2 Thessalonians 2:1-2

Text (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2)

1 Now we beseech you, brethren, touching the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him; 2 to the end that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that the day of the Lord is just at hand;

Translation and Paraphrase

1.

But (now) we (must) beseech you, brethren, concerning the (second) coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him (in the air).

2.

(We beseech you) that you not (allow yourselves to) be quickly (blown about like waves and) shaken from your senses; neither (should you) be alarmed; (Do) not (be misled) by (anyone who says he has a revelation of the) Spirit, nor by (any) word (which you may have heard from us or anyone else), nor by (any) letter (which may be represented) as (coming) from us, (giving out the idea) as (if it were a fact) that the day of the Lord has already come.

Notes (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2)

1.

No Scriptural teaching has been more frequently abused than the teaching about the Lord's second coming. Men have spent enormous amounts of time trying to determine exactly when the Lord will return, even after the Lord has made it very plain that we have NOT been given that information. But when men have made predictions concerning exactly when the Lord is going to come, they have usually been successful in getting a group of deluded followers, who forsake the work they should be doing, and all of them go out to some isolated spot to meet the Lord, only to be disappointed when nothing happens.

2.

The Thessalonians had likewise become greatly agitated about the Lord's coming. In fact some of them thought that the day of the Lord had already come. This certainly shows that they had a poor knowledge of what was going to happen at that time.

3.

Our English text says that they were not to be shakenas that the day of Christ is at hand. We might assume from this that they only thought that Christ's coming was very near. Actually the phrase at hand means has already come. This translation (or a similar one) is given in the New English Bible, Moffatt, Goodspeed, Rotherham, Amplified New Testament, Revised Standard, etc.

(The Gr. verb is enesteken, a 3rd pers. sing. perf. ind. of enistemi. Enistemi occurs only seven times in the N.T. In six of those occurrences it is in some perf. form. A check of those references will show that enistemi in the perf. does not mean near at hand, but it means already present. See 1 Corinthians 7:26; Hebrews 9:9; Romans 8:38; 1 Corinthians 3:22; Galatians 1:4.)

4.

This second chapter of II Thessalonians was written to remove misapprehensions on the subject of the Lord's coming. It reveals that the Lord is not to come until certain events have taken place first. These are:

(1)

A falling away (or apostasy) from the truth; 2 Thessalonians 2:3

(2)

The removal of some power which hindered the manifestation of the man of sin; 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7

(3)

The manifestation of the man of sin; 2 Thessalonians 2:8

5.

Note that in the outline chapter two is entitled, The man of sin. By remembering that topic you will be able to recall what is in the chapter.

6.

Notice that Paul entreated us BY the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and BY our gathering together unto him. (King James version). The word by in this verse is a very poor translation. The Greek word (huper) means concerning or in behalf of. Paul besought the Thessalonians concerning the coming of the Lord, not by it.

The reader who compares beseech by in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 with that in Romans 12:1 (where the word is dia, not huper) will be led astray.

7.

Notice carefully the two things about which Paul besought us:

(1)

The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(2)

Our gathering together unto him.

Observe that he associates these two things with the day of Christ (or the day of the Lord, as it is given in the best manuscripts).

Notice further that the Lord's coming and our gathering together unto Him are not to occur until there has been a falling away and the man of sin has been revealed. 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

All of this leads us to say that the idea that the man of sin is to appear AFTER the church has been gathered out of the world cannot be true. Strangely this is a rather popular idea. But please observe carefully that our gathering together unto the Lord, etc. is not to happen until the falling away and the revelation of the man of sin have occurred FIRST.

8.

Concerning the manner in which we shall be gathered unto the Lord, see notes on 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Also Matthew 24:31 and Mark 13:27.

9.

It is quite evident from Paul's words in 2 Thessalonians 2:2 that the Thessalonians (or at least some of them) were highly wrought up about this matter of the Lord's coming. Paul urges them not to be shaken or troubled. These are strong words. Shaken (saleuo) sometimes refers to the motion of winds, storms, waves. It is used in Acts 16:26 to tell how the prison was shaken. Troubled (throeo) is also a strong word, meaning to frighten, alarm, trouble. (Thayer). It is the same word as the Lord used in Matthew 24:6, warning the disciples not to be troubled about wars and rumors of wars.

10.

Paul mentions three possible sources of this wrong teaching that the day of the Lord had already come:

(1)

SpiritThis probably refers to some person who claimed to have a revelation of the Spirit. There were men with spiritual gifts such as prophecy in the Thessalonian church. 1 Thessalonians 5:19-20. Compare 1 John 4:1.

(2)

WordThis could refer to many things, such as a misinterpretation of something Christ Himself or Paul had said.

(3)

Letter as from usSome suppose that this refers to a forged letter represented as coming from Paul. Some think it refers to a misunderstanding of what Paul had said in his earlier letter.

The fact that Paul closes this letter (2 Thessalonians 3:17) with the notation, The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write, rather hints that there may have been a false letter pretending to have come from Paul.

However, McGarvey thinks that the letter as from us was only a misapplication of what Paul said in his first epistle. He argues that it is unlikely that Paul would have failed to rebuke such a forgery if one existed. Paul even scolded them for forgetting what he had said before. 2 Thessalonians 2:5. How much more would he have exposed a forgery.

Probably the truth of the matter is that Paul himself was not sure what was the source of this idea that the day of the Lord was already come, If he were not certain about the source of this idea, how can we be?

11.

Some interpreters try to make a distinction between the day of Christ (as some ancient manuscripts word this verse) and the day of the Lord (as others give it). Surely this is a distinction without a difference, since Christ himself is the Lord. (For more concerning the day of the Lord, see notes on 1 Thessalonians 5:2, par. 5.)