2 Thessalonians 1:7-10

JLB777 said:

The letter to the Thessalonians is just that, a letter to the Thessalonians.

However, like all scripture it is good for teaching, instruction in righteousness, and admonition, in which all of God’s people can benefit.

The subject matter is about the coming of the Lord, and what will occur, to all of God’s faithful as well as to the unbelievers and wicked.


Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer;
2 Thessalonians 1:1-5


Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians, refers to some specific details about the Church at Thessalonica, as well as general knowledge that pertains to all the Church.


Specific to the Church in Thessalonica -

• To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

• We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer;

Written to the church at Thessalonica, but applies to all God’s people -


since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.
Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.


When Jesus returns at His coming, dead in Christ will be resurrected, not just the Church at Thessalonica.


When Jesus Christ returns, at His coming, those who are alive and remain, will be caught up (raptured) and given relief from persecution, not just the Church at Thessalonica.


When Jesus Christ returns, at His coming, the wicked will be destroyed, not just those wicked persecuting the Church at Thessalonica.


This was covered in Paul’s first letter to the Church at Thessalonica, as well as when Paul was with them in person, as stated in
2 Thessalonians 2 -


Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5


We must rightly divide God’s word, to see how the Spirit moved upon Paul, to address the Church at Thessalonica as well as all those who call upon the name of the Lord.




JLB

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That's dividing the word of truth, alright, but not rightly. It's more like nullifying the word of God by your tradition.

Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;

Why did the Thessalonians need to know all the details of the Man of Sin but we don't?
Why was he being restrained in their time?
And since the Man of Sin was being restrained in their time, you can't truly believe he's 2000 years old, can you?
And grammatically, there's no other noun than Thessalonians that the pronoun 'you' refers to. So, to arbitrarily insert the Noun "Christian" in place of 'you' is "word replacement theology"

Woke said:

The scripture is speaking of Christ coming to judge the world of ungodly people and destroy them; and it is not referencing the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, as some readers/posters here claim. That scripture speaks of the same event as the scriptures I previously posted from Matthew's gospel and Peter's letter. All those scriptures read essentially the same way. All speak of Christ's return, in plain language, to destroy the world of ungodly men.

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The clear sequence of Revelation shows that the Lord's Day of vengeance and wrath, will happen before Jesus Returns. Revelation 6:12-17 then; Revelation 19:11-21
Proved by Isaiah 61:2b, a day of vengeance, the next prophesied event.

There are over 100 prophesies describing the Day of fiery Wrath, that will change the world and commence all the prophesied things before the Return. Some say the Lord will come in fire, others put it correctly, how He will send fire. Amos 1 & 2:1-5, Psalms 1:4-6 Habakkuk 3:4

keras said:

The clear sequence of Revelation shows that the Lord's Day of vengeance and wrath, will happen before Jesus Returns. Revelation 6:12-17 then; Revelation 19:11-21
Proved by Isaiah 61:2b, a day of vengeance, the next prophesied event.

There are over 100 prophesies describing the Day of fiery Wrath, that will change the world and commence all the prophesied things before the Return. Some say the Lord will come in fire, others put it correctly, how He will send fire. Amos 1 & 2:1-5, Psalms 1:4-6 Habakkuk 3:4

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The scriptures under consideration in Thessalonians clearly show Christ returning to destroy people in an everlasting destruction, with fire. Is that enough wrath for you? The scripture literally says that. So do all of the scriptures I cited in support of Thessalonians from Matthew and Peter. I don't see your objection. That The Lord's day includes a Great Tribulation that culminates in Armageddon doesn't change that. And the fact that Thessalonians speaks of destruction by fire instead of a destruction by sword doesn't change that. It doesn't make Thessalonians relate to Jerusalem's AD70 destruction.

I really don't know what point you folks are making. The scripture is clearly speaking about the return of Christ. It says that. And yet you don't see it?

