[1:4]
Though the Thessalonians are confused about the timing of the day of the Lord, and some of their number have been disobeying Paul’s teaching on the importance of work (2:1–3:15), Paul begins the letter by noting their endurance and faith in the midst of persecutions and afflictions. We don’t know the precise details of these hardships, though it is clear that the trouble is coming from people outside the church (1:6). In the Bible the language of affliction (thlipsis) sometimes describes the tribulations of the people of God in the last days prior to God’s decisive intervention. As the book of Daniel puts it,
It shall be a time unsurpassed in distress [Greek thlipsis]
since the nation began until that time.
At that time your people shall escape,
everyone who is found written in the book.
Many of those who sleep
in the dust of the earth shall awake;
Some to everlasting life,
others to reproach and everlasting disgrace. (12:1–2)
Regardless of whether Paul has this passage in mind, he clearly envisions a similar scenario playing out: the Thessalonians currently suffer, but God will vindicate them and punish their tormentors. Readers familiar with the importance of faith, hope, and love in later tradition will notice that the trio of love, faith, and endurance appears here. Hope and endurance are closely linked in 1 Thessalonians, where Paul thanks God for their “endurance in hope” (1:3).
The Coming Judgment of Good and Evil (1:5–10)
5This is evidence of the just judgment of God, so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are suffering. 6For it is surely just on God’s part to repay with afflictions those who are afflicting you, 7and to grant rest along with us to you who are undergoing afflictions, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his mighty angels, 8in blazing fire, inflicting punishment on those who do not acknowledge God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9These will pay the penalty of eternal ruin, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, 10when he comes to be glorified among his holy ones and to be marveled at on that day among all who have believed, for our testimony to you was believed.
OT: Dan 12:1–3; Mal 3:19–21
NT: Matt 5:2–12; 25:31–46; 2 Cor 5:10; Phil 1:27–30; 1 Thess 4:13–5:11
Catechism: judgment of the living and the dead, 678–79
Lurid descriptions of the suffering of the damned are common in †apocalyptic literature such as the book of Revelation. Paul, however, generally says very little about what happens to those who are not in Christ, typically making only brief comments about their “destruction” or “corruption” (e.g., Gal 6:8). This passage is a notable exception. Though the basic point of this section is clear enough, it presents a number of exegetical and theological difficulties that can make the flow of thought difficult to follow. For clarity’s sake, here is a loose paraphrase of 1:5–9:
Your endurance in the midst of afflictions is evidence that God will judge you to be worthy of the kingdom of God. What do I mean? At present you suffer at the hands of others, but God is going to put things right. He will punish those who afflict you and will give rest to those who are currently afflicted. When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in blazing fire, he will punish those who do not know God or obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These people will pay the just penalty, which is eternal destruction away from the face of the Lord.
In this section Paul comforts the beleaguered congregation with the hope that God will bring justice to the world. Those who suffer for the kingdom will be given rest, but those who persecute them and oppose God will be destroyed.
[1:5]
Continuing the sentence that began in verse 3, Paul comforts the congregation with the news that their current difficult situation is evidence that God will judge them worthy of the kingdom of God. Commentators disagree about which part of their situation constitutes the “evidence.”8 Some have suggested that the “evidence” is the persecution or perhaps their faith. The most likely suggestion is that the “evidence” is the same thing he is boasting about to the churches: the Thessalonians’ “endurance and faith” in the midst of persecutions (1:4). According to 1 Thessalonians, believers are destined to endure afflictions (3:3). Moreover, joy in the midst of affliction makes one an imitator of the apostles and of Jesus himself, and for Paul this was a definite sign of the work of the Holy Spirit (1 Thess 1:2–6; see also Phil 1:28). This passage seems to be saying something similar: the Thessalonians have endured various attacks, and yet their faith and love continue to grow. This is an indication that God is with them and will judge them favorably (see Matt 5:2–12). Some scholars argue that this divine judgment has already taken place (see 1 Pet 4:17–19), noting that verse 5 could be understood to refer to a decision that has already occurred.9 The main emphasis in this passage, however, is on the judgment that will occur when Jesus returns (see 1:6–10). The faithful endurance of persecution in the present is a strong indicator that the Thessalonians will be rewarded by God in the future.
