[I have skipped Section 1 because it is all background and history of the city of Thessalonica]
Section 2. The Establishment of the Church in Thessalonica
The gospel was first preached in Thessalonica by Paul and
Silas. After their release from imprisonment at Philippi, they passed through Amphipolls and Apollonia, and came to
Thessalonica. For some cause they appear not to have paused
to preach in either of the first two places, but went at once to the city of Thessalonica, That was a much more important
place, and they may have been attracted there particularly because many Jews resided there. It was customary for the
apostle Paul, when he came to a place where there were Jews, to preach the gospel first to them; and as there was a
synagogue in Thessalonica, he entered it, and, for three Sabbath days, reasoned with the Jews in regard to the Messiah. The points on which he endeavored to convince them were, that, according to the Scriptures, it was necessary that the Messiah should be put to death, and that he would
rise from the dead, and that all the predictions on these points were completely fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth; Act_17:2-3.
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A few of the Jews believed, and a much larger number of the
“devout Greeks,” and also a considerable number of females
of the more elevated ranks. From these converts the church
was organized, and the number at the organization would seem to have been large. It is not quite certain how long Paul and Silas remained at Thessalonica. It is known only that they preached in the synagogue for three sabbaths, and if that were all the time that they remained there, it could not have been more than about three weeks. But it is not certain that
they did not remain in the city a longer time. It is possible that they may have been excluded from the synagogue, but
still may have found some other place in which to preach.
This would seem probable from one or two circumstances referred to in the history and in the Epistle. In the history Act_17:5, it appears that Paul and Silas, for a time at least, made the house of Jason their home, and that so large numbers attended on their ministry as to give occasion to great excitement among the Jews. In the epistle 1Th_2:9, Paul says that when he was among them, he “labored night
and day, because he would not be chargeable unto any of them, and preached unto them the gospel of God” (compare
2Th_3:8), which looks as if he had been with them a longer
time than the “three sabbaths,” and as if he had labored at his usual occupation for support, before he shared the hospitality of Jason. It appears also, from Php_4:16, that he was there
long enough to receive repeated supplies from the church at
Philippi. “For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again
unto my necessity.”
Paul and Silas were driven away from Thessalonica by the
opposition of the Jews. A mob was created by them; the house of Jason was assailed; he and “certain brethren,” who
were supposed to have harbored and secreted Paul and Silas,
were dragged before the magistrates and accused of
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receiving those who “had turned the world upside down,”
and who were guilty of treason against the Roman emperor;
Act_17:5-7 So great was the tumult, and such would be the
danger of Paul and Silas if they remained there, that the members of the church judged it best that they should go to
a place of safety, and they were conveyed by night to the neighboring city of Berea. There the gospel was received with more favor, and Paul preached without opposition, until
the Jews from Thessalonica, hearing where he was, came thither and excited the people against him; Act_17:13. It became necessary again that he should be removed to a place
of safety, and he was conducted to Athens, while Silas and
Timothy remained at Berea. Timothy, it appears, had
accompanied Paul, and had been with him, as well as Luke,
at Philippi and Thessalonica, though he is not mentioned as
present with them until the arrival at Berea. When Paul went
to Athens, he gave commandment to those who conducted
him, that Silas and Timothy should come to him as soon as
possible; and while he waited for them at Athens, he delivered the memorable speech on Mars’ hill, recorded in
Acts 17: Their actual arrival at Athens is not mentioned by
Luke (Acts xvii.), but that Timothy came to him there appears from
1Th_3:1, 1Th_3:2, “Wherefore when we could no longer
forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone, and
sent Timotheus our brother, etc., to comfort you concerning
your faith.” Timothy appears, therefore, to have been with
Paul at Athens but a short time, for he sent him back to Thessalonica, and before his return, Paul had gone to Corinth, whither Timothy followed him; Act_18:5.
Section 3. The Time and Place of Writing the Epistle
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The subscription at the close of this epistle affirms that it was written at Athens. But these subscriptions are of no authority whatever (see notes at the close of 1 Corinthians), and in this case, as in several others, the subscription is false. Paul remained but a short time at Athens, and there is internal evidence that the epistle was not written there. In 1Th_3:1-2, Paul says that, such was his anxiety for them, that he had concluded to remain at Athens alone, and that he had sent Timothy to them from that place to impart to them
consolation. In the same epistle 1Th_3:6, he speaks of Timothy’s return to him before the epistle was written. But
from Acts 17 and Act_18:5, it is evident that Timothy did not return to Paul at Athens, but that he and Silas came to
him after he had left Athens and had gone to Corinth. To that place Paul had gone after his short visit to Athens, and there he remained a year and a half; Act_18:11.
