1 Thess - Background
This lesson sets forth the background study to help you understand the Book of 1st Thessalonians in a much more fuller way.
First Thessalonians - Background
(The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians)
In this first letter to the Thessalonian Church, Paul does not refer himself as an apostle, but simply Paul. He will do the same when he writes his second letter to them. The same goes for the letter to the Philippians and to Philemon. In all other letters to the other churches, however, he did refer himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. Why, we are not certain. It must have been his closer relationship with the believers in that city. Whereas some letters, he is careful to defend his position as an apostle, so we must assume he had a closer relationship with this church. Because God appointed himself as an apostle, we will continue to honor him by calling him an apostle of Jesus Christ.
The Jerusalem Council
During the entirety of the Apostle Paul's 1st missionary journey, he encountered challenges with the Jewish believers in Jesus as the Christ, demanding that all Gentile believers become a Jew in order to be saved. This came out of the backdrop that in the past Jews would proselyte Gentiles who were willing to leave their pagan idols to believe in the One True God, which meant they would, have to become Jewish in every way, including becoming circumcized to be considered a proselyte Jew and enjoy the benefits of being a Jew.
When the Apostle Paul ministered Christ to the Gentiles, those who accepted Jesus as their Savior were willing to leave their pagan idols to worship the One true God. Most of them, however, did not want to become Jewish in any respect. This angered the Jewish believers who had come to Christ. They insisted that all Gentile believers in Christ had to become Jewish in order to become saved. This created such a problem in almost every city the apostle traveled to - where at the end of his 1st missionary journey, in 48 A.D., he and Barnabas (the head of the Antioch Church) traveled down to Jerusalem to meet with some of the other apostles of Jesus and elders of the Church, including the Apostle Peter and James, the brother of Jesus who was the pastor of the Jerusalem Church to decide how to settle this dilemma.
The results of the council became binding and official. The end conclusion of the council was as follows:
It is not necessary for any Gentile believer in Christ to become a Jew in any respect, including the rite of circumcision. The following rules, however, must be adhered by all Gentile believers:
- Must abstain from things polluted by idols
- Must abstain from sexual immorality
- Must abstain from things strangled, and from blood
In turn, all Jewish believers in Christ must respect the above ruling for Gentile Christians.
The Gentile Christians were happy with the decision of the Jerusalem Council; however, the Jewish believers were not. They persisted in their anger as the apostle continued into his 2nd and 3rd missionary journeys.
The City of Thessalonica
This first letter to the believers in Thessalonica was actually the first letter to any of the churches that the Apostle Paul wrote. Paul, supported by Silvanus (Silas) and Timothy, wrote this letter as an encouragement to their faith, and also addressed the question the Thessalonian church had regarding the Lord's return and the Rapture of the Church. These new believers were concerned what had happened to the believers who had died or was martyred.
I had the privilege of visiting Thessalonica ten years ago on a Mediterrean trip where we followed the missionary journeys of the Apostle John and Paul. We finished our Mediterrean part of the journey in Thessalonica, followed by boarding a plan to complete our journey in Rome, Italy, as we tracked the Apostle Paul's 4th missionary journey. Thessalonica, pronounced today as Thessaloniki, was the largest city in Macedonia at the time of the Apostle Paul's visit in 49 A.D., having a population close to 100,000 people. Today, Thessaloniki is the 2nd largest city in Greece, having over one million people in its metropolis region. During biblical times, it was a beautiful city with a spectacular view of Mount Olympus, the "so called" home of the greater gods of the mythological Greek pantheon religion.
