CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background to the Study

The prominence given by the evangelists and the apostles to the Parousia or

the “coming of the Lord” is too noticeable to be grossed over by any attentive reader

of the New Testament. There is scarcely a single book, from the Gospel of St

Matthew to the Revelation of St John, in which it is not set forth as the glorious

promise of God and the blessed hope of the Church. It was frequently and solemnly

predicted by Jesus Christ; it was incessantly kept before the eyes of the early

Christians by the apostles; and it was firmly believed and eagerly expected by the

churches of the primitive age (James Russell n.p).

1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:11 is undoubtedly a key text dealing with this subject

matter of the Parousia of Jesus Christ. The importance of this text is further enhanced

in as much as it is the earliest and the most comprehensive written statement of Paul

on this subject (Joseph Plenvik 199, qtd in Christopher Obi 1).

In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, the Apostle Paul writes to the Thessalonians’

believers to address their concerns and questions about the fate of Christians who

have died before the return of Christ. The Thessalonians were grieving for their

deceased loved ones, and they were worried that those who had died would miss out

on the blessings and benefits of Christ's second coming.

Paul reassures them by sharing a revelation he received from the Lord. He

explains that those who have died in Christ will not miss out on anything but instead

will be resurrected when Christ returns. Furthermore, those who are alive at His

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coming will also experience a transformation and join the resurrected saints in

meeting the Lord in the cloud.

Paul encourages the Thessalonians to find comfort in this truth and not to

grieve like the rest of the world who have no hope. He reminds them that the day of

the Lord's return will come suddenly, like a thief in the night, and urges them to stay

alert and be prepared for that day.

He also addresses their concern about the timing of Christ's return, assuring

them that they are not in darkness, and the day of the Lord will not overtake them like

a thief. He encourages them to be children of the light, staying sober and vigilant, and

putting on faith and love as a protective armour. He concludes by emphasising that

God has destined them for salvation, not for wrath, and appeals to them to encourage

and build one another up.

From a doctrinal point of view, it is the section(s) of the letter carved out for

this study, 4:13-18 and 5:1-11 that are discussed most frequently. It is necessary to

note here that, the two pericopes were originally together. It is the chapterisation of

the Bible that separates them into two pericopes.

1 Thessalonians, an epistle to the church in Thessalonica, is one of the letters

in the Canonical Pauline Corpus. In fact, it is favoured by overwhelming majority of

scholars as “the oldest surviving Christian document” (Stephen Harris 249) and

“indeed the first preserved Pauline letter” (Raymond Brown 433). The date at which 1

Thessalonians was composed makes it the earliest written book in the New

Testament. Since it uses traditional, particularly, the creedal formulas (1:9-19; 4:14;

5:10), it serves as a significant witness to the gospel in the period between the death

and resurrection of Jesus and the written works of the New Testament, that is, AD 30-

50. The letter provides the oldest literary evidence of the significance attached to the

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death and resurrection of Jesus by the early Christians (Raymond Collins 773). It

shows that by the year AD 50/51 the Church had already started to show this

expectation in full form. As Christopher Obi reveals, “To become a Christian [as early

as then] essentially meant to hope in Christ’s coming on the basis of his resurrection”

(1).

In recent years the text has been a centre of renewed interest. Many exegetes

have been probing it for Paul's preaching about the resurrection, for Paul's notion of

afterlife, for the origin of the doctrine of the parousia, for Paul's use of apocalyptic

imagery and for Paul's handling of tradition (Obi 1). This dissertation intends to study

Paul's teaching on the coming of Jesus, paying particular attention to his intention and

the message he wanted to convey to his readers.

While Edmond Hiebert classified 1 and 2 Thessalonians as eschatological

letters among the Pauline epistles, Robert Gundry classified them, alongside the

Olivet Discourse of Jesus and the Apocalypse of John as the three major prophetic

portions of the New Testament (267). This means the events associated with our very

text lies in the future. These include the “coming of the Lord”, technically known as

the “Parousia” (4:13-18) and “The day of the Lord (5:1-11), otherwise rendered in the

Greek as, “τὴν παρουσίαν και ἡμέρα κυρίου” (Nestle-Aland 26 536). Worthy of note is

the fact that, it is the chapterisation of the Bible that separated our text into two

periscopes. The question that comes to mind, then, is whether the fulfilments of these

events were to be in the immediate future of the addressees or in the remote future –

two thousand years later, after the immediate audience would all have died; what was

Paul’s intended nature of the Christ’s coming event–imminent or immediate?

Whereas, the atmosphere of the letter seems to intend imminency, the understanding

was that of immediate. Even Matthew Black and Harold Rowley make this

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observation but infer that, “Paul teaches them [the Thessalonians] here [in 1 Thess.

5:1–11] to distinguish between the imminence of the Parousia and its immediacy”

(999).

Apparently, some Thessalonians believed that the Parousia would occur so

swiftly that all persons converted to Christ would live to see his second coming (John

Kelly 459-462). That belief was shaken when some believers died before Jesus

reappeared. What would become of them? Had the dead missed their opportunity to

join Christ in ruling over the world? Meanwhile, Paul like the Thessalonians expected

to witness Jesus’ return and the resurrection of the dead in his lifetime, as supposed by

the expression, “ὅτι ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι εἰς τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ κυρίου οὐ

μὴ φθάσωμεν τοὺς κοιμηθέντας” – “…that we who are alive, who are left until the

coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep” (4:15).

Whereas John Chrysostom argued that Paul uses the first person of the faithful

without necessarily intending to include himself (qtd in Ernest Best 195), same Ernest

Best refutes this interpretation by opining that “… it is very difficult to isolate any

parallel instance of such a usage in Paul; [he asked thus], ‘why should Paul prefer to

identify himself with the survivors and not with the dead’”? (195). Furthermore, he

argues:

The participles cannot be taken as future, ‘we who will chance to be living,

who will chance to survive’, nor as conditional, ‘if we are alive, if we survive’,

for neither meaning is suitable in v.17 where the phrases recur. It is not likely

that Paul without agreeing with it takes up an idea of the Thessalonians that

the parousia is near and that they will be alive when it comes, for there is

ample evidence (1 Cor. 10:11; 16:22; Rom 13:11; etc) that he in common with

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 all primitive Christianity believed it was near and he must have reckoned with

the possibility that he would survive to it. (195)

Should the Thessalonians be blamed for believing in the immediate return of

Jesus Christ? Could they have misunderstood Paul? While for Bengel, it was “so

praiseworthy for the Thessalonians … [that] they were able to look each hour for the

coming of the Lord Jesus” (qtd in James Russel 159), Russel, in turn, considers it to

be a, “...strange reasoning” (159). He argues thus:

It is true the Thessalonians were filled with the expectation of Christ’s speedy

coming, but if in this expectation they were deceived, where is the

praiseworthiness of labouring under a delusion? If it was an amiable

weakness, sancta simplicitas, to expect the speedy return of Christ, it seems a

poor compliment to praise the credulity at the expense of their understanding.

(Russell 159)

Whereas, the Thessalonians seem to have interpreted Paul’s symbolic

imagery; and whereas, even Paul himself seems to have had a misconception of the

timing of the Parousia, assuming that it would be in his life time, some scholars have

posited a marked development from Paul’s earliest to his later letters and this

maturing thought of Paul seems to have accounted for the variation of thought of the

related subject matter of 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 and 1 Corinthians 15 (John Gillman

263). On the contrary, however, James Russell is of the view that the Thessalonians

never misunderstood Paul. As a preterist, he bailed the point that, there was a speedy

return of Jesus Christ which they were expecting, different from His final advent. This

is the standpoint of Preterists’ interpretation of such passages as Matthew 24; Mark

13; Luke 21; Revelation; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; and 5:1-11. This school of thought

identifies, clarifies and separates two strands of eschatology within the New

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Teastament–the Early Church's local eschatology, which is past and occurred from

AD 67-70, as prophesied by Christ as His cloud-coming in judgment on the Temple,

Jerusalem and Judaea, for rejecting Him as Messiah and (and by implication for

contributing to the persecution of the prophets from Abel down to Himself); and

cosmic eschatology which tells of Jesus’ Last coming on the last day of human history

(Nathaniel Ezemandu 24–29). From John the Baptist to the destruction of Jerusalem

in AD 70 was a period of transition from the Old to the New Testament. In fact, all

New Testament writings were written in that era, and must be interpreted from this

historical perspective (Ezemandu 24–29).

Furthermore, to the extent all Scriptural interpretations do hinge on this era,

the whole of Scripture must be seen from this perspective also. This was a very

peculiar period when the Old and New Testament overlapped, with the former passing

away, and the latter becoming established (Ezemandu 24–29). Our study of the New

Testament is drastically off-course if we fail to take into account this apostolic local

expectation of an imminent Coming of Christ (not the Second Coming) which would

destroy “this generation” of Israel and fully establish the New Covenant Church. This

message was not taken lightly by the Early Church (David Chilton 575). This is the

case in our text and with the Christians in Thessalonica. Their expectation of this

immediate parousia seems to have influenced Paul and the Thessalonians

understanding of his teaching about the subject matter. That is the reason they are

couched in Jewish apocalyptism and imageries.

These periscopes (1 Thess. 4:13-18; and 5:1-11) speak of the eschatological

expectations of the early Christians but they are couched in apocalyptic terminology.

To a very large extent, apocalyptic language is symbolic. There is considerable

distance between the symbol and that to which the symbol points (Collins 773). Thus,

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the passages cannot be taken as a literal description of end-time events. Nonetheless,

conservatives and fundamentalists understand the passages as if they provide literally

a factual description of the end times.

This is exactly the understanding of these passages by the overwhelming

majority of the Christians in Nigeria today. When the Thessalonians applied the text

wrongly, that is, in the literal sense, the implications were daily apprehension,

retreatism from public life (social, economic, political, cultural, intellectual, even

moral, etc) and focus on any moment rapture. Many in the Thessalonian church found

it unnecessary to work and gave up their daily job and became parasites on the

church; all because of their eagerness about the imminent and vivid expectation of the

coming of Jesus.

Definitely, history is repeating itself and would continue to repeat itself, if 1

Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 and indeed other related passages are not put in the right

hermeneutical spectrum. In the light of the literal interpretation given to our text, just

like the Thessalonians, the popular ado today is, “We are Living on Extra Time”

(Justice Okoronkwo CD-ROM); “Rapture is Now” (Rapture Alert n.p.). There are

now multiplied “messages or revelations” from those who are now dying and waking

up every now and then. Such messages include the “Back from Heaven” by

Evangelist Margaret Amure (CD-ROM); “Testimony of Divine Encounter” by Sister

Linda (CD-ROM); one Prophet David Owuor even predicted that the world would

come to an end on “April 12, 2020” < https://dailytells.com.ng/prophet-david-owuor-

says-the-world-will-end-on-12th-april-2020-at-night/>. The date has come and gone,

yet the world has not come to an end. For lack of space, more predictions on the end-

time which have constantly failed could not be reprinted here (see the Appendix). Any

pandemic and seemingly unusual occurrence(s), like COVID-19, have been

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considered by many as harbingers of “Jesus’ Second Coming cum Rapture of the

Saints”. These hallucinations are predicated on obsession with end-time passages;

because, Scriptures, for instance, 1 Thessalonians 5:1 negates any attempt at such

mathematical calculations or phenomenal speculations.

It is against this backdrop of hermeneutical considerations that this research is

undertaken; to study properly and determine Paul’s preaching about the resurrection;

Paul’s notion of the afterlife; the origin and nature of the doctrine of the parousia and

Paul’s use of apocalyptic imagery. This dissertation, therefore, intends to study Paul’s

teaching on the coming of Jesus, paying attention to his intention and the message he

wanted to convey to his first readers, in order to establish a necessity for the preterist

(past) contextual reading of the text in our contemporary society.

1.2 Justification for the Study

This study is an attempt to critically investigate the message and interpretation

of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 and its implications for Christians and the Church in

Nigeria. These are the gaps this work intends to fill:

(i) a hermeneutical study of the text with special focus on its apocalyptic background

and the need for its re-reading in the Church in Nigeria for the purpose of its

implications;

(ii) a determination of Paul’s preaching about the resurrection; Paul’s notion of the

afterlife; the origin and nature of the doctrine of the parousia and Paul’s use of

apocalyptic imagery;

(iii) an interpretation of Paul’s teaching on the coming of Jesus, paying attention

to his intention and the message he wanted to convey to his first readers; in order

to establish a necessity for the preterist (past) contextual reading of the text in our

contemporary society;

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(iv) an examination of Paul’s actual thought in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, with his

Jewish and Christian tradition as background for the formulation of this letter of

advice and encouragement to the maturing Christian community in Thessalonica.

(v) more so, the time frame or gap between this work and most of the works cited is

another gap and necessity for this research in order to make available a more

recent work.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The overall aim of this work is the Parousia of the Lord in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-

5:11 and its implications for the Church in Nigeria. The specific objectives are to:

(a) inquire whether Paul meant any portion or all of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 as

a literal description of the parousia;

(b) ascertain whether modern readers (including Christians in Nigeria) should

expect it to be fulfilled literally;

(c) evaluate to what extent the parousia is a symbolic event, and a way of saying

that God has yet something to do that cannot be done by human beings but only

through Jesus Christ to bring about the kingdom;

(d) appraise the importance of the Christian expectation of the parousia after

about two thousand years of waiting for Jesus to return; and

(e) establish how our text should be interpreted in the light of contemporary

reality(ies).

1.4 RESEARCH METHODS

In this work, we shall adopt the historical, exegetical, evaluative, observational

and theological methods. From its historical method, Paul’s mission to Thessalonica,

the formation of the Church in that city and background to the epistle so named

Thessalonians (First in particular) shall be chronicled. The exegetical approach shall

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examine the text in the light of historical antecedents and the Thessalonians

understanding of the text. The evaluative approach shall subject such understanding to

critical analyses in the light of Paul’s intent and also prog-in the understanding of the

text today–in the Church of Nigeria, using the observational method. The theological

method shall examine the text by adopting the textual and source critical methods of

interpretation; this is otherwise known as hermeneutics. These will embrace the Greek

Text (Nestle-Aland26), English Translation, and a critical study of the antecedents

from which Paul drew his information for the text and ultimately, its interpretation(s)

against such source(s). To accomplish the objective of this study, a wide range of

scholarly works – books, journals, dictionaries, CDs and internet materials would be

used. This work will adopt the theoretical framework of James Stuart Russel who

propounded the preterist interpretation of a text as the most definite.

1.5 Clarification of Terms

1.5.1 Parousia

The term “parousia”–παρουσια (Greek) has come to be used in a technical

sense of the return of Jesus Christ. Paul uses it several times, mostly in the

Thessalonians’ epistles (1 Cor. 15:23; 1 Thess. 2:19; 3:13; 4:15: 5:23; 2 Thess. 2:1,

8), in each case he used it with particular reference to the Parousia of Jesus Christ. In

etymological usage, the word denotes the arrival or presence of the person concerned;

it does not mean “return”. Although that idea is implied; it certainly denotes a coming

of Jesus Christ distinct from his coming at the incarnation. The word quite naturally

came to stand for that climactic event in the future when Christ would come again in

the last days. (Donald Guthrie 803)

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1.5.2 Rapture

The word “Rapture” is derived from the verb used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 in

the Latin Bible. The Latin past participle is raptus, from the verb rapere. Jerome’s

exact wording in the Vulgate is “rapiemur cum illis” (we shall be raptured with them)

(MacDonald 2046). “Rapture" is a snatching away or a catching up. It is used of

Philip in Acts 8:39, of Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:2, 4, and of the male child in

Revelation 12:5.

1.5.3 Implication

The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines “implication” as

“a possible future effect or result of an action, event, decision etc.” In the context of

our study, it means the consequent effects the misinterpretation of 1 Thessalonians

4:1–5:11 could have or have had on the Church in Nigeria and also the positive effect

of getting it right.

1.5.4 Day of the Lord

There was a popular belief in Israel during the time of Amos that God would

come to destroy the pagan nations and to save Israel (Amos 5:18). The Old Testament

prophets shared this concept of the day of the Lord, but they redefined it. The day of

Yahweh (yom Yahweh) is a day when God would come in power to judge the wicked

and to save the righteous. The focus of this concept is the coming of Yahweh. When a

holy God comes to visit the earth, then something will happen. There will be

judgment for those who oppose this God, and there will be salvation for those who are

faithful (Timothy Palmer 120). Gerhard von Rad says the language of the day of

Yahweh in the Old Testament is the language of holy war (Quoted in Palmer 120).

When God comes, he will defeat his enemies. There will be disaster for the enemy; it

will be a great day.

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 The surprise for the people in Amos’ day was that the day of Yahweh would

not necessarily be good news for Israel. The Israelites assumed that since they were

God’s elect and covenant people, God would be on their side. But Amos’ unique

message was that God is against the wicked, whether they be from the nations or from

Israel. The day of Yahweh would be darkness for Israel, not light; it would be

judgment, not salvation (Amos 5:18-20).

In addition to these intermediate days of Yahweh, there would be a great, final

day of the Lord. Joel speaks of signs and wonders in the heavens “before the coming

of the great and dreadful day of Yahweh” (Joel 2:30-31). Obadiah says that “the day

of Yahweh is near for all nations” (Obad. 1:15). The last chapter of Zechariah

portrays the day of Yahweh as a final battle (Zech 14).

The prophecy of a future day of Yahweh is a warning to every person. Those

who are wicked will be judged (Palmer 120). But “everyone who calls on the name of

Yahweh will be saved” (Joel 2:32).

1.5.5 Asleep

The Greek verb κοιμᾴομαι–koimaomai is used of natural "sleep," Matthew

28:13; Luke 22:45; John 11:12; Acts 12:6; of the death of the body, but only of such

as are Christ's; yet never of Christ Himself, though He is "the first fruits of them that

have fallen asleep," 1 Corinthians 15:20; of saints who departed before Christ came,

Matthew 27:52; Acts 13:36; of Lazarus, while Christ was yet upon the earth, John

11:11; of believers since the Ascension, 1 Thessalonians 4:13–15, and Acts 7:60; 1

Corinthians 7:39; 11:30; 15:6, 18, 51; 2 Peter 3:4,9. (William Vines, Merrill Unger

and William White 41)

This metaphorical use of the word sleep is appropriate, because of the

similarity in appearance between a sleeping body and a dead body; restfulness and

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peace normally characterise both. The object of the metaphor is to suggest that, as the

sleeper does not cease to exist while his body sleeps, so the dead person continues to

exist despite his absence from the region in which those who remain can

communicate with him, and that, as sleep is known to be temporary, so the death of

the body will be found to be (Vines, Unger and White 41).

1.5.6 Eschatology

The origins of this term stem from its use as a technical theological term by

nineteenth-century theologians who studied the doctrines concerning the “end times.”

The English term is derived from the Greek adjective eschatos and refers to the

“teachings about the last things” (or “end times”). The subject matter of the

“teachings” includes death, Christ’s resurrection, the status of the dead prior to

Christ’s Second Coming (parousia), the general resurrection of the dead, heaven, hell,

judgment, justice, etc. (Catholic Encyclopedia 364)

1.6 Organisation of Work

The study shall be divided into five chapters. Chapter one would dwell on the

work’s general introduction. Chapter two would discuss “intellectual foundation to

the work through the literature review. In this way, we can assess what other scholars

and researchers have written about our text of study. The literature review would also

give our study the needed bearing and context. In the third chapter, we would attempt

an exegesis cum hermeneutical x-ray of 1 Thessalonians 4:130–5:11, with touch on

the Greek and English translation of our text, as well as its structure and genre. A

study of selected key words like “the Parousia”, “the Day of the Lord” and “Rapture”

would be the main thrust of chapter four. This would be reconciled with their

contemporary interpretations, vis-a-vis their implications for the Church of Nigeria.

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Chapter five would consist of the summary, evaluation, findings, contributions to

knowledge, conclusion and the recommendations.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter comprises a thematic review of some significant literatures that

are related to the origin and founding of the Church at Thessalonica; as well as the

textual information on 1 Thessalonians. Daniel Faricy posits: "It is necessary to

ground this study within the setting of broader research." (25) The review therefore

provides the necessary foundation and theoretical framework upon which this

research work rests. Sheltiz acknowledged the above point when he argued that, “One

of the simplest ways of economising effort in any inquiry is to review and build upon

work already done by others.” (quoted in Chidozie 9) However, according to Ogbu

Kalu, “The danger of literature review is repetition of what will be said inside the text

(12).” As a result, the researcher must endeavour to organise the study in such a way

as to avoid unnecessary repetition in latter chapters. The literature review, therefore,

centres on the main issue (Nwokolo 17).

Here, we adopt the Thematic Review. “A thematic review describes particular

areas of the literature[s]” (Celestina Isiramen, et al 46). It is a type of literature review

that focuses on the major themes that emerge from the existing literatures on a

specific topic or research question. Unlike a traditional literature review that provides

a broad overview of the research and theories related to a topic, a thematic literature

review delves deeper into the literature to uncover key themes or patterns in the

research findings, theories, and perspectives. It involves a systematic search and

analysis of academic articles, scholarly books, and other relevant sources to identify

common themes, concepts, or ideas that are repeated across the literature. Thematic

literature reviews are commonly used in research studies to provide a comprehensive

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and structured analysis of the existing literature in a specific field or topic area. By

identifying and synthesizing the major themes from the literature, the review

contributes to the understanding of the topic and provides a foundation for future

research (Hannah Snyder n.p.). The main tasks here are twofold (i) a concise review

of some necessary literatures reveal the gaps or weaknesses this work intends to fill

(ii) a provision of necessary information about our text of study.

2.1. A Review of Some Related Literature

The Parousia of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the main theme of 1

Thessalonians 4:13-18 and the Day of the Lord (5:1-11), which is an Old Testament

figurative language for what is now synonymous with the Parousia of Jesus Christ as

a New Testament rendering, falls within a main bloc of study known as eschatology

or apocalypticism in the field of Biblical scholarship, particularly, New Testament

Studies. While some scholars use eschatology and apocalypticism as synonyms, some

others strictly differentiate them, as two distinct terminologies. Gerhard Forde posits

thus, “to get to the root of our problems with apocalyptic (sic) and eschatology, we

have to go back almost to the beginning” (21). To clarify matters, we need to make a

distinction between apocalyptic and eschatology. He also acknowledges that,

“Apocalyptic is always hard to specify since there are so many strands of it” (21).

