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2 Thessalonians 1 supports amillennialism because it is in tension with all the other major millennial views.
First, 2 Thessalonians 1 is in tension with pretribulational and midtribulational premillennialism. It supports the idea that the Second Coming of Christ is a unified event rather than two chronologically distinct events. That is, the saints' rapture and Christ's open appearance take place together. Verses 6-7 indicate that the revelation (apokalupsis) of Christ brings a reversal of status. Relief to Christians can only be identified with the rapture. Trouble to persecutors involves not a seven-year tribulation but hell, as described in verse 9. Both sides of this reversal take place simultaneously, namely “in” the open appearance of Christ described in verses 7b. Hence, the rapture of Christians and the consignment of unbelievers to hell take place at the same time.
Second, 2 Thessalonians 1 is in tension with posttribulational premillennialism. It knows of only two classes of people, namely Christians and their opponents. At the Second Coming, Christians enjoy eternal glory (verse 10), and their opponents experience eternal destruction in hell (verse 9). Both destinies are final and irreversible. Moreover, we know from other passages that at the Second Coming, Christians have resurrection bodies, not subject to death. Their opponents experience eternal death. Hence, immediately after the Second Coming, no human beings are left with bodies in a nonfinal state. No one could populate a supposed millennium so that more children might be born and that some human beings would still experience a later physical death. Posttribulational premillennialism can be rescued only by introducing a third category of people who are neither Christian nor opponents of Christianity. However, the idea of a third category contradicts the uniform testimony of Scripture that there are only two classes of people: those who are for Yahuwah and those who are against him. Producing a third class out of thin air also threatens to modify the seriousness of the gospel message by introducing the idea of a “second chance” for this third class in the millennium.
Third, 2 Thessalonians 1 is in tension with postmillennialism. Verses 5-7 indicate that Christians may continue to expect trouble for a while. They are to anticipate relief from the Second Coming, not merely from a coming time of millennial prosperity, as postmillennialism would have it.
Let us begin by looking at pretribulational and midtribulational premillennialism. In both of these views, the rapture of the saints and the open appearance of Christ are chronologically distinct. Only the saints see Christ at the rapture, while the visible Second Coming occurs several years later. The idea that we have here two chronologically separate events does not easily harmonize with 2 Thessalonians 1.
Let us start with verses 6-7. Verses 6-7 indicate that Christ's revelation (apokalupsis) brings a reversal of status. Those who trouble you will be troubled, and you who are troubled will experience relief. “You” means the Thessalonian Christians. Paul includes himself and his friends by saying, “And to us as well.” The relief envisioned here is relief from the trouble that the Thessalonian Christians and other Christians are now experiencing at the hands of opponents.
Verse 7 specifies that this relief comes “in the revelation of Yahushua Christ from heaven with his powerful angels . . . .” That is, relief comes in connection with this revelation of Yahushua Christ. It comes at the time of this revelation and as an aspect or implication of this revelation. By implication, the Thessalonian Christians should not focus their hopes on expecting relief before the revelation of Yahushua Christ. Other passages confirm that Christians must expect suffering and persecution in this world (1 Thess 3:4; 2:14; 2 Tim 3:1-13; 4:4-5; Acts 14:22; 1 Pet 4:1-5, 12-19).
The time Christians experience relief can only be identified with the rapture (as in 1 Thess 4:13-18). Paul expects troubles to continue up until the rapture. And there can be no more trouble for Christians after they have been raptured. Whatever the details about the second coming of Christ, the fundamental transition for Christians occurs when the rapture brings them relief from troubles.
Before we proceed further, we must briefly deal with one parenthetical difficulty. Living in the twentieth century, we know that the Thessalonian Christians, as well as Paul and his friends, died before the Second Coming took place. They got a certain “relief” from their troubles at the time of their death rather than at the rapture.
How do we deal with this difficulty? We must remember that even though Paul was writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit did not reveal to him or to anyone else the time of the Second Coming (Mark 13:32; Acts 1:7). Hence Paul speaks as one who might be alive at the time of the Second Coming (1 Thess 4:15; 1 Cor 15:51). Moreover, the Thessalonians knew that some Christians had already died, and more would die if the Coming of Christ were still some years distant (1 Thess 4:13-14). Quite correctly, Paul did not focus their hopes on the possibility of their coming death but on the certainty of the rapture. Death is but a partial and ambiguous “relief”; the real relief comes with the resurrection of the body (1 Thess 4:13-18; 2 Cor 5:4; 1 Cor 15:51-57). Hence, in 2 Thessalonians 1, Paul speaks as one who focuses on the Second Coming. If Paul had included technical qualifications about the fact that some Christians might die before the Second Coming, it would distract from the main point.