Thessalonica was a seaport trade center, strategically placed on the eastern coast of the province of Macedonia between the Balkan mountain range and the Greek peninsula Because Thessalonica was a coastal trade center, housing around 200,000 people, many pagan religions encompassed the city. Popular philosophers, magicians, astrologers, and rogue swindlers clamoured for the attend of the believing and the skeptical. This brought on various missionaries of many different pagan religions who were opportunists, who took advantage of vulnerable listeners to gain wealth. This made it even harder for missionaries for Christ because there was great competition in the larger cities - especially cities that were trade centers. Emperor worship was also commanded in Thessalonica, with the worship of Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar. All of this kind of paganism was not only accepted by the Roman government, but encouraged. As was within all pagan cities, prostitution, adultery, homosexuality, and related sins were commonplace.
The Apostle Paul's Journey to Thessalonica
In 49 A.D., the Apostle Paul and Silas, along with Timothy, came to Thessalonica from Philippi as part of Paul's second missionary journey. Paul and Silas had been publicly beaten and put in prison for the Gospel in Philippi, and afterward were thrown out of town. Paul, Silas, along with Timothy then traveled to Thessalonica to continue the Apostle Paul's 2nd missionary journey.
The Apostle Met Timothy
Timothy was a Gentile convert the Apostle Paul had met in Lystra on this same missionary journey. Paul requested Timothy to come alongside him as they continued on their travels so he could mentor him. Timothy, therefore, was a disciple, or apprentice, of the Apostle Paul's. This was the best way the apostle could mentor this young Gentile believer in the most effective way. At times, Timothy's name does not appear as being with the apostle or his team, but when reading through the Book of Acts, it becomes apparent Timothy was with the apostle most of the time in those early years of the Apostle Paul's ministry.
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The Pharisee Saul in the Synagogue
As was Paul's custom, when he entered into a city he first went to the local synagogue on the Sabbath (Acts 17:2). All Jewish Sabbaths ran from Friday at sundown until Saturday at sundown. Being a former Pharisee, Paul was always welcomed to preach to the congregation.
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He preached not himself, but Christ crucified, using the Jewish Scriptures (our Old Testament) as the ground for his platform. He would foretell of the coming Messiah and how He must suffer. Again, using the Jewish Scriptures, he would tell the assembly that after His death, the Messiah would rise again. He then set out to prove that Jesus of Nazareth was their Messiah (Acts 17:3) - again based on the Jewish Scriptures. Week after week he would preach to prove that Jesus was their Messiah. Usually, many Jews within the congregation came to believe in Jesus.
The Apostle Paul to the Gentiles
On non-Sabbath days, the apostle then went into the marketplace of the city, known in Greek as the Agora, as a non-Jew to witness the Gospel to the Gentiles in an entirely different way. He could not use the Jewish Scriptures as his basis because the Gentiles knew nothing, nor cared about the Jewish Scriptures. Paul preached on their sinfulness and that they too can have forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ and experience eternal life with God in heaven forever. As he spoke out, he told the people that God was now coming to the whole world - not just the Jews. Only through Jesus Christ could they come to their Creator - the One true God.
As such, many Gentiles left their pagan idols, committing their life to Jesus Christ. In this way, the Apostle Paul was able to gather new believers of both Jew and Gentile together (Acts 17:4) to form a church in that city. As always, all 1st century churches were in the homes of the people, and they met almost every day of the week, going from house to house (Acts 2:42), except the Jewish believers attended their synagogue on the Sabbath. That way, the Jewish new believers could still observe their Jewishness on the Sabbath and the Gentiles were not required to observe any Jewish law, including circumcision.
There was generally competition for the hearts of men within the market places, especially in large cities. Being Thessalonica was a large trade center, made it even harder to reach people for the Gospel. Along with the clamoring of the pagan philosophers and magicians, the pagan missionaries of various pagan gods searched out every vulnerable listener they could to gain their wealth. The Apostle Paul was not like these pagan missionaries in that he was self supporting and he came with the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In spite of all the competition, the apostle was able to bring many Gentiles to faith in Christ Jesus.