Nevertheless, he still made the distinction. Below is Forde’s thesis:

However, for our purposes here, it is the story of beginning, the catastrophic

misadventure, and coming cataclysmic end of the present age. Salvation is

largely a future possibility given out of the ashes of the fire from which those

who are righteous must wait–no doubt with a certain anxiety. Its power and

theological utility and truth is in the impending “No”, the swift, sudden and

sure judgement against a creation that has turned against its Lord, the

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 insistence that this cannot go on forever. Rather, there shall be a cut off time, a

final “too late”. And certainly, in the apocalyptic view, not everyone is going

to make it. The “NO” will have its day. So, for that reason apocalyptic

continues to have its rightful place.

Eschatology, on the other hand, is more the story not so much of how we shall

fare in the future cataclysmic end, but the future will come to us in Jesus, how

the end and the new beginning breaks in upon us in Jesus’ life and deeds

among us, especially his death and resurrection. Here, the end comes to meet

us. The eschatological “yes” invades our present. To be sure, it is clothed in

the “no”, in the hiddenness of the cross and even the utter unconditionality of

its graciousness. It is the story of how God’s sovereign future invades our

present, ending the old and the beginning of the new. The apocalyptic clash of

the ages remains, but is now christologically anchored and done to us in the

living present. (21)

In concise terms, apoclayticism says the world is coming to a cataclysmic end

with judgement of history, while eschatology says the world is coming to the glorious

beginning with the redemption of history. Implicitly, while the apocalypses say the

world is coming to an end: give up; the Biblical prophets say the world is coming to a

beginning: get to work. This justifies the theoretical framework adopted in this work.

Furthermore, John Collins, in “Old Testament Apocalyticism and

Eschatology”, made insightful comment on the above subject matter. According to

him, there is a general agreement that the main corpus of Jewish apocalyptic literature

was produced ca 200 BC–AD 100 and includes the canonical book of Daniel and such

pseudepigrapha as 1 Enoch, 2 Enoch, 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch, 3 Baruch and Apocalyphal of

Abraham (299). One notable feature of apocalyptic literatures is the profuse use of

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symbols and imageries, which include interest in heavenly mysteries, a sense of

participation in the angelic world, and expectation of a final battle between the sons of

light and sons of darkness, led by their respective angels. Other ideas that were

originally characteristic of the apocalypses came to be more widely accepted: belief in

resurrection was accepted by the Pharisees and others and gradually entered the

mainstream of Jewish faith, although it was still rejected by the Sadducees in the first

century AD (303). The main historical importance of apocalyticism is that it sets the

stage for the origin of Christianity. Apocalyticism has been called the “Mother of

Christian Theology” (Ernest Käsemann 102). According to Collins, the claim is

exaggerated, but it is not without basis. Whether Jesus himself should be understood

as an eschatological prophet or apocalyptic preacher is disputed. There is no doubt

that his followers drew heavily on the understanding of history that had been

developed in “historical” apocalypses of the Daniel type (304). For Paul, the

resurrection of Jesus was the first fruits of the general resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20),

which was therefore imminent. This means the resurrection of Jesus was only credible

in the context of an apocalyptic eschatological scenario (Collins 304). This view

clearly sets forth the paradigm for the interpretation of New Testament eschatological

passages which has been deviated from largely today; either because of ignorance or

erroneous orientation; and this truth needs to be recovered, hence, another

justification for this work.

The apocalyptic background to the Thessalonians epistle is also attested to by

Earl Richard and Raymond Brown, Introduction. According to Richard, Paul’s use of

“Command”; “Shout” and “Trumpet” in the epistle are apocalyptic imagery. In his

words, “Paul’s use of apocalyptic imagery causes difficulty in relating the three terms

18
to their proper antecedents and in determining their overall meaning” (229). In the

same vein, Brown wrote:

The description of the Parousia given in 1 Thess. 4:16-17 involves the voice of

the archangels, the signal of the heavenly trumpet and being caught up in the

clouds to meet the Lord in the air. In 5:1-2 there is vagueness about the times

and the seasons. Some of this echoes both the language of Jewish apocalyptic

and the language attributed to Jesus in the apocalyptic discourses of the

Gospels. (463)

On the interpretation of apocalyptic literatures, John Collins offered a meaningful-

insight. He wrote:

Despite the historical importance of apocalypticism, Christian theologians

have often viewed it with suspicion because of its obscure imagery and

fanatical tendencies. The suspicions have sometimes been justified, especially

in the case of modern fundamentalist use of this material. The key to a proper

appreciation of the apocalyptic tradition lies in the realisation that apocalypses

are more of the nature of poetry than of dogma. They are works of

imagination, which cannot be regarded as sources of factual information. Their

value lies in their ability to envision alternatives to the world of present

experience and thereby to provide hope and consolation. As such they speak to

enduring human needs and are a vital part of the western religion heritage.

(304)

If 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 is apocalyptic in background, then, it cannot be

interpreted correctly if taken literally. Disturbingly, the literal reading has been the

popular trend and interpretation in the Nigerian Church. The implications, arising

from it, are the suddenness, apprehension, nearness and the “ANY MOMENT FROM

19
NOW” echo of Rapture and Jesus’ Return–a situation described as Rapure Fever by

Gary North and The Last Days Madness by Gary Demar.

Nowadays, there are lots of mathematical calculations and phenomenal

speculations regarding the end-time. A case study is the 88 Reasons Why the Rapture

Will Be in 1988 by Edgar Whisenant. Such a view cannot allow for a long term plan

for the execution of the Great Commission and full-scale participation in all spheres –

politics, economics, education, and so on, with an optimistic view of societal

wholesome transformation. In other words, it leads to paralysis of the Church Mission

because of its directionless, pessimistic and defeatist outlook and approach to life, a

missionless focus on the sky for rapture (escape) at the expense of successful earthly

occupation.

Whereas, some indigenous researchers like Obi, “1 Thess. 4:13-5:11: The

Parousia of the Lord, An Exegetical and Theological Investigation” (Unpublished

M.A. Thesis Leuven); Alana, Onimhawo and Ottuh, Paul’s Epistles in the New

Testament and their Theological Relevance to the Contemporary Church in Nigeria;

Vincent Nyoyoko, “The Parousia as the Hope for Contemporary Christian

Spirituality”, in Religion and Spirituality; Protus Kemdirim, “1 Thess.4:13–18, the

Resurrection of the Dead and Bodily Taking-up of Believers: Meaning for Christians

Today”; Ayodele Atowoju, Paul of Tarsus, have done researches on our text, by way

of textual exegesis, contextualisation and spiritual application; nevertheless, these

works do not address the concerned issues of this study.

20
2.2 A Brief Survey of the Origin and Founding of the Church at Thessalonica

2.2.1 The City of Thessalonica

Very little has been uncovered at ancient Thessalonica because Thessaloniki

sits atop the remains. The area pictured above and at right was formerly a bus station;

when it was moved in 1962, this 1st or 2nd century AD forum was revealed.

Excavators found a bathhouse and mint dating to the 1st century AD below pavement

surrounding an odeum. An inscription (30 BC to AD 143) from the Vardar gate bears

the word politarchēs, the word Luke used in reference to the officials of the city

before whom Jason was brought by the mob (Acts 17:6). The word does not appear in

any other Greek literature but does match the archaeology of the site.

Paul (with Silas and Timothy) came to Thessalonica from Philippi on his

second missionary journey, stopping in Amphipolis and Apollonia before arriving

here (Acts 17). He preached in the city’s synagogue, the chief synagogue of the

region, for at least three weeks. His ministry was strong, and he established a Jewish-

Gentile church, although it was more heavily Gentile (1 Thess. 1:9). When Paul faced

great persecution at the hands of the mob, he fled to Beroea, but the Thessalonians

eventually forced him to leave there also (Acts 17:13-14).

21
2.2.2. Location

Thessalonica was located at the intersection of two major Roman roads, one leading

from Italy eastward (Ignatia Way) and the other from the Danube to the

Aegean. Thessalonica’s location and use as a port made it a prominent city. In

168 BC it became the capital of the second district of Macedonia and later it

was made the capital and major port of the whole Roman Province of

Macedonia (146 BC). In 42 BC, after the battle at Philippi, Thessalonica was

made a free city. Today the modern city of Thessaloniki is the second most

important city of Greece and home to a million inhabitants and is located near

Istanbul, Turkey. < https://www.bibleplaces.com/thessalonica>

2.2.3. Name

The city of Thessaloniki, Greece, was founded in 315 BC by King Cassander

of Macedonia. It got its name from Thessaloniki, wife of Cassander and half-sister of

Alexander the Great, who, in turn, was named like that after her father, King Phillip II

of Macedonia, to commemorate his victory over the Phoenicians with the help of

Thessalonians horsemen. Thessaloniki, in Greek, actually means the "victory of the

Thessalonians" (Charles Wanamaker 44).

2.2.4. Prominence

In Roman times Thessalonica became an important urban centre because of its

location, it got fortified and after the Romans had conquered Greece, in the 2nd

century BC, it became the capital of one of the four Roman districts of Macedonia.

The Romans built a spacious harbour and set the foundations for the city's flourishing

<https://www.greeka.com/macedonia/thessaloniki/history/>. In the 1st century AD,

Thessaloniki got a Jewish community. Later on, the Apostle Paul would preach in the

Jewish synagogue, establish a Christian church and according to tradition write two

22
letters to the Christian community of the city, known as the two Epistles to the

Thessalonians; although scholars are divided on the Pauline authorship of 2

Thessalonians. This will would be discussed further below (see authorship).

2.2.5. Political Status

Charles Ryrie explained that Thessalonica was a free city and enjoyed

autonomy in all its internal affairs. Although it was the residence of the Provincial

Governor, he exercised no civil authority; the city was ruled by politarchs (cf: Luke's

accurate reporting in Acts 17:6). This political privilege was jealously guarded by the

people, who were extremely sensitive about anything that might result in imperial

disfavour. Therefore, the charge of treason framed against Paul and his companions in

Acts 17:7 was the most dangerous that could have been laid against them in such a

city (113). On the free status of the city, Wanamaker, explains further:

As a result of the support it lent to the Second Triumvirate in the civil war

after Julius Caesar's murder, Thessalonica was made a free city in 42 BC by

Marcus Anthony (that is, Mark Anthony). This had several consequences...

First, it meant that the city was given a degree of local autonomy, as well as

the right to mint both its own and imperial coins. Second, the city was

promised freedom from military occupation and granted certain tax

concessions. Third, it meant that the city did not become a Roman Colony;

this had two important effects - 1) Ius Italicum, which would have replaced

local legal institutions, was not imposed, and 2) Thessalonica did not have to

absorb a large settlement of demobilized Roman soldiers as happened at

Philippi, Cassandra, and elsewhere. [Hence] this naturally left the local ruling

elite in control of the city with its traditional institutions intact. (44–45)

23
 This Free City status is further mentioned by Gordon Fee: "In the give-and-

take of history, the city was fortunate to side with Octavia (later Augustus) in the

Roman civil war (42 BC) and thus in victory was awarded the status of a free city."

(33)

Wanamaker further explained that in gratitude Thessalonica established a cult

of the goddess Roma and the benefactor Romans at this time in appreciation of its

newly acquired status. This was clearly a political act on the part of those who

controlled the city. They sought to cement the good relations with Rome that

materially benefitted them. What is interesting to note is the close connection between

political issues and religious practices. In the ancient world religion and politics were

overtly linked because religion was recognized as a powerful force in legitimising the

positions of dominant groups within a society (45).

The importance of this becomes clear when we recognize that any attack on

the imperial cult, which persisted from the time of Augustus until the

Constantinian period, threatened the carefully constructed symbolic order

mediating Roman imperial power to the social order of the city where the cult

had been established. This was clearly a danger that a missionary like Paul

who propagated an alien religion like Christianity needed to guard against in

the Greek cities of the Roman Empire. As we will see later, this may help

explain the difficulties experienced by the Christian community in

Thessalonica. (Wanamaker 47)

In terms of historical background the Byzantine Emperors of the early 15th

century were unable to protect the city from the Ottoman Empire and sold it to the

Venetians. However, the Ottomans managed to siege Thessaloniki in 1430. They

reformed the Castle and built many mosques and baths, some of which survive till

24
today. Thessaloniki was set free from the Turks on October 27th, 1912, during the

First Balkan War. King George I of Greece settled in Thessaloniki to stress on the

Greek possession of the city and got murdered near the White Tower in March 1913.

In 1916, in the middle of World War I, Eleftherios Venizelos, the Greek prime

minister, launched the Movement of National Defense, formed a new government and

made Thessaloniki the capital of the Greek state, to show both his disagreement with

the pro-German king of Greece and also Greece's support to the Allied forces.

In 1941, during World War II, the Nazi Troops got into the city and their

occupation lasted until 1944. Their bombs destroyed a large part of the city and most

of the Jewish population was slaughtered. When the war ended, the city was rebuilt

and became a modern European city. The industry and trade developed in the decades

that followed. On June, 20th, 1978, an earthquake of 6.5 degrees on the Richter scale

destroyed many buildings, even some Byzantine monuments, and killed forty people.

Once again, Thessaloniki managed to recover.

In 1988, the Early Christian and Byzantine sites of Thessaloniki were declared

by UNESCO as World Heritage Monuments and in 1997, it became the European

City of Culture. Today, Thessaloniki is a modern city with a flourishing economy and

a strong connection to its glorious past, through the many ancient sites around the

city. < https://www.greeka.com-/macedonia/thessaloniki/history/>

We can see that this city was an important metropolis by the Roman period,

and was the second largest and wealthiest city of the Byzantine Empire. <

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=city+of+thessalonica > It is a

Greek port city on the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea. Evidence of Roman,

Byzantine and Ottoman history remains, especially around Ano Poli, the upper town.

The ruins of Roman Emperor Galerius’ 4th century palace include the Rotunda that

25
has been both a church and a mosque. Much of the city centre was destroyed in the

Great Fire of 1917. The rebuilt 20th century city has a modern European layout with

an area of 19.31 km². The highest elevation above sea level is 250m (820ft). <

https://www.google.com/searchcity+of+thessalonica >

2.2.6. Inhabitants

Abraham Malherbe explained that by the time of Paul’s visit, the city had

become increasingly cosmopolitan. It enjoyed a distinctively Greek character, yet

some who spoke Latin also settled in Thessalonica, including merchants and

administrators. Situated on the east–west land route, the Via Egnatia, the city became

a natural centre for trade and commerce. Agriculture and timber featured among its

products, possibly with some mining. The city would have contained a variety of

religious cults, including the “mystery religions” of Dionysus, Serapis, Cabirus, and

the imperial cult. An attack on these cults was perceived as an attack on the city itself

(Wanamaker 5). From 27 BC there is archaeological evidence of the rise of this

imperial cult. "Thessalonica was the largest city of Macedonia, with up to 80,000

within its walls, and a further 20,000 in suburbs outside the walls. Most of the

population would have been manual labourers or trades people, but a few were

probably “professional” people, including orators and aristocrats." (Malherbe 11)

After Constantinople was made the capital of the Byzantine Empire,

Thessaloniki would progressively turn into the second largest city of the whole

Empire. The population started to increase and trade was the main occupation of its

residents. Unfortunately, a severe earthquake in 620 AD damaged the Roman market

and many buildings. However, the city managed to recover in the decades to come. In

the seventh century, the Slavs tried to occupy Thessaloniki but they failed. To prevent

such an attack again, the Byzantines tried another strategy: the Byzantine Emperor

26
Michael III sent the brothers Cyril and Methodius, who were born in Thessaloniki and

later were declared saints of the Greek Orthodox Church, to teach the Slavs the

Christian religion.

In 904 AD, the Saracen pirates of Crete attacked the city and took 22,000

people as slaves. In 1204, after the Crusaders had conquered Constantinople, they also

conquered Thessaloniki. However, the Byzantines managed to gain it back in 1246. It

is actually remarkable how Thessaloniki, through all this hassled period, managed to

maintain a large population and flourishing commerce. Although the city suffered

five centuries of Turkish occupation, its development did not stop and people would

take advantage of the Ottoman reforms. The population continued to increase and was

consisted of Greek Orthodox people, Muslims, and Jews. Wanamaker throws more

light:

By the time of Paul the population of Thessalonica was cosmopolitan. The

original Macedonian population had long been assimilated with Greek

immigrants from the South, giving the city a distinctive Greek character. In the

period after Actium significant numbers of Latin-speaking people settled in

Thessalonica, particularly merchants and imperial administrators. While...from

the account in Acts 17 and some Jewish inscriptional evidence from a later

period...a significant Jewish community existed in Thessalonica as in other

major cities of the Easter Mediterranean in the early imperial period. (45)

2.3. THE CHURCH IN THESSALONICA

Colin Nicholl described the turbulent nature of the planting of the

Thessalonian church (13). Paul and Silvanus (Silas) travelled to Thessalonica from

Phillipi on Paul’s second missionary journey to preach the news about Jesus. He spent

three weeks teaching in the Jewish synagogue, but most of the Thessalonian Jews

27
became indignant and formed a mob to drive the men out of the city. However,

“Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of

God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women” (Acts 17:4). That was the

beginning of the church at Thessalonica. Wanamaker’s account of this turbulent

nature is quite significant.

We have two major sources of information regarding the Pauline mission at

Thessalonica: the two letters to the church from Paul and his co-missionaries Silvanus

and Timothy, and the account of the founding of the church in Acts 17:1-10.

According to the Acts narrative, after he was expelled by the city magistrates at

Philippi, Paul came to Thessalonica by way of Amphipolis and Apollonia, which lay

on the Via Egnatia between Philippi and Thessalonica by entering the Jewish

synagogue on the Sabbath according to his usual practice. For three Sabbaths he

reasoned with the people in the synagogue, seeking to prove from the OT that the

Messiah must suffer and die (an idea that was not a standard belief among Jews of

that time) before being raised from the dead by God. This argument was then linked

to the historical facts regarding Jesus' life in order to demonstrate that Jesus was the

Messiah. The account suggests that Paul's major success was among the God-fearers,

Gentiles who attached themselves to the synagogue, participated in Jewish worship.

Luke portrays Paul's success as leading to jealousy in the Jewish community, a

theme which recurs on several occasions in Acts 13:45-50; 14:19; 18:12-17.

According to 17:5, the Jews incited the city rabble against Paul and his fellow

Christians. When they are unable to find Paul, a Christian named Jason, who appears

from the Acts account to have been Paul's patron, and the other unnamed Christians

were hauled before the politarchs, the local officials responsible for the administration

of the city. Jason and his fellow believers were accused of disturbing the general

28
peace and acting against the decrees of Caesar by claiming that there was another

king, Jesus. This charge naturally troubled the city officials who took security from

Jason and the others to ensure that they would keep the peace. Immediately following

this episode Paul and Silas (Silvanus of the Pauline letters) were promptly smuggled

out of town and sent on their way to Beroea (48).

2.3.1. Origin

In Thessalonica, Paul and Silas stayed with a man named Jason, and when the

Thessalonian mob decided to get rid of the missionaries, they rushed to Jason’s house

and dragged him into the streets. After a hasty consultation with city officials, they

made Jason post bond and released him. Meanwhile, the new Thessalonian believers

hid Paul and company until dark and then sent them on to Beroea, a city about 45

miles to the southwest (Acts 17:10). In Beroea, Paul found a much more receptive

audience (verses 11 and 12). The Beroeans considered Paul’s words and compared

them with the Scriptures instead of taking offense and resisting the gospel as the

Thessalonians had.

Even though Paul and Silas had left their city, the unbelieving Thessalonian

Jews were not satisfied. They followed the missionaries to Beroea and tried to stir up

the crowd against them there as they had done in their own city (Acts 17:13). The

Beroean believers smuggled Paul to the coast where he boarded a ship for Athens.

Silas and Timothy remained in Beroea to teach and strengthen the new church there.

Not long after his initial visit to Thessalonica, Paul was in Corinth, where he

wrote two letters that we now call 1 and 2 Thessalonians, addressed to the newfound

church in Thessalonica. First Thessalonians is the first and earliest of Paul’s letters, or

epistles, to churches. Despite the hostile environment the new believers experienced

in Thessalonica, they were holding fast to the word that was preached to them, and

29
news of their devotion to Christ was becoming well-known throughout Macedonia (1

Thessalonians 1:7–8).

Paul’s stay in Thessalonica had most likely been difficult for him. In his first

letter to the church there, Paul mentions that he had to work during his time in that

city, in addition to teaching and preaching, in order not to be a burden to his hosts (1

Thessalonians 2:9). Although Paul does not state what kind of work he did, it was

most likely tent-making, which was a trade he was experienced in (Acts 18:1–3).

This is why some scholars, like Ernest Best, argue that Paul’s stay in

Thessalonica was more than the three weeks recorded in Acts.

The church at Thessalonica, located as it was in a prominent city of

Macedonia, had an ideal opportunity to share the gospel with the whole region. And

that’s what they did, as “the Lord’s message rang out” from the Thessalonian church

(1 Thessalonians 1:8). Just like the church in Thessalonica, many churches today are

planted in areas hostile to the gospel. Paul’s exhortations and encouragement to the

Thessalonians are also encouragements for those today who “have longed for His

appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8). Paul’s words to his friends at the church in Thessalonica

are timeless promises to us all.

2.3.2. Membership

Both Gentiles and Jews heard the apostle’s message. “Some of them were

persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading

women, joined Paul and Silas” (v. 4). Although the synagogue probably drew Jewish

people primarily, the text emphasises that three groups heard Paul’s message: (1) The

phrase some of them were persuaded refers to Jewish people who believed, such as

Jason (Greek form of the Jewish name Joshua, v. 5); (2) The phrase a great multitude

of the devout Greeks refers to the God-fearing Gentiles who had left the false gods of

30
paganism and embraced the one true God of Judaism. They were former polytheists

who accepted the ethical monotheism of Israel and attended the synagogue, but they

did not keep the whole Mosaic Law (such as circumcision). These people actually

experienced a double conversion: from paganism to Judaism and from Judaism to

Christianity. They were seekers of truth, and Paul’s message convicted them of their

sin and convinced them Jesus was the Messiah. (3) The “leading women” (v. 4) were

the prominent wives of important Thessalonian leaders.

