day of the Lord

Summary of 1 Thessalonians – doctrine and imperative

POST OVERVIEW. A summary of the first epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians giving the letter’s  doctrinal teaching and its imperatives (instructions and commands). This emphasis on doctrine and imperative is a feature of the Discipleship Bible Study (DBS) method for epistles, which I explain in greater detail in my upcoming book on discipleship (in late 2024).

INTRODUCTION. Recently some brothers and I completed a study of 1 Thessalonians. In our study, we employed the Discipleship Bible Study (DBS) method for epistles. The “DBS method for epistles” emphasizes the doctrinal teaching in the epistle and the epistle’s behavioral imperatives (commands, exhortations, instructions). Awareness of the doctrinal teaching of the epistles develops theological convictions and study of the behavioral imperatives yields conscious repentance and obedience.

DOCTRINAL TEACHING OF THE EPISTLE > > > THEOLOGICAL CONVICTIONS

BEHAVIORAL IMPERATIVES OF THE EPISTLE > > > REPENTANCE AND OBEDIENCE

The following are the key doctrines and imperatives from 1 Thessalonians.

KEY DOCTRINES FROM 1 THESSALONIANS

1:4. “your election.” DOCTRINE OF ELECTION states that, before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), in eternity past, God has chosen / elected all the people that He will, in time and space, call to salvation, that He will justify by faith and that He will glorify in the resurrection on the last day. This election is entirely based on God’s sovereign will and is not conditioned on any merit, quality or action of the chosen (therefore is called “unconditional election”). By the use of His providence, God will certainly bring to justification every one of those He has elected in eternity past and He will raise them up in glory on the last day.

1:5. In Thessalonica, the gospel, which is God’s appointed means of calling sinners to repentance and faith, came to them “in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” Even Paul was amazed at how powerfully the gospel had worked in Thessalonica.

1:10. In this one verse there are actually four separate doctrinal truths. “wait for His Son from heaven.” The doctrine of the return of Jesus Christ in power and glory. “whom He raised from the dead.” The doctrine of the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Jesus “rescues us from the wrath to come.” The doctrine of the wrath of God against sin (Rom. 1:18; etc.) and the doctrine that Jesus is our Savior and He rescues us from God’s judgment by His substitutionary death on the cross.

2:19. “in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming.” Here we discovery that when Jesus returns, His saints will be present with Him. This means that, at His coming, the saints are not still waiting for the Lord, but are with the Lord.

This is the first of several teaching points that Paul will make in this epistle about the return of Jesus, about the resurrection of the saints and about the day of the Lord. The epistles to the Thessalonians contain much important doctrine on these topics of the end times.

3:3-4. Paul reminds the Thessalonians that persecution for your faith is a normal part of the disciple’s life. (See 1 Peter 1:6-9; 4:12-19; 2 Tim. 3:12; Matt. 5:10-12; etc.)

3:13. Another verse about the saints when Jesus returns. “The coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.” Once again, we see that Jesus’ saints will be with Him when He comes.

4:13-18. Clear doctrinal teaching about the resurrection of the saints, particularly about the order of events of the resurrection and about how the resurrection of the saints relates to the coming of the Lord Jesus. A GO-TO PASSAGE ON THE RESURRECTION AND ON THE RETURN OF CHRIST. [See the full teaching on this passage in my blog #700 on May 6, 2024, entitled “The order of the resurrection in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17.”]

5:2-10. Paul’s teaching on “the day of the Lord.” In a sense, “the day of the Lord” and the resurrection are two sides of the same coin. Both of these relate to the return of Christ but each one relates to a different group. While the resurrection relates to believers being glorified when Jesus returns, “the day of the Lord” relates to the terror and judgment that comes upon the unrighteous when Jesus comes in judgment. Same event, but two different experiences.

