The New Testament books of First and Second Thessalonians have a very strong parallel with Endtimes prophecy from the book of Daniel. In these letters, the Apostle Paul reminds the church of his previous teaching to them, in person, on the subject of the Endtimes. His clarification to them is welcome for us as well. The Holy Spirit wanted us to have this clarity. Beyond that he also gives us some very important new details about the Rapture and the Tribulation. The passage in chapter 4 is unique and gives us expanded support for the PreTribulation Rapture.

It’s clear to me that what the Thessalonians questioned is something that we all question: Timing! … and that shows the complexity that we all find in studying Endtimes. Refer to our graphic timelines.

Paul in Thessalonica: Acts 17

1 Thessalonians 1:5 …for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

The Uniquely Eschatological purpose of Thessalonians

Certainly not the sole purpose, the letters of 1-2 Thessalonians have a lot to say about Persecution, Sanctification and Encouragement. However, as shown below, with a total of 8 chapters, every single chapter has Endtimes related references except the final chapter of Exhortation. The Apostle is answering some concerns that the church had about the coming of Christ and the Endtimes.

First Concern: The Timing of the Day of The Lord Judgement

It is important to recognize that the Day of the Lord (Endtimes judgement) was the main concern of the Christians at Thessalonica. They thought that maybe they had entered into the Day of the Lord, no doubt due to their persecution. This is a common experience today amongst Christians (and others) that ask “Are we in the Endtimes?” (see our blog post on this subject) – The Apostle answers in the same way we do today – Look for the signs!

Paul begins to answer this right away in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 in his opening salutation. 

1 Thessalonians 1:10 For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, ¹⁰and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.

1 Thessalonians 5:9  For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Verse 10 states a foundational truth and there is no point in going further without trying to understand it

Jesus rescues Christians from the wrath to come!

Not from pain and suffering, (1 Peter 4:12) obviously not from persecution – they were being persecuted 2 Thessalonians 1:4) To make sure we aren’t mis-identifying their concern, in verse 2 of the same chapter he writes this:

For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.

and

2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, ²that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. ³Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, ⁴who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

In context then, Jesus rescues true believers from the wrath of the Day of The Lord, the Tribulation, not by letting them go through it, but by rescuing them from it, as it says. (See also Revelation 3:10 and 2 Kings 2:11-12 )  This was their concern. This clearly supports the PreTribulation Rapture View, and Paul will make the case even stronger in chapter 4. He’s just getting warmed up!

Trivia: Note that the letters to the Thessalonians were written in the 50’s AD, and the Gospel of John around AD 85-95. That makes this verse (1 Thessalonians 1:10) the earliest PreTribulation Rapture verse in the Bible.

Why this can’t be General Wrath

Being rescued from the wrath of God is a general statement that we could all make. (Matthew 3:7) Salvation in general removes us from God’s wrath and condemnation, as Romans 8:1 says – Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

However, that is not the context of Thessalonians. The context of Wrath here is specifically the Day of the Lord. As we will show below, the Day of the Lord begins at the start of the Tribulation.

The Gathering

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, ²that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed

The word Gathering used in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 in context describes the snatching away (Rapture) event where Jesus causes Christians of all the ages to be Gathered – to meet him in the air as it says in 1 Thessalonians 4 and John 14. The teaching of Paul  in this passage is that the Gathering together can’t happen apart from the signs of the start of the Tribulation – Apostasy and Antichrist. (see Revelation 6:1 – the White Horse – False Christ)

In other words, the Day of the Lord judgment hasn’t begun until the key signs are present. However, Jesus promised in chapter 1:10 to rescue believers from the wrath of the Day of the Lord, so it’s unclear if believers in that day will see the day coming, maybe in the form of birth pangs, or possibly they will see the beginnings of the activities of the Antichrist (the season) prior to the moment that the Restrainer (see below) stops restraining the activities of Satan. We don’t know the exact amount of time (minutes, seconds?)  between the Rapture and the full revealing of the Antichrist, but we know now that believers won’t be here to see it, those that have trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation. The Antichrist may very well be alive in the world today. As the Rapture (described in detail in chapter 4) is imminent, we wait for the Antichrist’s covenant (peace treaty) with Israel to kick off the 7-year Tribulation. (Daniel 9:27)

“And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

This passage, Daniel 9:27 encapsulates the entire 7-year Tribulation. The Day of the Lord begins when the Lamb of God opens the first of seven seals in Revelation 6:1, halting the restraining act of the Holy Spirit, and revealing the Antichrist, the rider of the White Horse who goes out to conquer. 

