During Paul’s second missionary journey, Paul, Silas, and Timothy (cf, Act 17:14) visited the city of Thessalonica. Paul spent three Sabbaths in the synagogue and reasoned with them from the Scriptures (Acts 17:1-2). Did you catch that? Paul argued from the Old Testament, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, this Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ (Acts 17:3). The New Testament is founded upon the Old Testament; remove the Old, and the New loses its meaning.
As a matter of perspective, chronologically, the first three canonical books of the New Testament were James, Galatians, and Matthew. Some conservatives maintain that Mark was the fourth in line; others argue that 1 Thessalonians was fourth. Paul would write his epistle to the Thessalonians from Corinth after receiving a report from Timothy on the state of affairs of the believers at Thessalonica (ca. 51 A.D.).
Keep in mind that the teaching of Jewish traditions had literally superseded the Scriptures (cf. Mk 7:13). The Jews in Jesus’ day were not looking for a spiritual Messiah but a political one that would break the yoke of Rome. They did not see themselves as sinners; those were the violators of Jewish tradition, Gentiles, and the half-breed Samaritans who were in need of spiritual redemption. It was abhorrent to the Jewish mindset that the Messiah would be put to death on a Roman cross like some common criminal. Jesus fits the narrative of Scripture but not from the unbelieving Jewish perspective!
But there was a mixed review of Paul’s message to the Thessalonians. Many came to Christ (Act 17:4). However, the Jews there did not believe and formed a mob by enlisting some wicked men from the marketplace and setting the city in an uproar. The mob went to the house of Jason looking for Paul and Silas (Act 17:5), but they were not there (Act 17:6a). Then their anger shifted to Jason. Somebody had to be the whipping post! They literally dragged Jason and others to the magistrates (Act 17:6b) and accused them of being in league with Paul and Silas by opening up his house to seditious men (Act 17:6c-7a) who were turning the world upside down (KJV), turning Thessalonica upside down!
The unbelieving Jews, who were probably monotheistic in their belief though they lived in a polytheistic neighborhood, played the Greeks to their advantage that Paul and Silas were advocating that there was another king – Jesus, which ran contrary to the imperial decrees of Caesar who claimed to be a God in his own right (Act 17:7b). The crowd that had gathered and the rulers of the city were troubled over these things (Act 17:8). They could not get the goods on Jason and those with him, so they had to post bail (Act 17:9). Getting their money back was probably contingent on no further outbreaks of this kind. Paul, Silas, and possibly Timothy had slipped away in the night and headed south to Berea, approximately 45 miles away (Act 17:10).
Now check this out. The same unbelieving Jews in Thessalonica had gotten wind that the word of God was preached in Berea by Paul and Silas, resulting in many conversions (Acts 17:12). So, they went south, too, to Berea and stirred up the crowds there as well (Act 17:13). You know that Satan was behind the scenes promoting his devious design and loving it as hatred manifested itself.
Luke points out under inspiration, that what made the unbelieving Bereans more fair-minded than the unbelieving Thessalonians was that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things (the same message Paul delivered to the Thessalonians) were so (Acts 17:11).
The latter was more interested in the truth rather than protecting an agenda. Thus, many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men (Act 17:12). Interestingly, there are no OT quotations contained in either of the two letters to the Thessalonians by Paul though he relied upon it heavily as his single source of authority, and his passion flowed from his Acts 9 experience.
This pushback from the Jews at Thessalonica reveals how far Jewish false teaching expanded from the epicenter of Jerusalem. Heresy travels faster than the truth because, like water, it always takes the path of least resistance. How ironic, that the Jews had based everything they did on the traditions of the rabbis (Mk 7:9), which were supposedly based upon the rabbis’ interpretation of the Scriptures, but they rejected Paul’s interpretation of the Old Testament for Jewish traditions. Guess who was right…?
The Bereans, on the other hand, probably were aware of Paul as a former Pharisee, but rather than rejecting his interpretation of the OT, they checked it out! And they were convinced he was spot on! On what authority are we basing our salvation? I would not be surprised if those who believed Paul’s message to the Thessalonians and the Bereans had thanked God in glory for sending Paul their way and thanked Paul for sharing the Gospel with them! Makes you wonder what the mob is thinking in hell right now?
Paul instinctively knew that the Thessalonian believers were being persecuted for their faith by the same mob that chased him and Silas out of town. This may have been the driving concern why he dispatched Timothy to know of their situation and report back to him. While Paul was in the city of Corinth (Act 18:1), Timothy reported back to Paul on the state of affairs of the Thessalonian believers (Acts 18:5; 1 Thes 3:2).
Though he had multiple things to say to them, I want for us to focus our attention on three imperatives given by Paul to the Thessalonian believers concerning basic Christian living (1 Thes 5:16-18). These people were enduring persecution for their faith (1 Thes 1:6; 2:14; 3:3-4) and were upset that their loved ones who had died would miss the rapture, or so they believed (1 Thes 4:13-17). Paul did, however, express great joy over their faith in spite of the pushback from the mob opposing their acceptance of the Gospel message unto salvation (1 Thes 1:2-3, 8; 2:20).
Nothing encourages as the truth does. Imagine that you are a believer living in Thessalonica during Paul’s day. Persecution is ongoing as if a new normal since being born again, and Paul keeps mentioning the coming of the Lord as an encourager as he talks about those three tough expectations by the Holy Spirit through him.
This will get a little academic, but it is necessary. I have reduced it to the simplest of terms the best I could without losing its importance to the text. I want to clear up some eschatological (relating to the end times) points before diving into the trio of tough commands.
In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul mentions the Lord’s coming (Gk., parousia [pä-rü-sē'-ä], lit., presence or to be present) 4x in chapters 2-5: 1 Thes 2:19, 3:13; 4:15; 5:23. Parousia occurs 24x in the NKJV, translated 23x coming and 1x presence.
Throughout the NT, it refers to the rapture, 7x: (1 Cor 15:23; 1 Thes 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23; 2 Thes 2:1; 1 Jn 2:28), the second coming, 10x: (Mt 24:3, 27, 37, 39; 2 Thes 2:8; Jas 5:7, 8; 2 Pet 1:16; 3:4, 12), people, 6x: (1 Cor 16:17; 2 Cor 7:6, 7; 10:10; Php 1:26; 2:12), and the lawless one, 1x: (2 Thes 2:9). There are other Greek words used for His return in the NT, but we are limiting our discussion to parousia.
Some of these passages could apply, either way, referring to the rapture or to the Second Coming. I am relying more on context to make that determination, knowing that you may not agree with my interpretation of what occurrence of parousia refers to what; I am a pretribulation rapturist and a premillennialist. In other words, I believe that the next three major eschatological events are as follows: (1) the imminent rapture of the Church, (2) the seven long years of the tribulation period, and (3) the glorious millennial reign of Christ. <><
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