Hence the Thessalonian church composed primarily of Gentiles who came out

of a pagan culture. Christianity appealed to all of society. Yet these conversions were

not instantaneous. Paul reasoned with the Thessalonians in the synagogue “for three

Sabbaths” (v. 2). Some commentators believe he ministered in Thessalonica much

longer, which is possible because the Philippian church had time to send two financial

gifts on separate occasions to Paul in Thessalonica (Phil. 4:16) and Paul had to work

to support himself; so as not to be a burden.

It seems that, later, some people began teaching the Thessalonian church that

the Lord had already come and that Judgment Day was upon them (2 Thessalonians

2:1–2). Worse yet, these false teachers were alleging that their message came from

Paul. The apostle wrote 2 Thessalonians to allay their fears and teach them more fully

about “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him” (verse 1).

They had not missed the coming of the Lord.

2.3.3. Length of Stay

Due to the short time he had been able to spend in Thessalonica, Paul was

concerned about the church there. He tried to return to them “again and again—but

Satan blocked our way” (1 Thessalonians 2:18). So Paul sent Timothy to check on

them and encourage them in their faith (1 Thessalonians 3:1–5). Paul “was afraid that

31
in some way the tempter had tempted [them]” and that his labours among them had

“been in vain” (verse 5). But Timothy returned to Paul bearing good news about the

thriving church in Thessalonica, and Paul wrote the book of 1 Thessalonians to

encourage them and to explain the “day of the Lord” more clearly. However,

according to Wanamaker, the Acts account of the length of stay is not without certain

difficulties.

Luke appears to have condensed the details of Paul's and his fellow

missionaries' stay at Thessalonica. On the surface Acts 17:1-10 suggests that

Paul and Silas left after only three Sabbaths. 1 Thess. 2:9 gives the impression,

however, that Paul was located at Thessalonica long enough to establish

himself in his trade and provide Christians there a model for their behaviour.

A period of three or four weeks hardly seems sufficient for this, and in any

case in Phil. 4:15ff Paul mentions that the church at Philippi sent financial aid

more than once while he was at Thessalonica. It seems unlikely that the stay of

three Sabbaths implied in Acts 17, even if it had stretched to four weeks,

would have necessitated or even allowed time for such active support, given

the distances involved (approximately 150 kilometres). (49)

2.3.4. Opposition

Apostatising Jews especially disliked seeing Gentiles believe Jesus was the

Messiah. Filled with resentment and bitterness, their leaders plotted to destroy Paul

and those with him: “The Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took

some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an

uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them [Paul and Silas] out

to the people” (Acts 17:5).

32
 They recruited rabble—ungodly men who were probably unethical, unskilled,

and unemployed criminals. The mob attacked Jason’s house hoping to seize Paul and

Silas and bring them before the politarchs, or elected governors, of the city, resulting

in their trial and destruction. “But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason

and some brethren to the rulers of the city” (v. 6). Jason probably opened his home to

Paul and Silas. He had become a believer under the apostle’s ministry. Not finding

Paul and Silas, the mob hauled Jason and other Christians before the rulers and

magistrates.

The mob’s accusation was twofold: “These who have turned the world upside

down have come here too. Jason has harboured [welcomed] them, and these are all

acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king—Jesus” (vv. 6–

7). Jason and the others were charged with treason. They were charged with causing a

revolution, breaking the Pax Romana (Roman Peace), and trying to overthrow the

Roman government to set up a king in place of Caesar. There was an element of truth

to the accusations. Jesus is a King, and He will one day judge and rule the earth. But

the accusers misinterpreted the circumstances and timing of Christ’s rule. In no way

were the Christians inciting disloyalty to Caesar or attempting to establish Christ’s

Kingdom rule in place of Roman rule.

The mob’s charges alarmed the citizens and politarchs of Thessalonica: “They

troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things” (v. 8).

Disturbing the peace was a serious charge that could bring Roman sanctions on the

city and its rulers. However, the Thessalonian leaders did not panic, unleash violence

on the Christians, or imprison them. They acted reasonably and prudently. They heard

all the charges and then pronounced their verdict based on these factors: (1) Paul and

Silas were missing and thus could not be judged; (2) No evidence showed that Jason

33
or other Christians were propagating Paul’s teaching; and (3) The leaders received

scanty proof of wrongdoing and probably saw through the plot after weighing the

evidence. They surmised the accusers were motivated by jealousy, rather than loyalty

to Rome and Caesar.

Judicial action was taken against Jason and the others: “So when they had

taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go” (v. 9). The word security

means the Christians posted a financial bond. This was not a payoff but, rather, an

assurance that if they caused another disturbance, they would lose all they owned and

be imprisoned; and the church would be disbanded. The church made an agreement

with Paul and Silas that the two men would leave the city: “Then the brethren

immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea” (v. 10). Under the shroud

of darkness, Paul and Silas left that night for Beroea, approximately 40 miles

southwest of Thessalonica. < https://israelmyglory.org/article-/the-thessalonian-

church/> Thiselton notes further on this:

One of the most significant features of the city in relation to Paul’s preaching

of the gospel was the virtually united sense of loyalty to Rome and to

Augustus for the sense of “peace and security” that pervaded the city. Any

“troublemaker” who tried to rock the boat would not be tolerated. The favor of

Rome also allowed Thessalonica to hold events such as the Olympic Games,

which would constitute a further ready source of tourism and income. The

diversity of local cults became largely assimilated into the imperial cult as a

single source of well-being (cf Jewett, Thessalonian Correspondence;

Witherington, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 4–8). The Acts account of the charges

and the riot is all the more plausible in this light. (7)

34
2.4. Textual Criticism of 1 Thessalonians

The primary objectives of New Testament Textual Criticism are, first, the

identification of the earliest forms of the text recoverable among the extant

manuscripts and, secondly, the study of the text’s transmission through history.

(Colwell 147) To this end, scholars create both reconstructions of the text and critical

apparatuses, the former serving the first goal and the latter the second. These tools

then enable exegetes and anyone interested in the New Testament, more easily to

access its text and variants according to their various needs and interests. With the

New Testament, unlike so much of the literature from antiquity, these text-critical

objectives are problematical by an abundance of evidence. That is to say, the New

Testament survives in more manuscripts than any other classical writing. Eldon Epp

summarises this situation succinctly:

The quantity of MSS that we possess…accounts, on the one hand, for the

optimism in the discipline and for the promise of solid results, but also, on the

other hand, for the extreme complexity in the study of the NT text. The

writings of no Greek classical author are preserved on this scale. (31)

2.4.1. Unique Place in the Canon

The first book by any famous author is usually highly prized as indicating

earliest emphasis and gift of communication. 1 Thessalonians may well be Paul's first

inspired Letter. The amazing amount of Christian teaching that the apostle was able to

fit into his short stay at Thessalonica is clearly indicated by the many doctrines he

discusses as already known by the Thessalonians.

Today the Rapture and Second Advent of Jesus are widely believed and

looked for by evangelical Christians. This was not always so. The revival of interest

in this doctrine, especially through the writings of the early Brethren in Great Britain

35
(1825-1850) was largely based on 1 Thessalonians. Without this short Letter, the

Christian would have been deprived in its understanding of the various aspects of

Christ's return (MacDonald 202).

In order to obtain a correct understanding of 1 and 2 Thessalonians as part of

the Canon of the New Testament, it is necessary to begin by fixing very firmly one

fact which is obvious enough when attention is once called to it. That is, that the

Christian church did not require to form for itself the idea of a "canon," - or, as we

should more commonly call it, of a "Bible," – that is, of a collection of books given of

God to be the authoritative rule of faith and practice. It inherited this idea from the

Jewish church, along with the thing itself, the Jewish Scriptures, or the "Canon of the

Old Testament" (Frederick Bruce n.p.).

Furthermore, in the very nature of the case, apostolic revelation did not extend

beyond the apostolic generation [and their immediate disciples], the "foundational

days" of the Church (80). Thus Jude in his day could speak of "the faith" - meaning

the teaching content of the Christian faith - as now "once for all delivered to the

saints" (v. 3). About this verse, Frederick Bruce comments: "Therefore, all claims to

convey an additional revelation... are false claims... whether these claims are

embodied in books which aim at superseding or supplementing the Bible, or take the

form of extra-Biblical traditions which are promulgated as dogmas by ecclesiastical

authority." (quoted in Bruce Metzger 67–68)

It is necessary to revisit the objective rules of canonicity in order to see if 1

Thessalonians meets the requirements. First, it should be noted that since Paul

identifies himself as the writer of it, it already possesses internal evidence, and also

cannot be classed amongst books added after the (Apostolic era; since all New

Testament canons must have been written during the original 12 Apostolic era or

36
written by a direct disciple of the Apostles (like Luke and Mark). Scholars also

identify 1 and 2 Thessalonians as part of the canonical Pauline corpus.

2.4.2. Authorship

First Thessalonians is almost universally accepted as being penned by the

apostle Paul because first of all, Paul identifies himself as the author of the epistle

(1:1). Secondly, its style is Pauline and thirdly, Paul is identified as the author of 1

Thessalonians in early Christian writings such as the lists of New Testament books

which was compiled by Marcion in the first half of the second century A.D. Also, the

Muratorian Canon lists 1 Thessalonians as part of the Pauline corpus. Malherbe

agrees: "First Thessalonians is the earliest of Paul’s epistles and contains a sustained

treatment of the Day of the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11)." (75)

Since Paul lists Silvanus and Timothy here in the greeting of the epistle in 1

Thessalonians 1:1, many expositors and scholars, like Frederick Bruce, Gordon Fee

and Leon Morris, have concluded that Silvanus and Timothy took part in the writing

of this epistle and were thus co-senders. However, others like Francis Moule and Gerd

Lüdemann dissent; asserting that Paul is the sole author of this epistle and that the

plurals in this epistle should be interpreted as being used “literarily” rather than

“literally.”

This raises two questions: (1) What role, if any, did Silvanus and Timothy

play in the writing of this letter? (2) If Paul is the true author of the letter, why did he

present Silvanus and Timothy as co-senders? It is our view in this work that Silvanus

and Timothy are co-senders and that Paul is the true author of this epistle, which is

indicated by the fact that three times in 1 Thessalonians, the text shifts significantly to

the first-person singular (1 Thess. 2:18, 3:5 and 5:27).

37
 It is our view that these two men are included by Paul in the greeting as co-

senders because they played a significant role in ministering to the Thessalonian

Christian community. Acts 17:1-9 reveals that Silvanus played a key role in

establishing this community with Paul. Timothy is identified as a co-sender here in 1

Thessalonians 1:1 because 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5 reveals that he was instrumental in

strengthening the Thessalonian Christian community.

Ryrie observed how Paul introduces himself to the various churches and

individuals to whom he writes. Sometimes he designates himself as an apostle (Gal.

1:1), sometimes as a servant (Rom. 1:1), but here without any additional descriptive

word. He does, however, associate himself with Silas and Timothy (the latter appears

in ten of Paul's epistles), not as co-authors but as a matter of courtesy since they were

with Paul during the ministry in Thessalonica (19).

There is need here to make a case in advance for the Pauline authorship of 2

Thessalonians. This is because of the bearing it would have in chapter three on the

“Presupposition of the Text” (1 Thess. 4:18–5:11) and even chapter four of this work.

This would come up when 2 Thessalonians is needed to cast reflection on the text of

this study; which is the application of the rule of interpreting scripture with scripture.

Scholarly speaking, the Pauline authorship of the 2 Thessalonians has been

disputed since the rise of critical studies in the beginning of the nineteenth century

due to the below arguments put forward by scholars to prove that Second

Thessalonians is a pseudonymous letter written in the name of Paul to add authority to

his writing and using 1 Thessalonians as the model.

1. The vocabulary, theology and style of the two letters point to some sort of

literary dependence between the two and the scholarly conclusion is that the

pseudonymous Second Letter uses the first as its model.

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 2. The two letters differ in their eschatology. According to 1 Thessalonians 5:1-

3, parousia will arrive suddenly whereas 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8 gives an

apocalyptic timetable from which the arrival of the parousia can be deduced

by observing the events preceding it.

3. Second Thessalonians is from a period later than that of the genuine Pauline

letters where apostolic presence has given way to tradition (cf. 2:15; 3:6),

Christology has developed much further and the language expressions have

undergone notable change.

4. The First Letter is warm and personal whereas the second one is impersonal

and didactic.

5. The second letter is not in the style and wording of Paul and scholars take it as

a decisive argument against accepting the second letter to Thessalonians as

coming from Paul. (Sebastian Kizhakkeyil 232)

Traditionally, however, the case for the Pauline authorship of 2 Thessalonians

appears strong. In Fee’s thought, ‘authorship’ must be conceived of as broadly as it is

in the case for the seven epistles widely regarded as genuine. Traditional arguments

against Pauline authorship appear to have little analytic value. Paul’s change in

eschatological outlook between the two epistles says more about his pedagogical and

pastoral approach. The supposed synoptic parallels between the two letters do not

reveal direct literary dependence, especially once the fairly standardised opening and

final greeting are removed from consideration. The stylistic deviation between 2

Thessalonians and the seven accepted Pauline letters when measured using a variety

of statistical methods shows that 2 Thessalonians frequently is not as distant in

stylistic terms from Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians and Galatians as is 1 Thessalonians.

Finally, it is difficult to explain the letter signature except on the grounds that it is a

39
genuine Pauline feature. In fact, given the supposition in 2 Thessalonians 2:2, real or

imagined, that a forged letter might be circulating in Paul’s name, Hill asks the logical

question in relation to the authenticating signature, namely, ‘How else would the real

author have approached such a misunderstanding?’ (237–241)

Scarcely any doubted the authenticity of 1 Thessalonians. It remains otherwise

with the Second Epistle. Up to Grotius (1583–1645) and Johann Schmidt (1801) the

traditional authorship and sequence of both epistles was universally accepted. John

Chrysostom assumes that Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians, and then wrote the Second

Epistle fairly shortly afterwards to correct false ideas about the coming of Christ, and

to correct notions which circulated on account of forgeries or false prophets. The so-

called offensiveness of teaching about judgment and hell is no argument against

Pauline authorship. Theodore (In Epistolas B. Pauli Commentarii 1-2, qtd. in

Thiselton 12) and Ambrosiaster accept both epistles, and Theodoret repeats the point

about false teachers in 2 Thessalonians. This assumption and approach prevailed

through the Middle Ages, including Peter Lombard, Thomas Aquinas (Commentary,

1), and Nicolas of Lyra, and up to the time of Estius and John Calvin. Calvin assumed

that the First Epistle was Pauline, and that the Second Epistle was also written by Paul

(Commentary 17, qtd in Thiselton 12). Hugo Grotius placed 2 Thessalonians before 1

Thessalonians in order of composition. While he recognised the Pauline authorship of

the Second Epistle, he saw a certain ambiguity in the origin of the First Epistle. He

believed that normally Paul added his personal “mark” in “every letter of mine; it is

the way I write” (2 Thess. 3:17). Hence it is surprising that 1 Thessalonians lacks this,

especially since forged letters were sent. He refers to “a letter as though from us to the

effect that the day of the Lord is already here” (2 Thess. 2:2). He concludes that even

40
if 2 Thessalonians was written first, its publication was postponed until later because

some would see its language as inflammatory (Thiselton 7).

The foregoing remained the traditional thinking until in 1801 when Johann

Christian Schmidt and some other scholars attacked the Pauline authorship of 2

Thessalonians for virtually the first time. They mainly argued that there are

inconsistencies between the two letters, especially over the imminence of the

Parousia. Benjamin Jowett (1817–93) provided an immediate response to these

skepticism in the mid nineteenth century, which is conveniently accessible in the

second edition of his commentary (Thessalonians, Galatians and Romans, esp. 143–

9). His responses, which supported some other scholars, were as follows:

The antiquity and authenticity of 2 Thessalonians are “completely

unassailable” in terms of ancient attestation (Thessalonians, 173). He cites

Polycarp, To the Philippians 11(sic); Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho;

Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.7.2; Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 5;

Tertullian, On the Resurrection 24; the Muratorian Canon, Marcion, and

others. He observes, “Doubts from internal grounds did not arise until the

beginning of the nineteenth century” (173). He refers to Christian Schmidt in

1801, but also to J. M. de Wette’s initial skepticism and his later withdrawal of

objections in 1842. He addresses Baur, Hilgenfeld, and Kern head-on. (2)

Lünemann addresses Kern’s idea that 2 Thess. 2:1–12 must presuppose a date

later than Paul because allegedly it refers to a time following the death of Nero

in 68. He disputes Kern’s exegesis of the passage, and quotes Kern as

admitting that the epistle is “Pauline” in the sense of representing Pauline

thought. Kern declares, “The Epistle might be called Pauline in the wider

41
 sense,” but Lünemann is more specific: there is no valid reason to doubt that

Paul wrote it. (Qtd in Thiselton 13–15)

In a nutshell, we are not ignorant of the dispute regarding the Pauline

authorship of 2 Thessalonians by some textual-critical scholars as evidenced above;

but we favour and adopt the traditional position in this work. Like we said earlier, this

is because of the bearing it would have in chapter three on the “Presupposition of the

Text” (1 Thess. 4:18–5:11) and even chapter four of this work.

2.4.3. Date of Composition

Ryrie opined that both Epistles were written from Corinth during the Apostle's

18th month stay in that city. The first epistle was written during the earlier part of that

period, just after Timothy had returned from Thessalonica with news of the progress

of the church, and the second letter was dispatched in matter of weeks (or at most a

few months later). Any date assigned would have to be approximate, though probably

the writing of these letters should be placed during the Winter of AD 51-52. Gallio

(Acts 18:12) arrived in Corinth during the Summer of 51 AD (12). Thiselton largely

agrees:

One of the most intriguing and inspiring factors about 1 Thessalonians is that

it probably constitutes the earliest and oldest Christian writing that we possess.

It is older than any other book of the New Testament, and may be dated to AD

50, less than 20 years after the death of Jesus Christ. (8–9)

Fee agrees with this date: "From the Acts reference, where one is told that

Paul and his companions came to Thessalonica by way of Philippi, from whence they

had been told to leave by the town authorities, we may legitimately assume a date...49

or 50 [AD] for the writing of this letter." (32) The general consensus among scholars

is echoed again by Fee when he wrote:

42
 What is unknown specifically is Paul's actual location at the time of writing,

since the mention in 3:6 of Timothy's return has no geographical reference

regarding the place of return. Therefore, on the basis of the Acts account the

majority of scholars have assumed the return of Timothy and the sending of

the letters to have taken place in the early months of Paul's visit to Corinth

narrated in Acts 18:1-18a. This can be neither proved nor disproved; it is

simply based on - and fits well with - the few historical date at our disposal.

(32)

However, in contrast to the conclusion of most scholars Gordon stands largely

certain that the writing was done by Paul in Corinth: "The place of writing the letter

was certainly Corinth. The evidence for this comes from the mention of Athens in

3:1-2, where the implication of the reference is that Paul had waited in Athens but was

no longer there; and since according to the account in Acts, Corinth was not only the

next city he visited, but it was also the first one where he stayed for a considerable

length of time (18 months, according to Acts 18:11), this seems the most likely place

for him to have written back to the Thessalonians." (37)

2.4.4. Background and Themes

It was during Paul's Second Missionary Journey that the light of the gospel

first broke in on the darkness of Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-10). After Paul and Silas had

been released from jail in Philippi, they traveled to Thessalonica via Amphipolis and

Apollonia. Thessalonica at that time was a strategic city, both commercially and

politically. True to form, Paul went to the Jewish synagogue and showed from the OT

that the Messiah had to suffer and arise from the dead. He then went on to declare that

Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah. That lasted for three Saturdays. Some of

the Jews were convinced, and took their place with Paul and Silas as Christian

43
believers. Also, many of the Greek proselytes and quite a few of the leading women

of the city were converted. Then the backlash started. Those Jews who did not believe

rounded up some of the hoodlums from the marketplace, incited a riot, and besieged

the house of Jason, where Paul and Silas had been staying. When they did not find the

preachers in the house, they dragged Jason and some of the other believers before the

city rulers (politarchs), accusing them of having turned the world upside down. It was

an unintended compliment! Then they charged the Christians with plotting to

overthrow Caesar by promoting another King named Jesus. The politarchs were

troubled. They required Jason and his colleagues to post bail, probably adding strict

orders for his guests to get out of town. Then Jason and the others were released. The

Christian brethren in Thessalonica decided that it would be wise for the preachers to

leave town, so they sent them by night to Beroea.

The remarkable thing is that when Paul and Silas departed, they left behind a

congregation of believers who were instructed in the doctrines of the faith and who

were unmoved by the persecution they endured. It would be easy to conclude from

Acts 17:2 that Paul and his companions were in Thessalonica for only three Sabbaths.

However, that may have been only the duration of their teaching ministry in the

synagogue. Paul and his team may have spent as long as three months in the city. The

apostle's Letters to them show that the Thessalonians had a broad acquaintance with

Christian doctrine, and they could scarcely have received this in three or four weeks.

From Beroea, Paul went to Athens (Acts 17:15). There he heard that the

believers in Thessalonica were being persecuted. He tried to visit them, but Satan

hindered (1 Thess. 2:17, 18), so he sent Timothy to them (3:1, 2). Timothy brought

back a report that on the whole this prompted the apostle to write this Letter.

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 Paul got a report that the Thessalonian church was plagued by a false report

that the coming of the Lord had occurred, and they were not a part of it. Paul set out

to prove to them that neither the Local Eschatology (Christ's coming in judgment

against the Temple, Jerusalem and Judaea in their generation) nor the Last Coming of

Christ at the end of history (which would include the rapture, the resurrection from

the dead and last judgment) had occurred. As for the former, he made it clear to them

that the appearance of the Lawless one (the Beast of Revelation) was necessary for its

occurrence; then they were to rely on the future expectation of the latter as means of

comfort in times of bereavement. Woodrow Kroll opines that the two epistles -

especially the second one - is a defence of accusation of Paul's apostleship against

false teachers. (Woodrow Kroll 17)

In this letter, Paul defends his ministry against slanderous attacks; he calls for

separation from the prevailing immorality of that culture; he corrects

misapprehensions about those who had died in Christ; he rebukes those who had quit

working in view of Christ's coming; and he urges the saints to respect their spiritual

leaders.