The outcome of God’s judgment of the Thessalonians is that they will be declared “worthy [kataxioō] of the kingdom of God.”10 The idea that humans could be found worthy before God may sound presumptuous to modern ears, but it is well attested in the New Testament. For instance, Luke 20:35 speaks of those who enter the life to come as those “who are deemed worthy [kataxioō] to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead.” Sometimes it is said that suffering makes one worthy to enter into the kingdom. In the Gospels, Jesus says that those who are persecuted for his sake will have a great reward in heaven, and that by taking up one’s cross and giving one’s life away one receives in return eternal life (Matt 16:24–27 and parallels). Jesus also teaches that those who endure to the end of the final †eschatological tribulations will be saved (Matt 24:13 and parallels). In Acts, Paul and Barnabas teach that “it is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (14:22; see also 5:41). Paul has taught the Thessalonians that they must live a life “worthy of the God who calls you into his kingdom” (1 Thess 2:12), and in this passage Paul indicates that he thinks they are doing just that. For Paul, this is not a matter of earning a way into the kingdom. Instead, the faith that endures suffering is already a gift of God at work in the faithful (see commentary on 2 Thess 1:3). It is by God’s grace that the Thessalonians are able to act in a way that makes them worthy of the kingdom.
[1:6–7]
Verses 6–7 describe an †eschatological reversal in which those who suffer now will find comfort while their tormentors are punished. It is just (dikaios) on God’s part to repay with afflictions those who are afflicting the Thessalonians. Evildoers are to experience suffering proportionate with what they inflicted on others. The idea that those persecuting the Thessalonian converts should themselves be persecuted obviously conforms to a kind of justice, but not one that modern Christians often associate with God. This is a clear example of ius talionis, the principle that sins should be repaid in kind. This is a principle applied to the punishment of humans by humans in the Torah’s famous “eye for an eye” legislation (Exod 21:23–24; Lev 24:20; Deut 19:21), but it appears more frequently in descriptions of God’s judgment of humankind. Ever since the second century AD, some Christians have associated this form of justice with the Old Testament, supposing that Jesus and the New Testament proclaim love and mercy instead, but in fact the New Testament often teaches that God will punish evildoers in kind and give comfort to the oppressed.11 Mary’s Magnificat praises God for feeding the hungry and sending the rich away hungry (Luke 1:53). In Jesus’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31), Abraham explains to the rich man why he must suffer in the afterlife while Lazarus is comforted: “My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are torm
ented” (16:25; see Luke 6:20–26). Paul’s Letters do not often discuss God’s punishment of the wicked, but this passage is not unique (Rom 2:5–8; Col 3:25).
The positive flip side of the punishment of the afflicters is the comfort of the afflicted. The Thessalonians who have been afflicted will receive rest along with us—that is, along with Paul and his comrades, who also endure affliction in the present time. The word translated as “rest” (anesis) was used to describe relief from difficulties of various kinds and is a good antonym of “affliction” (thlipsis).12 Paul uses it here in an eschatological sense: it refers to the definitive rest granted to those who have endured affliction for Jesus’s sake. †Apocalyptic literature often contrasts the repose of the blessed with the torments of the wicked (Luke 16:19–31; 4 Ezra 7.36–38). Hebrews reads the promise of the rest of the promised land †typologically to exhort readers to press on to God’s eternal rest (chaps. 3–4). “Rest” in these texts refers not to sleeplike oblivion but rather to relief from the trials of this life. The promise of eschatological rest would become an important Christian hope in later tradition. For instance, a fifth-century burial epitaph from Thessalonica says, “Jesus Christ, who made all things through one word, grant rest [anesis] . . . to your servant Fortunatus.”13 Latin translations of this verse render anesis with the word requies (requiem when the object of a verb), a word that has become familiar to English speakers from the “requiem” mass, which beseeches God to give rest to the deceased.
