1 Thessalonians 2:13-16

The Brethren and The Jews--Two Responses to the Gospel

There were those unbelievers at Thessalonica who had not been receptive to the truth (Acts 17:11). This may have made Paul even more thankful for the believers. He was thankful they had received God's word and accepted it through obedient belief, thus showing they did not count it as from man but God. Once God's word has been accepted into the heart by such belief, it goes to work (1 Peter 1:23; James 1:21; John 17:17). The word's active work in them could be seen in their response to persecution. Like God's churches in Judea which had suffered at the hands of their fleshly brethren, the Jews, the Thessalonian brethren had suffered at the hands of their countrymen. It was the unbelieving Jews who stirred up the persecution against the church, but the Greeks carried it out (1 Thessalonians 2:13-14; Acts 17:5; Acts 17:13).

The Jews had put to death the Son of God and their own prophets (Acts 2:23; Matthew 23:37). They had driven Paul out of Thessalonica and persecuted him in other cities. History would show the Jews were a people who had generally failed to please God. By hindering the furtherance of the gospel, they actually opposed all men. They showed how rebellious they had become by refusing to heed God's warning and stopping others from heeding (Matthew 23:13). God waited for the Jews to repent but their sins continued to mount up until the cup of God's wrath was filled against them. Paul says "wrath had come upon them to the uttermost" out of the voice of prophecy. The destruction of Jerusalem had not yet come but Paul could speak of it as a certainty because he was God's messenger (1 Thessalonians 2:15-16).