For instance, according to Peter Gorday:

Paul intends here to make it clear that because his preaching contained no

flattery or vanity, the Thessalonians received it gladly and have been properly

fortified for the suffering that belongs to discipleship (Chrysostom,

Augustine). Paul shows that it is not just great eloquence but faithful deeds

that prove the truth of the gospel (Chrysostom). Both Paul‘s extraordinary

gifts and his endurance of great hardship demonstrated to the Thessalonians

that his words were inspired (Augustine). The glory and delight of preachers

45
 arise from the readiness and eagerness of their listeners to believe and to

endure suffering (Origen, Athanasius, Jerome)." (103)

The foregoing was the fulcrum upon which the letters to the Thessalonians revolve.

One of the most important themes of 1 Thessalonians is the return of the Lord

Jesus. It is mentioned at least once in each of the five chapters. George Harding Wood

put these references together and came up with the following excellent synopsis:

The Christian who is expecting the return of the Lord Jesus has no room for:

(1) Idols in his heart (1:9, 10); (2) Slackness in his service (2:9, 19); (3)

Divisions in his fellowship (3:12, 13); (4) Depression in his mind (4:13-18); or

(5) Sin in his life (5:23). (13-14)

2.4.5. The Occasion and Purpose of Writing

Thiselton noted that a second key factor arises from the importance and

geographical situation of Thessalonica. Thessalonica was the capital city of

Macedonia, which had become a Roman province in 148 BC. On the Second

missionary journey of Paul, he made the decisive breakthrough from the cities of Asia

Minor to those of Northern Greece, or Macedonia. The fuller record of Acts 16:6–

18:5 agree very closely with autobiographical reflections in 1 Thessalonians, even if it

was written much later. Timothy joined Paul and Silas (or Silvanus), and the three at

first intended to remain in Asia Minor. According to Acts, however, God guided them

to Troas, on the edge of the Aegean Sea, where on the other side of a narrow strip of

sea lay Greece. Paul dreamed that “a man of Macedonia” pleaded with him to cross

the sea to Europe. At this point the “we” passages in Acts, written in the first person

plural, lead many to think that the “man of Macedonia” was perhaps Luke himself. (7)

Paul and his co-workers crossed over the sea to Neapolis and 10 miles further

to the Roman colony of Philippi. There they made several converts, who became the

46
nucleus of a small church (Acts 16:11–15). Lydia and her household were baptised,

and Paul stayed in her home. According to the Acts narrative, trouble was provoked

by Paul’s encounter with a “psychic” slave girl. Paul performed an exorcism, and the

owners who were making money from her psychic performances had Paul and Silas

arrested and put in prison (Acts 16:16–24). After an earthquake and its consequences

had delivered them from prison, the magistrates let them go the next morning, without

even an apology for ill-treating Roman citizens (Acts 16:25–40). They returned to

Lydia’s home, and gave pastoral encouragement to the new church.

Paul and his co-workers left Philippi, and arrived in Thessalonica. They used

the synagogue as their base at first, “arguing [Greek, dielexato] from the scriptures,

explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from

the dead” (Acts 17:1–3). They continued doing this for three sabbaths. Luke, or the

author of Acts, notes that “some were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas...but the

Jews became jealous...and set the city in an uproar” (17:4–5). Those who believed

Paul included many “God-fearers,” that is Greeks or Hellenists who had attempted

synagogue worship in their quest for truth and a God-fearing life. Meanwhile the

rowdy mob, failing to find Paul and Silas, attacked the house of Jason, Paul’s host,

and dragged him before the city magistrates (Thiselton 7).

According to Acts, they charged the Christians with “acting contrary to the

decrees of the Emperor, and saying that there is another king named Jesus” and of

“turning the world upside down” (17:6–8). In view of the imperial cult and of

Thessalonica’s indebtedness to Rome for many of its privileges, this charge has great

historical likelihood. The magistrates took bail from Jason, Paul, and his co-workers,

and let them go. The church then sent Paul and Silas to Beroea for their safety (17:9–

10). Research on Thessalonica has shown how important to Thessalonica the favour

47
of Rome was, so Paul would have appeared to challenge the established order, to a

larger extent than otherwise. Ryrie opined that the occasion of writing First and

second Thessalonians, separated by few weeks (and perhaps a few months) was when

he received fresh news about the church that are both favourable (1:3-4) and

unfavourable (3:6, 11-12). Perhaps the bearer of 1 Thessalonians had brought back

word to Paul concerning conditions in Thessalonica, or others had whose business had

taken them to Corinth. (113)

Another sublime purpose of the writing of 1 Thessalonians - as is usual with

the Pauline Corpus - is the implied Christology. At points in the letter Paul can use the

terms God and Christ almost interchangeably, as if referring to the same person. Just

as the "church of the Thessalonians" is "in God the Father" (1:1), so too are the

Christian communities in Judaea "churches of God in Christ Jesus" (2:14). Cyril of

Alexandria, for whom the unity between God and Christ could hardly be over-

emphasised, likewise noted approvingly that in 1 Thess.1:8; 2:1– 2, 9, 13 Paul

unquestioningly alternates between "gospel of God" and "gospel of Christ." For Cyril,

this stood as apostolic proof that Christ is called God, and hence that for Paul, Jesus is

wholly divine: "Does he not clearly refer to his preaching of Christ as the "gospel of

God" and "the word of God"? (quoted in McGuckin 314)

2.4.6. Recipients

The recipients of First Thessalonians were new converts to Christianity who

lived in the city of Thessalonica (cf. 1 Thess. 1:1). Acts 17:1-10 records Paul

establishing the church in this city and reveals that Paul, Silas and Timothy planted

the church at Thessalonica during Paul’s second missionary journey. He found at

Thessalonica a synagogue of the Jews, in which for three successive Sabbaths he

preached the gospel, basing his message upon the types and prophecies of the Old

48
Testament Scriptures (vs 2,3). Some of the Jews became converts and a considerable

number of proselytes and Greeks, together with many women of high social standing

(verse 4).

Among these converts were in all probability Aristarchus and Secundus,

natives of Thessalonica, whom we afterward find accompanying Paul to Asia at the

close of his third missionary journey (Acts 20:4). Acts 17:1-10 records Paul

establishing the church in this city. This passage reveals that Paul taught in the Jewish

synagogue in Thessalonica. Consequently, “some of the Jews” and a “large number of

God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women” were converted.

<https://sermons.faithlife.com/sermons/290970-introduction-authorship-and-

recipients-lesson-2>

The recipients therefore comprise the original converts when Paul and his two

companions first went to Thessalonica, and the added converts to this assembly.

However, it appears like these recipients were originally and evangelically drawn

from, not only from the God-fearers, but also from other Gentile groupings in the city.

Wanamaker explains this:

Another difficulty is that the narrative in Acts places the focus of Paul's

missionary work solely on the synagogue, where he supposedly converted a

number of God fearers. In neither 1 nor 2 Thessalonians does Paul indicate

that he preached in the synagogue... The workshop was very probably one of

the key places which Paul conducted his missionary work, a point confirmed

by 1 Thess. 2:9. Another factor weighing against the possibility that the

majority of Paul's converts came from the already existing group of Gentile

God-fearers who identified with the Jewish synagogue is that Paul says to the

Thessalonian church, 'You turned to God from idols' (1 Thess. 1:9). Such a

49
 remark would seem inappropriate if the majority of his Gentile converts had

already turned their backs on pagan religious practices by affiliating with the

Jewish synagogue. Moreover, if the majority of Paul's converts had come from

the synagogue, it would be indeed strange that Paul makes no direct reference

to OT at any point in either 1 or 2 Thessalonians.

Even when he builds an argument from the OT, as he does in 2 Thes. 1:6-12,

he gives no indication of the source of his argument. At the very least the

Gentiles, including pagan Gentiles, constituted a larger grouping in the church

than Acts would appear to suggest. (49)

In addition to the Gentile God-fears and pagan Gentiles who initially

responded favourably to Paul's Mission at Thessalonica, Jews obviously also formed a

sizable part of the original coverts. For this latter reason scholars like Patterson

became so disturbed concerning the seeming anti-Semitic tone in 1 Thessalonians

2:13-16, to the extent he proposed that it must be an interpolation that occurred after

the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Though, an exhaustive treatment of whether this can

be proven or not is beyond the scope of this work, this work agrees with Wanamaker

that it is not an interpolation:

The contemporary debate [in support of the interpolation hypothesis],

however, is heavily dependent on the work of Pearson, who launched a new

stage in its development by providing a carefully worked-out argument.

Although Pearson's argument appears sound at first glance, on closer

inspection it has several serious flaws. First, the historical setting in the period

after 70 AD suggested by Pearson is unnecessary. The first Jewish-Roman

war, which culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem, was undoubtedly the

greatest catastrophe to overtake the Jewish people in the first century, but it

50
 certainly was not the only one of major proportions. The death of the Jewish

King Agrippa in AD 44, the revolt of Theudas in 44-46, the famine in Judaea

in 46-47, and the expulsion of the Jews from Rome in 49 were all major crises

for the Jewish people. If 1 Thessalonians was written around 50, a date most

scholars agreed on, the riot in Jerusalem during the Passover of 49 may well

be in mind... Josephus claims in Antiquities of the Jews (20:112) and Wars of

the Jews (2:225) that twenty to thirty thousand people were killed in the riot.

Even if the figures are considerably inflated, as seems likely, this would have

appeared to contemporary Jewish people to have been a major disaster, one

that Paul might have interpreted as divine punishment for the oppression of

Christians. (50–55)

Furthermore, another major way to detect an interpolation is whether the

interpolated item extensively disconnects from the historical position on the ground,

at the time the text was written. In agreement with Wanamaker, Kenneth Gentry, Jr,

shows that the culpability of the Jews in the death of Jesus Christ was not invented

after 70 AD, but a well established position when even Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians

2:13-16:

Who are 'those who pierced Him'? Although it is true that the Romans were

responsible for physically nailing Him to the cross (John 18:30-31), the onus of the

divine curse indisputably falls squarely upon those who instigated and demanded it:

the Jews. 'If the Romans took any part in doing this, it was a merely ministerial and

subordinate part. The Jews were the instigators and the proper authors of the deed

(Gentry 123–125).' The biblical record is quite clear: the Jews are. The very fact that

he was sentenced to die by crucifixion (a Roman punishment) and not stoning (a

Jewish punishment) is by itself indicative of the physical involvement of the Roman

51
judicial apparatus. The ones who sought His death (John 11:53; Matt. 26:4 27:1), who

paid to have Him captured (Matt. 26:14-15, 47; 27:3-9), who brought false witnesses

against him (Matt. 27:59-62), who initially convicted him (Matt. 27:65-66), who

turned him over to Roman authorities (Matt. 27:2, 11, 12; Acts 3:13), and who even

arrogantly (and disastrously!) called down his blood upon their own heads (Matt.

27:24-25). John even tells us in his Gospel that the Roman Procurator, Pontius Pilate,

sought to free Jesus, finding no fault in Him (John 18:38; 19: 12; cp. Acts 3:13). But

the Jews demanded that the robber Barabbas be released instead of Christ (John

18:39, 40), and that Christ be immediately crucified (John 19:6, 15). They even subtly

threatened Pilate’s tenuous Roman procuratorship by affirming 'we have no king but

Caesar' (John 19:14-15), suggesting that Pilate was allowing Christ to supplant

Caesar. And Jesus Himself during the course of these events, specifically pointed out

to Pilate: 'he who delivered me up to you has the greater sin' (John 19:11).

In Acts 2:22-23, 36, Peter laid the blame largely on Israel: 'Men of Israel,

listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles

and wonders and signs which God performed through him in your midst, just as you

yourselves know – this man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and

foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him

to death... Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made

him both Lord and Christ – this Jesus whom you crucified.' He does the same in a

sermon in Acts 3:13-15a: 'The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our

fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered up, and disowned

in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you disowned the

Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to

death the Prince of life.' He repeats this to the Jews in Acts 5:30 where he proclaims:

52
'The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging him

on a cross.' Stephen, in Acts 7:52, declares the same fact as does Peter: 'Which one of

the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who had previously

announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you

have now become.' Paul concurs in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-15: 'For you, brethren,

became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also

endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did

from the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out.'

(Gentry 123–125)

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 CHAPTER THREE:

EXEGESIS OF 1 THESSALONIANS 4:13–5:11

3.1. Greek Text: Προσ Θεσσαλονικεισ Αʹ [Nestle-Aland26]

4:
13. Οὐ θέλομεν δὲ ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν, ἀδελφοί, περὶ τῶν κοιμωμένων, ἵνα μὴ λυπῆσθε

καθὼς καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ οἱ μὴ ἔχοντες ἐλπίδα.

14. εἰ γὰρ πιστεύομεν ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἀπέθανεν καὶ ἀνέστη, οὕτως καὶ ὁ θεὸς τοὺς

κοιμηθέντας διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἄξει σὺν αὐτῷ.

15. Τοῦτο γὰρ ὑμῖν λέγομεν ἐν λόγῳ κυρίου, ὅτι ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι

εἰς τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ κυρίου οὐ μὴ φθάσωμεν τοὺς κοιμηθέντας·

16. ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος ἐν κελεύσματι, ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου καὶ ἐν σάλπιγγι θεοῦ,

καταβήσεται ἀπ’ οὐρανοῦ καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐν Χριστῷ ἀναστήσονται πρῶτον,

17. ἔπειτα ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι ἅμα σὺν αὐτοῖς ἁρπαγησόμεθα ἐν

νεφέλαις εἰς ἀπάντησιν τοῦ κυρίου εἰς ἀέρα· καὶ οὕτως πάντοτε σὺν κυρίῳ

ἐσόμεθα.

18. Ὥστε παρακαλεῖτε ἀλλήλους ἐν τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις.

54
5:

1. 1Περὶ δὲ τῶν χρόνων καὶ τῶν καιρῶν, ἀδελφοί, οὐ χρείαν ἔχετε ὑμῖν γράφεσθαι,

2. αὐτοὶ γὰρ ἀκριβῶς οἴδατε ὅτι ἡμέρα κυρίου ὡς κλέπτης ἐν νυκτὶ οὕτως ἔρχεται.

3. ὅταν λέγωσιν· εἰρήνη καὶ ἀσφάλεια, τότε αἰφνίδιος αὐτοῖς ἐφίσταται ὄλεθρος

ὥσπερ ἡ ὠδὶν τῇ ἐν γαστρὶ ἐχούσῃ, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐκφύγωσιν.

4. ὑμεῖς δέ, ἀδελφοί, οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐν σκότει, ἵνα ἡ ἡμέρα ὑμᾶς ὡς κλέπτης καταλάβῃ·

5. πάντες γὰρ ὑμεῖς υἱοὶ φωτός ἐστε καὶ υἱοὶ ἡμέρας. Οὐκ ἐσμὲν νυκτὸς οὐδὲ

σκότους·

6. ἄρα οὖν μὴ καθεύδωμεν ὡς οἱ λοιποὶ ἀλλὰ γρηγορῶμεν καὶ νήφωμεν.

7. Οἱ γὰρ καθεύδοντες νυκτὸς καθεύδουσιν καὶ οἱ μεθυσκόμενοι νυκτὸς μεθύουσιν·

8. ἡμεῖς δὲ ἡμέρας ὄντες νήφωμεν ἐνδυσάμενοι θώρακα πίστεως καὶ ἀγάπης καὶ

περικεφαλαίαν ἐλπίδα σωτηρίας·

9. ὅτι οὐκ ἔθετο ἡμᾶς ὁ θεὸς εἰς ὀργὴν ἀλλ’ εἰς περιποίησιν σωτηρίας διὰ τοῦ κυρίου

ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ

10. τοῦ ἀποθανόντος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, ἵνα εἴτε γρηγορῶμεν εἴτε καθεύδωμεν ἅμα σὺν αὐτῷ

ζήσωμεν.

11. Διὸ παρακαλεῖτε ἀλλήλους καὶ οἰκοδομεῖτε εἷς τὸν ἕνα, καθὼς καὶ ποιεῖτε.

3.2 English Translation: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 [Revised Standard Version]

Chapter 4:13–18

13. But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep,

that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

14. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God

will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

15. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are

left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.

55
16. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the

archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ

will rise first;

17. then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the

clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord.

18. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Chapter 5:1–11

1. But as to the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need to have anything

written to you.

2. For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in

the night.

3. When people say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will

come upon them as travail comes upon a woman with child, and there will be no

escape.

4. But you are not in darkness, brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief.

5. For you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we are not of the night or of

darkness.

6. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

7. For those who sleep sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.

8. But, since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith

and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

9. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord

Jesus Christ,

10. who died for us so that whether we wake or sleep we might live with him.

11. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

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3.3. Genre of the Text

The genre of 1 Thessalonians is an epistle or letter, which is a common genre

in the New Testament. It was written by the apostle Paul to the church in

Thessalonica, a city in northern Greece. As an epistle, 1 Thessalonians shares many

features with other letters in the New Testament, such as a greeting, a prayer, a body

that contains doctrinal or practical teaching, and a closing. The letter is also written in

a familiar style, reflecting a close relationship between Paul and the Thessalonians.

One of the key features of 1 Thessalonians as an epistle is its eschatological

emphasis. Paul talks about the second coming of Christ (although Paul did not call it

second coming but, instead, uses just ‘coming’; it is noteworthy that ‘second coming’

is a technical understanding among Christians and Biblical theologians of what Paul

meant) and urges the Thessalonians to prepare for it. He also offers comfort and hope

to those who have lost loved ones, assuring them that those who have died in Christ

will be raised again. This emphasis on eschatology is a common feature of Paul's

letters, but it is especially prominent in 1 Thessalonians. Overall, the genre of 1

Thessalonians as an epistle allows Paul to address specific issues and concerns of the

Thessalonian church while also offering broader teaching and encouragement to

Christians throughout the ages.

First Thessalonians is written according to the pattern of letter writing found in

the ancient world during the first century called the epistle and is written according to

the pattern of letter writing found in the ancient world during the first century. The

final signature of endorsement authenticated the letter’s contents and served as

protection against fraudulent correspondence. The final signature was also important

because frequently an amanuensis was employed to write the letter. Thus, First

57
Thessalonians was meant not only to be read by the believers in Thessalonica but also

by all the churches of Macedonia.

Bill Wentsrom is of the position that the main genre of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-

18 and 5:1-11 in the context of 1 Thessalonians is that of epistolary rhetoric.

<https://sermons.faithlife.com/sermons/288815-introduction-canonicity-literary-

genre-form-structure-and-unity-lesson-1> The study of Graeco-Roman rhetoric is

useful for several reasons. The first is that Paul intended his letters to be read aloud

like a speech. Secondly, the majority of people in the Roman Empire were very

familiar with rhetoric and in addition many were trained in rhetoric. However, one

must not embrace this approach to interpretation of Paul’s letters so rigidly as to force

his letters into a particular pattern which cannot account for the extent of their content

or structure.

3.4. Structure of the Text

The general form of a first century letter contained the following elements: (1)

The author identifies himself (2) The author identifies the recipient (3) The greeting

(4) Main body of the epistle (5) Closing greeting (usually a simple word wishing the

recipient good health) (6) Final signature of endorsement by the writer of the letter.

The structure of First Thessalonians fits the various situations and problems Paul

wishes to address with the Thessalonians’ Christian community, which of course, is

the case in each of his writings.

1 Thesaalonians can be divided into these six-part structures, in which our

concern is with the third (4:13-18), which is designed to encourage and assure the

Thessalonians and addresses the concerns of the Thessalonians regarding their dead in

Christ in relation to the cosmic rapture or resurrection of the church; and the fourth

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(5:1-11) is the exhortation for the Thessalonians to conduct their lives as children of

light in the context of the imminence of the local Day of the Lord.

David Hiebert (48) sketched the following outline:

The Instruction Concerning The Dead In Christ (4:13–18)

The need for proper instruction concerning the dead (13)

The relation of the dead to the returning Christ (14–15)

1) The basis for the relationship (14a)

2) The statement of the relationship (14b–15)

The dead in Christ will be brought with Him (14b)

The living will not precede the dead in Christ (15)

The manner and results of Christ's coming (16–17)

The manner of His coming (16a)

The results at His coming (16b-17)

The dead shall be raised first (16b)

The living shall be caught up (17a)

The believers shall be forever with the Lord (17b)

The comfort in these words to be utilized (18)

The Exhortation to Watchfulness in View of the Lord's Coming (5:1–11)

(a) The uncertainty of the time of His coming (1–2)

(b) Their lack of need for instruction concerning the time (1)

(c) Their knowledge concerning the manner of His coming (2)

(d) The result of this uncertainty for the unprepared (3)

The Effect of This Uncertainty Upon Believers (4–11)

(1) The position and nature of believers (4–5)

(2) The exhortation to believers to be prepared (6–8)

59
( a) The exhortation to watchfulness (6–7)

(b) The exhortation to be spiritually armored (8)

(3) The salvation appointed for the believer (9–10)

(4) The exhortation to mutual edification (11)

3.5. Textual Criticism

This is fully covered in chapter four of this work. Readers to turn over to that

chapter for the content; you are so referred for avoidance of duplication and the

necessity of chapters’ proportioning.

3.6. Presuppositions of the Text

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 5:1-11 forms the major background of Paul's

letter to the Thessalonians, which was their belief that since the Lord's coming was

imminent, there was no point in working any longer. Also the seeming delay in the

Lord's return made them concerned about when they might expect relief from the

persecutions they were experiencing. Also, that delay caused them to wonder about

the destiny of those who died before the Lord's coming. According to 2 Thessalonians

it was clear Paul had taught, especially as it concerned the coming of Christ, but with

little emphasis on the resurrection.

While 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 speaks of the Local Eschatology, centring on

the metaphorical coming of Christ, which would be expressed in the destruction of the

Temple, Jerusalem and Judaea, as judgment primarily for rejecting Jesus as Messiah,

and would manifest fully in AD 70 (and so was still in the future of the

Thessalonians’ church when Paul wrote); 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 speaks of the

Cosmic Eschatology which would result in the bodily return of Jesus to the earth, the

physical resurrection from the dead, and last judgment (and is today still in the future

of the contemporary Church). We delineate the former by the absence of the mention

60
of resurrection from the dead, and the latter by the mention of resurrection from the

dead. Charles Ryrie notes especially:

In the mean time, perhaps some of the believers had died, and the question

arose, 'Has their premature death caused them to lose all hope of sharing in the

glorious reign of Christ?' The fact that this question did arise points to the

early date of the epistle, for only in the early years of the Church, when but a

few had had time to die, could it have caused such anxiety. That agitation had

arisen over this matter was probably reported to Paul by Timothy on his return

from Thessalonica. Paul's answer to the problem is a reassuring affirmation

that the dead will be raised and will therefore share in the kingdom, and that

the living at Christ's return would be changed and taken into His presence.

