Paul's letters to the Thessalonians are probably his first, dating to about 50-51 A.D.[1] While only a portion of the letter deals with eschatology, it is important to view those eschatological passages in context. This study will site the larger context in its title, quote the key eschatological passages from the NET[2], make some comments on individual phrases in the key passages, then conclude with some general comments.
1 Th 1:9For people everywhere report how you welcomed us and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God 1:10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.
10 wait for his Son from heaven: that is, wait for the eschatological parousia. whom he raised from the dead: the resurrection is central to Paul's message. the coming wrath: the fate of the unsaved.
Paul has nothing but good things to say about the Thessalonian church. The citation of the fundamentals of the Gospel here: the resurrection, his return, his delivering of the church, and the wrath against those who are not saved, is incidental. These are things the Thessalonian church has already been taught and which they accepted. They are truths they already know.
1 Th 2:19For who is our hope or joy or crown to boast of before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not of course you? 2:20For you are our glory and joy!
19 his coming: the eschatological parousia.
"As you know" and the like (2:1, 2, 5, 9, 10, 11) are a common refrain in this chapter. Paul is praising them and reminding them of the basis for that praise. Paul regards the Thessalonians as an example to be imitated (1:7).
The "wrath [that] has come on [the Jews] completely" in 1 Th 2:16 is not be confused with the eschatological wrath referred to in 1:10. Many commentors regard this line as a late interpolation referring to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. [3]. Our late perspective distorts how we view such events. From Paul's view in the early 50's, there are other events, while not so drastic as the destruction of Jerusalem, may be what he had in mind. The Jews had suffered under Caligula a decade earlier. Eusebius reports "Philo has reported in five books what happened to the Jews in the reign of Guius, ..., the misery of the Jews in his time, Philo's mission to Rome on behalf of his compatriots ... and how he ... narrowly escaped with his life." More recently, there had been a famine in the mid 40's that the Christians in Antioch had sent relief to Judea for (Acts 11:29-30).[4] And most immediately, the Jews had just been expelled from Rome in 49 A.D. (Acts 18:2). [5] These events are sufficient to be taken as what Paul has in mind by "wrath" here.
1 Th 3:12And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we do for you, 3:13so that your hearts are strengthened in holiness to be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
13 coming of our Lord Jesus: the parousia again. with all his saints: literally, "holy ones", which could also mean angels. However, see below which makes it clear that it is the dead in Christ that he has in mind.
Mentions of the coming of Jesus repeat as though they were a heart beat. This doctrine is the life blood, so to speak, of Paul's Gospel message. If Paul had not already explained the resurrection of the dead, then the reference to "the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints" in such an incidental manner would be quite confounding. 1 Th 3:3-4 continues to emphasize that Paul is saying things they already know.
Paul continues to remind the Thessalonians what he already taught them. It has been suggested that he is responding to questions, but a closer reading shows he is still reiterating things already taught: "you have no need for anyone to write you" (4:9), "as we commanded you" (4:11), "you have no need for anything to be written to you" (5:1), and "you know quite well" (5:2). Rather the letter reads more like a primitive catechism.
Most commentors assume there is a problem with idleness in the Thessalonian church that Paul is addressing in 4:10-12. Usually this is associated with the eschatological teaching that follows by assuming that an expectation of an immanent parousia is the cause. In actuality there is no such problem actually indicated in the letter. Even in 2 Thessalonians 3:11, where Paul is responding to such a problem in the church, no connection is made to immenant eschatology. Rather it is connected to the idea of living a disciplined life. Elsewhere such issues come up not because of eschatological doctrine but because of misunderstanding of the doctrine of grace (Romans 3:8).
1 Th 4:13Now we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope. 4:14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep as Christians. 4:15For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep. 4:16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 4:17Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. 4:18Therefore encourage one another with these words.
13 asleep: common euphemism for death[6]. no hope: condemned to hell. 14 God will bring with him: alluded to in 1 Th 3:13 above. The dead saints are with Christ. 15 by the word of the Lord: Paul claims direct revelation as authority. 16 the dead in Christ: that is, the dead who are saved. will rise first: a clear reference to physical resurrection. The disembodied souls were with Christ[7], and brought with him to earth to be rejoined with physical bodies and raised into the clouds. 17 we who are alive, who are left: the living who are saved when Christ returns. Wesley suggests that "we who are left" implies fewness of number[8], but that reads to much into the phrase. caught up together with them: with the resurrected dead, in the air. always be with the Lord: the eternal eschatological state.
