and from thence to descend with Him and with all His saints to execute the judgment of the Great Day. The Thessalonians appear to have lost the hope of this rapture; for, while in the first epistle their faith and hope and love (1 Thessalonians 1:3) are applauded, in the second only their faith and love are praised (1:3). — Williams, page 948.

Resources used in this study

bereanbiblesociety.org for online messages by Ricky Kurth (and the notes that accompany those messages), pastor of Faith Bible Church in Steger, Illinois

Ryrie Study Bible, by Charles Caldwell Ryrie — Moody Press (1985)

Commentary on the Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians, by Cornelius R. Stam — Berean Bible Society (1984)

2 Thessalonians, by W.E. Vine — Thomas Nelson Publishers (1996)

William’s Complete Bible Commentary, by George Williams — Kregel Publications (1994)