Paul’s teaching on the day of the Lord:

  • The “day of the LORD” is a common theme among the Old Testament prophets. Therefore, Paul is not inventing a new term or a new idea but is building on what the Scripture has already revealed. Paul’s teaching is necessarily consistent with other scriptural teaching about the day of the LORD. (See Joel 1:14-15; 2:1-11, 30-31; Obadiah 15-21; Micah 5:10-15; Zeph. 1:7-18 (very clear!).)
  • 5:2. The day of the Lord will come upon the unrighteous without warning and without mercy. (Matt. 24:37-41)
  • 5:3. Sudden destruction, so there will be no time for rescue or escape. In fact, on the day of the Lord, the time for rescue has forever passed and the time of judgment has come. There is no hope on that day.
  • 5:4-5. Believers are not in darkness but are sons of light and sons of day (Ephesians 5:8-9; Rom. 13:12-13), so we will not be caught unawares when the Lord returns.  
  • 5:9. “God has not destined us (believers) for wrath (1:10), but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The doctrinal truth is that everyone is heading for one of these two destinations. All those outside Christ are “destined for wrath.” All those in Christ are destined for salvation. It is incumbent upon every person to honestly assess which destination is his. If you are currently destined for wrath, then I urge you to immediately repent and bow the knee to the Lord Jesus.
  • 5:10. Our Lord Jesus Christ died for us. Here Paul references the doctrine of substitutionary atonement, that Jesus died on the cross to atone for the sins of His people (2 Cor. 5:21; Romans 14:9).

IMPORTANT IMPERATIVES FROM 1 THESSALONIANS

2:11-12. “Walk in a manner worthy (of the God who call you into His own glory and kingdom).” Paul implicitly exhorts the Thessalonians to live their lives in a way that brings glory and honor to Christ. They have recently turned to God from idols (1:9) and now Paul is instructing them to live a new life consistent with their profession of faith in Christ. This, then, is a general call to obedient, holy living. (Specifics follow.)

4:1. We request and exhort you in the Lord that you excel still more (in your conducting yourselves in a manner that pleases God). (Intro to imperatives.)

4:3. Abstain from sexual immorality. (1 Peter 2:11; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Col. 3:5; Eph. 5:3-5) It is likely that the Thessalonians lived in a culture of pervasive sexual immorality. They were Gentiles and had been idol-worshippers (1:9) and had been complete strangers to the holy requirements of God’s Law (Eph. 4:17-19). Now Paul tells these new believers to abstain from sexual immorality. Cold turkey. Stop it! NOW! And this command applies to all professing disciples of Jesus today.

4:4. Although it is difficult to know specifically what Paul is saying here, the idea is clear. Exercise strict self-control over the desires of your physical body “in sanctification and honor” (4:4). Before these Gentiles had given themselves over to their lusts, but now in Christ, they must “possess their vessel in honor.” Sexual behavior is now controlled by Christ.

4:5. “Not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles.” Before it was completely acceptable, even expected, to behave in lustful passion, but now, as disciples of Jesus, not so. Also notice that, although these Thessalonians were from the uncircumcised, they are no longer Gentiles. Paul contrasts these uncircumcised Thessalonians with Gentiles. Why? Because now “there is neither Jew nor Greek, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). Now, since Jesus has come, the primary identifier for all mankind is not Jew or Gentile but it is disciple of the Lord Jesus or perishing sinner. The Thessalonians are no longer Gentiles but they are now uncircumcised disciples of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, they no longer act in “lustful passion.”

4:9-10. Love one another. Love of the brethren. “Excel still more.” Learn what it means to love the brethren and then excel at that activity. Love one another! (John 13:34-35)

4:11-12. “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business.” Here we must discover the essence of what Paul is teaching and then bring it into our 21st century context. I think the idea is that the life of the disciple is not ostentatious and extravagant but is simple, orderly, and disciplined. The disciple does not spend his life in dissipation (1 Peter 4:3), indulging the flesh, but lives “a quiet life” of worship, witness, and prayer.

5:6, 8. Do not “sleep,” but be sober and alert. “Sleeping” here is to be understood figuratively, meaning do not wander through life like those who are sluggishly sleepwalking. Rather, live a life of purpose and vigor, staying “alert.” Be alert to sin’s temptations and flee. Be sober about the things that distract you from striving toward the goal of holiness. Do not love sleep (Proverbs 6:10), but rather buffet your body and make it your slave (1 Cor. 9:27). Deny the body’s cravings, especially if it obstructs your will. Your discipline and your will must control your body’s desires or you will be useless as a disciple. The Lord does not recruit sluggards into battle, but instead seeks out obedient soldiers.

5:12-13. “Appreciate those who diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord and esteem them very highly in love.” (Hebrews 13:7, 17; 1 Tim. 5:17; 1 Peter 5:5, 6) Those who labor among the flock as teachers of the Word and shepherds of the flock should know that they are loved and appreciated. Make every effort to love your pastors and elders in tangible ways so that they can labor with joy and be encouraged in their labors.