Sorry guys I cannot stay engaged in a conversation about this, as the scripture is clear. But before I go, answer something for me please just to appease my curiosity. On another thread I asked at least three times why is it okay for some individual churches and denominations to call their pastors Father or Pope, when Christ explicitly said not to take on that title. Christ's scripture is clear also, so I'd like to see what you say about it. Do we do that, or follow what Christ said?

Woke said:

I really don't know what point you folks are making. The scripture is clearly speaking about the return of Christ. It says that. And yet you don't see it?

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I don't see the Return of Jesus for His Millennium reign in 1 Thess 1:7-10, because it isn't there.
Verse 19 says that His own people will see Him. At the Return, it is everyone on earth who will se Him.

That passage relates to the over 100 other prophesies about a forthcoming Day of the Lord's fiery wrath. Romans 1:18, Hebrews 10:27, 2 Peter 3:7, Revelation 6:12-17, 1 Corinthians 3:13-15
In no way does it relate to the glorious Return.

mkgal1 said:

8 He will give justice with blazing fire

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There are two kinds of fire. One is to purify or cleanse. As silver is refined in the furnace to remove the dross, we are cleansed by fire to remove sin. If we are not cleansed and purified then there is a fire that destroys. The earth will be cleanses. We already see massive fires in California that are fueled by winds that we have never seen before. They are doing research now trying to understand why the fires are so much more massive then what they use to be.

keras said:

I don't see the Return of Jesus for His Millennium reign in 1 Thess 1:7-10, because it isn't there.
Verse 19 says that His own people will see Him. At the Return, it is everyone on earth who will se Him.

That passage relates to the over 100 other prophesies about a forthcoming Day of the Lord's fiery wrath. Romans 1:18, Hebrews 10:27, 2 Peter 3:7, Revelation 6:12-17, 1 Corinthians 3:13-15
In no way does it relate to the glorious Return.

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W

keras said:

I don't see the Return of Jesus for His Millennium reign in 1 Thess 1:7-10, because it isn't there.
Verse 19 says that His own people will see Him. At the Return, it is everyone on earth who will se Him.

That passage relates to the over 100 other prophesies about a forthcoming Day of the Lord's fiery wrath. Romans 1:18, Hebrews 10:27, 2 Peter 3:7, Revelation 6:12-17, 1 Corinthians 3:13-15
In no way does it relate to the glorious Return.

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THE DAY OF THE LORD IS WHEN CHRIST RETURNS. THEY ARE ONE IN THE SAME. CHRIST DOESN'T COME BACK TO WELCOME THIS WORLD. HE RETURNS TO DESTROY IT. READ DANIEL.

And I see you overlooked my request to comment on denominational churches calling their under shepherds Father or Pope.

Christ's return will start with destruction, not peace!!!

Isaiah 52:
13Behold, my servant (CHRIST) shall act wisely;b
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
14As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15so shall he sprinklec(a footnote says startle) many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,***************** LOOK
for that which has not been told them they see,****************LOOK
and that which they have not heard they understand.***********LOOK

Daniel 2:

44“In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. 45“Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

Matthew 13:

41The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness. 42And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

2 Thessalonians 1:
Christ’s Coming

5All this is clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment. And so you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6After all, it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7and to grant relief to you who are oppressed and to us as well, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels 8in blazing fire.

He will inflict vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9They will suffer the penalty of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might, 10on the day He comes to be glorified in His saints and regarded with wonder by all who have believed, including you who have believed our testimony.

THESE SCRIPTURES AND MANY MORE SPEAK OF CHRIST'S COMING. HIS COMING IS THE DAY OF THE LORD. ALL OF THESE SCRIPTURES SPEAK OF CHRIST. ALL OF THEM SPEAK ABOUT HIS COMING TO EARTH. AND ALL OF THEM SPEAK OF GOD'S JUDGMENT BEING EXECUTED THEN. EXCEPT FOR THE ONE I POSTED FROM ISAIAH 52. THAT ONE TELLS HOW KINGS WILL BE STARTLED, BECAUSE WHAT WAS NOT TOLD THEM THEY WILL SEE. AND WHAT'S THAT? THAT CHRIST IS THERE TO DESTROY THEIR KINGDOMS.

