The Just Judgment of God

The arrival of Jesus will result in vindication and rest for the righteous, but everlasting loss for the wicked - 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10.

The “revelation” of Jesus from heaven will result in the reward of the faithful, but the punishment of those who have rejected the Gospel, including men and women who have abandoned the true faith. Christ's return will result in “just judgment” for the righteous and the unrighteous.

Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians was written after he left the city. His first letter expressed his joy upon hearing that the congregation had remained faithful despite hostility and trials. His second letter addresses three main subjects: persecution, believers who refuse to work, and most importantly, the coming apostasy and “the Man of Lawlessness.”

The letter begins with greetings from Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy “to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” We must remember, in interpreting the contents of this epistle, that the exhortations, instructions, and warnings of the Apostle are written to and for the Christian congregation of Thessalonica, not for humanity in general.

Persecution has increased, and some members of the congregation are refusing to work in anticipation of the imminent return of Jesus. Paul begins by discussing persecution and its significance. In doing this, he prepares for the discussion in the second chapter concerning the arrival of Jesus and related events.

[Photo by Davide Cantelli (Bologna, Italy) on Unsplash]

The Apostle is concerned not only with what will happen to people who refuse the Gospel, but also, if not mainly, with the fate of believers who apostatize before the arrival of Jesus. The passage from 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10 should be read with the warnings about apostasy in chapter 2 in mind.

Paul's use of Greek verbs in the active voice in 2 Thessalonians 1:8 is important. They indicate that judgment will come on men and women who consciously choose to reject the Gospel. We must pay attention to how Paul uses words from Old Testament passages. Verses that originally referred to ancient Israel are applied to the Church.

Paul begins by thanking God for the perseverance of the Thessalonians. The Apostle refers to the afflictions of the church in the plural number, indicating a hostile environment. Note the verbal allusions to the ninth Psalm and Deuteronomy 32:41 - (Compare Matthew 24:21, 24:29, Mark 13:19, 13:24, Revelation 1:9, 7:14):

• Persecution is “evidence of THE JUST JUDGMENT OF GOD so that you be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, on behalf of which also you are suffering, SINCE IT IS JUST FOR GOD TO REPAY AFFLICTION TO THOSE WHO ARE AFFLICTING YOU, and relief to you, to those being afflicted with us; at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his angels of power” - (2 Thessalonians 1:5-7).

• “The Lord endures forever! He has prepared his throne for judgment. And he will judge the world in righteousness, he will judge the peoples in uprightness” – (Psalm 9:7-8, translated from the Septuagint or LXX).

• “For I will sharpen my sword like lightning, and my hand shall take hold of judgment; and I will render judgment to my enemies, and will recompense them that hate me” – (Deuteronomy 32:41, LXX).

Judgment means a decision for or against someone. The term “evidence” in the passage refers either to the endurance of the Thessalonians or their persecution.  If the former, their “perseverance” demonstrates the rightness of God’s decision for the Thessalonians to inherit His Kingdom. If the latter, the persecuting activity of the church’s opponents validates God’s judicial sentence on the persecutors, since “it is just for God to requite affliction to those afflicting you and relief to you.” Both senses may be intended.

The Greek verb translated as “requite” or ‘antapodidōmi’ (ανταποδιδωμι) means “to give back; to repay.” It stresses equal payback, and here, it refers to “the recompense” given by God to two groups, the persecutors and the saints.

God will repay “affliction” to the persecutors of His Church, but He will grant rest or “relief” to faithful believers. Both results will occur when Jesus returns.

The word translated as “revelation” is ‘apokalypsis’ (αποκαλυπσις), meaning a “revealing, disclosure; an unveiling.”  Elsewhere in the Greek New Testament, it is used for the coming or “revelation” of Jesus from Heaven, and we read similar ideas about tribulations, testing, and reward when Jesus appears in Peter’s first epistle:

• “In which you greatly rejoice, though now, for a little while, if need be, you have been put to grief in various trials, that the proving of your faith, being more precious than gold that perishes though it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ. <…> Wherefore, girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” – (1 Peter 1:7, 1:13).

EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION

This “revelation” will occur when Jesus arrives from Heaven. This parallels the clause Paul uses in his first letter when describing how Jesus will descend from Heaven. Previously, the Apostle called the event the “arrival” or ‘Parousia’ of Jesus (παρουσια). In his Thessalonian correspondence, Paul applies both terms, “revelation” and “arrival,” to the same future event:

• “Now, may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we also do toward you; to the end, he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the arrival [‘Parousia’] of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” – (1 Thessalonians 3:11-13).

• “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the arrival [‘Parousia’] of the Lord, will in no way precede them that are fallen asleep…” – (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).

• “Now we beseech you, brethren, touching the arrival [‘Parousia’] of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him” – (2 Thessalonians 2:1).

The clause translated as “in flaming fire” in 2 Thessalonians 1:7 may go with the preceding sentence. If so, it would read, “the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his angels of power, in flaming fire.” If not, Paul may be referring to the “fire” of destruction that the wicked will receive on the Day of the Lord. Note the verbal echo of Isaiah 66:15:

• “IN FLAMING FIRE, GIVING VENGEANCE to those who know not God and to those who refuse to obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, who will pay a penalty, EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his might. Whenever he comes to be made all-glorious in his saints and to be marveled at in all who believe, because our witness to you was believed” - (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10. Note the allusion to Obadiah 1:12-13).

