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". . . . . we ourselves glory (boast) in you in the churches of God for your patience and
faith in all your persecutions and tribulations which ye endure" (1: 4).
Anechesthe, ye endure, is in the present tense, you are enduring, showing that the
persecution was still going on when Paul wrote. He was greatly cheered as he saw this
practical demonstration of the reality of their faith, the faith that keeps steadfast under
suffering. In the first letter he had reminded them that this was part of God's will for
them.
"that no man should be moved by these afflictions; for yourselves know that we are
appointed thereunto",
so that they might be `counted worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer'
(II Thess. 2: 5). Tribulation is the translation of thlipsis which is used four times either as
a noun or verb in this context (verses 4, 6 and 7). It is difficult to bring this over into
English as we have no verb associated with the word tribulation. If we render thlipsis
`oppression', then somewhat literally we have:
"Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense oppression to those who
oppress you. And to you who are oppressed, rest with us at the apocalypse (revelation)
of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His might angels . . . . ."
The R.V. preserves the insistence on these words by translating thlipsis `affliction', "if
so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict
you, and to you that are afflicted rest with us . . . . ." There is an even-handed justice
being worked out here. The suffering endured by the Thessalonian believers would be
meted out by the Lord to their persecutors and this, said the Apostle, was a righteous
thing. The Lord's apocalypse or revelation is brought before them as the final solution of
their sufferings. Then, after all the tension and affliction, there would be relaxation and
rest.
"And to you that are afflicted rest with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from
heaven with the angels of His power, in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that
know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus" (7-9 R.V.).
Anesis, rest, is a vivid word which means release from tension, a sudden ending to all
the testing and persecution. This apocalypse is the same event as described in Rev. 19:,
Matt. 24: 25, 31, (see also I Cor. 1: 7; I Pet. 1: 7, 13). It is not possible to introduce a
secret coming in any of these passages. Those who do so bring confusion into the
context. Nor is it sound exposition to try and make the coming, parousia, the personal
arrival or presence of the Lord detailed in I Thess. 4:, different from His revelation
here. In I Thessalonians believers are waiting for the Son from heaven and this is
bound up with the Parousia. The same believers are told in II Thessalonians that they
would obtain rest from suffering at the Lord's revelation from heaven with His mighty
angels, therefore these two terms must refer to the same event, which Matt. 25: 31
links with His arrival on the earth with power and great majesty, the King of kings and
Lord of lords of Rev. 19: The Thessalonian saints could not have had two different
phases of the Lord's descent from His present glory as their hope at one and the same
time.