(55–56)

If in the first part, the metaphorical judgment-coming against Jewry was

primarily because of their rejection of Christ, then emphasis on Jesus as the Messiah

was of paramount importance at this time. Thus Paul wrote: "For God has not

destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1

Thessalonians 5:9). Since Paul and his Thessalonians audience were among those who

had embraced Jesus' Messianic status, they did not have to fear the consequences of

what would occur to apostate Jewry and whose reverberations would be felt

throughout the Empire. Most especially they were to live a life worthy of people

counted qualified of such great covenantal escape; and this great escape was but a

down-payment of the greatest escape that would occur at the end of history when

Christ comes finally to judge the living and the dead. They should therefore live

soberly, comforting one another, especially strengthening those who had lost loved

ones.

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 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 shifts focus from the cosmic and permanent response

to their anxiety, to the immediate and local one. This is a presupposition of the two-

tier structure of history: from Adam to Christ is called night, but from Christ onwards

is called day. Hence the Thessalonians were exhorted to live as people who were not

only privileged to exist during this wonderful day period of human history, but had

also embraced the Lord of this period, who will eventually come to judge the living

and the dead. David Chilton, quoting Philip Schaff, further explained this covenantal

night-day phenomenon:

Again, we must remember that the New Covenant age is regarded in Scripture

as definitively and progressively an era of Light, in contrast to the relative

Darkness of pre-Messianic times. In the absolute and ultimate sense, the Light

will come only at the end of the world, at the Second Coming of Christ. But,

as the apostles contemplated the end of the Old Covenant era, during which

the nations were enslaved to demons, they spoke of the imminent Dawn as the

age of righteousness, when the power of the Gospel would sweep across the

earth, smashing idolatry and flooding the nations with the Light of God’s

grace. Relatively speaking, the whole history of the world from Adam’s Fall to

Christ’s Ascension was Night; relatively speaking, the whole future of the

world is bright Day. This follows the pattern laid down at the creation, in

which the heavens and earth move eschatologically from evening to morning,

the lesser light being succeeded by the greater light, going from glory to Glory

(Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). Now, St. John tells us, Jesus Christ has appeared,

and is 'coming quickly,' as the bright Morning Star (v. 16). (572–573)

According to Keith Mathison (223), “If we did not have 2 Thessalonians, the

interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 5 would probably not raise many questions”. But, as

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she argues in her book, Postmillenialism: An Eschatology of Hope, 2 Thessalonians 2

poses serious problems for the popular evangelical interpretations of this chapter.

In chapter 4, Paul speaks of the resurrection at Christ's second coming; in

chapter 5, it is commonly argued, he speaks of the timing of this event. However,

there are good reasons to believe that Paul may not be speaking of the same event in

the two chapters (Mathison 224).

Paul begins chapter 5 by saying, "But as to the times and the seasons, brethren,

you have no need to have anything written to you." Essentially, he is telling the

church that they already know the answer to the question that has apparently been

asked of him. However, for their sake he tells them again that "the day of the Lord

will come just like a thief in the night" (v. 2). In the remaining verses, he contrasts the

readiness of believers with the unreadiness of unbelievers. On the day of the Lord,

destruction will come upon unbelievers suddenly like birth pangs, and they will not

escape (v. 3). But the day will not overtake Christians like a thief because they are

sons of light (vv. 4-6), who do not sleep and get drunk, but are alert and sober (vv. 7-

8). In verses 9-11, Paul summarises the teaching of chapters 4-5 by reminding these

Christians that they are not destined for wrath, as are those who persecute them (5:2-

8; cf. 1:10; 2:16), but for obtaining salvation and resurrection through Jesus Christ (cf.

4:13-18).

The difficulty with assuming that chapter 5 refers to the same event as chapter

4 is not immediately apparent when one examines only 1 Thessalonians. However,

using Scripture to interpret Scripture, as one of the rules of Biblical Hermeneutics, the

difficulty becomes clear when one examines 2 Thessalonians. It is true that 2

Thessalonians was not before the recipients when they received 1 Thessalonians

4:13–5:11. It is also probable if one theorises that this contributed to their

63
misunderstanding of Paul’s letter to them. At this point, we shall merely summarise

the problem:

1. First Thessalonians 4 refers to our bodily resurrection at the second

coming of Christ.

2. First Thessalonians 5 refers to the day of the Lord.

3. Second Thessalonians 2 also refers to the day of the Lord, and it does so in

terms of first-century fulfillment (specifically A.D. 70).

This leaves us with several options:

1. All of the chapters refer to the second coming of Christ. This is the most

popular option, and is found in all dispensational works and most

amillennial works like Frederick Bruce, 1 and 2 Thessalonians and Leon

Morris, The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians. However, as

we shall see, it requires a strained interpretation of 2 Thessalonians 2.

2. All of the chapters refer to the coming of Christ in judgment upon

Jerusalem. This position is rarely held, but it is gaining popularity among a

small group of full preterists. The most important full-preterist work is

James Russell’s The Parousia. Its primary weakness is its interpretation of

1 Thessalonians 4. Most full preterists teach that all biblical prophecy has

already been fulfilled. Their view should not be confused with the partial

preterist position advocated in this work, which teaches that some

prophecies have already been fulfilled, while others await fulfillment at the

consummation of the kingdom.

3. All of the chapters except 2 Thessalonians 2 refer to the Second Coming.

This appears to be the position of Benjamin Warfield, “The Prophecies of

St. Paul” (601–640). Its primary weakness is that it requires Paul to change

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 the meaning of the phrase "day of the Lord" between the writing of 1

Thessalonians 5 and the writing of 2 Thessalonians 2. That seems unlikely,

in light of the existing Thessalonian confusion about this "day."

4. All of the chapters except 1 Thessalonians 4 refer to the coming of Christ

for judgment in A.D. 70. This is the position defended by Gary Demar,

Last Days Madness. This also is the position this work tries to advance to

the Church in Nigeria.

The interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 5 adopted in this study allows us to

avoid the difficulties of the other interpretations, without resorting to strained

exegetical maneuvers. It answers several of the questions that plague the other

interpretations, while maintaining consistency within the context of this research. One

may ask: how could Paul have implied two different events if this problem did not

exist because of the introduction of chapterisation? Notably, the chapterisation of the

Bible itself is necessitated by problem(s) and need(s) of the generation(s) that are

distant from the time, custom, manners and understanding of the world of the Bible. It

is a fact that there are certain gaps that make training in hermeneutics necessary: the

gaps of language, custom, topography philosophy, and etcetera. And because of these

gaps, there are problems we can spot today in a text that may not be intended by the

writer or even seen by the primary recipients of those texts. More important for the

modern scholar is to ensure exegetical consistency with the whole of Scripture,

without resorting to strained exegetical maneuvers. Like we said before, it’s a

standard rule of Hermeneutics to interpret scripture with scripture. It’s not out of

place, therefore, if we see clearer today than the first recipients of 1 Thessalonians,

having before us 2 Thessalonians, the Olivet Discourse, the book of Revelation, and

other eschatological passages in the New Testament which they never had.

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 In line with Mathison (225–226), below is the evidence that Paul is speaking

of two temporally separate events in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5:

1. In 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5, Paul appears to be responding to several

different questions that were brought to him by Timothy from the

Thessalonian church (3:5-6). In 4:1-8, he deals with the subject of sexual

immorality. In 4:9-12, he reminds these Christians of the need for love

among the brethren. In 4:13-18, he answers their apparent concern for

believers who have died. In 5:1-8, using the same phrase to change the

subject that he used in 4:9, he answers their question regarding the timing

of the day of the Lord. And in 5:9-11, he summarises his arguments. In

other words, the immediate context allows for the possibility that Paul

changes the subject in chapter 5.

2. The subject of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 is our future bodily resurrection,

while the subject of 5:1-8 is the destruction that will come upon at least

some unbelievers. Chapter 5 seems to be dealing with the same subject as

the one discussed in 2:16, namely, the time when the Jews who are

persecuting this church will be judged (cf. Acts 17:5). This difference in

subject matter does not in itself necessitate a difference in the time of

fulfillment, but it does seem to indicate that Paul is answering a separate

question.

3. The language used in 1 Thessalonians 5 is also used in passages describing

the coming of Christ for judgment in A.D. 70. We have already mentioned

that the term "day of the Lord" (5:2) is used in 2 Thessalonians 2 in a

passage that refers to A.D. 70. Another interesting parallel is found in

verse 3, where the coming of this destruction is compared to "birth pangs."

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 The same phrase is used in Matt. 24:8 to describe the judgments leading up

to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

4. Finally, if Paul taught in 1 Thessalonians 5 that the day of the Lord would

occur at the same time as the bodily resurrection and the "catching up" into

the air of all living believers (chapter 4), then why would anybody have

believed that that day had already come (2 Thess. 2:2)?

We conclude, therefore, that Paul is answering two separate questions in 1

Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 5:1-8. In answering the first question, regarding those

Christians who have died, Paul assures them of their future bodily resurrection at the

second coming of Christ. In response to an apparent question about the timing of

God's judgment upon their persecutors, Paul reminds them that the day of the Lord

will come like a thief in the night upon those unbelievers. Although Paul does not

specifically distinguish between the time of this judgment and the time of the bodily

resurrection at this point, nothing in the context forbids it, and 2 Thessalonians seems

to demand it. Perhaps the fact that Paul did not specifically distinguish between the

time of these two events in 1 Thessalonians explains the confusion over the timing of

the day of the Lord which he addresses in 2 Thessalonians.

In Paul's second epistle to the Thessalonians, we find a church which has

become incredibly confused about the timing of the day of the Lord. Someone has

been teaching them that the day of the Lord has already come (2:2). In order to correct

this false teaching and instruct them on several other matters, Paul wrote a second

epistle to the Thessalonians’ church.

In the first chapter of 2 Thessalonians, Paul offers comfort to this group of

persecuted believers, assuring them that Christ will come to judge those who are

afflicting them. Since Scripture uses the word "coming" to refer to a number of

67
different events, the question we must answer is whether the coming of Christ spoken

of in this context is the coming of Christ in judgment in A.D. 70 or the personal

coming of Christ at the consummation of His kingdom.

There are several pieces of evidence that indicate a fulfillment in A.D. 70:

1. The language of impending judgment and destruction by God links this

chapter conceptually to 1 Thessalonians 5 (cf. 2 Thess. 1:6-9; 1 Thess.

5:3).

2. The text itself speaks of God's coming judgment upon those who are

afflicting them at the time of the writing of the letter (1:6).

3. Those who are in fact afflicting them are the Jews (Acts 17:5-9), whom

Jesus explicitly declared would be judged within one generation of his

death (Matt. 24:34; Mark 13:30; Luke 21:32).

4. There is a distinct parallel between the language of 2 Thessalonians 1:7-

9 and the prophecies of Daniel 7:9-12 and Joel 2-3, in which a fiery

judgment is intimately connected with events that are known now to have

occurred in the first century, namely, the rule of the fourth kingdom (the

Roman Empire) and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of

Pentecost. Joel, in fact, refers to this judgment as the day of the Lord (Joel

3:14).

5. There is a distinct parallel between the language of 2 Thessalonians 1:7-

9 and Matthew 16:27-28, which describes a coming of the Son of Man for

judgment within the lifetime of some of His disciples.

On the basis of this evidence, we conclude that the coming of Christ for

judgment in 2 Thessalonians 1 is the same as the coming of Christ for judgment

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revealed in the Olivet discourse and elsewhere, like 1 Thessalonians 5. As Mathison

opined:

This interpretation is by no means certain, and the coming of Christ in this

chapter could be interpreted as the second coming of Christ, without causing

the enormous hermeneutical problems that misinterpretation of the other three

chapters has caused [1 Thess. 4, 5 and 2 Thess. 1]. (266–267)

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70
 CHAPTER FOUR

A STUDY OF SELECTED WORDS IN 1 THESSALONIANS 4:13–5:11 AND

THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CHURCH IN NIGERIA

4.1. Introduction

There are some key words in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, which thorough

grasps of them are fundamental to understanding the Parousia in Paul’s epistles to the

Thessalonians; particularly, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11. According to Chuck Crisco, in

interpretation, there is what is called, "audience relevance" [and] “Misunderstanding

this is the mother of end-time mythology” <https://www.anewdaydawning.com/blog-

1/2015/2/3/spiritual-myth-busters-as-a-thief-in-the-night>. He further states that,

“Context is king in the realm of interpretation” <https://www.anewdaydawning.-

com/blog-1/2015/2/3/spiritual-myth-busters-as-a-thief-in-the-night>. Pieter Villiers

(2) corroborates Crisco, thus, “Specific eschatological references in 1 Thessalonians

have often been taken out of its context and misused to develop the most bizarre

theories on the future of the world and, in particular, on a so-called “rapture” of

saints” (cf. e.g. 1 Thess. 4:17). “The Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians is

the favorite Rapture proof-text for dispensationalists” (Barbara Rossing 175). This

dispensationalist reading teaches that Jesus will snatch Christians off the earth before

the emergence of an evil Anti-christ which sets in motion a seven-year period of

tribulation on earth during which the temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem and after

which Christ will return on the Mount of Olives. Nicholas Wright refers to the

“astonishing literalness in popular fundamentalism” with which the eschatological

material is used to depict Christians “flying around in mid-air on clouds.” (215). A

situation Gary North calls Rapture Fever and Last Days Madness by Gary Demar

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Many exegetical debates have been conducted on the interpretation of eschatological

remarks in 1 and Thessalonians. In order to be closer to the background of the early

Christians and the direct recipients of the text in focus, we would study the following

words and phrases: asleep, parousia, caught up or rapture, and the day of the Lord;

and bring to light their implications for the Church in Nigeria. Moreso, this would be

done in comparison with passages of similar connotation in the New Testament.

Because, “Paul’s eschatology [in 1 and 2 Thessalonians] bears some close

resemblance to that of other New Testament writers–the Synoptics, 2 Peter, and

Revelation [John Robinson, Jesus and His Coming, as quoted by Obi, noted possible

parallels with the Gospel tradition(s) which are not tabulated in this work].”

(Christopher Obi 56)”.

4.2 Τῶν Κοιμωμένων (Asleep): 4:13 (Οὐ θέλομεν δὲ ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν, ἀδελφοί, περὶ τῶν

κοιμωμένων, ἵνα μὴ λυπῆσθε καθὼς καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ οἱ μὴ ἔχοντες ἐλπίδα). [But we do

not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, [a] so

that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope]

The phrase τῶν κοιμωμένων is the New Testament Greek phrase from which

the English word “asleep” is translated. The text is somewhat doubtful, external

testimony being divided between κοιμωμένων, which is supported by Alexandrian

witnesses (‫ ﬡ‬A B 33 326), and κεκοιμημένων, supported by Western and Byzantine

witnesses (D F G K L Ѱ 88 104 257 623 915 1245 1518 2005 Hippolytus Cyril-

Jerusalem), and adopted by the Textus Receptus (Bruce Metzger 632). The

Committee preferred the former reading, because it is found in the older manuscripts,

and because it is more likely to have been altered into κεκοιμημένων than conversely,

the latter being the usual expression (cf. Mt 27.52; 1 Cor 15.20).

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The Strong Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries defines the word asleep as, "To be dead"

(Rick Meyers E-Sword), though in its general usage in the New Testament

exclusively for those who died as believers in Christ. In the New Testament, when a

person is said to be dead, it means a separation has occurred between the spirit and

soul of the person, from his physical body. Death for the Christian and the non-

Christian is never considered permanent; while for the Christian who has fallen asleep

it is an intermediate state between death and the General Resurrection on the Last Day

and is spent blissfully in paradise, for the non-Christian it is an intermediate state

between death and the General Resurrection on the Last Day spent in a state of

torment in hell.

The certainty of the Christian resurrection is based on the fact of Christ's

resurrection. The phrase, "I would not have you uninformed" is found frequently in

Paul's writings when he explains some new point. The subject here is "those who are

asleep." The present participle is used (signifying continuousness) and can mean

either "those that are lying asleep" or "those who fall asleep from time to time." The

verb "to sleep" is used of natural sleep, of spiritual laziness and indifference and of

physical death of Christians.

The word sleep is particularly suggestive when used in the sense of the

physical death of Christians. The object of the metaphor is to suggest that as the

sleeper does not cease to exist while his body sleeps, so the dead person continues to

exist despite his absence from the region in which those who remain awake can

communicate with him, and that as sleep is temporary, so the death of the body will

be temporary. Hence, as sleep has its waking moment, so death will have its

resurrection (Rick Meyers E-Sword).

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 Because of this, any sorrow the Christian may have over the loss of a loved

one is unlike the hopeless despair of the heathen. However, Paul is not prohibiting

Christians from sorrowing in such situations, but in comparison - for the Christian the

loss and resultant grief are temporary; for the heathen it is unsustainable deprivation.

The sleep obviously refers strictly to the body and therefore does not support the idea

of soul-sleep. The certainty of the resurrection is based on that seen in the resurrection

of Christ. The condition being true, the result is also true - that is, God will bring with

Christ into his kingdom those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. Significantly

Christians who are dead sleep in Jesus, is related to the fact that death has been

changed through the work of Jesus. By contrast, the hopelessness of the pagans when

facing death is seen in the following quotation from a letter of the second century:

Iirene to Taormophris and Philon, good cheer! I was as much grieved and shed

as many tears over Eumoiros as I shed for Didymas, and I did everything that

was fitting, so did my whole family. But still there is nothing one can do in the

face of such trouble. So I leave you to comfort yourselves. Good-bye. (Rick

Meyers E-Sword)

In contrast to this letter Hiebert said, "For Christians to give way to grief

would be to act like the pagan world." (Hiebert 189)

4.2.1 Differentiating Between Israel's Local Eschatology and the Cosmic

Eschatology at the End of Human History

This word asleep has great significance in the context of the Eschatological

and Hermeneutical rules, stating that the way to separate the Early Church's Local

Eschatology, which is past and occurred from 67-70AD, as prophesied by Christ as

His cloud-coming in judgment on the Temple, Jerusalem and Judaea, for rejecting

Him as Messiah and (and by implication for contributing to the persecution of

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prophets from Abel down to Himself); and cosmic eschatology which tells of Jesus’

Last Coming on the last day of human history, is whether physical resurrection from

the dead is mentioned in the passage or not (Nathaniel Ezemandu, Current Revelation

Seminar, n.p.). If physical resurrection from the dead is mentioned, then it refers to

cosmic eschatology comprising Christ's Last Coming on the Last Day of human

history. If physical resurrection from the dead is not mentioned, then it refers to

Christ's cloud-coming in judgment against His generation which occurred in 67-

70AD, and resulted in the destruction of the Temple, Jerusalem and Judaea.

Ignoring this mention or non-mention of resurrection in the course of study of

eschatological passages, especially in the New Testament, has led to so much

confusion in the contemporary end-time theology. Due to this confusion, it appears

the mainline Churches and orthodox seminaries have chosen silence in the area of

end-time studies, thus leaving a theological vacuum for pop-theologians to continue

exploiting the ignorance of the populace.

Irrespective of the use of the phrase-pronouns like, “we who are alive, who are

left until the coming of the Lord” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, because resurrection is

emphatically mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, it must be in reference to Christ's

last coming on the last day of human history, which is still future. Furthermore,

because resurrection is not mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, it must be in

reference to Christ's Cloud-coming in judgment to end Israel's status as a covenant

nation through the destruction of the Temple, Jerusalem and Judaea, which occurred

from 67-70AD (Current Revelation Seminar, n.p.). Even Danny McCain attests to the

fact that, “Some interpreters say that this is a two different events placed in

chronological order. Other interpreters, however, deny that Paul is writing about two

different events. (405).

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4.2.2 Understanding the Transitional Nature of the Era from the Old to the

New Testaments

That some or even all the Disciples of Christ left all they were economically

involved in and followed Christ, must be seen in the context of the peculiarity of that

era. From John the Baptist to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD was a period of

transition from the Old to the New Testament. In fact all New Testament Scriptures

were written in that era, and must be interpreted from this historical perspective.

Furthermore, to the extent all Scriptural interpretations do hinge on this era, the whole

of Scripture must be seen from this perspective also. This was a very peculiar period

when the Old and the New Testaments overlapped, with the former passing away, and

the latter becoming established (Nathaniel Ezemandu 24–29).

According to Kenneth Gentry, He shall have Dominion, (185), Just as the Fall

of Adam had a world-wide negative effect, so does the salvation of God, on the basis

of the Resurrection of Christ, the Last Adam, have a world-wide positive effect

(Romans 5:15ff, 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45). All history from Adam to Christ is called

night, while history from Christ and thereafter is called day. Therefore within this

context was a very strong and imminent local eschatological expectation.

Our study of the New Testament is drastically off-course if we fail to take into

account this apostolic local expectation of an imminent Coming of Christ (not the

Second Coming) which would destroy “this generation” of Israel and fully establish

the New Covenant Church. This message was not taken lightly by the Early Church

(David Chilton 575). Christ warned His generation: "Truly I say to you, All these

things shall come on this generation" (Matt. 23:36); "Truly I say to you, this

generation shall not pass until all these things are fulfilled" (Mat. 24:34). In fact, the

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credibility of Christ and of course the credibility of the New Testament Church

depended on the fulfillment of this prophecy in that generation.

The question naturally following would be, "How does the reader of the New

Testament differentiate the Second Coming at the end of the world from the imminent

local coming which occurred at 70 AD, which resulted in the destruction of the

Temple, Jerusalem and Judea?" It merits emphasis: this is done by differentiating

New Testament verses of Scripture that speak of the coming of Christ in the context

of resurrection, and those that speak without that context. While the former refer to

Christ's final coming at the Last Day, the latter refers to the local eschatology of the

comprehensive destruction of the Temple, Jerusalem and Judea as indicating Christ

has come in judgment. Christ's-judgment-cloud-coming is simply indicative of several

such judgment-comings of God in the Old Testament (Chilton 575).