IS IT THESE KINGS ARE NOT TOLD ABOUT THEIR DESTRUCTION BECAUSE OF FALSE INTERPRETERS OF SCRIPTURE, WHO CLAIM WHEN CHRIST COMES HE WON'T BRING DESTRUCTION TO THEIR WORLD? INTERPRETERS WHO CLAIM THAT THE LORD'S FIRE IN THESE SCRIPTURES MEANS SOMETHING ELSE, THAT IT DOES NOT MEAN THEIR DESTRUCTION, THAT IT MEANS THEIR CLEANSING?

WARNING: DON'T BET YOUR LIFE THINKING THAT SORT OF BIBLE INTERPRETER IS CORRECT. CHRIST'S FIRST ACTION IS TO SEPARATE AND DESTROY THE UNGODLY. THAT INCLUDES EVERY HUMAN GOVERNMENT AND THOSE WHO SUPPORT THEM-PER DANIEL, PER REVELATION CHAPTER 16.

Revelation 16:
3And I saw three unclean spirits that looked like frogs coming out of the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. 14These are demonic spirits that perform signs and go out to all the kings of the earth, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God, the Almighty.

15“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”

16And they assembled the kings in the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

Revelation 17:

14They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and He will be accompanied by His called and chosen and faithful ones.”

keras said:

Could be acid?
But why argue? Revelation 19:17-21, is perfectly clear; Jesus will use the Sword of His Word and the corpses will be edible by the wild birds.

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Yes some will be destroyed and the birds of the air will feast on their flesh.

Also those who came against Jerusalem will perish in this manner.


And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem:
Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet,
Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets,
And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.
Zechariah 14:12


In addition the antichrist himself will be destroyed by the brightness of His coming.


And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 2 Thessalonians 2:8


Let’s look at what the whole counsel of God says, and not just one verse.




JLB

Ed Parenteau said:

That's dividing the word of truth, alright, but not rightly. It's more like nullifying the word of God by your tradition.

Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;

Why did the Thessalonians need to know all the details of the Man of Sin but we don't?
Why was he being restrained in their time?
And since the Man of Sin was being restrained in their time, you can't truly believe he's 2000 years old, can you?
And grammatically, there's no other noun than Thessalonians that the pronoun 'you' refers to. So, to arbitrarily insert the Noun "Christian" in place of 'you' is "word replacement theology"

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So your teaching that the coming of the Lord, and resurrection and rapture is just for the Thessalonians?


LOL!!!!!!



JLB

mkgal1 said:

IOW - "coming of the Lord" in this passage =/= resurrection and rapture

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Yes that’s what the coming of the Lord equals.

The resurrection
The Rapture
The destruction of the antichrist




JLB

mkgal1 said:

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come” (II Thess. 2:1-2)

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Paul's previous letter to the Thessalonian church reveals the context of the passage above.

1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
1Th 5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
1Th 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
1Th 5:4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
1Th 5:5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
1Th 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
1Th 5:7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
1Th 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
1Th 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th 5:10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

.

mkgal1 said:

Another example:

Micah 1:3-5
Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem 3 Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place; he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth.
4 The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.
5 All this is because of Jacob’s transgression,
because of the sins of the people of Israel.​

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Good verses mkgal..........first the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, then the Sacrifice of the apostate Jews as the Great Supper of God in 70AD......oh the wonder of His word!

Zepheniah 1:7 Be silent<2013> in the presence of 'Adonay YAHWEH; For the day of YAHWEH is at hand,
For YAHWEH has prepared a sacrifice; HE has invited HIS guests. [Revelation 19:17 Supper of the great God...........70AD Jerusalem............]