5:15. “Never repay another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.” In classic Pauline fashion, the apostle tells us not to do one thing, but rather to do another. The unsaved man, when he is treated unfairly, seeks to fight back with evil. Revenge is the angry response of the pride of the flesh. But the disciple of Jesus seeks to give good for everyone, regardless of how he has been treated. The disciple accepts unjust treatment, whether intentional or unintentional, and continues to seek good for all concerned.

5:16-18. “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks.” These three short verses have served me as “go-to” verses for obedience and as a strong defense against wrongful thinking. Whenever I sense that I am getting discouraged or depressed, I check my thinking and, more often than not, I find that I am discouraged because I am allowing my thoughts to dwell in a negative place. I also find that this “negative place” is a place of disobedience. I am thinking about something the Bible commands me not to think about or I am not thinking about those things that the Bible commands me to consider. Thus, I am being disobedient. To break this spell, I turn my mind to 1 Thess. 5:16-18 and begin to rejoice. I start to obey the command to rejoice. That usually dispatches the depression, but if that does not work, I will begin to fervently “pray without ceasing.” Obeying the Word, I rejoice, I pray and I give thanks for all the Lord has given me. This obedience will drive away the discouragement, which is the side-effect of poor and disobedient thinking.

5:22. “Abstain from every appearance of evil.” (1 Thess. 4:3) Appearances are important! The image that you project to others will determine the credibility of your witness. Matt. 5:16. Your personal holiness testifies to the legitimacy of the gospel. “Does Jesus really change people, or do people just sign up and then try to act nice?” The disciple must ask himself, “Does the life that I live before others attest to Jesus’ power to really save people from their sin?” What gospel does your behavior preach? Because you have come out of the closet as a witness for Jesus, people are evaluating your life and determining whether Jesus is worth following at all. This begins by abstaining from every appearance of evil.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 5/15/2024                   #701

And the day of vengeance of our God (Isaiah 61:2)

POST OVERVIEW. The second part (see #646, 5/2/2023) of a study of Isaiah 61:1-2 as quoted by Jesus in Luke 4 when He was in Nazareth. This one on “The day of vengeance of our God” (61:2).

In our last post (#646, 5/2/2023), we had begun to discuss Isaiah 61:1-2 and to consider why Jesus had quoted part of these verses when He was in His hometown of Nazareth in Luke 4. In that scene in the gospel of Luke, Jesus announced that He was the promised Messiah and that His appearance was ushering in “the favorable year of the LORD” (Luke 4:19). Now for a long time God’s mercy will welcome believing sinners into His kingdom as sons and daughters. With the first advent of the Messiah, today is “the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).

But we see from Isaiah 61:2 that the favorable year of the LORD will not last forever. The favorable year will end and then there will come “the day of vengeance of our God.” It is understanding this day of vengeance that will be our focus in this post.

THE WORK OF JESUS’ FIRST ADVENT

But before we explore the day of vengeance which will occur at Jesus’ second advent, I want to consider the nature of His first advent. Why did Jesus’ earthly ministry during His first appearance have the character that it did?

The main point to be grasped is that, for there to be a “favorable year of the LORD,” Jesus had to perfectly accomplish the work He had been given to do in His Incarnation. Jesus was not merely born in Bethlehem, but much more than that, He was sent by the Father to fulfill His mission. The Son of God was sent from heaven to accomplish the work of atonement that He had been given to do (John 17:4). In His life, He was to fulfill the Law (Matt. 5:17) by perfectly obeying it so that He could be a sinless sacrifice for the sins of His people (Hebrews 10:10, 12, 14). When He had perfectly obeyed the Father in His suffering and had humbled Himself to the point of death on a cross (Phil. 2:8), He was able to shout the victory cry, “It is finished!” (John 19:30)

Τετέλεσται!

So, Jesus did not come in His Incarnation to judge the world (John 3:17) but came to be a ransom for many (Mark 10:45) so that many would be saved through Him.

THE GOOD NEWS

The good news is that Jesus has accomplished His work of atonement and has made it possible for sinners to be reconciled to a holy God. Now through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ anyone who believes will be saved from the wrath of God.

With His death on the cross, Jesus finished His work of atonement.

