2 Thessalonians

1Chapter
1-2I, Paul, together with Silas and Timothy, greet the church of the Thessalonian Christians in the name of God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ. Our God gives you everything you need, makes you everything you’re to be.

Justice Is on the Way

3-4You need to know, friends, that thanking God over and over for you is not only a pleasure; it’s a must. We have to do it. Your faith is growing phenomenally; your love for each other is developing wonderfully. Why, it’s only right that we give thanks. We’re so proud of you; you’re so steady and determined in your faith despite all the hard times that have broadsided you. We tell everyone we meet in the churches all about you.
5-10All this trouble is a clear sign that God has decided to make you fit for the kingdom. You’re suffering now, but justice is on the way. When the Master Jesus appears out of heaven in a blaze of fire with his strong angels, he’ll even up the score by settling accounts with those who gave you such a bad time. His coming will be the break we’ve been waiting for. Those who refuse to know God and refuse to obey the Message will pay for what they’ve done. Eternal exile from the presence of the Master and his splendid power is their sentence. But on that very same day when he comes, he will be exalted by his followers and celebrated by all who believe—and all because you believed what we told you.
11-12Because we know that this extraordinary day is just ahead, we pray for you all the time—pray that our God will make you fit for what he’s called you to be, pray that he’ll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something. If your life honors the name of Jesus, he will honor you. Grace is behind and through all of this, our God giving himself freely, the Master, Jesus Christ, giving himself freely.
2Chapter

The Anarchist

1-3Now, friends, read these next words carefully. Slow down and don’t go jumping to conclusions regarding the day when our Master, Jesus Christ, will come back and we assemble to welcome him. Don’t let anyone shake you up or get you excited over some breathless report or rumored letter from me that the day of the Master’s arrival has come and gone. Don’t fall for any line like that.
3-5Before that day comes, a couple of things have to happen. First, the Apostasy. Second, the debut of the Anarchist, a partner in crime with Satan. He’ll defy and then take over every so-called god or altar. Having cleared away the opposition, he’ll then set himself up in God’s Temple as “God Almighty.” Don’t you remember me going over all this in detail when I was with you? Are your memories that short?
6-8You’ll also remember that I told you the Anarchist is being held back until just the right time. That doesn’t mean that the spirit of anarchy is not now at work. It is, secretly and underground. But the time will come when the Anarchist will no longer be held back, but will be let loose. But don’t worry. The Master Jesus will be right on his heels and blow him away. The Master appears and—puff!—the Anarchist is out of there.
9-12The Anarchist’s coming is all Satan’s work. All his power and signs and miracles are fake, evil sleight of hand that plays to the gallery of those who hate the truth that could save them. And since they’re so obsessed with evil, God rubs their noses in it—gives them what they want. Since they refuse to trust truth, they’re banished to their chosen world of lies and illusions.
13-14Meanwhile, we’ve got our hands full continually thanking God for you, our good friends—so loved by God! God picked you out as his from the very start. Think of it: included in God’s original plan of salvation by the bond of faith in the living truth. This is the life of the Spirit he invited you to through the Message we delivered, in which you get in on the glory of our Master, Jesus Christ.
15-17So, friends, take a firm stand, feet on the ground and head high. Keep a tight grip on what you were taught, whether in personal conversation or by our letter. May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech.
3Chapter

Those Who Are Lazy

1-3One more thing, friends: Pray for us. Pray that the Master’s Word will simply take off and race through the country to a groundswell of response, just as it did among you. And pray that we’ll be rescued from these troublemakers who are trying to do us in. I’m finding that not all “believers” are believers. But the Master never lets us down. He’ll stick by you and protect you from evil.
4-5Because of the Master, we have great confidence in you. We know you’re doing everything we told you and will continue doing it. May the Master take you by the hand and lead you along the path of God’s love and Christ’s endurance.
6-9Our orders—backed up by the Master, Jesus—are to refuse to have anything to do with those among you who are lazy and refuse to work the way we taught you. Don’t permit them to freeload on the rest. We showed you how to pull your weight when we were with you, so get on with it. We didn’t sit around on our hands expecting others to take care of us. In fact, we worked our fingers to the bone, up half the night moonlighting so you wouldn’t be burdened with taking care of us. And it wasn’t because we didn’t have a right to your support; we did. We simply wanted to provide an example of diligence, hoping it would prove contagious.
10-13Don’t you remember the rule we had when we lived with you? “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.” And now we’re getting reports that a bunch of lazy good-for-nothings are taking advantage of you. This must not be tolerated. We command them to get to work immediately—no excuses, no arguments—and earn their own keep. Friends, don’t slack off in doing your duty.
14-15If anyone refuses to obey our clear command written in this letter, don’t let him get by with it. Point out such a person and refuse to subsidize his freeloading. Maybe then he’ll think twice. But don’t treat him as an enemy. Sit him down and talk about the problem as someone who cares.
16May the Master of Peace himself give you the gift of getting along with each other at all times, in all ways. May the Master be truly among you!
17I, Paul, bid you good-bye in my own handwriting. I do this in all my letters, so examine my signature as proof that the letter is genuine.
18The incredible grace of our Master, Jesus Christ, be with all of you!
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.