The letter known as Second Thessalonians was written to the Macedonian church established by Paul in the Greek city of Thessalonica in Acts 17. Paul wrote the first letter when Timothy arrived with the news that the Thessalonians had not given up their faith under the pressure of Jewish persecution. He rejoiced in their faithfulness and thanked God for their continued Christian walk. He encouraged them with hope in the Lord’s coming and encouraged them to live Christian lives.

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Introducing Second Thessalonians   The letter known as Second Thessalonians was written to the Macedonian church established by Paul in the Greek city of Thessalonica in Acts 17. Paul wrote the first letter when Timothy arrived with the news that the Thessalonians had not given up their faith under the pressure of Jewish persecution. He rejoiced in their faithfulness and thanked God for their continued Christian walk. He encouraged them with hope in the Lord’s coming and encouraged them to live Christian lives. In the second letter, he thanks God again that their faith is growing more and more and they continue to persevere (1:3-4). The greater portion of the second letter centers around the matter of the Lord’s return and the behavior of the people relative to that return. In the first chapter, Paul lets the struggling Christians know that God is not unaware of their struggle. He tells them God will repay those who persecute them for their evil deeds when Jesus returns. At the same time, when Jesus returns, God will bring rest to his people from their struggles. Jesus will bring relief for his people and punishment for those who "know not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ," (1:8). Paul is quite graphic about the fiery punishment that awaits such people. He also says that when Jesus comes he will be "marveled at among all those who have believed," (1:10). The second chapter concerns some misunderstandings that were evident among the Thessalonians regarding the return of Christ. Some of them were convinced that Jesus was going to return immediately. Because of this belief, they had quit their jobs and become idle. Paul dispelled this belief by saying that Jesus would not return until two things happened. First, the "apostasy" or the "rebellion" must occur. Secondly, and in conjunction with the apostasy, the "man of lawlessness" must be revealed. There has been much wild speculation about what Paul had in mind here. The Scriptures are the best commentary. The most reasonable and biblical explanation of this has to do with the rise of the great persecutions from the Roman emperors in the first three hundred years of Christianity. The emperor cult grew very strong and emperors demanded that their citizens worship them as gods to demonstrate their loyalty. Those who would not do this were subjected to terrible persecutions, especially during the reigns of the emperors Domitian, Decius, and Diocletian. The book of Daniel foretold all of this in Daniel 7. The Book of Revelation confirms that it happened. As 2 Thessalonians 2:4 states, these emperors literally placed themselves in the position of God and demanded to be worshiped. They actually built temples for their own worship and called upon people to worship them as gods. Those who promoted the emperor cult did lying signs and wonders to convince the people of the emperor’s deity. A comparison of Revelation 13 and 2 Thessalonians 2 demonstrates that "the Beast" of Revelation 13 is the same as the "man of lawlessness" in 2 Thessalonians 2. The great "apostasy" refers to the great falling away that occurred when many Christians denied their faith in the face of this terrible persecution. The entire book of Revelation deals with how Christ eventually destroyed the Roman empire and brought peace to his people. A key passage in this chapter is 2:8-9. Here it says that Jesus will overthrow the man of lawlessness by the breath of his mouth at the splendor of his coming. The NIV translates this "by the splendor of his coming," making it seem like we are talking about the coming of Jesus. In fact, the "coming" in view is not the coming of Jesus but the coming of the lawless one. As verse 9 begins, the text reads "whose coming is according to the work of Satan…" This does not refer to the coming of Jesus but the coming of the man of lawlessness. What the passage is saying is that at the height of his coming (the coming of the great Roman emperors) Jesus will destroy him. This is what happens in Revelation 19, which Christ and his armies destroy the "Beast" and his armies. It is talking about the destruction of the Roman empire. This is what had to happen before Jesus would return. Paul encouraged the Thessalonians to stand firm and hold to those teachings they had received from him whether in person or by letter. In the third chapter, Paul specifically addressed those who had become idle because they had quit work. He commands them to go to work and support themselves because this is God’s will. As he told them in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, they had turned to God "to serve…and to wait for his Son from heaven." We don’t sit and wait. We serve and wait. He told the church to withdraw from people who refused to work, and encourage everyone to do God’s will in this matter (3:6,14). Though it is not the main teaching of the book, 2 Thessalonians has much to say about the need for God’s people to follow the teachings of the apostles. Whether it involves the coming of the Lord, or the need to work and not be idle, Paul emphasizes the need to hold to the divine traditions passed on to us by the apostles (2 Thess. 2:15; 3:6,14).