Now, during “the favorable year of the LORD,” the church has been given the work of making disciples and of proclaiming the gospel to the ends of the earth.

But on the last day, Jesus Christ will appear in His awesome Second Coming to execute His work of judgment. This will be the terrifying “day of vengeance of our God” (Isaiah 61:2), and it is to this subject we now turn.

THE DAY OF VENGEANCE OF OUR GOD

Jesus did not mention this day of vengeance in the synagogue in Nazareth, but all the Scriptures make clear that there will certainly be a day of judgment at the end of the age and the Scriptures will certainly be fulfilled. There will be an end to the favorable year of the LORD and a beginning to the day of vengeance. The time of mercy and grace and compassion will pass away and the day of wrath and fury and recompense for all wrongs will come upon the world like a flood and like thief in the night, and there will be no escape.

The Bible has much to say in Old Testament and New about this day of vengeance, this “day of the LORD.” These awesome scenes of powerful destruction are given to the unrighteous as warnings to drive them to repentance (Romans 2:4-9). The wicked should fear the judgment of the Lord and flee from the wrath to come (Luke 3:7).

And Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords is the One who will execute the judgments of that day. Jesus is the One who will tread the great wine press of the wrath of God (Rev. 14:19). Jesus is the One who will carry out the wrath of the Lamb on the great day (Rev. 6:16-17). Jesus is the Rider on the white horse who is called Faithful and True (Rev. 19:11). On that day He will strike down the nations with His sharp sword and will rule them with a rod of iron, and He will tread the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty (Rev. 19:15).

The day of vengeance of our God is the same thing as the day of the LORD in the Old Testament prophets. The prophet Joel tells of a day of darkness and gloom, of clouds and thick darkness. This is a day that comes as destruction from the Almighty. Blood and fire and columns of smoke. In Micah, the Lord declares, “in that day I will execute vengeance in anger and wrath on the nations which have not obeyed” (Micah 5:15). Nahum declares, “The LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies” (1:2). “The hills dissolve. Indeed, the earth is upheaved by His presence (1:5). Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire” (1:6). Zephaniah cries out, “Near is the great day of the LORD, near and coming very quickly (1:14). A day of wrath is that day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom (1:15). Their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung” (1:17). And time would fail me if I listed all these passages in the prophets.

This “day of vengeance” is the same thing as “that day” in many passages in Isaiah. In Psalm 110, the Lord (“Adonai” in the Hebrew; this is Jesus) “shatters kings in the day of His wrath. He judges among the nations. He fills them (the nations) with corpses. He will shatter the chief men across a broad country” (110:5-6). In 2 Thess. 1:7 during the day of vengeance, “The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God.” When describing Jesus on the day of judgment, the author of Hebrews says, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (10:31), and later he says, “Our God is a consuming fire” (12:29).

SUMMARY. The message is clear. Jesus has died and Jesus has risen and He has given sinners a season of mercy when they can repent and a reason for hope if they will believe in Him. Yes, Jesus has died and Jesus has risen, but Jesus is coming again. Now is the day of salvation, for when He comes again, He will come in terrifying vengeance.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 5/3/2023                     #647

The Messiah’s glorious return in Psalm 110

For the scribes and rabbis of ancient Israel, Psalm 110 was a dense thicket of mysteries. The psalm was rightly perceived as Messianic, but the meaning of the visions in its verses was entirely opaque. Thus, this psalm received little commentary from Jewish scholars in the Talmud and the Midrash.

But since David penned this psalm a thousand years before Jesus, redemptive history has produced the Incarnation, and the crucifixion and resurrection of the Messiah, and divinely inspired prophecies in the completed text of Scripture now give us the end of the story. The net effect is that Psalm 110 can now be seen for what it is, a detailed prophecy of the coming of the Messiah as King and Judge at the end of the age. This post will demonstrate the parallels between Psalm 110 and other end-times prophecy in the Bible.

1 The LORD says to my Lord:
“Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

This scene takes place in heaven shortly after Christ’s ascension following His resurrection. The Son of God has accomplished the work of redemption which was given to Him by the Father in His Incarnation (John 17:4). His work was finished as He died His atoning death on the cross (John 19:30). He was raised from the dead on the third day and now Jesus has ascended back to heaven to sit at the Father’s right hand (Eph. 1:20-21; Rev. 5:13) to await the time when the Father will send Him back to earth to vanquish all His enemies (Matt. 24:36).

