2 Thessalonians 1:7

2 Thessalonians 1:7. Best. To those suffering persecution no promise could present greater attraction. ‘Their rest is not the rest of a stone, cold and lifeless, but of wearied humanity. They rest from their labours; they have no more persecution, nor stoning, nor scourging, nor crucifying; no more martyrdoms by fire, or the wheel, or barbed shafts; they have no more false witness, nor cutting tongues; no more bitterness of heart, nor iron entering into the soul; no more burdens of wrong, nor amazement, nor perplexity. Never again shall they weep for unkindness, and disappointment, and withered hopes, and desolation of heart. All is over now... Their last sickness is over. They shall never again bear the tokens of coming dissolution, no more the hollow eye, and the sharp lines of distress, and the hues of fading loveliness. Now is their weariness changed into refreshment, their weakness into excellence of strength, their wasting into a spirit ever new, their broken words into the perfection of praise, their weeping into a chant of bliss' (Manning).

With us. The persons who urge you to endure, and who have ourselves been afflicted and persecuted. Possibly there is also intended a contrast between the company the Thessalonians would then enjoy, and that to which at present they were subjected.

When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed. Paul does not present death to them as their release, but the second coming of Christ; which indicates that he considered it possible, if not even probable, that this would occur during their lifetime. See note on 1 Thessalonians 4:15.

From heaven, as the centre of authority and power.

With the angels of his power, i.e. the angels who are the manifestation and instruments of His power.