Whenever such dreaded prophetic language was used by Old Testament

prophets, like I in Thessalonians 5:1–11; Matthew 24; Mark13; Luke 21; Revelation

1-19, it indicated one thing: a total military defeat for the nation that is the subject of

the prophecy, with the attendant sword, famine and pestilence. The Sadducees and

Pharisees were familiar with such prophetic de-creation language, and this was the

reason for their infuriation when Christ used it when they stood Him in judgment

(Mark 14:61-65). The mockery for him to prophesy [again] in verse 65 was used in

this context. Again, these leaders of the Jews were familiar with the use of this

prophetic de-creation language by Old Testament prophets (like putting a nation's

creation in the reverse). Explaining this, Gentry, said:

The theme of Revelation is set forth in Revelation 1:7: 'Behold, He is coming

with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and

all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him.' This theme is easily applicable

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 to Christ’s judgment-coming on first-century Israel. This cloud-coming of

Christ in judgment is reminiscent of Old Testament cloud-comings of God in

judgment upon ancient historical people and nations. God 'comes' upon

Israel’s enemies in general (Ps 18:7-15; 104:3), upon Egypt (Isa. 19:1), upon

disobedient Israel in the Old Testament (Joel 2:1, 2), and so forth. It is not

necessary that it refer to His [Jesus’] final or Second Advent to end history.

(He Shall have Dominion 398–399)

Saints Paul and John obviously expected the imminence of this judgment upon

his generation of Jews for rejecting the Messiah as a nation, and John wrote that he

was already a victim of the first occurrence of the expected and prophesied

Tribulation: "I John, your brother and partaker with you in the tribulation and

kingdom and patience which are in Jesus, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the

word of God and the testimony of Jesus" (Revelation 1:9). The last sign given to the

Early Church by Christ, for them to get out of Judea, so as not to be caught in this

conflagration was this:

And when you see Jerusalem compassed with armies, and then know that its

destruction has come. And let those in Judea flee to the mountains. And those

in its midst, let them go out. And those in the open spaces let them not go into

her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may

be fulfilled" (Luke 21:20-22)

In regard to the Jews, the Jewish War with Rome from AD 67 to 70 brought

about the death of tens of thousands of the Jews in Judea, and the enslavement of

thousands upon thousands more. The Jewish historian Josephus, who was an

eyewitness, records that 1,100,000 Jews perished in the siege of Jerusalem (Gentry,

He Shall have Dominion, 399–400).

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 Lawrence Mosheim, an ecclesiastical historian, wrote: “Throughout the whole

history of the human race, we meet with but few, if any, instances of slaughter and

devastation at all to be compared with this” (125). The culpability of Jews of Christ's

generation in His crucifixion is a recurring decimal in the New Testament (Acts

2:22,23, 36; 3:14, 15; 4:8-10; 5:30; Matthew 21:33-35; 23:29-342; Luke 23:27-31;

John 19:5-15; 1 Thess. 2:14-16).

But as awful as the Jewish loss of life was, the utter devastation of Jerusalem,

the final destruction of the Temple, and the conclusive cessation of the sacrificial

system were lamented even more. The covenantal significance of the loss of the

Temple stands as the most dramatic outcome of the War. Hence, any Jewish calamity

after AD 70 would pale in comparison to the redemptive-historical significance of the

loss of the Temple. So then, the expectation of a judgment-coming of Christ in the

first century is easily explicable in terms of the biblical and historical record.

Thus, the point remains: Paul in our text clearly expected the imminent

occurrence of the events of 1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:11 like he puts it, “Then we who

are alive and remain shall be caught up...” (1 Thess. 4:17). In the same vein, John also

expected the imminent occurrence of the events of Revelation in his generation, and

this is the theme of Revelation. Not seeing it this way is the reason such texts as

Matthew 24; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 and Revelation appear to be a closed texts. In

fact, what spiritual orthodox theologians call the Olivet Discourse–the Gospel records

of Christ's prophecy concerning these local eschalotological events in Matthew 24,

Mark 13, and Luke 21 - is what is continued by St John in Revelation and even Paul

in his eschatology.

Hence, the time of Christ and the Apostles was a transitional era, attendant

with the greatest covenantal upheavals, and is described by the author of the general

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epistle to the Hebrews (12:26-28). Also in the light of the soon judgment of

Jerusalem, there was a sought of professional cum secular disengagement from

societal affairs by the Church! A situation that was evident in the Thessalonians’

Church and a reason that necessitated Paul’s statement in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, that,

“…If anyone will not work, let him not eat” (Revised Standard Version). Due to the

proclaimed judgment on Jerusalem, being encumbered with tangible personal

business or ministry will be tantamount to unbelief (this was the fundamental reason

for the extra-ordinary disposal of lands and giving of the money to the Jerusalem

Church); and even singles were counseled to temporally suspend marriage (1 Cor.

7:26-33). They did because of the urgency and peculiarity of their notion about the

Parousia.

4.3 Τὴν Παρουσίαν (The Parousia): 4:15 (Τοῦτο γὰρ ὑμῖν λέγομεν ἐν λόγῳ

κυρίου, ὅτι ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι εἰς τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ κυρίου οὐ μὴ

φθάσωμεν τοὺς κοιμηθέντας) [For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that

we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those

who have fallen asleep]

Παρουσίαν, an abstract term based on πάρειμι, is used in a very general sense.

It is formed from παροντια as ἐξουσία is from ἐξοντία and γερουσία from γεροντία

(Gerhard Kittel 858). The Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries defines the New

Testament Greek word parousia to mean, "A being near, that is, advent, presence and

appearing of a dignitary. Technically, it is often used to denote the return, specifically,

of Christ to punish Jerusalem, or finally the wicked; by implication, the physical

aspect (E-Sword)." Theologically, that is in a broader sense, the word is used in a

comprehensive sense, which encompasses all end-time references, whether to the

local or cosmic eschatology. In 1 Thessalonians 4:15, the English word that is directly

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translated from this Greek word is coming. In most instances in the New Testament it

often goes with the phrase, the coming of the Lord.

The parousia can be said to include all New Testament references or doctrines

concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus, either to judge Jerusalem in his generation,

or to judge the wicked at the end of the world. For instance, even though the

eschatology that was local to the Early Church was mainly around Judaea, its

reverberations were felt all over the Roman Empire. James Russell writes thus:

Tacitus speaks of the bitter animosity with which the Arab auxiliaries of Titus

were filled against the Jews, and we have a fearful proof of the intense hatred

felt towards the Jews by the neighbouring nations in the wholesale massacres

of that unhappy people perpetrated in many great cities just before the

outbreak of the war. The whole Jewish population of Caesarea was massacred

in one day. In Syria every city was divided into two camps, Jews and Syrians.

In Scythopolis upwards of thirteen thousand Jews were butchered; in Ascalon,

Ptolemais, and Tyre, similar atrocities took place. But in Alexandria the

carnage of the Jewish inhabitants exceeded all the other massacres. The whole

Jewish quarter was deluged with blood, and fifty thousand corpses lay in

ghastly heaps in the streets. This is a terrible commentary on the words of the

angel-interpreter: ‘The ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall

hate the whore,’ etc. (366)

Considering that the First imperial persecution of Christianity broke out under

Emperor Nero Caesar, and claimed the lives of Christianity's two chief apostles Peter

and Paul, it is not surprising that parousia was dominant in theological discussions

and sermons of those days. For the local parousia to occur was their only hope of

escape from the widespread and formidable Roman persecution.

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 Tertullian (AD 160–220) heaps disdain upon Nero: ‘Consult your histories.

There you will find that Nero was the first to rage with the imperial sword

against this school in the very hour of its rise in Rome. But we glory–nothing

less than glory–to have had such a man to inaugurate our condemnation. One

who knows Nero can understand that unless a thing was good–and very good–

it was not condemned by Nero.’ (Apology 5:3, qtd in William Reeves, Jeremy

Collier, and Aurelius Marcus n.p.)

4.3.1 The Imminence of the Parousia

The temporal deliverance from the Judeo-Imperial persecution is seen right

from the ministry of John the Baptist when he warned the apostatising Jewish leaders

that the axe is laid at the bottom of the tree, irrespective of their being the children of

Abraham (Matt. 3:9–10). Jesus also assured his disciples that they would not have

gone through the cities of Israel, before he would come in Judgment against apostate

Jewry and manifest their deliverance (Matt. 10:23). Then Jesus said the clincher,

which was eventually used as the main reason for handing him over to the Roman

authorities; while being arraigned before the High Priest and the Sanhedrin, he told

them he was going to come in cloud-judgment against them–in that very generation,

and not some indeterminate thousands of years to come in the future.

When the High Priest tore his clothes in reaction to this statement, he accused

Jesus of blasphemy; they knew nothing of the parousia as we know it today. All over

the Old Testament, the cloud-coming of the Lord to unleash maximum covenantal

judgment of sword, famine and plague against a recalcitrant apostate generation, was

a recurring decimal. It was the quintessential most dreaded apocalyptic language to be

spoken by a prophet. But it always refers to the coming of the Lord, never to any

human. Since this statement by Jesus was in response to the High Priest's question,

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put to him under oath, on whether he was the Messiah, he not only answered in the

affirmative but also said–by direct implication - that he was God. He said the

foregoing by simply quoting Daniel 7:13. Hence the accusation of being guilty of

blasphemy; he applied a prophecy and a prophetic language exclusively meant for

God to Himself! (David Chilton, The Great Tribulation , 24–25)

4.3.2 The Jerusalem Church and the Parousia

And Jesus came out of the Temple and was going away when His disciples

came up to point out the Temple buildings to Him. And He said to them, “Do you not

see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another,

which will not be torn down.” And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the

disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And

what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matt. 24:1-3).

Again, it is worthy of a careful note that Jesus was not speaking of something that

would happen thousands of years later to some future temple. He was prophesying

about “all these things,” saying that “not one stone shall be left upon another.” This

becomes even clearer if we consult the parallel passages: “And as He was going out

of the Temple, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Teacher, behold what wonderful

stones and what wonderful buildings!’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Do you see these great

buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another which will not be torn down’ ”

(Mk 13:1-2; Lk 21:5-6).

The only possible interpretation of Jesus’ words which He Himself allows,

therefore, is that He was speaking of the destruction of the Temple which then stood

in Jerusalem, the very buildings which the disciples beheld at that moment in history.

The Temple of which Jesus spoke of was destroyed in the fall of Jerusalem to the

Roman armies in AD 70. This is the only possible interpretation of Jesus’ prophecy in

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this chapter. The Great Tribulation ended with the destruction of the Temple in AD

70. Even in the (unlikely) event that another temple should be built sometime in the

future, Jesus’ words in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 have nothing to say about

it. He was talking solely about the Temple of that generation. There is no Scriptural

basis for asserting that any other temple is meant. Jesus confirmed His disciples’

fears: Jerusalem’s beautiful Temple would be destroyed within that generation; “her

house would be left desolate” (Matt. 23:28).

The disciples understood the significance of this. They knew that Christ’s

coming in judgment to destroy the Temple would mean the utter dissolution of Israel

as the covenant nation. It would be the sign that God had divorced Israel, removing

Himself from her midst, taking the kingdom from her and giving it to another nation

(Matt. 21:43). It would signal the end of the age, and the coming of an entirely new

era in world history–the New World Order. From the beginning of Creation until AD

70, the world was organised around one central Sanctuary, one single House of God.

Now, in the New Covenant order, sanctuaries are established wherever true worship

exists, where the sacraments are observed and Christ’s special Presence is manifested

(David Chilton, The Days of Vengeance, 55).

Earlier in his ministry Jesus had said: “An hour is coming when neither in this

mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father…But an hour is coming, and

now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and truth” (Jn

4:21-23). Now Jesus was making it clear that the new age was about to be

permanently established upon the ashes of the old. The disciples urgently asked:

“When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end

of the age?” Some have attempted to read this as two or three entirely separate

questions, so that the disciples would be asking first about the destruction of the

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Temple, and also about the signs of the end of the world. This hardly seems credible.

The concern of the immediate context (Jesus’ recent sermon) is on the fate of this

generation. The disciples, in consternation, had pointed out the beauties of the

Temple, as if to argue that such a magnificent spectacle should not be ruined; they had

just been silenced with Jesus’ categorical declaration that not one stone there would

be left upon another. There is nothing whatsoever to indicate that they should

suddenly change subjects and ask about the end of the material universe. (The

translation “end of the world” in the King James Version is misleading, for the

meaning of the English word world has changed in the last few centuries. The Greek

word here is not cosmos “world”, but αἰῷνος–aion, meaning age.) The disciples had

one concern, and their questions revolved around one single issue: the fact that their

own generation would witness the close of the pre-Christian era and the coming of the

new age promised by the prophets. All they wanted to know was when it would come,

and what signs they should look for, in order to be fully prepared.

4.3.3 The Signs of the End of Israel as a Covenant Nation

Jesus responded by giving the disciples not one, but seven signs of the end.

(Again, it is worthy of note here that, ‘the end’ in this passage is not the end of the

world, but rather the end of the age, the end of the Temple, the sacrificial system, the

covenant nation of Israel, and the last remnants of the pre-Christian era). It is notable

that there is a progression in this list: the signs seem to become more specific and

pronounced until we reach the final, immediate precursor of the end (David Chilton,

Paradise Restored 89–94). The list begins with certain events which would occur

merely as “the beginning of birth pangs” (Matt. 24:8). In themselves, Jesus warned,

they were not to be taken as signals of an imminent end; thus the disciples should

guard against being misled on this point (verse 4). These “beginning” events, marking

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the period between Christ’s resurrection and the Temple’s destruction in AD 70, were

as follows: 1. False Messiahs; 2. Wars; 3. Natural Disasters; 4. Persecution. 5.

Apostasy; 6. Worldwide evangelisation and 7. The Abomination of Desolation (David

Chilton, Paradise Restored, 89–94).

4.3.4 The Revelation of John and the Parousia

First, John emphasises his anticipation of the soon occurrence of his prophecy

by strategic placement of the time references. He places his boldest time statements in

both the introduction and conclusion to Revelation. The statement of expectancy is

found three times in the first chapter–twice in the first three verses: Revelation 1:1, 3,

19. The same idea is four four times in his concluding remarks: Revelation 22:6-7, 12,

and 10. It is as if John carefully bracketed the entire work to avoid any confusion. It is

important to note that these statements occur in the more historical and didactic

sections of Revelation, before and after the major dramatic-symbolic visions. Second,

his temporal expectation receives frequent repetition. His expectation appears seven

times in the opening and closing sections of Revelation, and at least three times in the

letters to the Seven Churches (Rev. 2:16; 3:10-1l). According to the unambiguous

statement of the text, the events were “about to come.” John was telling the seven

historical churches (Rev. 1:4, 11; 22:16) in his era to expect the (events of his

prophecy at any moment. He repeats the point for emphasis). Third, he carefully

varies his manner of expression, as if to avoid any potential confusion as to his

meaning (Gentry, The Beast of Revelation, 22).

Each of John’s approaches is destroyed by the very fact that he repeats and

varies his terms as if to dispel any confusion. If the words in the Apocalypse do not

indicate that John expected the event in view to occur soon, what work could John

have used to express such? How could he have said it more plainly? Another

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detriment to the strained interpretations of the Apocalypse is that John is writing to

historical churches existing in his own day (Rev. 1:4, 11; 2-3). He and they have

already entered the earliest stages of “the tribulation” (Rev. 1:9a). John’s message

ultimately from Christ, (Rev. 1:1; 2:1; 22:16) calls upon each to give careful, spiritual

attention to his words (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). John is deeply concerned

with the expectant cry of the martyrs and the divine promise of their soon vindication

(Rev. 6:10; cp. Rev. 5:3-5). It would be a cruel mockery of their circumstances for

John to tell them that when help comes it will come with swiftness–even though it

may not come until two or three thousand years later. Or that the events are always

imminent–though the readers may never experience them. Or that God will send help

soon–according to the way the Eternal God measures time (Gentry, The Beast of

Revelation, 24–25)

4.4 Ἁρπαγησόμεθα (Caught Up/Rapture): 4:17 (17ἔπειτα ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ

περιλειπόμενοι ἅμα σὺν αὐτοῖς ἁρπαγησόμεθα ἐν νεφέλαις εἰς ἀπάντησιν τοῦ κυρίου

εἰς ἀέρα· καὶ οὕτως πάντοτε σὺν κυρίῳ ἐσόμεθα). [then we who are alive, who are left,

shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so

we shall always be with the Lord]

In 4:7 the word rapture is often used to denote the phrase "caught up." It

means to seize or snatch. The Latin translation uses the word from which we get

rapture in English. Rapture means the act of conveying a person from one place to

another, and thus is properly used of his own experience of being caught up to the

third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2, 4). It also means the idea of seizing hastily. It seems clear

from these other occurrences of the word that Paul had in mind being taken to another

location - that is, to the air. The rapture also implies the necessary change in mortal

bodies in order to fit them for immortal existence in a heavenly atmosphere. Although

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the method of this change is never revealed, it definitely implies the metamorphosis

from mortal to immortal, without the dissolution caused by physical death.

The word rapture is not found in the whole of the Bible used in reference to

the phrase caught up. However, it is acceptable to use it in place of this phrase, since

it fully represents what is expected to happen to Christians who are alive when the

Lord descends from heaven at the Last Trumpet, with the voice of the archangel, at

the last coming of Christ, signaling the last day of human history, and ushering in the

last judgment.

Described in the context of its traditional Evangelical use, rapture is what is

expected to happen to living Christians on the Last day, when they are instantly

immortalised, glorified, and ascend to meet and welcome their descending Lord in the

air according to the premillenialists. Old Testament antecedents were the rapture of

Enoch and the translation of Prophet Elijah. The quintessential New Testament

antecedent is the Ascension of Jesus to heaven, forty days after His Resurrection.

(Eugene English 72)

Early in his career, Paul says he had personally experienced an ecstatic rapture

by being raised to the third heaven, to paradise (2 Cor. 12:1–4). Now 1 Thessalonians

4:17 Paul uses the same verb, ἁρπάζω, to describe what will happen to those alive at

the parousia. This verb, which occurs in Wisdom 8:39; 1 Thessalonians 4:17; and

Revelation 12:5, means "snatch, seize, that is, take suddenly and vehemently," and

always expresses "the mighty action of God (John Gillman 276). That the passive

ἁρπαγησόμεθα in verse 17 implies the divine initiative is strongly suggested by the

statement in verse 14 that God is the one who has the active role in leading the living

(Gillman 276). Furthermore, the assumption of the living and the dead results in union

with the Lord. One further nuance of the verb ἁπάζω to be stressed is that of

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suddenness. This is apparent in Acts 8:39: "The Spirit of the Lord caught up

(ἡρπάσθη) Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more"; and Revelation 12:5: "Her child

was caught up (ἡρπάσθη– hēpasthē)) to God and to his throne" (Rev. 11:12-13).

According to A. Feuiller, “Revelation 12:5 is the closest parallel to 1 Thessalonians

4:17. He also associates the rapture motif in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 with Matthew

24:40–41 and Luke 17:34–35 (Quoted in Gillman 277). No time lapse at all is

indicated during the rapture experience. The correlation of the suddenness of the

rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 with the notion of the instancy of the transformation

in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 suggests that rapture and transformation are similar

expressions for Paul.

The sudden assumption happens in the air– (ὲν νεφέλαις). In the Old Testament

the cloud motif frequently functions as a covering, for example, the cloud on Mount

Sinai (Exo. 19:16); as a pillar, for instance, the cloud leading the Israelites by day

(Exo. 13:21–22; Num.14:14); or as a theophanic symbol to indicate the presence of

Yahweh (Exo. 16:10; 19:9; 24:15-18; 33:9-11). In the latter instance it both reveals

and conceals his presence from the people. The clouds also function as a vehicle for

the Lord (Ps 104:3; Isa 19:1) and the Son of man (LXX Dan 7:13). In Acts 1:9,

concerning the ascension of Jesus, the cloud motif has three interrelated functions: (1)

it serves as a type of veil, for example, a visual means of separating the ascending

Jesus from the sight of the apostles; (2) it symbolises in a qualified form entrance into

the divine heavenly sphere (see v 10, εὶς τὸν οὺρανόν); and (3) it functions as a

vehicle (see v 9, και νεφέλη ὑπέλαβεν αὺτόν). In Revelation 11:12 the cloud functions

mainly as a vehicle transporting the two witnesses, who have characteristics

reminiscent of Moses and Elijah, into the heavenly sphere (εὶς τὸν οὺρανόν).

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 In 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 the notion of the Lord's coming or descent on

clouds is absent. Instead, the cloud motif is transferred to the ascent of Christians (cf.

Rev 11:12). The preposition ὲν is used with a nuance similar to ὲπί and not εὶς (cf. Lk

9:34). The believers do not "disappear" into the clouds nor are they clothed in the

clouds (cf. Rev 10:1). Rather they are taken up in rapture by means of the cloud,

which functions as a vehicle. The verb ἁρπάζω together with the expression εὶς ἀέρα

dramatizes the upward movement of believers who leave the earth. Some

commentators surmise that the believers accompany the Lord to the earth, others

suppose him to heaven. However, the text remains vague and signals more

direction than the final goal (Gillman 278). Paul does not indicate where the

believers go nor does he imply that they remain in the air. As the course of upward

movement continues, they would naturally be headed toward what has been

mystically conceived as the heavenly sphere (Gillman 278). Whatever the final

destination, the spatial expression εὶς ἀέρα interpreted in light of the preceding phrase

εὶς ἀπάτησιν του κυρίου (Gillman 278). In a nutshell, the rapture inference–ἁρπάζω as

used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 cannot be said to be a literal graphic event at the end of

the world. From the usage and incidences in Scripture, it implies the fulfillment would

be more figurative than literal. That this chapter refers to the second coming of Christ

is not a hot controversy. There are some “full preterists” who assign a first-century

fulfillment to this text (and to all other eschatological texts). However, this text must

refer to a yet future resurrection of believers, since at the resurrection, death is finally

destroyed and we receive glorified bodies that cannot perish or die (Keith Mathison

266).