When Paul says "we do not want you to be uninformed .. about those who are asleep", we should not imagine that up until this point, Paul had not yet taught them about the resurrection of the dead. 1 Th 3:13 certainly presupposes such teaching already. Rather, with these words, Paul is gently reminding the Thessalonians of the resurrection (and perhaps filling in some details) to encourage them in their grief. While it is not explicitly stated that one or more Thessalonian church members had died, the phrasing of "those who are asleep" is understood by most commentators to imply an actual rather than a hypothetical situation.
Regarding "no hope", Barclay cites a number of pagan sources from antiquity:
Aeschylus wrote, “Once a man dies there is no resurrection.” Theocritus wrote, “There is hope for those who are alive, but those who have died are without hope.” Catullus wrote, “When once our brief light sets, there is one perpetual night through which we must sleep.” On their tombstones grim epitaphs were carved. “I was not; I became; I am not; I care not.” One of the most pathetic papyrus letters that has come down to us is a letter of sympathy which runs like this. “Irene to Taonnophris and Philo, good comfort. I was as sorry and wept over the departed one as I wept for Didymas. And all things whatsoever were fitting, I did, and all mine, Epaphroditus and Thermouthion and Philion and Apollonius and Plantas. But nevertheless against such things one can do nothing. Therefore comfort ye one another.”
[9]
It has been suggested that Paul is responding to some sort of Gnostic spiritual resurrection heresy, but the early date of the letter makes it very unlikely that Gnosticism, per se, could the issue.[10] In fact, there is no indication of a theological problem existing in the Thessalonian church at all. If there is a problem at all, it is emotional rather than doctrinal.
The main points of Paul's doctrine of resurrection are:
Paul gives no indication of a thousand year reign after his return.
Many commentors see Paul's use of the first person plural in verse 17 to indicate that Paul expected Jesus' return within his lifetime. As the use of the first person plural is incidental and the time frame of the return is not the point of the passage, that is reading too much into it. It may, however, be fair to say that Paul had a reasonable hope for the return happening in his lifetime.
1 Th 5:1Now on the topic of times and seasons, brothers and sisters, you have no need for anything to be written to you. 5:2For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come in the same way as a thief in the night. 5:3Now when they are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape. 5:4But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the darkness for the day to overtake you like a thief would. 5:5For you all are sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. 5:6So then we must not sleep as the rest, but must stay alert and sober. 5:7For those who sleep, sleep at night and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 5:8But since we are of the day, we must stay sober by putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet our hope for salvation. 5:9For God did not destine us for wrath but for gaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 5:10He died for us so that whether we are alert or asleep we will come to life together with him. 5:11Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, just as you are in fact doing.
1 you have no need for anything to be written to you: the difficulty with understanding this passage is we are entering the middle of a conversation and hearing only one side of it. 2 the day of the Lord: the eschatological day of judgment. as a thief in the night: only unbelievers are so surprised; believers are prepared (v.4).[11] the metaphor refers to its suddenness; not how soon it will be. 9 wrath: eternal judgment. salvation: resurrection and being with Christ for eternity.
The metaphorical use of dark/light and night/day is well common in Jewish literature. Clarke cites the Midrash Tehillim, on Psalm 9:8: "When the holy blessed God shall judge the Gentiles, it shall be in the night season, in which they shall be asleep in their transgressions; but when he shall judge the Israelites, it shall be in the day time, when they are occupied in the study of the law. "[12]
Paul is reiterating what he already has taught them regarding the timing. He gives no indicators of when it will be, but only says that it won't catch the Christians by surprise. By this, he doesn't mean that they'll see it coming well in advance, but that when it happens, they will not discover themselves to be destined for wrath.
Paul concludes with a block of practical and ethical wisdom, continuing what appears to be a catechistic purpose to the letter in his physical absence.
[1] Milligan. St. Paul's Epistles to the Thessalonians. p.
xxxv-xxxvi, xxxix.
Mills, M. "The Historical Setting for the Apostolic
Period" Letters to Thessalonica.
[2] New English Translation. http://www.netbible.com.
[3] Interpreter's Bible Commentary, loc cit.
[4] "Famine" in Anchor Bible Dictionary.
[5] See NET footnote on the word "Claudius" loc cit.
[6] BDAG. p. 551. koima,w definition 2.
[7] See Philippians 1:20-24 for Paul's expectation of being with Christ without the body immediately after death.
[8] Wesley's Notes: First Thessalonians. 1 Th 4:15.
[9] Barclay. Daily Study Bible Series: The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians. p. 203.
[10] Martin. The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Thessalonians. p. 141.
[11] Martin. The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Thessalonians. p. 28.
[12] Clarke. Clarke's Commentary: First Thessalonians. 1 Th 5:4.