Zechariah 2:13 “Be silent<2013>, all flesh, before YAHWEH, for He is roused from HIS holy habitation!”
======================
Revelation 8:1 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence/sigh<4602> in heaven for about half an hour.

Revelation 19:17 And I saw one messenger standing in the sun, and he cries-out in great voice, saying to all the birds, the ones flying in mid-heaven/sky,
"hither! be ye being gathered<4863>! into the Supper of the Great God. 18 That Ye may be eating fleshes of kings......[Zephaniah 1:17/Ezekiel 39:19]

The Destruction of Jerusalem - George Peter Holford, 1805AD
Proof that Matthew 24 was fully fulfilled in 70 AD!
Also see: Rapture refuted

History records few events more generally interesting than the destruction of Jerusalem, and the subversion of the Jewish state, by the arms of the Romans. -- Their intimate connexion with the dissolution of the Levitical economy, and the establishment of Christianity in the world ; the striking verification which they afford of so many of the prophecies, both of the Old and New Testament, and the powerful arguments of the divine authority of the Scriptures which are thence derived................

Of the Jews destroyed during the siege, Josephus reckons not less than ONE MILLION AND ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND, to which must be added, above TWO-HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SEVEN THOUSAND who perished in other places, and innumerable multitudes who were swept away by famine, and pestilence, and of which no calculation could be made. ......
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Revelation 19: A Preterist Commentary - Revelation Revolution

Preterism, A Revelation 19:17-18 Commentary: In Violation of the Law, the Jews did not Bury the Dead during the Siege of Jerusalem resulting in a Feast for Carrion Birds.

V. 18 is the prophetic fulfillment of Deuteronomy 28:26: “Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air.”
Deuteronomy 28 lists a series of curses, like the one quoted above, that God promised to inflict on his people if they failed to follow the Law.
The curse mentioned in v. 26 is perhaps the most logical. According to Mosaic Law, the Jews were commanded to bury the dead. The Jewish rebels fighting in the city of Jerusalem failed to obey this law, and as a result untold numbers of dead bodies littered the streets of Jerusalem during the Roman siege. As might be expected, these bodies would have been a feast for carrion birds.


The main ensign was the eagle the Aquila which stood high above the Roman legions on long poles held by Roman standard bearers.

But there is more to this imagery. The “birds flying in midair” which are presumably vultures or eagles are also a symbol of foreign invaders as is the case in Hosea 8:1. The eagle of Hosea 8:1 is a metaphor for an invading nation. The eagle in Hosea 8 represents the Assyrian army. These birds in v. 17 which are presumably vultures or eagles may represent Rome. This bird or eagle imagery also calls to Matthew 24:28: “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures [eagles] will gather.”

Interestingly, the symbol of Rome was the eagle, the Aquila. The eagle, the Aquila, was the main ensign of the Roman legions and would have been visible high above the heads of the soldiers at the top of long poles held by the Roman standard bearers. Thus when the Roman army arrived to besiege the cities of Israel during the Jewish War metal eagles would have been seen held up above and amidst the ranks of the various legions. These eagles held high by their standard bearers are also “the birds flying in midair.” And like eagles viciously attacking their prey, Rome slaughtered their Israelite enemies. “[T]he flesh of the kings, generals and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great” is the flesh of the apostate Jews that these eagles representing Rome consumed.


The eagle, the Aquila, was held up on a pole by a Roman standard bearer depicted above. Here one can see how these birds flew in midair.
=========================
Visual Timeline of the Roman-Jewish War ARTchive @ PreteristArchive.com, The Internet's Only Balanced Look at Preterist Eschatology and Preterism
CAST OF CHARACTERS: Roman: Emperor Nero | General Vespasian | General Titus | The Roman Army || Jewish: General / Historian Josephus | Factional Leaders in Jerusalem || Administrators of Roman Judea Targets: Jerusalem | Herod's Temple // Maps of the Roman Invasion // Theological Timeline