Moreover, Paul had already explained this kind of complex qualification to the Thessalonians in 1 Thess 4:13-18. We conclude that 2 Thessalonians 1 applies preeminently to all Christians who are alive at the time of the Second Coming. But subordinately, it applies to all who have died with respect to the body and await the resurrection. They, too, long for the Second Coming, as in Rev 6:9-10.
With this matter settled, we may continue considering the teaching of 2 Thessalonians 1. The specific language used in verses 7-10 indicates that this time of relief is the time of the open appearance of Christ. It is “the revelation (apokalupsei) of Yahushua Christ from heaven with his powerful angels in blazing fire, giving vengeance to those who do not know Yahuwah . . . .” To an average reader, this description certainly sounds like the open, visible Second Coming. The “revelation” is not just visible to the saints but is a revelation that includes blazing fire for taking vengeance on Yahuwah’s enemies.
Moreover, in the OT, the “revelation” or appearance of Yahuwah is regularly the first event in holy war. Yahuwah appears in glory and power to fight against his enemies (Zech 14:3-4; 9:14-16; Isa 63:1; 66:15-16; Hab 3:3-15; etc.). Vengeance is a consequence of appearing. This same pattern is evident in 2 Thess 1:7-8, where the vengeance issues are caused by the presence of Yahuwah. Yahuwah appears with the accompaniments of angels and fire, and according to biblical expectations, the angels and fire are integral instruments in executing vengeance.
Thus, the rapture of the saints, the point at which they are relieved, comes “in” the revelation of Yahushua Christ openly. The two events–the rapture and the revelation—are simultaneous. They are two aspects of the revelation of Yahushua Christ.
Advocates of pretribulational and midtribulational views have difficulty here. They may argue that despite the strong language of verses 7-8, we have to do with an appearance of Christ to Christians alone. The description here must relate only to the rapture, not to the open Second Coming. But in so arguing, they pull apart the appearing (which they say is to Christians alone) and the acts of vengeance (which is directed to non-Christians). Such a separation is wholly artificial. Yahuwah appears to his enemies as a means of judging and punishing them. The OT shows the regular theological and causal linkage between the two in its depictions of the day of the Lord.
Even if we grant to pretribulationists and midtribulationists the possibility of such a separation, they have still not escaped all their difficulties. The symmetry in verses 6-7 indicates that the revelation of Yahushua Christ has two sides. The one side involves relief for Christians (the rapture). The other side involves punishment for their opponents. According to pretribulational and midtribulational views, the punishment is the Great Tribulation itself. But that is not what 2 Thessalonians 1 says. The opponents receive “vengeance” in connection with the blazing fire of Christ’s appearance (verse 8). This vengeance is further defined in verse 9 as “eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his might.” Verse 9 discusses punishment in hell, not in some tribulation period. Note also the linkages between the presence of the Lord in verse 9 and his revelation in verse 7, between the punishment in verse 9 and vengeance in verse 8, between “his might” in verse 9 and the “powerful angels” in verse 7. The close linkages make it very awkward to try to distinguish two different stages here. The Thessalonian Christians would surely have understood the description as one unified picture, in agreement with the unified images of the “day of the Lord” in the OT.
The chronological unity of the events is further reinforced by the conjunction “when” at the beginning of verse 10. Verses 9 and 10 offer us the exact symmetrical antithesis, as do verses 6-7. In verses 9 and 10, the saints experience relief and vindication, while the wicked experience hell. The two judgments are simultaneous (“when”), just as the reversal in verses 6-7 involves simultaneous relief for the saints and punishment for their opponents.
In short, the consignment of non-Christians to hell is simultaneous with the relief of Christians in the rapture. There is no intermediate stage of tribulation between the two events.
Therefore, the rapture of the saints and the open appearing of Christ take place together. At this point, 2 Thessalonians 1 is in tension with pretribulation and midtribulational premillennialism.
Second, let us consider the position of historical premillennialism, that is, classical premillennialism. In this view, the Second Coming is a single unified event; after this one event comes a period of millennial peace and prosperity, during which people still give birth to children and die.