2 The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”

Now the time has come! Now the Father has decided that it is time to end the age and to bring a just recompense on all His enemies. And so, the Father hands the royal scepter to the Son and sends Him forth to judge and to vanquish the earth. Then will appear “a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war” (Rev. 19:11). The Son is now coming to tread out the great wine press of the wrath of God (Rev. 14:19-20; 19:15).

3 Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power;
In holy array, from the womb of the dawn,
Your youth are to You as the dew.

On that day, the day of Christ’s power, the glorified saints (“Your people in holy array”) will return with the Lord (1 Thess. 3:13; Rev. 19:14), and they will “volunteer freely” and will deal out recompense along with their King (Psalm 149:5-9).

4 The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”

The Lord Jesus has always been Priest and King and Prophet, but here we are allowed to attend the ordination ceremony that took place in eternity past when God the Father anointed God the Son to be a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

5 The Lord is at Your right hand;
He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath.

This is still on the Last Day when the Lord Jesus returns to judge the nations and to “shatter kings.” “A day of wrath is that day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and battle cry. On the day of the LORD’s wrath, all the earth will be devoured in the fire of His jealousy, for He will make a complete end, indeed a terrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the earth” (Zeph. 15-18). As David and Zephaniah tell of the day of the Lord’s wrath, so we read of that same day in Revelation 6:15-17:

15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they *said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

The point here in this verse is that, the day of wrath spoken about by David ca. 1000 BC is the same day of wrath spoken about by the prophet Zephaniah and by the apostle John. This is the day of the Lord.

6 He will judge among the nations,
He will fill them with corpses,
He will shatter the chief men over a broad country.              

On the day of the Lord, when Jesus returns, He will judge the nations (Matt. 25:31-32). When He comes in power and glory, Jesus will slaughter all the unrighteous (Rev. 19:21) and will destroy kings and commanders and mighty men (Rev. 19:18-19). Again, we see David’s vision of the day of the Lord repeated in John’s vision of the same event.

CONCLUSION

The Person of Jesus the Messiah removes the mysteries from Psalm 110. Jesus is God the Son who sits at the Father’s right hand. Jesus is the one who will rule in the midst of His enemies. Jesus is the one who will lead His glorified saints to victory on the Last Day. Jesus is the one who is a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Jesus will shatter kings, judge the nations, slaughter the unrighteous, and shatter the chief men on the day of His wrath. “Therefore, He will lift up His head.”            

SDG                 RMB                10/19/2021                 #442

The end-times in four verses (Isaiah 26:19-27:1)

The prophet Isaiah lived about 700 years before the birth of Jesus, and yet the book of his prophecy contains some of the most remarkable predictions and foreshadows of the Messiah’s first and second advents found in the Old Testament. The accuracy of Isaiah’s prophecy about the events of Jesus’ Incarnation are well-known to most Christians, including predictions of Jesus’ virgin birth, His ministry in Galilee, and His work of atonement to take away sins by His death on the cross. What is not as well-known is that Isaiah also had a lot in his prophecy about Jesus’ Second Coming when He returns in power and glory at the end of the age. This article is about one of Isaiah’s end-times passages.

In one short section of four consecutive verses, Isaiah writes about four key events that will occur at the end of the age. In Isaiah 26:19-27:1, the prophet leaps over thousands of years of human history to tell us about the resurrection, the great tribulation, the return of the LORD, and the judgment of Satan, one major event per verse. And what Isaiah wrote in 700 BC agrees with what other biblical writers have penned since. The Holy Spirit inspired Isaiah to write of future events, and Ezekiel and Daniel and Zephaniah and Jesus Himself and John and Paul and others have confirmed the prophecies Isaiah wrote.

ISAIAH 26:19 – THE RESURRECTION

In this verse, Isaiah gives a crystal-clear prophecy of the general resurrection.

19 Your dead will live;
Their corpses will rise.
You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy,
For your dew is as the dew of the dawn,
And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.

