2 Thess - Background

This 2nd letter to the Church at Thessalonica was written about 1 1/2 years after his first letter. After learning that false teachers were teaching the Rapture of the Church had already occurred, the Apostle Paul had to straight their thinking to believe the Gospel, not the lies perpetrated to them by false teachers.

2nd Thessalonians - Background
To gain a fuller understanding of the background of this Book of 2 Thessalonians,
please read 1 Thessalonians - Background. 

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The Book of 2 Thessalonians is the shortest of all of the letters that the Apostle Paul wrote.  It was probably a letter he had not intended to write; however, he received word through believers from Thessalonica who had crossed the apostle's path in Corinth that there were problems in the Church back home 2 Thess 3:11).    As such, this letter became a very important, but short letter to the believers at the church of Thessalonica.

It had been almost a year and a half since the Apostle Paul had written his first letter to the Church at Thessalonica; however, word had gotten back to him that the believers in the Church were still questioning whether they had missed the Rapture of the Church.  Fake letters had come in claiming to be from Paul claiming they had missed the rapture, which totally violated his letter he had sent a few months earlier to them (2 Thess 2:2).  In addition, false false teachers had entered into the church claiming false information.  With the rising persecution, these believers in Thessalonica were really concerned.   

Paul was still in Corinth when he wrote this letter is 51 A.D., just months following his first letter to them.   As in the first letter, he did not refer himself as an apostle, but simply Paul.  In all other letters to the other churches, however, he did refer himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ.  The same goes for the letter to the Philippians and to Philemon.  Why, we are not certain, because all of the other letters he wrote, he referred himself as an apostle.  Because God appointed himself as an apostle, we will continue to honor him by calling him an apostle of Jesus Christ.  Supported by Silas and Timothy, the three men drafted this second letter to the Church at Thessalonica.  While the scriptures do not say, a report had probably come down to the apostle as to what was going on in Thessalonica since the writing of his last letter to them.

While this letter is shorter than his last letter to the Church at Thessalonica, it contains more indepth information on the Rapture of the Church and what these believers would need to look for to know truth from error.  He also asked them to make note of his personal handwriting to make sure this letter was authentic, coming directly from him.  In addition, his ending salutation would become a mark of the apostle's writings.

In this letter, Paul explains that the future time of tribulation had not yet come because a specific “man of lawlessness” had not yet been revealed.  Using other scripture passages from Daniel, Matthew, and Revelation reveal this man to be none other than the Antichrist.  Paul encouraged these Thessalonians not to worry, because the Antichrist would not come until the restrainer – meaning the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers – was taken out of the way.  As such, when the believers leave the earth in the rapture, all who remain will experience the wrath of the tribulation.  Because they were believers in Christ having the indwelling Holy Spirit, they would escape the Tribulation.

Concerned for the Thessalonian believers who were trying to stand firm in their faith under pressure from false teachers, the apostle again taught in this letter, as was in the first, that their hope in Christ’s future return should serve as an encouragement to them in their suffering, motivating them to live responsibly for Him.

Let’s now open up chapter 1 of 2 Thessalonians and see what the Apostle Paul is telling these concerned believers.

Written by Pastor Joyce A. Erickson

Believers Bible School, Founder https://believersbibleschool.com/