Always remember that the Antichrist is a False Christ and friend to Israel until the middle of the week. (3.5 years) when he will sit in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and demand worship, claiming to be God.

Second Concern – Those who have died In Christ

They have concerns, and clearly the Endtimes information that the Apostle gave them in person was a bit too much for them to digest. It’s the same for us, so again, clarity is needed. Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. In this case we are given the complete detail about the dual nature of the Second Coming, and the other references to the coming of Christ will make more sense.

• Phase I:   The Rapture of the Church in the Air (Joyous Gathering, Reunion, Resurrection, Comfort, The Church Age is over. Daniel’s Seventieth Week and the Day of the Lord has begun)
• Phase II: The Second Coming in Judgement (Revelation 19), then the Resurrection of the OT Saints

New Prophecy

Chapter 4 uses a very special and unusual phrase: For this we say to you by the word of the Lord

Similar Example: 1 Corinthians 7:10 – But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband

The writers of the New Testament didn’t need to preface everything they said in this way. When they did we take notice. The writer is saying “Here comes something new from the Lord”, or a mystery revealed. Something previously unknown or hidden. In this case, something he hadn’t previously or fully revealed. 

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. ¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. ¹⁵For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷Then we who are alive and remain will 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. ¹⁸Therefore comfort one another with these words.

The event described here is not the Second Coming, but the Gathering (catching up, snatching) of all believers of the Church Age. This is cleared up by the Apostle in the previous chapters. This is what a Rescue looks like, or as Jesus says in Revelation 3:10

Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth… I am coming quickly

Why All believers of the Church Age? The passage doesn’t just describe the gathering, but a Resurrection.  (1 Corinthians 15)

Those that Died in Christ

Back to their Second Concern, those that died in Christ (‘fallen asleep’).

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve

We are not sure what specific concern the Thessalonians had about their departed Christian friends and family, but they were extremely concerned.

Possibly…

• Their participation in the Rapture and the Resurrection of Church Age believers?
• The timing of their Resurrection since we know there are more than one? (see here)
• Their current state? Are they living a conscious existence?

The Apostle makes it clear that those believers will be with Christ when he comes, and they will participate in the Resurrection described here and in 1 Corinthians 15. So yes they are living a conscious existence, and will participate in the resurrection of the Church Age believers, modeled after Christ’s resurrection. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus

Does Thessalonians reference the Second Coming in Judgement?

Yes it does, and the context is completely different, showing the other side of the coin.

2 Thessalonians 1:6-8

For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,⁸ dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

More on the Rapture subject here

Section Conclusion

The Apostle Paul through the Holy Spirit answers all concerns, theirs and ours. 

1. The timing of the Day of the Lord is the focus
2. The signs of the Day of the Lord are clarified and expanded (Apostasy, Antichrist, Restrainer, Peace and Safety)
3. The Rescue is explained – The Pretribulation Rapture is fully revealed – believers are Resurrected and Rescued from the Endtimes wrath being discussed.

New Revelation on the Tribulation

The Holy Spirit elaborates on the signs of the Day of the Lord

Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. ²For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. ³While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. ⁴But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief;

1. It seems that the Apostle had already explained the general timeline to them and the letters of Thessalonians are reminders and clarifications.
2. The Day of the Lord will come just like a Thief in the Night. 
   • Totally Unexpected, Totally Unexpected, and Totally Unexpected – picture it, like any other day.
3. Peace and Safety – this is new revelation and it clarifies the timing of the Day of the Lord
   • At the Second Coming in judgement no one will be saying Peace and Safety
   • At the Midpoint of the Tribulation no one will be saying Peace and Safety
   • The initiation of the 7-year Covenant with Antichrist is the Peace and Safety

The Man of Lawlessness

The main event of the story of the AntiChrist is communicated in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12, which lines up with the Book of Daniel and Jesus statements in Matthew 24. — so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God

While Antiochus IV set up Zeus worship in the Temple (Daniel 11:21-35) , leading to the Maccabean Revolt, the Antichrist will sit in the Temple as God. (Daniel 11:36-39, Near-Far Prophecy)

In 2 Thessalonians 2, we do learn of two new features of the Endtimes – the Restrainer and the Apostasy.

