PREFACE
I have just finished Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians written from Athens. Now I am beginning my studies in the second epistle to the Thessalonians. As most of you know I have been forced into retirement, and the up side is that I have plenty of time to devote to my studies, so the benefit outweighs the strangeness of not going to work every day. If it were not for these studies, I believe I would go stir crazy, for we are all creatures of habit. Honestly, though, I am enjoying my studies more than ever, and I hope you study along with me, and that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ will be our entire portion. I am using the same format I have always used by writing the verse out in the Authorized Version, and immediately following it with my literal Greek translation (LGT). It is my goal to bring out as close as possible what the Thessalonian believers understood, as Paul continues to teach them God's Word. I will work hard not to read my preconceived ideas into the text, but you will see that sometimes I slip, and so I ask your indulgence, for I am always willing to discuss any passage I have expounded. God bless us as we continue our study.
INTRODUCTION
"It is plain that First Thessalonians did not settle all the difficulties in Thessalonica. With some there was precisely the opposite result. There was some opposition to Paul's authority and even defiance. So Paul repeats his command for discipline (II Thess. 3:6) as he had done when with them (3:10). He makes this Epistle a test of obedience (3:14) and finds it necessary to warn the Thessalonians against the zeal of some deceivers who even invent epistles in Paul's name to carry their point in the church (2:1f.), an early instance of pseudepigraphic Pauline epistles, but not for a pious purpose. Paul's keen resentment against the practice should make us slow to accept the pseudepigraphic theory about other Pauline Epistles. He calls attention to his own signature at the close of each genuine letter. As a rule he dictated the epistle, but signed it with his own hand (3:17). Paul writes to calm excitement (Ellicot) and to make it plain that he had not said that the Second Coming was to be right away.
This Epistle is a bit sharper in tone than the First and also briefer. It has been suggested that there were two churches in Thessalonica, a Gentile Church to which First Thessalonians was sent, and a Jewish Church to which Second Thessalonians was addressed. There is no real evidence for such a gratuitous hypothesis. It assumes a difficulty about sending a second letter to the same church that does not exist. The bearer of the first letter brought back news that made the second necessary. It was probably sent within the same year as the first" (A.T. Robertson).
Further we read on the occasion for the Second Epistle in the 'Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible:' "Information was received concerning the Thessalonians perhaps from those who had delivered his first epistle. The report, which Paul received, had both encouraging and discouraging elements in it. On the positive side he was thankful for the evidence of their spiritual growth (1:3, 4). On the negative side he was discouraged by their failure to understand properly certain eschatological matters. Specifically, it seems that some of the Thessalonian believers had fallen into the notion that the day of the Lord had actually begun and that therefore the Messiah would appear very soon. In the light of this expectation some had given up their work and were living in meddlesome idleness. For this reason Paul found it necessary to write a second letter to the Thessalonians."
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