2 Thessalonians

1Chapter

Greeting

1Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

3We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

The Judgment at Christ's Coming

5This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. 11To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2Chapter

The Man of Lawlessness

1Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 9The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Stand Firm

13But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.
16Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
3Chapter

Pray for Us

1Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, 2and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. 3But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. 4And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. 5May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Warning Against Idleness

6Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 9It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 10For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. 12Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.
13As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. 14If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. 15Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

Benediction

16Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.
17I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. 18The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Study
Chapter 2
ESV

Refuting the False Claim about the Day of the Lord. Paul reassures the Thessalonians that the day of the Lord has not come. In 1 Thess. 5:1–11 Paul responded to a question from the community relating to the timing of the day of the Lord. He has now heard that they have succumbed to the false notion that the day of the Lord has already arrived (2 Thess. 2:1–2). Paul first points out that, before that day, a final rebellion and the revelation of the “man of lawlessness” must occur (vv. 3–12). Then he reassures the Thessalonians that they are destined for glory (vv. 13–14), and calls on them to hold firmly to the traditions he passed on to them (v. 15). He concludes with prayer (vv. 16–17).

ESV

The False Claim. The Thessalonians were alarmed by a false claim concerning the day of the Lord.

ESV

Paul discusses Christ’s coming (Gk. parousia), his return in glory at the end of the age to save the elect and punish the wicked, and our being gathered together (Gk. episynagōgē) to him (see Matt. 24:31 with the related verb episynagō; cf. also 1 Thess. 4:16–17). The idea that the day of the Lord had already come (2 Thess. 2:2) may have made the Thessalonians fear that Jesus’ coming and the gathering of his people to him were no longer legitimate or realistic expectations.

ESV

The Thessalonians were shaken into mindless panic and were alarmed or frightened by the false claim that the day of the Lord had already come. Though the source of the confusion was unknown to Paul, he suggests a number of possibilities: a spirit. An alleged prophetic word. a spoken word. A word of teaching or a sermon. a letter seeming to be from us. Paul seems to have suspected that a letter forged in his name was circulating (3:17). the day of the Lord. See notes on Amos 5:18–20; 1 Thess. 5:2–3. Although some believe that the Thessalonians were thinking in terms of a complex of events that would lead to the second coming, Paul seems to assume here, as elsewhere (1 Cor. 1:8; Phil. 1:10; 1 Thess. 5:1–4; 2 Thess. 1:7–10), that the arrival of the day of the Lord and the second coming occur at the same time, as aspects of a single event. has come. The Thessalonians have fallen victim to the implausible notion that the day of the Lord has come, presumably because some source they regard as authoritative has claimed this. There is no reason to think that the idea was part of a developed heresy.

ESV

The False Claim Refuted. Paul insists that the Thessalonians can know that the day of the Lord has not come.

ESV

The day of the Lord will be preceded by two events, neither of which has been fulfilled. The first prerequisite is the rebellion. Although some have suggested that this refers to a Christian or Jewish apostasy, in view of vv. 9–12 a rebellion of humanity as a whole against God is probably in view. Just as humanity in Adam has rejected God and has been plunged into ever greater depths of sin as a result (Rom. 1:18–32), so it will move into all-out rebellion against God when the Antichrist appears (2 Thess. 2:4). the man of lawlessness is revealed. This second prerequisite, elsewhere called the “antichrist” (see 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7), will personify hostility to God and his revelation. He will disclose who he is, the rebel par excellence. He is the son of destruction, the one whose destiny is to be defeated and destroyed when Jesus returns (2 Thess. 2:8).

ESV

Paul draws on Dan. 11:36–37 when he says that the lawless one opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship. The Antichrist will not countenance any rivals but will insist that he alone is God. The temple of God has been variously interpreted as the church, the heavenly temple, the Jerusalem temple, and a metaphor for supreme blasphemous arrogance modeled on the activities of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (see notes on Dan. 11:31–35). Whatever the meaning, the context seems to indicate a concrete and observable act of defiance against God.