2 Thessalonians 1 creates difficulties for this position as well. It knows of only two classes of people, namely Christians and their opponents. Technically speaking, in verse 6, Paul speaks only of the persecutors, not all non-Christians. But persecution is only the most virulent form of rejection of Yahuwah, characterizing all non-Christians (Eph 4:17-19; 2:1-3; Rom 3:9-20). Hence, in principle, Paul’s description applies to the broader group. By verse 8, the description has broadened out. Retribution comes to “those who do not know Yahuwah and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Yahushua.”
In short, at the Second Coming, Christians enjoy eternal glory (verse 10), and non-Christians experience eternal destruction in hell (verse 9). Both destinies are final and irreversible. Moreover, we know from other passages that Christians have resurrection bodies, not subject to death. Non-Christians experience eternal death. Hence, no human beings are left with bodies in a nonfinal state. No one could populate a supposed millennium in order that more children might be born and that some human beings would still experience a later physical death. Interestingly, pretribulationists are well aware of this difficulty and use it as an argument against posttribulationist premillennialism.14
The absence of human beings in an intermediate category is more than merely an incidental technical difficulty. The whole of the Bible teaches that people are either for Yahuwah or against him. There is no neutrality in the spiritual warfare described in Eph 6:10-20, 1 John 5:18-21, and Revelation.
The gospel itself is at stake in this issue. The only remedy for sin and spiritual rebellion is found in the sacrifice of Yahushua Christ. If you are united to Christ, you are redeemed. If you are not so united, you are not redeemed. At the Second Coming, those united to Christ receive resurrection bodies, and those not so united go to hell. There is no third category; there are no people in a no-man’s-land in between. Christ is the only redeemer (Acts 4:12). “He who is not with me is against me,” he says (Matt 12:30). “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of Yahuwah does not have life” (1 John 5:12). Hence, it is not possible to introduce a hypothetical third category without doing violence to central truths of the gospel.
Posttribulational premillennialists have commonly suggested based on texts like Zech 12:10-13:1, Rom 11:26, and Rev 1:7 that numerous Jews will place their faith in Christ at the time of his appearance. At first blush, this theory might appear to offer a helpful escape. But there are problems with it.
First, it is unclear that the theory can be reconciled with 2 Thessalonians 1 since 2 Thessalonians 1 so clearly operates in terms of two categories of people. Second, none of the verses offered in support of the theory clearly locates a conversion of the Jews at the very moment of Christ’s visible appearance rather than before it. Third, neither these biblical passages nor others contain a hint that would encourage us to break down the fundamental dichotomy between the saved and the lost. Fourth, no passage in the New Testament encourages us to introduce the pastorally dangerous idea that the final appearance of Christ opens a “second chance” for salvation rather than the termination of the time of salvation. Hence, if Jews are saved through Christ, they enjoy the same privileges as all the saved, namely resurrection bodies at the coming of Christ.
Finally, let us consider postmillennialism. Postmillennialism says that, through the gospel, allegiance to Christ and Christian obedience will gradually spread throughout the world until most people are Christians. Societies and their institutions will progressively conform to the will of Yahuwah, and an era of great peace and prosperity will ensue before the Second Coming.
This sort of thing might happen. I am optimistic about the future because I am awed by the power of Yahuwah for salvation in the gospel (Rom 1:16). Christ may return very soon, but if he does not return in the next hundred years, we may see a great harvest for the gospel. Some other amillennialists display the same optimism.
What is the difference between this sort of “optimistic amillennialism” and a full-blown postmillennialism? Is there any significant difference at all?
2 Thessalonians 1 helps to indicate one difference that remains. 2 Thessalonians 1, I claim, asks us to focus our hopes on the Second Coming of Christ, not on a hypothetical millennial prosperity before the Second Coming. The rest of the New Testament has a similar focus. Thus, in my mind, the main issue separating contemporary amillennialists and postmillennialists is not the issue of mere possibility; that is, the issue of what might happen if Christ’s return is still some decades away. Instead, the problem is whether biblical promise and prophecy invite Christians to focus hopes on such a millennial possibility. Is such prosperity the main focus of prophetic expectation, and is it a certainty guaranteed by prophecy? Postmillennialists say yes, and on that basis, they confidently expect that the Second Coming is still a pretty long way off. Hence, they find it theologically inappropriate and psychologically impossible to focus their most urgent, immediate hope and expectation primarily on the Second Coming. In contrast, premillennialists and amillennialists think that the Second Coming is the next main event in Yahuwah’s plan for history. It may be very soon, and they hope and pray for the Lord’s coming.