The Day of the Lord, from the start of the Tribulation to the New Heaven and Earth, cannot begin until the Restrainer is taken out of the way and the AntiChrist is revealed, at the time of the signing of a peace treaty with Israel. Somehow the Apostate Church, or false religious system is an intricate part of this event.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4

Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, ⁴who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God

The Restrainer

He who restrains (masculine) cannot refer to the removed Church at the Rapture. There are many views but my (flexible) belief is that the Restrainer is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is omnipresent and can’t be removed. He restrains the work of Satan until the appointed time, around the beginning of the Tribulation. (Note on the Restrainer being ‘taken out of the way’, see Colossians 2:14 (same word is used – μέσος) where our certificate of debt is ‘taken out of the way’ . In this case the taking out does not need to be a spatial removal)

And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. ⁷For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.(2 Thessalonians 2:6-7)

The mystery of lawlessness that we see all around us is at work through Satan before the Antichrist comes on the scene, and will explode during the Tribulation, when the restraints are lifted.

The Apostasy

Acts 21:21 – Fall away from, Abandon, Forsake, ἀποστασία

1 Timothy 4:1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons

This particular Apostasy is a mass falling away or renunciation of the Christian Faith by people that professed to be Christians. During the Tribulation they are aligned with Antichrist. Based on the ordering in 2 Thessalonians 2, the Apostate system is part of the ushering in of the AntiChrist, and that is the time when the Restraining influence of the Holy Spirit stops, allowing the timeline to proceed.

The Apostle Paul is reminding the Thessalonians, based on his previous discussions with them, that they don’t need to fear the Day of the Lord:

• They are not destined for wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9)
• They would need to see the events he just described to indicate the Day of the Lord had begun.
• They haven’t missed the gathering together.

The Apostle Paul

The Apostle Paul (formerly Saul of Tarsus), a Jewish Pharisee, (Philippians 3, Acts 5, Acts 22) educated under Gamaliel, revealed through the Holy Spirit various Endtimes related truths. By way of background, in 2 Corinthians 12 he describes a very unique experience he had. 

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. ³And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows— ⁴was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak

Acts 9 describes the Apostle’s initial encounter with the resurrected Jesus.

“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Who are you, Lord? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 

The Apostle through the Holy Spirit went on to reveal (or expand on) the following Endtimes related prophecies in his Epistles.

• The Rapture and the Dead in Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
• The Day of the Lord (1 Thess 5, 2 Thess 2)
• Peace and Safety
• The Apostasy (2 Thess 2)
• The Man of Lawlessness, The AntiChrist (1 Thess 5, 2 Thess 2)
• The Restrainer (2 Thess 2)
• The Second Coming and destruction of AntiChrist (2 Thess 2:8-11)
• The Resurrection of the Saints (1 Corinthians 15)
• The future restoration and salvation of the Nation of Israel (Romans 11)
• The AntiChrist is aligned with Satan, operating in the power of Satan
• The AntiChrist will perform signs and wonders to deceive people.
• God, will at some point during the Tribulation send a deluding influence to unbelievers, so that they will believe what is false, as he did to Pharaoh (2 Thess 2:8-11, Exodus 9:12)
• The Mystery of the Church (Ephesians 3:4-6)

Conclusion

God has not destined any believers for the Day of the Lord wrath of God, to go through any part of the Tribulation. On the contrary, as Jesus says “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me” (John 14)

Thessalonians is unique in Endtimes content and is a companion to the Book of Revelation. Often in the Bible we get compressed views of the future. In this case we get great detail.

See also The Church in Prophecy, The Book of Daniel, Seventy Weeks Prophecy, The Rapture and The Book of Revelation