Dynamic Studies in 1st & 2nd Thessalonians

Introduction to Thessalonians

So what’s the big deal about Thessalonica?

“Modern” day readers around the world often wonder why Paul, perhaps the most intelligent, well-read and most highly educated man of his time, would bother to write not just one, but two letters to the people living in this ancient city.

To understand why he did so one must understand the city and its place at the time and in history.
Upon investigation we find Thessalonica was founded in 315 B.C. by Cassander. Cassander was the son-in-law of Philip of Macedonia. He was married to the half-sister, by the name of Thessalonike, of Alexander the Great. Cassander served as one of Alexander’s four key generals and named his new city after his wife.

The city prospered. It sported a natural harbor at the head of the Thermaic Gulf. As such, it was situated directly on the main route between Rome and the East. Cicero was reportedly in exile there in 58 B.C. (Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman statesman, lawyer and philosopher who played an important role in the politics in the later days of the Roman Republic. He tried, without success, to uphold republican principles during the turmoil that led to the establishment of the Roman Empire.)

During the struggles surrounding the establishment of the Roman Empire, the city leaders cooperated with Marc Antony and Caesar Augustus (known during the time of the struggles as Octavius). Because of the Thessalonian support of these notables of history against the almost equally known Cassius and Brutus, Rome declared Thessalonica to be a free city, like Athens.

As a free city, the Thessalonians were essentially permitted to rule themselves in terms of their internal affairs. Their overseers, called “politarchs,” functioned as magistrates and were chosen from the ranks of what has been termed a “people’s assembly.” Consequently, no Roman soldiers were stationed there, although there was never any doubt that the city existed and operated at the pleasure of the Roman Empire.

As time passed it became the largest city in Macedonia by population and in Paul’s day is assumed to have had a population of about 200,000. While the metropolis operated as a free city, the leaders were acutely aware of their somewhat tenuous position with Rome. They had to accord Rome homage or risk their perceived freedom.

While there were many heathen temples in this city, there was only one Synagogue of which we are aware. It was into this environment that Paul entered as an “itinerant preacher” but tentmaker by trade. We must be cautious about labeling Paul as an itinerant preacher as he was so much more in terms of education, intellectual competence, and ultimately world history.

It was Paul’s knowledge of the existent Word of God, known as the Tanakh (which we call the Old Testament) that led to so much change, upheaval and conflict in the first century A.D. He served as a vital part of the vanguard who clearly explained that Jesus Christ was the Jewish Messiah promised for thousands of years.

When a person then trusted in Jesus as Lord they began to run into problems with the Roman overseers. The Romans taught that Caesar was the supreme lord and did not take it lightly when someone founded and acted otherwise. Indeed, as we see in a study of the book of Revelation, the time would come when those not willing to annually acknowledge this with a pinch of incense on an altar would be subject to execution. (Polycarp, an early leader of the church in Smyrna was burned at the stake for just such an “infraction.”) The city leaders in Thessalonica feared losing their “free” status if they and their citizens did not proffer appropriate obsequiousness to the Roman Emperor.

As a result of the work of Paul and his compatriots, many Jews and then Gentiles trusted in the Jewish Messiah. As they studied the Scriptures they learned about more than the first coming of Jesus which was either mentioned or alluded to over 300 times. They also read about His second coming. As noted by the late Gordon Haresign, Chairman of the Board of Scripture Union, in his excellent book Living in Anticipation of Our Lord’s Return: An Exegetical and Devotional Commentary on Paul’s Letters to the Thessalonians, “scholars have identified over 1,800 references to Christ’s second coming in the Bible.” Indeed, it is mentioned in 17 of 39 books in the Old Testament and in 23 of the 27 books in the New Testament.

This was obviously an important part of the teaching and understanding of “early” believers. Such a position is evident from beginning to end in the New Testament documents and is particularly at the fore in the letters to the Thessalonians. It ties in with other biblical themes including the eventual appearing of an imposter sometimes known as the “lawless one” throughout prophetic references in the biblical record.

While many cities of antiquity have passed into obscurity, Thessalonica has not. It has survived great fires, invasions, battles as well as bombings in the Second World War. It is currently regarded as the second most important city in Greece with a population of over one million residents in the metropolitan area and is most often referred to as Thessaloniki or by its Anglicized name, Salonica (or Salonika). Its most prominent industries today are shipping, trade, banking and tobacco.

The first letter to the Thessalonians is actually the first of the New Testament documents to be written down. It was penned less than 20 years after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Every chapter refers to His second coming.