Now consider 2 Thessalonians 1. 2 Thessalonians 1 is in tension with postmillennialism, insofar as postmillennialists want to focus hopes on a coming millennial prosperity. The text of verses 5-7 indicates that Christians may continue to expect trouble fowhile. They are to anticipate relief from the Second Coming, not merely from a coming time of millennial prosperity, as postmillennialists would have it.
Some postmillennialists have endeavored to escape the implications of 2 Thessalonians 1 by postulating that 2 Thessalonians describes the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. rather than the Second Coming.
There is no escaping the fact that from the standpoint of the Thessalonian Christians 2 Thessalonians 1 is “obviously” about the Second Coming. Paul knew the capabilities of the Thessalonians and did not intend to confuse them. Hence, Paul was actually talking about the Second Coming.
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But we claim that this approach cannot reasonably be sustained in dealing with the Thessalonian letters. 1 Thess 4:13-18 is about the Second Coming. 1 Thess 5:1-10, which is right next door to 1 Thess 4:13-18, must also be about the Second Coming. Hence, 2 Thessalonians 1, which builds on 1 Thessalonians, is also about the Second Coming. Nothing in either letter has any real tendency to point in a direction different from this understanding.
In short, there is no escaping the fact that from the standpoint of the Thessalonian Christians 2 Thessalonians 1 is “obviously” about the Second Coming. Paul knew the capabilities of the Thessalonians and did not intend to confuse them. Hence, Paul was actually talking about the Second Coming.
Curiously, a dispensationalist and a postmillennialist show similarities here. Both appeal to the fact that the Second Coming did not occur in the first century to invalidate the reference of 1:7-10 to the Second Coming. Both interpret 2 Thessalonians 1 within a complex, fully articulated eschatological position, with little regard for whether the Thessalonian readers were as sophisticated as they.
The manner of argument here alerts us again to the problems we all confront concerning the circularities in biblical interpretation. It is easy for us to assume that Paul and the Thessalonians held beliefs precisely like our own. That is, we postulate that the Apostle Paul had taught the Thessalonian Christians precisely what we happen to believe. Granted that postulate, we presume that the Thessalonians knew what we know. Knowing what we know, the Thessalonians naturally understood Paul’s letter as we do. Hence, 2 Thessalonians means exactly what we already knew it meant. Hence, it confirms our point of view.
Unfortunately, such an argument is circular. What is the final result of using such a circle? However strained or odd our modern interpretation may be, we can still assure ourselves that the understanding of the Thessalonians matches our modern interpretation. After all, the Thessalonians knew what Paul meant because they could place his teaching into a framework already well established by his oral teaching (which was naturally the same as our modern view).
The postulate that the Thessalonians had a sophisticated, complete framework seems attractive because it helps protect our modern positions; however, it is dangerously circular and, I believe, improbable in light of the Thessalonians’ confusion and Paul’s short stay at Thessalonica.
These hermeneutical observations are relevant to 1 Thess 4:13-5:10 and 2 Thessalonians 1. How so?
All agree that 1 Thess 4:13-18 concerns the rapture. Pretribulationists and midtribulationists have usually thought that 1 Thess 5:1-10 concerns the “day of the Lord,” including the Great Tribulation and the open Second Coming. In their view, there are two or more chronologically distinct events here. If indeed we could separate two or more distinct events by means of these passages in 1 Thessalonians, we would at least have some basis for claiming that the Thessalonian Christians already understood pretribulationism when they received 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians 1 would then be confusing to the Thessalonians, but might not overthrow their previous view.
However, the idea that 1 Thess 4:13-5:10 deals with two chronologically separate events has its problems. In interpreting these verses, we are in danger of assuming that the Thessalonian Christians knew a complete system before they received Paul’s letter. For example, can we indeed think that the Thessalonians would already have been familiar with the modern dispensationalist distinctions between the two stages? Or would they have operated instinctively, as a modern dispensationalist does, with a clear-cut distinction between tribulation (broadly conceived) and the Great Tribulation? Would they self-consciously distinguish between being removed from the Tribulation versus being preserved and protected as they passed through it? Would they have seen a word like “wrath” (5:9) as an allusion to the Tribulation in distinction from final judgment? Unless a complete eschatological system aids them, do they have clues to tell them that 1 Thess 4:13-5:10 concerns two successive events rather than two aspects of a single event?
This is a non-WLC article by Vern Poythress.
We have taken out from the original article all pagan names and titles of the Father and Son, and have replaced them with the original given names. Furthermore, we have restored in the Scriptures quoted the names of the Father and Son, as they were originally written by the inspired authors of the Bible. -WLC Team