   At the end of the age, the dead will live, and their corpses will rise out of the dust. The tomb will become a womb. This is the resurrection, when “those who are Christ’s at His coming (Parousia) (1 Cor. 15:23)” will be made alive. This is what Ezekiel described in the valley of dry bones, when bone came to its bone and sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin, and “breath came into them and they stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army (Ezek 37:7-10). Daniel prophesied that “many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life (Daniel 12:2).” Jesus talked about this event in John 5:28-29: “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and will come forth.” In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul tells of the resurrection when he writes, “The last trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed (15:52).” In 1 Thess. 4:16-17, Paul gives the most complete description of the resurrection: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” So, Isaiah writes first of the resurrection.

            At the end of the age, the dead will live, and their corpses will rise out of the dust. The tomb will become a womb. This is the resurrection, when “those who are Christ’s at His coming (Parousia) (1 Cor. 15:23)” will be made alive. This is what Ezekiel described in the valley of dry bones, when bone came to its bone and sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin, and “breath came into them and they stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army (Ezek 37:7-10). Daniel prophesied that “many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life (Daniel 12:2).” Jesus talked about this event in John 5:28-29: “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and will come forth.” In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul tells of the resurrection when he writes, “The last trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed (15:52).” In 1 Thess. 4:16-17, Paul gives the most complete description of the resurrection: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” So, Isaiah writes first of the resurrection.

           

ISAIAH 26:20 – THE TRIBULATION

Now Isaiah tells of a time of tribulation when the people of God are forced to hide until the conflict passes.

20 Come, my people, enter your rooms
And close your doors behind you;
Hide for a little while
Until indignation runs its course.

God’s people are urged to “enter your rooms and close the doors behind them.” Outside is some great “indignation” that is threatening them and, to avoid being annihilated, they must “hide for a little while.” This is describing the time of the great tribulation, which Jesus mentioned in Matthew 24:21-22, when the church is severely persecuted, and the best course of action is to retreat into hiding. This is also what John is describing in Revelation 12:6, when “the woman” (the faithful church) “fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God to be nourished for 1,260 days.” The exact event is described again in Revelation 12:14 where “the woman could fly into the wilderness to her place where she was nourished for time and times and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” The church will hide in the wilderness until they are rescued by the returning Jesus Christ. So, we see that Isaiah also wrote about the great tribulation.

ISAIAH 26:21 – THE RETURN OF THE LORD

21 For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wrongdoing;
And the earth will reveal her bloodshed
And will no longer cover her slain.

Now Isaiah tells us about the terrifying day of the LORD when He will “punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wrongdoing.” This is a day of wrath and judgment, a day of thick darkness. The prophets and the Lord Jesus in His Incarnation and the church through her preachers and prophets have been warning of this day for thousands of years, but usually men refuse to hear and refuse to heed and refuse to repent. (See Revelation 9:20-21.) Now the day has come, and there is no room for repentance. The prophet Zephaniah warned of this day: “A day of wrath is that day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and battle cry (Zephaniah 1:15-16).” Paul wrote of that day in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8 “when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” Revelation 19:15 presents an awesome image of the returning Christ: “From His mouth comes a sharp sword so that He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.” And Isaiah wrote of this day 700 years before Christ.

ISAIAH 27:1 – THE JUDGMENT OF SATAN

21 On that day the LORD will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
With His fierce and great and mighty sword,
Even Leviathan the twisted serpent;
And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.

Finally, Isaiah’s prophecy reaches all the way to the end of history at the end of the last day as Satan himself is being judged. “The LORD will punish Leviathan.” And who is Leviathan? He is “the fleeing serpent” and “the twisted serpent.” Does Scripture tell us of any serpents? There was a serpent in the Garden who tempted Eve. In Revelation we read that “the serpent of old, the dragon, who is the devil and Satan (20:2; also, in 12:9).” “The fleeing serpent” and “the twisted serpent” are none other than Satan. Isaiah also tells us of “the dragon who lives in the sea.” And who is the dragon? From the same verses in Revelation, we see that the great dragon is another alias for Satan. Satan is the serpent, he is the dragon, he is Leviathan. From Isaiah 27:1, “On that day, the LORD will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.” In Revelation 20:10, we read almost the same thing from the pen of the apostle John: “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone to be tormented day and night forever and ever.” And so, just as Isaiah prophesied, so it will be on that day, the day of the LORD.

In this remarkable passage, in four verses the prophet Isaiah gives us sure prophecies of four events that will occur at the end of the days.