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4.5 Ἡμέρα Κυρίου (Day of the Lord): 5:2 (αὐτοὶ γὰρ ἀκριβῶς οἴδατε ὅτι ἡμέρα

κυρίου ὡς κλέπτης ἐν νυκτὶ οὕτως ἔρχεται).[ For you yourselves know well that the

day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night]

In chapter 5:1-11 we see the phrase "the day of the Lord" and the exhortations

in this context that follow. This phrase is often used as a time of God's special

intervention in human history. The opening of this chapter indicates that the day of

the Lord is different and distinct from the rapture, which he has described in the

preceding chapter. This reinforced that elsewhere Paul calls the rapture a mystery (1

Cor. 15:51), which is something not revealed in the Old Testament but made manifest

in the New Testament. Though, the rapture is not revealed in the Old Testament, the

day of the Lord was revealed. In the Old Testament the day of the Lord occurs 20

times. Obviously the day of the Lord was well known from the Old Testament and

was included here in Paul's teaching in the same sense it was used in the Old

Testament - that of the imminent intervention of God in history, in obvious reference

to the local eschatology awaiting the fulfilment of the Messianic prophecy of the

destruction of apostate Jewry. That day shall occur as a thief in the night and would

catch the apostates, who were persecuting [especially the Thessalonian] church,

unprepared. That day shall be a great divider between children of light and children of

darkness, the same way light divides day and night. Therefore it was necessary to

examine oneself so as to ensure which group one belongs. However, he assured the

Thessalonians that positionally they were not children of darkness but of light. They

were exhorted therefore to be experientially sober (5:6-8). This involves alertness and

prayer. This negates the indifference which carries the idea of sleep in verse 6.

Another word used for this indifference is drunken

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 In the Old Testament, the day of the Lord was the prophetic conviction,

expressed in dramatic form, that God would one day bring the present corrupt world

order to an end, establish his sovereign rule, vindicate his servants and eliminate his

enemies (Matthew Black and H. Rowley 999). In the Hebrew Bible, the meaning of

the phrase refers to temporal events such as the invasion of a foreign army, the

capture of a city and the suffering that befalls the inhabitants

<https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/malachi>. Paul uses the phrase here of the Parousia

which, in thought of the early Church, would shortly fulfill the hopes of the prophets.

The New Testament has other synonyms such as “The day of the Lord–the day of the

Son of Man (Lk 17:30); “The day of Christ” (Phil. 1:6, 10; 2:16; 1 Cor. 1:8; 5:5; 2

Cor. 1:14;) and “The Day of God” (2 Pet. 3:12).

According to Keith Mathison (223), “If we did not have 2 Thessalonians, the

interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 5 would probably not raise many questions”. But, as

she argues in his book, Postmillenialism: An Eschatology of Hope, 2 Thessalonians 2

poses serious problems for the popular evangelical interpretations of this chapter.

In chapter 4, Paul speaks of the resurrection at Christ's second coming; in

chapter 5, it is commonly argued, he speaks of the timing of this event. However,

there are good reasons to believe that Paul may not be speaking of the same event in

the two chapters (Mathison 224).

Paul begins chapter 5 by saying, "Now as to the times and the epochs,

brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you." Essentially, he is telling

the church that they already know the answer to the question that has apparently been

asked of him. However, for their sake he tells them again that "the day of the Lord

will come just like a thief in the night" (v. 2). In the remaining verses, he contrasts the

readiness of believers with the unreadiness of unbelievers. On the day of the Lord,

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destruction will come upon unbelievers suddenly like birth pangs, and they will not

escape (v. 3). But the day will not overtake Christians like a thief because they are

sons of light (vv. 4-6), who do not sleep and get drunk, but are alert and sober (vv. 7-

8). In verses 9-11, Paul summarises the teaching of chapters 4-5 by reminding these

Christians that they are not destined for wrath, as are those who persecute them (5:2-

8; cf. 1:10; 2:16), but for obtaining salvation and resurrection through Jesus Christ (cf.

4:13-18).

The difficulty with assuming that chapter 5 refers to the same event as chapter

4 is not immediately apparent when one examines only 1 Thessalonians. The

difficulty will become clear when we examine 2 Thessalonians. At this point, we shall

merely summarise the problem:

1. First Thessalonians 4 refers to our bodily resurrection at the second

coming of Christ.

2. First Thessalonians 5 refers to the day of the Lord.

3. Second Thessalonians 2 also refers to the day of the Lord, and it does so in

terms of first-century fulfillment (specifically A.D. 70).

This leaves us with several options:

1. All of the chapters refer to the second coming of Christ. This is the most

popular option, and is found in all dispensational works and most

amillennial works like F.F.Bruce, 1 and 2 Thessalonians and Leon Morris,

The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians. However, as we shall

see, it requires a strained interpretation of 2 Thessalonians 2.

2. All of the chapters refer to the coming of Christ in judgment upon

Jerusalem. This position is rarely held, but it is gaining popularity among a

small group of full preterists. The most important full-preterist work is

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 James Russell’s The Parousia. Its primary weakness is its interpretation of

1 Thessalonians 4. Most full preterists teach that all biblical prophecy has

already been fulfilled. Their view should not be confused with the partial

preterist position advocated in this work, which teaches that some

prophecies have already been fulfilled, while others await fulfillment at the

consummation of the kingdom.

3. All of the chapters except 2 Thessalonians 2 refer to the Second Coming.

This appears to be the position of Benjamin Warfield, “The Prophecies of

St. Paul” (601–640). Its primary weakness is that it requires Paul to change

the meaning of the phrase "day of the Lord" between the writing of 1

Thessalonians 5 and the writing of 2 Thessalonians 2. That seems unlikely,

in light of the existing Thessalonian confusion about this "day."

4. All of the chapters except 1 Thessalonians 4 refer to the coming of Christ

for judgment in A.D. 70. This is the position defended by Gary Demar,

Last Days Madness. This also is the position this work tries to advance to

the Church in Nigeria.

The interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 5 adopted in this study allows us to

avoid the difficulties of the other interpretations, without resorting to strained

exegetical maneuvers. It answers several of the questions that plague the other

interpretations, while maintaining consistency within the context of this research. In

line with Mathison (225–226), below is the evidence that Paul is speaking of two

temporally separate events in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5:

1. In 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5, Paul appears to be responding to several

different questions that were brought to him by Timothy from the

Thessalonian church (3:5-6). In 4:1-8, he deals with the subject of sexual

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 immorality. In 4:9-12, he reminds these Christians of the need for love

among the brethren. In 4:13-18, he answers their apparent concern for

believers who have died. In 5:1-8, using the same phrase to change the

subject that he used in 4:9, he answers their question regarding the timing

of the day of the Lord. And in 5:9-11, he summarises his arguments. In

other words, the immediate context allows for the possibility that Paul

changes the subject in chapter 5.

2. The subject of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 is our future bodily resurrection,

while the subject of 5:1-8 is the destruction that will come upon at least

some unbelievers. Chapter 5 seems to be dealing with the same subject as

the one discussed in 2:16, namely, the time when the Jews who are

persecuting this church will be judged (cf. Acts 17:5). This difference in

subject matter does not in itself necessitate a difference in the time of

fulfillment, but it does seem to indicate that Paul is answering a separate

question.

3. The language used in 1 Thessalonians 5 is also used in passages describing

the coming of Christ for judgment in A.D. 70. We have already mentioned

that the term "day of the Lord" (5:2) is used in 2 Thessalonians 2 in a

passage that refers to A.D. 70. Another interesting parallel is found in

verse 3, where the coming of this destruction is compared to "birth pangs."

The same phrase is used in Matt. 24:8 to describe the judgments leading up

to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

4. Finally, if Paul taught in 1 Thessalonians 5 that the day of the Lord would

occur at the same time as the bodily resurrection and the "catching up" into

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 the air of all living believers (chapter 4), then why would anybody have

believed that that day had already come (2 Thess. 2:2)?

Mathison concludes, therefore, that Paul is answering two separate questions

in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 5:1-8. In answering the first question, regarding those

Christians who have died, Paul assures them of their future bodily resurrection at the

second coming of Christ. In response to an apparent question about the timing of

God's judgment upon their persecutors, Paul reminds them that the day of the Lord

will come like a thief in the night upon those unbelievers. Although Paul does not

specifically distinguish between the time of this judgment and the time of the bodily

resurrection at this point, nothing in the context forbids it, and 2 Thessalonians seems

to demand it. Perhaps the fact that Paul did not specifically distinguish between the

time of these two events in 1 Thessalonians explains the confusion over the timing of

the day of the Lord which he addresses in 2 Thessalonians.

In Paul's second epistle to the Thessalonians, we find a church which has

become incredibly confused about the timing of the day of the Lord. Someone has

been teaching them that the day of the Lord has already come (2:2). In order to correct

this false teaching and instruct them on several other matters, Paul wrote a second

epistle to the Thessalonians’ church.

In the first chapter of 2 Thessalonians, Paul offers comfort to this group of

persecuted believers, assuring them that Christ will come to judge those who are

afflicting them. Since Scripture uses the word "coming" to refer to a number of

different events, the question we must answer is whether the coming of Christ spoken

of in this context is the coming of Christ in judgment in A.D. 70 or the personal

coming of Christ at the consummation of His kingdom.

There are several pieces of evidence that indicate a fulfillment in A.D. 70:

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 1. The language of impending judgment and destruction by God links this

chapter conceptually to 1 Thessalonians 5 (cf. 2 Thess. 1:6-9; 1 Thess.

5:3).

2. The text itself speaks of God's coming judgment upon those who are

afflicting them at the time of the writing of the letter (1:6).

3. Those who are in fact afflicting them are the Jews (Acts 17:5-9), whom

Jesus explicitly declared would be judged within one generation of his

death (Matt. 24:34; Mark 13:30; Luke 21:32).

4. There is a distinct parallel between the language of 2 Thessalonians 1:7-

9 and the prophecies of Daniel 7:9-12 and Joel 2-3, in which a fiery

judgment is intimately connected with events that are known now to have

occurred in the first century, namely, the rule of the fourth kingdom (the

Roman Empire) and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of

Pentecost. Joel, in fact, refers to this judgment as the day of the Lord (Joel

3:14).

5. There is a distinct parallel between the language of 2 Thessalonians 1:7-

9 and Matthew 16:27-28, which describes a coming of the Son of Man for

judgment within the lifetime of some of His disciples.

On the basis of this evidence, we conclude that the coming of Christ for

judgment in 2 Thessalonians 1 is the same as the coming of Christ for judgment

revealed in the Olivet discourse and elsewhere, like 1 Thessalonians 5. As Mathison

opined:

This interpretation is by no means certain, and the coming of Christ in this

chapter could be interpreted as the second coming of Christ, without causing

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 the enormous hermeneutical problems that misinterpretation of the other three

chapters has caused [1 Thess. 4, 5 and 2 Thess. 1]. (266–267)

4.6 The Church in Nigeria and the Concept of the Parousia

"The Church in Nigeria" refers to the collective term used to describe the

Christian religious community and institutions situated in the country of Nigeria.

Nigeria is a diverse country with a large population and a significant Christian

presence. The term encompasses various Christian denominations, including the

Roman Catholic Church, Protestant Churches (such as Anglican, Baptist, Methodist,

Presbyterian, and others), as well as New Generation Churches (made up of

Independent and Indigenous Churches). It is important to note that the Church in

Nigeria is not a monolithic entity. It consists of diverse denominations, theological

beliefs/doctrines (including the subject of the Parousia in question); differences in

practices and approaches to worship among different Christian groups. Nonetheless, it

remains a significant and influential institution within Nigerian society, shaping not

only the religious landscape but also socio-political conversations and the overall

cultural fabric of the nation. As such, her end-time school of thought has a lot to do

with her mission engagement in society and her effectiveness in praxis.

4.6.1 The Mainline Churches

Mainline Churches in Nigeria refer to the historically established and

prominent Christian denominations in the country. These churches are typically

linked to missionary efforts during the colonial era and have deep roots and long-

standing presence in Nigerian Christianity. Some of the mainline churches in Nigeria

include:

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1. The Roman Catholic Church: The Catholic Church has a substantial following

in Nigeria. It established its presence during the colonial period and has since

grown to become one of the largest Christian denominations in the country. The

Catholic Church in Nigeria is administered through multiple dioceses and

archdioceses.

2. The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion): As one of the largest Christian

denominations in Nigeria, the Anglican Church has a significant presence. The

Church of Nigeria is an autonomous province within the worldwide Anglican

Communion and plays a central role in the country’s Christian landscape.

3. The Methodist Church Nigeria: The Methodist Church has a long history in

Nigeria, tracing its roots back to the arrival of Methodist missionaries in the 19 th

century. It is one of the major mainline denominations in Nigeria, known for its

structured worship, doctrine, and emphasis on social justice.

4. The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria: This Presbyterian denomination plays a

significant role in Nigerian Christianity. It derives its origins from the Scottish

Presbyterian mission and has grown to have a substantial following, particularly in

southern Nigeria.

5. The Nigerian Baptist Convention: The Baptist Church, with its emphasis on

individual faith and personal conversion, has gained popularity in Nigeria. The

Nigerian Baptist Convention is a major Baptist denomination in the country,

known for its evangelical focus and commitment to education.

6. The Lutheran Church of Nigeria: The Lutheran Church has a presence in

Nigeria, primarily in the northern parts of the country. It is influenced by the

Lutheran tradition of liturgical worship and evangelical theology.

4.6.2 Top New Generation Churches in Nigeria

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 The term "New Generation Churches" or "Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches"

in Nigeria refers to a group of Christian denominations that emerged in the country,

particularly in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. These churches have gained

popularity for their emphasis on charismatic worship, prosperity gospel teachings,

holistic ministry, and an entrepreneurial approach to church administration. Some of

the top new generation churches in Nigeria include:

1. The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG): Established in 1952, RCCG

has grown to be one of the largest New Generation Churches in Nigeria and globally.

It is known for its popular Holy Ghost Services, the month-long Holy Ghost

Congress, and its emphasis on personal holiness and societal transformation.

2. Living Faith Church Worldwide (Winners' Chapel): Founded by Bishop David

Oyedepo in 1981, Winners' Chapel is known for its exuberant worship, teaching on

faith, prosperity, and its annual Shiloh convention. It has a large following and

operates Covenant University, one of the leading private universities in Nigeria.

3. Christ Embassy: Founded by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, Christ Embassy has

gained prominence for its television broadcast "Love World" and its focus on faith,

healing, and teaching on the power of words. It has a global presence and is known

for its large congregational gatherings.

4. Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM): Founded by Dr Daniel

Olukoya, MFM is known for its aggressive spiritual warfare prayers, deliverance

services, and emphasis on spiritual empowerment. It has significant influence and is

particularly popular among young people.

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5. The Deeper Christian Life Ministry: Founded by Pastor William Kumuyi, this

church emphasizes biblical teaching, holy living, and evangelism. It is known for its

annual December retreat and deep-rooted Bible studies.

6. The Daystar Christian Centre: Founded by Pastor Sam Adeyemi, Daystar

Christian Centre is known for its strong emphasis on practical teachings, personal and

professional development, and community impact programs. It attracts a diverse

congregation and has a reputation for its progressive approach to Christianity.

4.6.3 The Parousia School of Thought of the Church in

Nigeria

The Parousia school of thought within the Church in Nigeria refers to the

specific theological perspective or belief system that focuses on the events and signs

leading up to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the end of the world. This

school of thought encompasses a range of interpretations and teachings related to

eschatology, the study of biblical prophecies and future events. In the Church in

Nigeria, there are various interpretations and teachings related to end-times, but some

common elements within the end-time school of thought include:

1. Dispensationalism: Dispensationalism is a theological framework that divides

history into distinct periods or dispensations. This school of thought teaches that we

are currently living in the final dispensation, known as the "end-times" or "last days,"

and that key events mentioned in the book of Revelation and other prophetic books of

the Bible are yet to take place.

2. Signs of the End Times: The end-time school of thought in Nigeria places

significant emphasis on recognising the signs and events that indicate the nearing of

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the second coming of Christ. These signs often include the rise of false prophets,

moral decay, wars and conflicts, natural disasters, the revival of Israel as a nation, and

an increase in knowledge and technology. This school is based on Matthew 24.

3. Rapture and Tribulation: Many within the end-time school of thought believe in

the concept of the Rapture, where believers will be taken up to heaven before a period

of intense tribulation on Earth. This tribulation is often associated with the reign of an

Antichrist figure and a time of great turmoil and suffering.

It is important to note that while the end-time school of thought is prevalent

within certain segments of the Church in Nigeria, there are also Christians who hold

different interpretations or emphasise other aspects of the faith. Eschatology and end-

time beliefs can vary among denominations, churches, and individual believers within

Nigeria, reflecting the diversity of theological perspectives within the country.

Overall, the parousia school of thought within the Church in Nigeria shapes the

beliefs, practices, and expectations of many Nigerian Christians.

4.7 Implications of the Above Selected Words for the Church in Nigeria

The implications of misinterpreting the above words treated in this chapter as

a result of a faulty eschatology are far enormous than is often acknowledged by most

contemporary Christians in Nigeria. Some such implications are the Obscurity of

Scripture, short time perspective, inability to grasp the enormous authority invested in

Christ, and lethargy concerning societal affairs.

4.7.1 The Obscurity of Scripture

Having mentioned that there two strands of Churches in reference in “The

Church in Nigeria” (the mainline and the new generation churches), it is worth noting

that the issues of this work, particularly, regarding the obscurity of Scripture basically

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pertains to the new generation churches. The main taint of the mainline churches is

their silence amidst the confusion arising from the new generation churches’ obscurity

of the Parousia passages on account of their literary interpretations. Evidently, the

dominant eschatological school of thought of the new generation churches in Nigeria

is Premillenialism which is opposed by the Postmillenial view of this work. This

school of thought does not take preterism into cognisance. It reads and interprets all

prophetic passages in the New Testament into the future, including those that already

had their fulfilment in history, like the Olivet Discourse and the book, Revelation.

This we can see in the Christian Women Mirror of the Deeper Christian Life,

November 2013 Special Edition, with title, “At the Close of the Age”; which

interprets Matthew 24 with contemporary global happenings and concludes that the

end is here. Again in 2020, another Christian Women Mirror edition was published

with the title, “Everything is Getting Set” and concludes the Rapture is here. In the

same vein, Enoch Adeboye’s Open Heaven Devotional of Tuesday, December 16,

2016 with the title, “Signs of the Last Days”. Therein, he wrote thus:

Never believe anyone that gives you a date or timetable for the Second

Coming of Jesus, no matter how advanced the mathematical theory may seem.

Jesus however spoke extensively on the signs of the last days; the Bible has

enough information to help Christians make adequate preparations for the

Second Coming of Christ. Matthew 24:1-15 speaks volumes and 1 Timothy

4:1.

The key things to look out for are these; false prophets, lovers of self, wars

and rumours of war, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, persecution, betrayal,

iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold, some shall depart from

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 the faith, seducing spirits, doctrines of devils, hypocrisy. All these are

presently happening at an alarming rate all over the world.

The basic obscurity of Matthew 24; 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11; Revelation and

other texts of same classification, is using them as proof-texts for the end of the world

without taking their preterist fulfillment into consideration. This is what this work has

proven with evidences prior to this point.

If the era from John the Baptist to Destruction of the Temple in 70 AD

represents the era in which the Old Testament gradually passed, and the New

Testament gradually came, then other weighty implications follow, since this was the

same era all New Testament books were written. To ignore the local eschatology of

the Early Church is to despise the greatest hermeneutical tool necessary for the

exegesis and interpretation of New Testament Scripture. St John considered himself a

victim of the Tribulation (67-70AD), which was at the infant stage as he wrote

Revelation: "I John, who also am your brother, and companion in [the] tribulation..."

(Rev. 1:9) (Gentry, The Beast of Revelation, 24-25).

Eschatology - whether local or cosmic - is the heaviest theology, in which

every other theology depends upon. For instance Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21;

called Olivet Discourse; actually continues in Revelation; meaning that the Revelation

of John was more of the fulfilled events of Jerusalem's local eschatology than the

forth-coming cosmic eschatology at the still future end of the world.

Almost everything said in the New Testament by Jesus Christ and the

Apostles, has the transitional era as background, one way or the other. This especially

includes the Parables, and the reason the Jerusalem Church encouraged the disposal of

immovable property, and to give the Apostles the proceeds for charity; they believed

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Jesus' prophecy concerning the destruction of Judaea. This explains why no other

early church did this.

So when sermons, Gospel books, revivals, teaching seminars are done in the

Nigerian Church without a sound eschatological perspective, they are bound to be

tremendously misleading. This was the confusion that led to Revelation becoming a

closed book to most contemporary Christians. In fact Ezekiel, Daniel, the Olivet

Discourse and Revelation can be said to be the same progressive end-time prophecy;

but there is at least one other factor that has greatly influenced the outline of

Revelation. It is constructed with strict adherence to the prophecy of Ezekiel.

Revelation’s dependence upon the language and imagery of Ezekiel has long been

recognized. Chilton (20–21) has found in Revelation no less than 130 separate

references to Ezekiel. But John does more than merely make literary allusions to

Ezekiel. He follows him, step by step–so much so that Philip Barrington could say,

with only mild hyperbole:

The Revelation is a Christian rewriting of Ezekiel. Its fundamental structure is

the same. Its interpretation depends upon Ezekiel. The first half of both books

leads up to the destruction of the earthly Jerusalem; in the second they

describe a new and holy Jerusalem. There is one significant difference.

Ezekiel’s lament over Tyre is transformed into a lament over Jerusalem, the

reason being that John wishes to transfer to Jerusalem the note of irrevocable

doom found in the lament over Tyre. Here lies the real difference in the

messages of the two books. Jerusalem, like Tyre, is to go forever.” Consider

the more obvious parallels:

1. The Throne-Vision (Rev. 4/Ezek. 1).

2. The Book (Rev. 5/Ezek. 2-3).

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 3. The Few- Plagues (Rev. 6:1-8/Ezek. 5)

4. The Slain under the Altar (Rev. 6:9-11/Ezek. 6)

5. The Wrath of God (Rev. 6:12-17/Ezek. 7)

6. The Seal on the Saint’s Foreheads (Rev. 7/Ezek. 9)

7. The Coals from the Altar (Rev. 8/Ezek. 10)

8. No More Delay (Rev. 10:1-7 /Ezek. 12)

9. The Eating of the Book (Rev. 10:8 -11/Ezek. 2)

10. The Measuring of the Temple (Rev. 11:1-2/Ezek. 40-43)

11. Jerusalem and Sodom (Rev. 11:8/Ezek. 16)

12. The Cup of Wrath (Rev. 14/Ezek. 23)

13. The Vine of the Land (Rev. 14:18-20/Ezek. 15)

14. The Great Harlot (Rev. 17-18 /Ezek. 16, 23)

15. The Lament over the City (Rev. 18/Ezek. 27)

16. The Scavengers’ Feast (Rev. 19/Ezek. 39)

17. The First Resurrection (Rev. 20:4-6/Ezek. 37)

18. The Battle with Gog and Magog (Rev. 20:7-9/Ezek. 38-39)

19. The New Jerusalem (Rev. 21/Ezek. 40-48)

20. The River of Life (Rev. 22/Ezek. 47). (Chilton, The Days of

Vengeance, 20–21)

4.6.1 Short Time Perspective

A crucial aspect of all economics, in fact all economic growth, is time

perspective. Those individuals and societies that are future-oriented save more money,

enjoy lower interest rates, and benefit from more rapid economic growth. A short-run

view of the future is the mark of the gambler, the person in poverty, and the

underdeveloped society. Those who think in terms of generations and plan for the

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future see their heirs prosper. Those who think in terms of the needs and desires in the

present cannot successfully compete over the long haul with those who are willing to

forego present consumption for the sake of future growth.