The repayment of deeds will occur at the return of the Lord, which is described here using language drawn from Scripture, resulting in a more vivid portrait of eschatological events than is typical for Paul. Whereas 1 Thessalonians described Jesus’s coming as something people will hear (the archangel’s call and the trumpet of God), this passage focuses on what is seen: Jesus’s coming is described as a revelation (apokalypsis) . . . from heaven with his mighty angels. It is as if the curtain separating earth and heaven will be pulled aside to unveil Jesus along with an angelic retinue ready to assist him in the judgment of the nations. Paul affirms that Jesus is already the Lord enthroned in heaven with the angels. But in the coming apokalypsis all nations will see what is in fact already true. Early Christian texts often portray angels accompanying Jesus in the last judgment (Matt 16:27; 25:31). Sometimes the angels are assigned specific tasks, such as announcing the time of the Lord’s return (1 Thess 4:16), gathering people for the final judgment (Matt 13:41), recording or evaluating people’s deeds (Apocalypse of Zephaniah 3.6, 9), or inflicting punishments (2 Enoch 10.1–3). In this passage no specific role is given to the angels other than to appear along with Jesus, thereby emphasizing the grandeur of the event. In non-Christian texts, it is God who is accompanied by angels, but Paul places Jesus in the divine role, as he often does.
Figure 9. The Last Judgement by William Butterfield in Keble College Chapel, Oxford. [Barry Carey]
[1:8]
The words blazing fire could refer to the appearance of Jesus (“the revelation of the Lord . . . in blazing fire”) or to the manner in which Jesus inflicts punishment (“with blazing fire inflicting punishment”). Recent translations and commentaries tend to favor the former (NRSV, NIV). Both possibilities find support in the biblical tradition, where variations of the phrase “blazing fire” describe both God’s appearance (Exod 3:2; Dan 7:9) and the means by which God judges the world (Isa 29:6; Sir 21:9; Psalms of Solomon 12.4). It would probably be a mistake to draw too sharp a distinction between Jesus appearing in flames and judging with flames since it is his fiery presence that brings judgment. There is good reason to suppose, however, that this passage does describe Jesus using fire as a means of judgment. This passage echoes a number of Old Testament texts, especially LXX Isa 66:15, which says that God will repay evildoers with blazing fire, using an almost identical phrase (see sidebar, “Biblical Traditions in 2 Thessalonians 1:7–10,” p. 149).14 The earliest interpreters of this passage often understood the fire as an instrument of judgment. Irenaeus, for instance, links this blazing fire with the fire that John the Baptist said Jesus would bring.15 It is also worth noting that the other Pauline judgment scene involving fire clearly makes fire a means of testing people (1 Cor 3:10–15). Of course, Paul’s point here is not to reflect on the specifics of how Jesus will return but to comfort the Thessalonians with the hope that Jesus will unveil his glory and put the world right.
BIBLICAL BACKGROUND
Biblical Traditions in 2 Thessalonians 1:7–10
The description of Jesus’s return to punish evildoers and grant rest to the afflicted in 2 Thess 1:7–10 is adorned with biblical language describing God’s presence and judgment of the nations.a Here are some of the passages that are most similar to 2 Thess 1:7–10, translated from the †Septuagint with close verbal parallels italicized.