ESV

Paul is apparently surprised that his own teaching on the end times had not stopped the Thessalonians from believing the false claim (v. 5; cf. v. 2), so he rehearses that teaching (vv. 6–7). The man of lawlessness cannot be unveiled while what is restraining (Gk. to katechon, neuter participle of katechō, “to prevent, hinder, restrain”) him now is at work. In v. 7 Paul refers to he who now restrains (Gk. ho katechōn, masculine participle of the same word). Scholarly theories on the identity of this restrainer include the Roman Empire/emperor, the Holy Spirit, and the archangel Michael. According to Dan. 10:13, 20–21, Michael restrains satanic principalities (cf. Rev. 12:7), and in rabbinical traditions and the Septuagint of Dan. 12:1, Michael is said to “pass away” when the Antichrist pitches his tents in Judea (Dan. 11:45) just before the great tribulation begins (Dan. 12:1). The restrainer functions to make sure that the man of lawlessness is revealed (see 2 Thess. 2:3) in his time and not before. Prior to the revelation of lawlessness personified, it operates as an impersonal mystery, stirring up hostility to Christ and his people. Lawlessness remains in mystery form until the restrainer is taken out of the way.

ESV

And then the lawless one will be revealed. As soon as the restrainer is removed, lawlessness is free to manifest itself in unrestrained fashion in the Antichrist. In God’s providence, Jesus’ second coming overthrows the rule of the Antichrist. the breath of his mouth (cf. Isa. 11:4). The Lord will destroy the Antichrist with overwhelming ease when he comes again.

ESV

The coming of the lawless one. The Antichrist has a “coming” (Gk. parousia) which is a poor substitute for Jesus’ coming (Gk. parousia, v. 8). Satan is the power behind the Antichrist, working with unrestricted power on his behalf through signs and wonders—which (though they are false) lead people to believe that the Antichrist is God. Unbelievers are those who are perishing because they have failed to embrace the gospel, God’s only way of salvation.

CSB

On the basis of v. 11, God is sometimes charged with deceiving people. But vv. 10-11 sets the critical context: “They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth . . . For this reason” they experience delusion. As in Rm 1:24-25 (“God delivered them over . . . They exchanged the truth of God for a lie”), so here: The delusions certain people experience reflect God’s response to a prior decision on their part.

ESV

Because unbelievers have rejected God’s offer of salvation in the gospel, God sends them a strong delusion. As part of his righteous judgment, God is instrumental in causing these unbelievers to embrace the Antichrist (believe what is false) so that they advance to a whole new level of rebellion and are thus condemned as allies of the Antichrist at the second coming.

ESV

Reassurance. Paul reassures the Thessalonians that, in contrast to unbelievers (vv. 10–12), they have accepted God’s call and so have demonstrated that they were elected by God to be saved when Jesus returns.

ESV

ought. See 1:3. give thanks. This is technically the second thanksgiving in the letter (see 1:3; cf. 1 Thess. 1:2; 2:13). beloved by the Lord … God chose you. See note on 1 Thess. 1:4. This may echo Deut. 26:18, where the reference is to God’s choice of Israel. as the firstfruits. This indicates that the Thessalonians, as early Christians, are the firstfruits of the new humanity, or of Thessalonica. (On firstfruits offerings, see Ex. 23:19; 34:26.) However, as the esv footnote indicates, some manuscripts read “from the beginning” (Gk. ap’ archēs) rather than “as firstfruits” (Gk. aparchēn; see note on 1 Cor. 15:20). In that case, Paul’s point is that God’s choice was in eternity past. Either way, Christians were divinely elected to be saved, and this was to be the ultimate end of a journey marked by sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, in contrast to the way of unbelievers, who are marked by unrighteousness and will believe the Antichrist’s lie (2 Thess. 2:10–12). Note the involvement of each person of the Trinity: the Father elects, the Son loves, and the Holy Spirit makes holy.

ESV

To this (i.e., salvation) he called you through our gospel. The divine call was effectual and was actualized in history through Paul’s preaching. obtain the glory. See 1:10; 1 Thess. 5:9.

ESV

Exhortation. Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to hold on to the true traditions that were passed on from him to them. This verse contrasts with v. 2, where Paul warns them not to be shaken by a false prophecy or teaching or by a forged letter attributed to the missionaries. Rather, they are to stand firm and hold to the traditions that were communicated directly to them by our spoken word during his ministry among them and later by 1 Thessalonians (our letter).

ESV

Prayer. Paul prays that the Thessalonians will be divinely comforted and established in every good work and word.