Self-Supporting
The Apostle Paul refused to accept money from people. It was always his intent to work for the expenses of him and his team as they evangelized from city to city. His usual mode of operation was to work his profession as a tent maker on his off hours from ministry. He would arise before dawn to do his tent making before he went out to minister during the day. Then as evening approached, he either picked up or delivered his product to his customers and then continued working late into the night. He always made sure he paid for his own expenses so he and his team were never dependent upon anyone for support. As such, the apostle would never be a burden to those he preached to with the Gospel.
What Happened in Thessalonica
In past cities of his missionary journeys, the Apostle Paul was received well in the beginning and many people would come to be believers in Jesus as their Messiah. Over time, after several months, however, as what usually happened, there were those left in the synagogue who refused his message, and eventually he was asked to leave. In Thessalonica, however, the synagogue was large and full of staunch religious Jews who were not very receptive to him - even from the beginning. As such, the Apostle Paul only had three weeks of preaching in that synagogue (Acts 17:2), and the unbelieving Jews became very angry, setting out to attack him. They found the worst criminals in the marketplace to help them capture him. In their outburst of anger to bring him to the city authorities to have him arrested (Acts 17:5), they stormed the house of Jason where Paul was staying, but Paul and Silas (or Timothy) were not there. Instead, they grabbed Jason, the owner of the home, and brought him before the authorities instead. After someone paid bail for Jason, the authorities let him go (Acts 17:9).
That night the believers sneaked Paul, Silas, and Timothy out of town to where they quickly and speedily walked all night and into the next day to the town of Berea, which was inland and about 50 miles away from Thessalonica.
The apostle and his team were received much better in Berea. After preaching in the synagogue, the Jews then searched the Scriptures to see what Saul was preaching was accurate. As such, many more Jews became believers in Jesus Christ as their Messiah.
It didn't take long, however, for the Thessalonian Jews from the synagogue to get word that Paul and his team were in Berea. This brought several Jews to travel to Berea to stir up the people in that town as well. As such, the new believers in Berea quietly and quicy escorted Paul out of town with a few escorts to lead him to Athens. Paul did leave Silas and Timothy in Berea, as they were less of a threat to the Jews, to continue on with the ministry - to set up a church in that town. He and his escorts then traveled the 350 mile south to Athens - hoping the distance would detere the Jews who were following after him.
After arriving in Athens, he sent the escorts back requesting they send Silas and Timothy down to Athens to meet him. While waiting for his team to catch up with him, he ministered there as well. Sometime later, Silas and Timothy met up with him in Athens, but shortly thereafter Paul sent Timothy back up north to Thessalonica to check on the condition of the Church. The apostle by then had gather a number of disciples and a few of them joined him and Silas and they all continued on to Corinth.
The Time and Place of the Writing of 1st Thessalonians
The Apostle Paul and his team then traveled to Corinth, crossing the 60 mile isthus (land bridge) to Corinth, ministering and developing churches in that city. There he stayed for 1 1/2 years. Because of the Jewish threats continuously on his life, the apostle was hindered from going back to Thessalonica.
Sometime later, Timothy came back from Thessalonica with this message: As a whole, these believers were standing strong in their faith in the midst of persecution from the authorities of the city in that they were now worshipping Jesus instead of the emperor and their pagan idols. As such, their daily Christian lives were challenging. These Thessalonian believers also had questions as to those who had died earlier - especially those who had been martyred for their faith. "Where are they now," they asked with concern? This subject then gave particular attention to the hope of Christ's return, which offered comfort and encouragement in times of death as well as in daily life. As such, the subject of the second coming of Christ seems to permeate the letter of 1st Thessalonians and may be viewed in some sense as its central theme.
With the assistance of Silas and Timothy, the Apostle Paul sat down together to compile his very first letter to one of the churches he established. As such, the first letter to the Church at Thessalonica was penned in 50 /51A.D. by the Apostle Paul from the city of Corinth.
Written by Pastor Joyce A. Erickson
Believers Bible School, Founder https://believersbibleschool.com/