It is further evident that the epistle was not written to the Thessalonians so soon as it would be necessary to suppose,
if it were written from Athens. In 1Th_2:17-18, the author says, “But we, brethren, being taken from you a short time
in presence, not in heart, endeavored the more abundantly to
see your face with great desire. Wherefore we would have
come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.” From this it is evident that the apostle had repeatedly endeavored to visit them, but had been hindered.
But it is not reasonable to suppose that he had attempted this during the short time that he was in Athens, and so soon after having been driven away from Berea. It is more probable that this had occurred during his residence at Corinth, and it would seem also from this, that the epistle was written toward the close of his residence there. At the time of writing the epistle, Silas and Timothy were with the apostle
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1Th_1:1, and we know that they were with him when he was
at Corinth; Act_18:5.
If this epistle was written at the time supposed, at Corinth, it must have been about the 13th year of the reign of Claudius,
and about a.d. 52. That this was the time in which it was written, is the opinion of Mill, of Lardner, of Hug, and is indeed generally admitted. It was the first epistle written by the apostle Paul, and, in some respects, may be allowed to
excite a deeper interest on that account than any others of his. The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians is supposed to
have been written at the same place, and probably in the same year; see Lardner, vol. Act_6:4-6. Grotius, indeed, supposes that the order of the epistles has been inverted, and that that which is now called the “Second Epistle to the Thessalonians” was in fact first sent. But there is no evidence of this.
Section 4. The Character of the Church at Thessalonica, and
the Design of the Epistle
The church at Thessalonica, at first, was composed of the following classes of persons:
(1) Jews. To them Paul preached first, and though the mass
of them opposed him, and rejected his message, yet some of
them believed; Act_17:4,
(2) Greeks who had been proselyted to the Jewish faith, and
who seem to have been in attendance on the synagogue; Act_17:4. They are called “devout Greeks” - σεβομένοι
Ἑλλήνοι sebomenoi Hellēnoi - that is, religious Greeks, or
those who had renounced the worship of idols, and who attended on the worship of the synagogue. They were
probably what the Jews called “Proselytes of the Gate;”
persons who were admitted to many privileges, but who 184
were not proselytes in the fullest sense. There were many such persons usually where a synagogue was established among the Gentiles.
(3) Females of the more elevated rank and standing in the community; Act_17:4. They were women of influence, and
were connected with distinguished families. Possibly they also may have been of the number of the proselytes.
(4) Not a few members of the church appear to have been
converted from idolatry by the preaching of the apostle, or
had connected themselves with it after he had left them.
Thus, in 1Th_1:9, it is said, “For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God.
Though the apostle had been much opposed when there, and
the gospel had been rejected by the great body of the inhabitants of Thessalonica, yet it had been most cordially embraced by these different classes 1Th_2:13, and they were
entirely harmonious in the belief of it. They forgot all their former differences in the cordiality with which they had embraced the gospel. The characteristics of the church there, and the circumstances existing, which gave occasion for the
two epistles to the Thessalonians, appear to have been, so far as can he gathered from the history Acts 17, and the epistles themselves, the following:
(1) The members of the church had very cordially embraced
the gospel; they were the warm friends of the apostle; they
greatly desired to receive his instruction; and these things prompted him to the earnest wish which he had cherished to
visit them 1Th_2:17, and now led him to write to them; compare 1Th_1:5-6; 1Th_2:8-9, 1Th_2:13, 1Th_2:19-20.
Paul had for them the strong affection which a nurse has for
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the children committed to her charge (1Th_2:7), or a father
for his children 1Th_2:11, and hence the interest shown for
them by writing these epistles.
(2) They were disposed not only to embrace the gospel, but
to spread it abroad (chap 1Th_1:8), and Paul was evidently
desirous of commending them for this, and of exciting them
to greater love and zeal in doing it.
(3) They had at first embraced the gospel amidst scenes of
strife 1Th_2:2; they were now opposed, as they had been there, by the Jews, and by their own countrymen 1Th_2:14;
and they appear to have been called to some peculiar trials,
by the loss of some valued members of the church - friends
who were peculiarly dear to their hearts; 1Th_2:3, 1Th_2:5;
1Th_3:13. To console them in view of these afflictions was
one design of the first epistle, and in doing it the apostle states one of the most interesting views of the resurrection to be found in the Scriptures; 1Th_4:14-18.