I will choose mockery for them and I will repay their sins because I called them and they did not obey me. . . . Hear the word of the Lord, you who fear his word. Speak, our brothers, to those who hate and abominate us, so that the name of the Lord may be glorified. . . . The hand of the Lord shall be known to those who worship him, and he shall warn those who disobey him. For behold, the Lord will come like fire, and his chariots like the wind, to render vengeance with wrath and repudiation with a flame of fire. For by the fire of the Lord all the earth shall be judged. (Isa 66:4–5, 14–16 [my translation, here and below])
[Speaking of the coming judgment of evildoers:] And now go into the rocks and hide in the earth from the face of the fear of the Lord and from the glory of his might when he comes to break the earth! . . . The Lord alone will be exalted on that day. (Isa 2:10, 17; see also vv. 19–21)
Pour out your wrath on the gentiles who do not know you and on the families who have not called upon your name because they have devoured Jacob and destroyed him and laid waste to his pasture. (Jer 10:25; see also Ps 79:6 [LXX 78:6])
God is glorified in the council of holy ones, / great and terrible to all around him. (Ps 89:8 [LXX 88:8])
Marvelous is God among his holy ones. / The God of Israel himself will give power and strength to his people. (Ps 68:36 [LXX 67:36])
a. Rigaux, Les Épitres aux Thessaloniciens, 624.
Jesus’s return is to be a global event, so Paul widens the scope from Thessalonica to include the punishment of all who do not acknowledge God and those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. The word translated as “punishment” (ekdikēsis) could also be translated as “vengeance,” though it lacks the negative connotation of the English word. Ekdikēsis appears frequently in the Greek Bible to describe God’s just retribution for sins (see Isa 66:4–5, 14–16 in the sidebar, “Biblical Traditions in 2 Thessalonians 1:7–10,” p. 149). In 1 Thess 4:6 Paul describes Jesus as the ekdikos (“avenger”) of sexual sins. Some commentators argue that “those who do not acknowledge [literally, “know”] God” and “those who do not obey the gospel” refer to two groups of people: the former refers to Gentiles who are estranged from God (1 Thess 4:5; see Jer 10:25), whereas the latter refers to those who know enough to obey the gospel but do not.16 It is also possible that these two phrases are parallel descriptions of all people who are estranged from God, whether Jew or Gentile. It is striking that Paul describes the gospel (euangelion, “glad tidings”) as something that one must obey in order to escape divine wrath. In some forms of modern Christianity, “gospel” signifies the good news that God offers the free gift of salvation and will not judge people according to their deeds. In the Pauline Letters, however, the gospel makes both promises and demands. In 2 Corinthians Paul describes generosity to the needy as an act of obedience to the gospel (9:13). The gospel is the “power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16), but it requires and empowers obedience (see Rom 1:5; 2:6–11). We see something similar in the Gospels, where the gospel of the kingdom requires all to repent and begin living in accord with the requirements of the kingdom (e.g., Mark 1:15).
[1:9]
Once again the
fate of the wicked is described using the language of justice: they will pay the penalty, a common expression in classical Greek that occurs only here in the Bible.17 The punishment is severe: eternal ruin, separated from the presence (literally, “from the face”) of the Lord. This horrible fate is the reverse of the promise given to the Thessalonians that they will always be with the Lord (1 Thess 4:17; 5:10). The phrase “from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power” is taken from Isa 2, where it is repeated three times to describe the fate of the wicked in the last days (vv. 10, 19, 21 LXX). The prophet describes how “on that day” God will humble evildoers and put an end to idolatry. The wicked will flee from God’s face, hiding themselves and their idols in the earth (2:9–21). In Paul’s reappropriation of these words the wicked do not hide themselves; instead, Jesus sends them away. This is the closest the Pauline Letters ever come to describing eternal damnation, but, unlike many other †apocalyptic writers, Paul does not describe how they suffer or use images of darkness, torture, or teeth gnashing. Instead, he cuts to the heart of what is arguably the core of these other portrayals: the wicked are estranged from the face of the Lord, left in horrible isolation. Many questions are left unanswered: Is Paul saying that this is the fate of those who have never had the opportunity to “obey the gospel”? What happens to people who die prior to Jesus’s return? This passage is not interested in offering a systematic treatment or grappling with the problem of possible exceptions. Instead, like visual portrayals of the last judgment, it offers comfort and warning by portraying the two possible ends of humans in the starkest possible terms.
First and Second Thessalonians Page 19