• “For behold, the Lord will come as fire, and his chariots as a storm, to render his vengeance with wrath, and his rebuke with a flame of fire” - (Isaiah 66:15, Septuagint version).

Divine vengeance will fall on those who refuse the Gospel, namely, “everlasting destruction.” This is the penalty they will pay. The term “everlasting” or ‘aiōnion’ (αιωνιον) refers to the length of time that the results of the destruction will last.

The Apostle is specific regarding who will receive everlasting destruction, namely, the men and women who do not “know” God (‘eidô’), and who “refuse to obey” (‘hupakouô’) the Gospel. Both terms are in the active voice, meaning that the subject performs the action, and the second term represents a Greek participle in the present tense, signifying continuous action. In short, these individuals make a deliberate and ongoing choice.

This statement parallels Paul’s warning in 2 Thessalonians 2:10-11 that God will send a strong delusion to those who refuse to welcome the love of the truth and apostatize from the apostolic faith. They choose to believe the lie and suffer the consequences.

The English term “destruction” translates the Greek noun ‘olethros’ (ολεθος), meaning “ruin, destruction, undoing.” Paul uses the same word in 1 Thessalonians for the “unexpected destruction” that will overtake the unprepared on the Day of the Lord. The clause used by Paul alludes to a prophecy by the Prophet Obadiah as translated by the Greek Septuagint version of Obadiah:

• “And you should not have looked on the day of your brother in the day of strangers; nor should you have rejoiced against the children of Juda in the day of their devastation; neither should you have boasted in the day of their affliction. Neither should you have gone into the gates of the people in the day of their troubles; nor yet should you have looked upon their gathering in the day of their destruction [‘olethros’], nor should you have attacked their host in the day of their perishing” - (Obadiah 1:12-13, LXX).

• “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that anything be written to you. For you yourselves know accurately that the Day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. When they are saying, ‘Peace and Security’, then sudden DESTRUCTION [‘olethros’] comes upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they will certainly not escape” - (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3).

Obadiah pronounced judgment on the nation of Edom for oppressing Israel. Paul applies the prophet’s words to the persecutors of the Thessalonian congregation, and to those men and women who refuse the Gospel. “Everlasting destruction” does not refer to the tribulations that will occur before the End since it will be “everlasting” and coincide with the return of Jesus - (Matthew 7:23, 22:13, 25:41, Luke 13:27).

Those who oppose the Gospel will be excluded from the presence of the Lord and his “glorious might,” and this phrase is an echo of Christ’s saying in his Olivet Discourse:

• “Then will appear the sign of THE SON OF MAN IN HEAVEN, and then ALL THE TRIBES OF THE EARTH WILL MOURN, and they will see the arrival [‘Parousia’] OF THE SON OF MAN ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN with power and great glory” - (Matthew 24:30-31. Note the verbal allusions to Daniel 7:13 and Zechariah 12:10).

On that day, Christ’s faithful saints will be gathered to admire him. Believers and unbelievers alike will present themselves before him, some for reward, others for punishment. Whether the Apostle applies the term “coming,” “revelation,” or “arrival” to Christ’s return, the noun is always in the singular number and refers to the same final event.

The description of judgment and vindication when Jesus returns is found several times in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, and it is a common theme elsewhere in the New Testament. For example:

• “For they themselves report concerning us what manner of entrance we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols TO SERVE A LIVING AND TRUE GOD, AND TO WAIT for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, WHO IS RESUCING US FROM THE WRATH TO COME” - (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10. Note the allusions to Isaiah 25:9, 59:20 and Hosea 1:10).

• “And THE GOD of peace himself SANCTIFY YOU COMPLETELY; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” - (1 Thessalonians 5:23. Compare Leviticus 20:8, 20:26, LXX).

• “The Son of Man will send forth his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. THEN THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He that has ears, let him hear” - (Matthew 13:41-43. Compare Daniel 12:3).

Every man and woman without exception will face the judgment on the Day of the Lord. Only those who have embraced and obeyed the Gospel of Jesus Christ will receive rest and reward rather than “everlasting punishment from the face of the Lord.”

The Apostle concludes the opening exhortation of this letter by praying that God will account the Thessalonians worthy of their calling to serve Christ, which includes enduring persecution faithfully for the sake of the Gospel - (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12).

In doing so, the church will glorify “the name of our Lord Jesus and you in him,” and this is according to the grace of God and Jesus Christ.

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[Citations of Old Testament passages in this article are based on the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint. Text printed in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament. The Septuagint is represented by the Roman numeral for ‘seventy’ or LXX based on the Latin name of the translation, ‘Interpretatio septuaginta virorum’]

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SEE ALSO:

• Tribulation of the Church - (In Revelation, faithful saints undergo tribulation, but the unrepentant Inhabitants of the Earth undergo God’s Wrath, namely, the Second Death)

• Disinformation - (Disinformation about the day of the Lord caused alarm in the congregation at Thessalonica – 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2)

• The Day of the Lord - (Jesus will arrive and gather his people on the day of the Lord, and in the New Testament, this event becomes the Day of Christ)

• Gathering his Elect - (The saints will be assembled before Jesus on the Last Day, and the wicked will be collected for judgment and cast from his presence