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Introduction to II Thessalonians
First, let’s recap I Thessalonians: It’s around AD 51 and Paul arrives in Thessalonica with Silas and Timothy. Paul teaches in the synagogue as usual and uses the scriptures to prove that Y’shua is the long-awaited Messiah. Many new converts come to the faith and that is the good news. But, as has become common in many places Paul visits, it is not without controversy. Yet again, Jews who do not believe become jealous and cause trouble. When Paul and Silas are accused of defying Caesar by saying there is “another king,” it causes a great uproar and they barely escape before being injured.
Later on, Paul’s concern that the resistance the new believers will face may cause some to backslide, so he sends Timothy to see them again. Timothy is Greek and would likely face a bit less trouble traveling there. Paul is overjoyed by the news that the Thessalonians have stayed steadfast in their faith.
Paul sends them this first letter to encourage them and show how thankful he is that they have maintained the faith, despite any trials and challenges. He delivers a few keys to proper Christian living: avoid sexual immorality; love one another sincerely; and work hard to earn a living! He then elaborates on the hope that every Christian who dies enjoys; they will be raised when Y’shua returns! Paul goes on to explain about what His second coming will be like. And here is really the bottom line: live in such a way that you will not be embarrassed to stand before Him when He comes. And keep up the good work you are doing until that very day! Now, let’s look at II Thessalonians: It seems that shortly after writing his first letter, Paul had to send another letter to correct some false information. It was being reported that he had taught that the day of the Lord had already come. The day of the Lord was not a phrase that was new in the Hebrew culture. It was used often in the writings of the prophets to describe God’s ultimate victory over His enemies, when His faithful peopled would be vindicated and rewarded.
Paul used the phrase, at times, to indicate the second coming of the Lord. But, it was also a concept used throughout the New Testament to speak of the last days, sometimes referring to the very final days leading up to Y’shua’s return, and sometimes as an indication of all the days from His first coming to His final return.
John, in the Book of Revelation, as he writes about the final seven years before the Lord’s return, adds a bit of a twist while describing his vision. He calls the the day of the Lord, “the Lord’s Day.” ”I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,“ (Revelation 1:10 NKJV)
Unfortunately, Christians everywhere throughout Church history have misappropriated this phrase and have equated it to the first day of the week (Sunday), as if John was telling us he was sitting around in exile on the Island of Patmos on a Sunday when he had a vision. It’s a silly supposition and one supported only by an “already knowing” belief system passed down to us that infers John must be mentioning the day of his vision, because that day (Sunday) was when Y’shua rose from the grave. As such it must then be called “the Lord’s day.” But stop for a moment and consider without an “already knowing” belief and contemplate what Revelation is about! It’s a prophetic report about the final days before Y’shua’s return; God’s ultimate victory over His enemies; when His faithful peopled would be vindicated and rewarded; and the time of a New Heaven and a New Earth. Is that not exactly what every Hebrew man knew as the Day of the Lord? John was telling us in his letter that he saw a vision about the Day of the Lord (the final days); he was not reporting which day of the week he had the vision. Make sense?
And let me add this fact as well. There is no indication in the New Testament that Y’shua rose from the grave on a Sunday morning. The scripture narrative simply reports that when they arrived at the grave at sunrise, He was already gone (Matthew 28:1-8). It does not state that He had just risen. The New Testament does, however, give us an equation to solve the time of the resurrection with only one unknown. Equations like that are easy to solve, as long as you can check your “already knowing” belief at the door. Let’s do some simple math. Again, the resurrection account gives no indication of when He rose; that’s the unknown.
Let’s call the unknown time of the resurrection (X). [(X) = (Y) + (Z)]
Let’s solve for (X): Time of the resurrection (X) = Time in the grave (Y) + Number of hours in the grave (Z)
In Matthew 27:45-66, we see the time He dies and that He was placed in the tomb in the evening (before sundown). We also see that the chief priests and Pharisees asked Pilate to guard the tomb for three days because Y’shua had previously claimed to His followers, “After three days I will rise.“ Yet, Y’shua was even more specific than that about the timing of His resurrection. ”For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.“ (Matthew 12:40 NKJV) He would rise a full three days and three nights after His burial (72 hours). And we are certain He was in the grave before sundown because John tells us (in John 19:31-42) that it was still the preparation day for the Feast and that they had to bury him before Sundown because the Sabbath day of the first day of Unleavened Bread would begin at sundown, and they had to get Him buried before then.
Time of the resurrection (X) = Time in the grave (before sundown) + Number of hours in the grave (72) X = He must rise right before sundown three full days (72 hours) after His burial, which means if He was buried right before sundown, He would resurrect right before sundown on Saturday (which also means He was crucified on a Wednesday). Why Saturday? Because, when they showed up to the tomb Sunday morning He was already gone. Therefore, if John was indeed concerned with telling us He was writing Revelation on the day of the week Y’shua resurrected (which he wasn’t), then the Lord’s day is a Saturday. All this is to emphasize that John was not doing that, but instead telling us that he had an inspired vision about God’s ultimate victory over His enemies; and when His faithful peopled would be vindicated and rewarded—the Day of the Lord.
Back to the Thessalonians: Their concern was not so much that the day had come and gone and that they had missed it, but that it was now present and there was nothing more to expect from God regarding vindication and rewards for His faithful, as they continued to suffer persecution.
Even before he corrects the record, Paul reassures the Thessalonians that God will indeed avenge them and judge those who were troubling them. He reminds them of His previous visit and the details of what he actually shared about how the day of the Lord would arrive and what it would look like. He then repeats some instruction from his earlier letter, urging them not to be idle but to work hard and earn their own livings. Paul adds a greeting in his own handwriting at the end of the letter. He wants to punctuate that this teaching is really coming from him and not something that some ill-advised scribe was writing.
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