(4) They had been instructed in reference to the future coming of the Saviour; the day of judgment, and the fact that the appearing of the “day of the Lord” would be like a thief
in the night; 1Th_5:2. But they seem to have inferred that that day was near, and they were looking for the immediate
advent of the Redeemer, and the close of the world. To this
view they seem to have been led by two things. One was, a
misinterpretation of what the apostle says, 1Th_4:14-18; 1Th_5:2-3, about the advent of the Redeemer, which they seem to have understood as if it meant that it would be
“soon;” and the other was, probably, the fact that certain letters had been forged in the name of Paul which maintained
this doctrine; 2Th_2:2. To correct this view was one of the
leading objects of the second epistle, and accordingly the apostle in that shows them that events must occur preceding
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the coming of the Lord Jesus which would occupy a long time, and that the end of the world, therefore, could not be
near; 2Th_2:3-12.
(5) An error seems also to have prevailed among them in regard to the resurrection, which was the cause of great uneasiness to those who had lost Christian friends by death;
1Th_4:13, They seem to have supposed that when the Lord
Jesus appeared, they who were alive would have great
advantages over those who were deceased; that the living would be allowed to behold his glory, and to participate in
the splendors of his personal reign, while those who were in
their graves would slumber through these magnificent
scenes. To correct these views, appears to have been one design of the first epistle. The apostle shows them that at the coming of the Saviour, all the redeemed, whether living or
dead, would participate alike in his glory. They who were alive would not anticipate those who were in their graves. In fact, he says, those who were dead would rise before the change would take place in the living that was to fit them to dwell with the Lord, and then all would he taken up to be
forever with him; 1Th_4:15-18.
(6) It would appear to be not improbable that after the departure of the apostle from Thessalonica, he had been accused by the enemies of the gospel there, of a lack of courage, and that they had urged this as proof that he was conscious that the gospel was an imposture. Besides, his leaving the church there without any instructors in a time when they greatly needed them, may have been urged as a
proof that he had no real affection for them, or concern for
their welfare. To meet this charge, the apostle urges several things, vindicating his conduct, and showing the strength of
his attachment for them. He says, (1) That, as they knew; so
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far from being deterred by persecution from preaching, after
a violent persecution at Philippi, he and his fellow laborers had at once preached the same gospel at Thessalonica, and
they had done it there amidst the same kind of opposition;
1Th_2:2. (2) That they themselves were witnesses that it had
been done without any appearance of fraud or of guile. They
had given them all possible proofs of sincerity; 1Th_2:3-5;
(3) That they had given every proof possible that they did not seek glory from men, and that their aims were not selfish.
They were willing to have imparted, not the gospel only, but
also their own lives; and to show that they had had no selfish aim while with them, they had supported themselves by the
labor of their own hands;
1Th_2:6-9. (4) That so far from not feeling any interest in them, he had repeatedly sought to visit them, but had in every instance been prevented 1Th_2:17-18; and (5) That, since he was prevented from going to them, he had submitted
to the personal sacrifice of parting with Timothy at Athens,
and of being left alone there, in order that he might go to them and comfort their hearts; 1Th_3:1-2.
(7) In common with other churches, gathered in part or in whole from the pagan, they were in danger of falling into the sins to which they had been addicted before their conversion, and one object of the first epistle is to put them on their guard against the leading vices to which they were exposed; 1Th_4:1-7.
(8) It would seem, also, that there were some in the church
who had a spirit of insubordination toward their religious teachers, and who, under pretence of edifying others, were
guilty of disorder. To correct this was also one object of the epistle; 1Th_5:12-14.
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From these views, the design of this epistle, and also of the second epistle to the same church, which seems to have been
written soon-after this, will be apparent. They were the effusions of warm attachment toward a church which the apostle had founded, but from which he had been soon driven away, and which he had been prevented from
revisiting when be had earnestly desired it. They are filled
with expressions of tender regard; they remind the members
of the church of the ardor with which they had at first embraced the gospel; caution them against the dangers to which they were exposed; commend them for their fidelity
hitherto, and encourage them in their trials and persecutions.
They present some most interesting views of the nature of
the gospel, and especially contain statements about the resurrection of the saints which are not found elsewhere in
the New Testament, and views in relation to the great apostasy, and the “man of sin,” which demonstrate that the
writer was inspired, and which are of inestimable importance
in guarding the true church from the power of Antichrist. No
one could have drawn the picture of the Papacy in the second
chapter of the second epistle who was not under the
inspiration of the Holy Ghost; and no true Christian can be
sufficiently grateful that the apostle was thus inspired to reveal the features of that great apostasy, to put the church on its guard against the wiles and the power of him who
“exalteth himself above all that is called God.”
Conclusion
This is just an overview of the Book of First Thessalonians. We will consider other books in the timeframe in which they were written until we get up-to-date with our narrative.
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