Thessalonian Hope

As you are aware in scripture there is an event yet future which involves the Lord returning for his church to be with himself. Few would doubt the means by which we will be brought to him. However for the last few centuries an argument of epic proportions has broken out in evangelical circles. The aim of this article is not to expose any individuals and their practises but to expose individuals to the word of God.

Whilst not an allusion to dispensationalism by any means, scripture reminds us to be able to ‘rightly divide the word of truth’ (2Ti 2:15), this principle should be applied to the study of eschatology. There are some questions we need to address in this section.

· What is the flow of thought between 1 Thess 4 & 5?

· In what way does this correspond to the teaching in the second epistle to the Thessalonians?

If we answer these questions we will in no doubt be a lot closer to determining what the scripture teaches and will deal with this first before we endeavour to cross reference with scriptures elsewhere.

What understanding of the Lords return did the Thessalonians have?

In his address to the believers at Thessalonica Paul that ‘For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord’ (1Th 4:15) concerning the event in question. There are two views on this statement. Some suggest this means that Paul is reinforcing the teaching of the Lord Jesus in his Olivet discourse whilst others would suggest that this deals with a revelation Paul received as is recorded in numerous other sections of scripture (Gal 1:12, Eph 3:3).

This has been debated for centuries though it is highly probable from the text they understood the Lord was coming yet they did not understand the significance of this to those who they thought would miss it. It is likely Paul taught them of the return of Jesus Christ during his stay which can be cited from Acts 17.