Furthermore, most Christians insist, the beast is coming, and so is the

antichrist. That horror is just around the corner. The Great Tribulation is imminent.

Nothing can stop it. Nothing will resist its onslaught. Nothing we leave behind as

Christians will be able to change things for the next generation. It is all hopeless. All

we can legitimately hope for is our escape into the heavens at the rapture. According

to Gentry, those who hold this type of world view see failure and defeat in the

immediate future, relieved only (if at all) by the rapture of the Church into heaven.

There is no earthly hope for the Church apart from the imminent return of Christ

(Gentry, The Beast of Revelation, and xxxvi). But such a view of the future has

inescapable implications for the Nigeria Church.

If the Church in Nigeria is out of time, why should any sensible Christian

attend university? Why go to the expense of graduate school? Why become a

professional? Why start a Christian university or a new business? Why do anything

for the kingdom of God that involves capital commitment greater than door-to-door

evangelism? Why even build a new church? It is observed that men are drawing back

from church attendance and commitment. None would show unreserved commitment

to a religion that is defeatist.

4.6.3 Inability to Grasp the Enormous Authority Invested in Christ

Without a thorough understanding of sound eschatology, the enormous

authority invested in the ascended and enthroned Christ is belittled, and projected

towards a future 1000 years reign in Jerusalem. The Church in Nigeria considered

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itself gradually being paralysed by end-times forces. Any subversion or calamity is

seen as the sign of end-times, in which nothing significant is expected to counteract it.

A biblically consistent Christian is dominion-conscious since this is the main

reason we were created and recreated. Moving around the Nigeria Church, slogans of

victory and dominion are seen, like "My Year of Prosperity"; "My Year of Divine

Promotion"; "I Will Not Die This Year"; "The Year of Operation Kill All My

Enemies"; "The Year of Operation Massacre All Demons"; etc. The reasons for some

of these funny concepts of dominion and victory is because, the main area which has

suffered most among Nigeria's Christians is Christian victory or dominion, caused by

a faulty eschatology. In spite of these slogans, because our philosophy of defeat is

overriding, it still eventually cancels and renders them of very little effect. In

Revelation 1:5–6, we see John in the very midst of external defeat speaking of

Christian victory and dominion. What a contrast to Nigeria Christians today who

speak defeat and paralysis even in the midst of some level of advancement! For the

sake of the Gospel the then wicked Emperor Nero (the first Roman Emperor who

persecuted Christians) exiled him to the Island of Patmos. Outwardly this looks like

irreversible defeat.

Of the three descriptions of victory and dominion in our text - the faithful

Witness, the First-born from the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth - which

John ascribed to Jesus Christ in this passage, one is most relevant for the purpose of

our discussion, and it is the Ruler of the kings of the earth. Actually even the King

James translators found this description ridiculous, and probably mistranslated it

purposely as the prince of the kings of the earth! In order words they refused, possibly

through the influence of King James of England, to accept Jesus Christ as the ruler of

the Kings of the earth (or to accept Him as King of kings in the present). It was okay

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to accept Him as the Lamb of God or Redeemer of the world or even as the future

King of kings; but to accept Him as the present reigning King of kings, no! This

Revelation 1:5–6 is better read from the Modern King James Version. However, it did

not occur to them that this deliberate mistranslation contradicts the very next verse,

which says, “to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." Now, note that

it did not say, to Him WILL be glory and dominion; it is present tense.

Further, but ridiculously, King James and his translators did not mind

ascribing present kingship to themselves, to the Christians who comprised John's

original audience, and to contemporary Christians, as written in this second verse of

this passage! It is interesting the Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionary confirms that

the word translated prince by KJV in describing Jesus Christ here, is from the New

Testament Greek word ἄρχων, transliterated archōn and pronounced ar'-kh ōne. It

says this word is used in Present participle and means first in rank or power, or chief

ruler. (E–Sword).

Unfortunately, in Nigeria today, it largely appears Christians are in

tremendous cooperation with King James and his translators, in their refusal to ascribe

present dominion and victory to Jesus, and inevitably deny same to themselves. This

is irrespective of phrases like King of kings and Lord of lords, and also in the Church

of Nigeria Eucharistic Liturgy, there is a reference to "His [Jesus’] mighty

resurrection and glorious ascension" (Book of Common Prayer, 190). However the

Jesus proclaims victory for His Church (including the Nigeria Church) in history

when He says, "...I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against

it" (Matt. 16:18); an allusion to the assault of the army of the Old Testament Church

against the gate and walls of Jericho, which eventually collapsed. It was not Joshua's

army that was holed up in fear behind the gates of Jericho, while the army of Jericho

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were attacking from the outside (this is the popular notion, which fits with our largely

contemporary defeatist mentality). No! It was the other way round: It was Jericho's

army that was holed up in fear behind the gates of Jericho, while the army of Israel

under Joshua were attacking from the outside.

In fact, even pagan Rahab (the Jericho prostitute) believed more in God's

comprehensive ruler-ship than the average Christian today, for she proclaimed: "...for

the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath" (Josh. 2:11).

Observationally, there are Christians Nigeria today who believe God and Jesus are

only really in charge of heaven above–and probably rules in our hearts and will rule in

eternity! This defeatist mentality contradicts the testimony of Christ concerning

Himself: "...All power IS given unto me in heaven and in earth" (Matt. 28:18).

According to Ps. 89:11, "The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the

world and the fullness thereof, thou hast founded them”.

Nigeria Christians are obligated to learn the biblical perspectives of everything

pertaining to this life, because all of life belongs to The Almighty God and to His Son

Jesus Christ: "Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that

pertain to this life?" (1 Cor. 6:3 KJV); "Don't you know that we will judge angels?

And if that is so, we can surely judge everyday matters" (1 Cor. 6:3 CEV). How can

Nigeria Christians judge everyday matters - like business, employment,

entrepreneurship, economics, culture, finance, banking, commerce, love, romance

etcetera, if we are ignorant of the biblical positions on them?

Unfortunately, some Nigerian Christians have switched positions with the

intimidated and fearful people of Jericho: "And as soon as we had heard these things,

our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of

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[enemies of the Gospel]..." (Josh. 2:11). Some are fearful even of demons (real and

imaginary), witches and even lizards!

Nigerian Christians must understand that Christ rules the whole earth [and all

Creation] as Emperor, and rules His Church as High Priest. They must therefore reject

every end-time philosophy which has deceived God's people to the extent of joyfully

prophesying their own defeat. Only God knows how an anti-Christ will take over the

whole earth when Christ is ruling over everything as Emperor and High Priest! It is

impossible to exercise victory and dominion if one does not believe it is God's will for

him or her in the first instance. Psalm 110:1 is the most quoted Old Testament

Scripture in the New Testament and it is the prophecy of Christian victory and

dominion: "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make

thine enemies thy footstool."

Jesus Christ is not coming to rapture a defeated and irresponsible Church,

because His command is for them to "...Occupy till I come" (Lk 19:13). He is coming

to rapture a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it

should be holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:27). "But Jesus must stay in heaven until

God makes all things new, just as his holy prophets promised long ago" (Acts 3:21

CEV); this is in reference to Psalm 110:1. According to Scripture when will it be

known God has made all things new? This will be when (in cooperation with His

glorious Church) all evil things on earth has been defeated, remaining only physical

death, and Christ will come and deal with it personally, through rapture, the

resurrection, immortality and the Last Judgment:

Later on, comes the End [of the world], when He is to surrender the Kingship

to God, the Father, when He shall have overthrown all other government and

all other authority and power. For He must continue King until He shall have

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 put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that is to be overthrown is

Death (1 Cor. 15:24-26) (Weymouth New Testament)

This shows by the time Christ comes not only will Christianity be the most

dominant religion on earth, all things promised in Scripture will have manifested to

the extent the physical world can endure or manage it (Acts 3:21)! The further

implication is, as each year–including next year–approaches, Nigeria Christians are to

expect greater and greater victory and dominion, for themselves, for their families and

for the Church. The Nigeria Church must decide to put a stop to the deceit of half-wit

theologians.

4.6.4 Lethargy Concerning Societal Affairs

The foregoing implications dovetail to one monumental implication for the

Nigeria Church–societal paralysis. There is a salient adoption of the Radical-Two-

Kingdom Theology: Christ rules in heaven, in the hearts of His people, and will rule

in the future eternal kingdom; and Caesar rules everything else now! Most Nigerian

Christians will not put it blatantly this, but this is exactly what eschatological theology

has resulted into. David Chilton put it this way:

It would have been much easier on the early Christians, of course, if they had

preached the popular retreatist doctrine that Jesus is Lord of the 'heart,' that He

is concerned with 'spiritual' (meaning non-earthly) conquests, but isn’t the

least bit interested’ in political questions; that He is content to be 'Lord' in the

realm of the spirit, while Caesar is Lord everywhere else (i.e., where we feel it

really matters). Such a doctrine would have been no threat whatsoever to the

gods of Rome. In fact, Caesar couldn’t ask for a more cooperative religion!

Toothless, impotent Christianity is a gold mine for statism: It keeps men’s

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 attention focused on the clouds while the State picks their pockets and steals

their children (Chilton, The Days of Vengeance, 63 –64).

But the early Church was not aware of this escapist teaching. Instead, it taught

the Biblical doctrine of Christ’s Lordship–that He is Lord of all, 'Ruler of the kings of

the earth.' It was this that guaranteed their persecution, torture, and death at the hands

of the State. And it was also this that guaranteed their ultimate victory. Because Jesus

is universal Lord, all opposition to His rule is doomed to failure, and will be crushed.

Because Christ is King of kings, Christians are assured of two things: warfare to the

death against all would-be-gods; and the complete triumph of the Christian faith over

all its enemies.

The relevance and relationship of all the foregoing implications to the Church

in Nigeria is to labour hopefully for the redemption of society, knowing and acting

out the belief that “The earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof” (Ps 24:1). And that

Jesus is coming again for a transformed world on account of the saving effects of the

Gospel of Jesus Christ which the Church preaches. For God is in Christ recreating a

new humanity and reconciling all of creation to himself (2 Cor. 5:18f).

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 CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 EVALUATION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary

A thorough understanding of end-time theology, in terms of an expert

differentiation between the Early Church's local eschatology and the cosmic

eschatology will not only provide a clearer understanding and interpretation of 1

Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, but will also throw more light on the whole New Testament.

No doubt the parousia undergirds New Testament theology; to assume otherwise

would be detrimental to all hermeneutical considerations, and would result in

eisegesis instead of exegesis, as has occurred already in many modern prophecy

writings.

There are some key words in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 that are fundamental

to understanding the Parousia in Pauline eschatology and Paul’s epistles to the

Thessalonians in particular. In order to be closer to the background of the early

Christians and the direct recipients of the text in focus, this work studies the following

words and phrases: asleep, parousia, caught up or rapture, and the day of the Lord;

and bring to light their implications for the Church in Nigeria. The implications of

misinterpreting the above words as a result of a faulty eschatology are far enormous

than is often acknowledged by most contemporary Christians in Nigeria. Some of

such implications are the obscurity of Scripture, short time perspective, inability to

grasp the enormous authority invested in Christ, and lethargy concerning societal

affairs. This work, exposing the bearing and imports of the words and phrases in

question, distinguishes between the imminence of the Parousia and its immediacy;

and between the local eschatology, parousia or tribulation, otherwise known as the

cloud coming of Christ in judgement against Jerusalem which has occurred in AD 70

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(being the focus of 1 Thess. 5:1–11 and 2 Thess.2:2) and the final advent of Christ for

the consummation of human history (which is the focus of 1 Thess. 4:13–18). The

obligation of the Christian, having understood and made the necessary distinctions

then, is to live his life in such a responsible obedience to God; such that it becomes a

matter of indifference to him at what point he might be called on to give a final

account of his actions.

5.2. Evaluation

A study of Creeds, hymns and writings of the Early Church fathers shows that the

kind of outlandish misinterpretation of 1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:11, which has done so much

damage to the Church and her image in contemporary times, was unknown about two

centuries ago. It was actually the invention of the modern Church (Gary North 27–28).

Whenever end-time teachings are under discussion, all hermeneutical rules are often thrown

overboard. For instance the much touted 1000 years physical reign of Christ from Jerusalem

is based on just one scripture in the of Revelation. This number must be seen as used

symbolically to represent a long reign, from the Ascension to the Last Judgment, and how

long this would be no one knows. It is already about 2023 years already. An early church

father Papias says of the 1000 years reign:

He also mentions another…Justus, surnamed Barsabas... The same person, moreover,

has set down other things as coming to him from unwritten tradition, amongst these

some strange parables and instructions of the Saviour, and some other things of a

more fabulous nature. Amongst these he says that there will be a millennium after the

resurrection from the dead, when the personal reign of Christ will be established on

this earth. (Papias n.p.)

Is it not interesting that a prominent Early Church father like Papias found the 1000

years reign of Christ fabulous in nature and strange? He did not stand alone in that era

because this was the Orthodox leaning of that period.

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5.3 Findings

The following findings are obvious in this study:

a. the rapture inference (ἁρπάζω) as used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 cannot be said to be

a literal graphic event at the end of the world;

b. from the usage and incidences in Scripture, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 implies that

the fulfillment of the events therein would be more figurative than literal;

c. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 has deep apocalyptic sources and thus symbolic in

codification and it underscores God’s supernatural intervention in human history by

the return of Jesus Christ to consummate the kingdom;

d. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 still holds a very important place to Christians in their

expectation of the Parousia of Jesus Christ today with a pronounced sense of

immediacy which has led to apprehension and obsession with the “Rapture” vanguard

(Rapture Fever);

e. our text should be interpreted in such a way that the obligation of the Christian,

having understood and made the necessary distinctions in the text, then, is to live his

life in such a responsible obedience to God; such that it becomes a matter of

indifference to him when the parousia is to take place and at what point he might be

called on to give a final account of his actions

f. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 must be considered in two parts: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-

end (refers to the cosmic eschatology which is still future) and 5:1-11 (refers to the

Early Church's local eschatology which occurred from 67-70AD). It is differentiated

by the mention and non-mention of resurrection from the dead, in the former and in

the latter, respectively. This simple hermeneutical rule, if taken seriously, would help

dispel lots of confusions and theological jumbling reminiscent of end-time studies.

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g. In consideration of the three schools of eschatology - the Post-millennial, the A-

millennial, and the Premillennial, is found that the first (the Post-millennial) is the

most faithful to biblical revelation. The Post-millennial defines the millennium as an

unspecified expanse of time from the Ascension to the Last judgment, and that Christ

would come at the close of this millennium to resurrect all the dead, translate the

godly living and judge the world, thus ending human history. The A-millennial totally

ignores this millennial reign of Christ but agrees that Christ would come at the close

of this millennium to resurrect all the dead, translate the godly living and judge the

world, thus ending human history. The Premillennial defines the millennium as

exactly 1000 years, and will commence immediately after the second coming,1000

years before the Last judgment, by which only the godly dead shall be resurrected and

translated to reign physically with Christ from Jerusalem; the millennium is

sandwiched as the last 1000 years of human history (Robert Clouse n.p.).

h. The most quoted Old Testament Scripture in the New Testament - Ps 110:1, 4 -

agrees with the Postmillennial eschatology, which defines human history after the

Ascension as a mopping up operation.

i. The Postmillennial eschatology also agrees with the euangelion in Genesis 3:15

which defines human history as divinely skewed against the ungodly.

j. The Postmillennial eschatology also agrees with Christ's picture of the New

Testament Church's history up to the Last Judgment, that the gates of hell shall not

withstand her supernatural advance.

5.4 Contributions to Knowledge

The contributions to knowledge of this research are of immense theological and

academic proportions, among which are the followings:

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a. revelation of the view that 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 cannot be taken as a literal

description of end-time events;

b. demonstration of a basic difference between apocalyticism and eschatology and

establishment of the exigency for a more figurative alternative;

c. provision of evidence for the view that the intervention of God in human history via

the parousia of Jesus is not so meant to be literarily dramatic and immediate to the

first recipient of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11;

d. advancement of a serious need for the re-reading of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11

against the present obsession with and apprehension of the “Rapture” focusing more

attention on the earthly obligation of the Church, including the Church in Nigeria;

e. contribution to the resolution of the vast confusion bedevilling end-time philosophy

is of immense importance with this work, in that it has contributed to resolving

eschatological conflicting issues;

f. the Orthodox churches can now stop being embarrassed by end-time studies, and

now include the Early Church Local Eschatology, and Cosmic Eschatology (including

Personal Eschatology) in their Seminary Curriculum. In contemporary times, the

silence of Orthodox Church seminaries on Eschatology has been deafening;

g. eschatology of First Thessalonians 4:13–5:11 from the Postmillennial perspective is

hereby opened up with this work, as a whole vast opportunity for further research,

having largely remained a virgin area. In the future one could even begin to see

Colleges of Eschatology established in seminaries and universities. Inevitably

Prophecy Studies would be positively impacted, and its development would also be

accelerated alongside its eschatological bent, thus discouraging Pop-eschatology,

which has been the past-time of paperback writers in contemporary times, especially

in the West.

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h. Dispensational Theology and Covenant Theology are also extensively impacted,

especially in terms of correcting popular misinterpretations of Scriptures caused by

their positioning on the Premillennial Eschatological foundation.

5.5 Conclusion

From the foregoing, it is clear that the core message of our text is enveloped in

figurative expressions. The parousia, rapture and the day of the Lord are all shrouded

in figures of speech and as such 1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:11 cannot be interpreted

literally at all. Missionaries, like Paul, schooled in the prophets might be able to

reconcile their proclamation of the imminence of the Parousia with their lack of

concern as to when it might take place but the simpler minds of their converts, like the

Thessalonians, found this difficult. In the same vein, history is repeating itself with

regard to the response of the Church in Nigeria to our text. In the light of the literal

interpretation given to it, just like the Thessalonians, the popular ado today is, “We

are Living on Extra Time” (Justice Okoronkwo CD-ROM); “Rapture is Now”

(Rapture Alert n.p.) and so on. Consequently, the far-reaching implications are: the

obscurity of Scripture, short time perspective, inability to grasp the enormous

authority invested in Christ, and lethargy concerning societal affairs. Significantly, the

first main concern of our text is to distinguish between the imminence of the Parousia

and its immediacy; and the second is to distinguish between the local eschatology,

parousia and tribulation, otherwise known as the cloud-coming of Christ in judgement

against Jerusalem in AD 70 (which is the focus of 1 Thess. 5:1–11 and 2 Thess.2:2)

and the final advent of Christ for the consummation of human history (which is the

focus of 1 Thess. 4:13–18). When this is done, all the hallucinations and fever

regarding rapture and a catastrophic end of the world will be taken care of. The

obligation of the Christian, then, would be to live his life in such a responsible

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obedience to God; and it becomes a matter of indifference to him at what point he

might be called on to give a final account of his actions.

5.6 Recommendations

We therefore make the following recommendations:

a. To the Mainline Churches

The mainline churches in Nigeria like the Roman Catholic Church, the

Anglican Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Church, etcetera should

stop the attempt at neutrality concerning end-time teachings. This is because in the

doctrinal arena vacuums cannot exist. To the extent these churches have expunged or

ignored Eschatology in their seminaries and even homilies, to this extent will pop-

theologians fill the vacuum;

b. To the Indigenous Churches

There is no doubt, the indigenous churches in Nigeria have been most guilty in

touting unbiblical eschatology. Their representative theologians should be invited for

a public debate with seasoned Post-millennial theologians, so that their error can be

laid bare for all to see. The end-time philosophies found in books of pop-theologians

like Hal Lindsey (author of The Late Great Planet Earth), and Chris Okotie (author of

The Last Outcast) should be expunged from their Bible College curriculum;

c. Discouragement of Newspaper Eisegesis

The Bible interprets contemporary events, and not contemporary events being

used to interpret the Bible. Put another way, contemporary events should be seen

through the lens of the Bible, and not the Bible being seen through the lens of

contemporary events. (Keith Intrater 2–3) The events of the Middle East and modern

Israel have impacted so much on the modern Church's understanding of contemporary

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events, especially in the Prophecy courses of Dispensationalist theology; (Pat

Robertson 68–69)

d. The Olivet Discourse

The connection between the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24, Mk 13 and Luke 21),

the prophecies of Ezekiel, the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation of John should

be popularised. This would make it easier to better appreciate the progress of biblical

prophecy history;

e. Discouragement of Date-Setting

The tendency to set dates for Christ's Second Coming as exemplified in

appendix A, which have become the past-time of numerous pop-theologians, would

become a thing of the past, if the Post-millennial eschatology becomes more and more

popular;

f. Mobilisation

Men and youths, who were the main victims of defeatist eschatology, in terms

of gravitating away from the Church, must begin to be remobilised, through concerted

seminars on Christian victory and dominion as prophesied by Genesis 3:15; Psalm

110:1, 4; and Matthew 16:18.

g. Authorship of Post-millennial Books

Theologians who have made extensive research concerning the Post-millennial

eschatology should be sponsored and encouraged to write books in this area.

Furthermore, concerted efforts should be made to elevate such books to become

textbooks in Seminaries and Bible Colleges.

In a nutshell, these recommendations will bring about the re-reading of the Thessalonians

text, particularly, 1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:11 and other related texts, from the Postmillennial

view-point as against the current Premillennial teachings that have pervaded the Nigerian

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Church. This research is not a closed book, but leaves behind a wide open door for further

researches.

h. Research Programmes in Eschatology: Masters and Doctoral Degrees should be

created in the field of Eschatology, which hitherto has never been so, at least in the

Orthodox theological circles. Eventually, professorial positions could be expected in

this area.

122
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