CHRONOLOGY IMMEDIATELY SURROUNDING THE WAR

Stage 1: Murder of James the Just, "Opposition High Priest" ; Irrevocable Split: 62
Stage 2: General Revolt in Jerusalem ; Zealot Occupation of Masada: August-September 66
Stage 3: The Campaign of Cestius Gallus and the Defeat of the Twelfth Legion: October-November 66
Stage 4: End of Collaborative Government, Priesthood ; General Flight: November 66 - March 67
Part 6: Vespasian Subdues Northern and Western Palestine: December 66 - December 68
Part 7: Three-way Power Struggle within Jerusalem After Roman Retreat: January 68 - May 70
Part 8: Romans Breach City Walls and Leave Jerusalem Desolate: May 10 - September 10, 70
===============================

mkgal1 said:

Not always. Here's one example where it doesn't mean that (although I wouldn't be surprised if someone squeezed this passage to also make it fit into that thesis):

Isaiah 19:1-2 ~ This is an oracle concerning Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them.​

Matthew Henry's commentary of above passage: The Lord rides upon a cloud, a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt. As a judge goes in state to the bench to try and condemn the malefactors, or as a general takes the field with his troops to crush the rebels, so shall God come into Egypt with his judgments; and when he comes he will certainly overcome. - Isaiah 19 Commentary - Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete)​

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The coming of the Lord (Parousia) is when the resurrection, rapture and destruction of the antichrist occur.

Resurrection and Rapture -

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-18


The destruction of the antichrist -


And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 2 Thessalonians 2:8



JLB

mkgal1 said:

Right. The point I'm trying to make is that - in between this 1st letter from Paul, Timothy, and Silvanus and the 2nd one - those at the church @ Thessolonica were confused by false teachers stating the this "coming of the Lord" had already happened (and the letter was to assure them it hadn't happened yet - when the letter was written....around 51 to 52 A.D.). If what they were expecting to happen were as if some people in our present day imagine this occurrence to be (with the church being gathered and God destroying the unbelievers) then how could they be afraid that had already happened? Either they would've been gathered up or destroyed in that sort of scenario. So that doesn't leave much room for it happening and people missing it (IF that were the proper teaching).

If that is what Paul had instructed them - first hand when he was with them (and is what these letters mean) then that doesn't seem like something people would be confused about happening (when it hadn't). Do you follow?

This is how 2 Thessalonians begins - answering their question:

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 ~ Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers, not to be easily disconcerted or alarmed by any spirit or message or letter presuming to be from us and alleging that the day of the Lord has already come. Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.
​

Quoting from linked article: For if their expectation of the Lord’s coming was that it would bring an end to the world, or that it would result in the instant removal of all believers from the planet, it’s hard to imagine how they could be led to believe that these things had already occurred. If the Day of the Lord referred to “a rapture,” and they thought it may have already occurred, why would Paul still be around? As David Lowman, a Presbyterian pastor, has written:

“Now, if on the other hand, the Thessalonians believed the Day of the Lord to be the coming judgment against apostate Israel, then asking about that event would make sense. And if they had friends or relatives in the Judean area it would easily explain their concern that the Day of the Lord had passed.”​

David points out that the Greek word for the phrase “gathered together,” episunagoge, used in II Thess. 2:1, appears three times in the New Testament: [1] in Matthew 24:31 (“…and He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other”; see our study of this passage), [2] here in this passage, [3] and in Hebrews 10:25 (“not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near”). ~ II Thessalonians 2 and the Man of Lawlessness​

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His coming, and the gathering of believers to Him, are found in all of the following passages.


1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
1Th 5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
1Th 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. (See also 2 Peter 3:10-13, and Revelation 16:15-16 for references to the thief in the night.)
1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
1Th 5:4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
1Th 5:5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
1Th 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
1Th 5:7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
1Th 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
1Th 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th 5:10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.


2Th 1:7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
2Th 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
2Th 1:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
2Th 1:10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.


2Th 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2Th 2:2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

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