SDG                 rmb                 3/22/2021

End-Times Study of 2 Thess. 2: Introduction to the study

Because the unprecedented events of recent history have been happening very quickly and because things that seemed far-fetched only a short time ago are now matters of fact and reality, I felt the desire to write a series of blog posts on 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12, one of the clearest passages in the Bible on the events that will take place at the end of history. This section of Scripture presents key information about the events and personalities of the end-times, the time just before the return of Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2 also provides connections to other eschatological passages in the Bible, which enables us to form a clearer and more cohesive picture of last things.

OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

The study will be presented in a series of blog posts which cover the features Paul presents to his readers in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12. This blog will be an introduction to the study, including an overview of the entire passage and a consideration of the context of the letter of 2 Thessalonians. Subsequent posts will examine each of the major features (events, personalities, etc.) of this passage and attempt to clarify their place in the end-times mosaic. This examination of the major features of the passage will also show connections and similarities with other Scriptures, demonstrating that the Bible presents a consistent and discernable vision for last things. The purpose of the study is to help us be ready and be on the alert (Matthew 24:42, 43, 44; 25:10, 13) for Jesus’ return. The goal of the study is to show that, while we are aware that Jesus could return at any time, there are end-times events occurring almost every day that persuade me that Jesus could be very “near, right at the door (Matthew 24:33).” Recognizing the time should move us to greater urgency with our task of proclaiming the gospel and should remind us to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel.

OVERVIEW OF THE PASSAGE

The letter of 2 Thessalonians was written by the apostle Paul around AD 52. Paul wrote two letters to these new believers at Thessalonica to encourage them in the face of persecution and to remind them of the things that he (Paul) had taught them when he founded the church a few months before. Both 1 and 2 Thessalonians contain eschatological (end-times) passages. 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18 gives details about the resurrection of believers, both those who have already died (“fallen asleep”) when Jesus returns and those who are still alive when He comes. 2 Thessalonians gives a picture of the actual return of Christ in 1:6-10, as well as giving details of the events which lead up to Christ’s return in our subject passage in 2:3-12. The reason Paul is writing 2 Thessalonians 2 is that some people had been spreading the news that the day of the Lord (i.e., the day that Jesus returns) had already come (2:1-2). Paul says, “not so.” “Let no one in any way deceive you (2:3).”

Paul then goes on to explain in 2:3-12 the way future events will unfold to convince the believers in Thessalonica that they have definitely not missed the day of the Lord. First, there are two events that must take place before the day of the Lord can come: The “apostasy” and the revealing of the man of lawlessness (2:3). (I am going to refer to these as “gating events,” because, until they happen, they effectively prevent the day of the Lord from occurring.) When he is revealed, the man of lawlessness makes a huge show of himself and even displays himself as being God (2:4). But “now” the man of lawlessness is being restrained until his time has come (2:6-7). Then, when he is finally revealed, “the lawless one” will engage in the activity of Satan and will show off with signs and false wonders (2:9). With every “deception of wickedness,” the man of lawlessness will deceive the unrighteous because they did not believe the truth of the gospel (2:10). God then sends on the unrighteous “a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false (2:11).” The unrighteous will thus be condemned because they did not believe the truth (2:12), and the Lord will slay the man of lawlessness with the breath of His mouth at His coming (2:8).

These are the events that we want to unpack over this series of blogs to see what they reveal about the end-times.

EVENTS AND TOPICS TO BE COVERED IN THE STUDY

Here are some of the events and topics that will be covered in these blogs:

  • The apostasy (2:3) (“gating event”)
  • the man of lawlessness – his revealing (“gating event”), his activity, his source of power, his end. Many cross-references and similarities to other Scriptures and other figures.
  • The “restrainer” (2:6-7)
  • The “Parousia” (coming) of Jesus (2:8)
  • The “deception of wickedness” (2:10)
  • “A deluding influence” (from God) (2:11)

CONNECTIONS WITH OTHER SCRIPTURE

In this study, we will be looking at other eschatological passages in the Scriptures, particularly in Daniel and Revelation, and will see that, while a single passage may leave us confused about its meaning, a second or a third passage or verse as cross-reference or comparison can make the obscure clear. Hopefully by the end of this study, there will be a greater understanding of eschatological terms and concepts, and a clearer understanding of the overall flow of end-times in general. It is my opinion that, if we meet these goals, we will sense a greater urgency to live for Jesus and the gospel.      

SDG                 rmb                 1/21/2021