II THESSALONIANS 1:3-12

In the overall organization of II Thessalonians, the title verses are parallel to 2:13-15, as indicated by exact repetition of the phrase in bold shown in Figure 1.

                                 Figure 1: Literary Structure of II Thessalonians 1:3-2:15

A. Thanksgiving (1:3-12) “We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren.”

B. Satan in Action (2:1-2:12)

A'. Thanksgiving (2:13-15) “We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren.”

There are a number of reasons for drawing the boundaries of Section A as pictured above:

    a. This letter contains exactly seven addresses to “brothers,” some of which mark the beginning of a new section (as in. 1:3; 2:1; 2:13; and 3:1). Section A begins with one of these addresses just as Section B begins with the next one.

    b. The word “faith” at 1:3 and 1:11 serves as an inclusio [i.e. a set of bookends] for the section under our consideration.

    c. Section A contains exactly seven (the biblical number symbolic of completeness or perfection) mentions of “God,” beginning in v. 3 and ending with v. 12.

    d. There are similarly exactly seven times in Section A that words denoting various kinds of suffering appear, a tip-off as to the main theme of these verses.

Next, zeroing in on our particular verses of interest, we again see a form of symmetry:

                                     Figure II. Literary Structure of II Thessalonians 1:3-12

    1. We give thanks for you (3)

        2. Your love and faith are increasing (4)

            3. “make you worthy of the kingdom of God” (5)

                4. God's Judgment (6-11)

                    a. on persecutors (6)

                        b. relief for believers (7)

                    a'. on the wicked (8-9)

                        b'. believers marvel (10)

    1'. We pray for you (11a)

            3'. “make you worthy of his call” (11b)

        2'. Fulfill every work of faith and glorify Jesus (12)

In this case, both the center section 4 and the passage as a whole end with the same Greek root for “glory/glorify.”

There is so much that could be, and has been, said regarding the individual verses in this passage that I am going to limit myself to only citations from the anonymous contributors to Dictionary of Biblical Imagery to again demonstrate the value of that resource in Bible study.

“Faith is frequently measured in quantitative terms...Though the faith of some may be weak (e.g. Rom 14:1), there is always room for it to grow (Lk 17:5; 2 Cor 10:15; 2 Thess 1:3).”

“God provides the resources for the harvest of righteousness to increase (2 Cor 9:10) and in which faith and love increase (Phil 4:17; 1 Thess 3:12; 2 Thess 1:3).”

“Justice is one of the most outstanding attributes of God in Scripture...'a faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he' (Deut 32:4 NIV; see also Neh 9:13,33; Is 58:2; Jn 5:30; 2 Thess 1:6).”

“We find approximately thirty reference to God's vengeance in the OT prophets, buttressed by similar references in the eschatological passages of the NT (Mt 16:27; Lk 21;22; 2 Thess 1:8; Rev 18:6).”

“Hell is ...pictured by the image of darkness..This image appears to indicate consignment to chaos, being shut out of God's favorable presence and his good creation, since creation began with God calling light and darkness (Gen 1:1-3; see also 2 Thess 1:9; 1 Jn 1:5).”

“The Thessalonians have 'turned to God from idols...to wait for his Son from heaven' (1 Thess 1:9-10 NRSV), an event associated with the climactic movement when he will 'descend from heaven' (1 Thess 4:16 NRSV).”

When Paul speaks of the Day of the Lord (e.g. 1 Cor 5:5; 1 Thess 5:2,4; 2 Thess 1:10; 22) he quite naturally uses the image of the divine warrior's day of triumph. The parousia, or arrival, of Christ is a christological interpretation of the coming of the divine warrior.”

“The context [ of 2 Thess 1:10] sets the scene for us to picture Christ's coming from a place off the world stage.”

I will close with a citation from Abraham Smith regarding 2 Thessalonians 1:12 concerning which he notes that it “draws on Isaiah (66:5), but avers that Jesus (not God, as in Isaiah) will be glorified.”