Thessalonians Audio Teaching Series
Part 1
Estimated reading time: 16 minutes
Thessalonians: Session 1
We’ll be using my Aramaic translation often throughout this series.
Hebrews 6:19 APNT:
which [hope] we have as an anchor that holds our soul, so that it is not shaken and it enters within the veil
1 Thessalonians 4:16 APNT:
because our Lord, with a command and with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven and the dead who are in Christ will rise up first.
The word translated “command” is the Greek word keleusma. An example of how this word was used in the first century, related to the oarsman in a ship. The oarsman gave the commands to the rowers. The commands were about timing. So, you could think of keleusma like shouting “It’s time!” And then all these things start happening.
1 Thessalonians 4:17–18 APNT:
17 And then we who remain who are living will be caught up with them as one in the clouds for the meeting of our Lord in the air and so we will always be with our Lord.
18 Therefore, comfort one another with these words.
We can think about hope as waiting and eagerly expecting that command. In the Left Behind series, the people left their clothes behind. We don’t have to worry about the past, or about what’s ahead. A focus on the hope gives us strength and a foundation to rest upon.
The purpose of this series is:
- To learn more about the hope, to have a clearer understanding of the events in our minds, and to understand how it will anchor our souls.
- To understand the whole context of the overall themes of Thessalonians.
- To get insight into the culture and history of the first century and the early church.
- To make applications for our city and time today.
Today, the new city, Thessaloniki, was built over or on top of the old city, Thessalonica.
Thessaloniki was built on the site of the ancient city of Therma, so named because of its hot springs. That reminds me of a place where I used to live, called Hot Springs, New Mexico. But because of a talk show contest, Hot Springs was renamed Truth or Consequences. It was similar when Therma was renamed. One of Alexander the Great’s generals, Cassander, had won a great battle and was allowed to rename the city after his wife.
Thessaloniki was located along the Via Egnatia or Egnatian Way, one of the most important roads in the ancient world. The apostle Paul traveled on the Via Egnatia. Here’s a short video showing what it was like:
Short video about the Via Egnatia:
Short video about Thessaloniki:
Thessaloniki is near Mount Olympus, which was considered the home of Zeus and the gods.
Short video of Mount Olympus:
In Thessalonica, women had better status than in most other ancient areas and cultures. Thessalonica was ruled by politarchs. Other cities were colonies with Roman rulers, but Thessalonica was a “free city” and ruled themselves.
Video showing ancient Greek inscriptions:
Up until the 9th century, Aramaic remained a primary language of the entire Near East, covering the whole Roman empire. Many people spoke both Greek and Aramaic. We know that Paul spoke both languages. We don’t know if Paul was good at writing Greek, because he used people to help him write the letters. This bilingualism is why Thessalonica was a perfect place to have the epistles written in both languages. Throughout this series I’ll try to show you how Aramaic and Greek worked together.
Before Paul arrived in Thessalonica, he was on what has become known as Paul’s 2nd Missionary Journey.
In about 50–51 AD, the believers in Antioch (in Syria) sent Paul and Silas to open up some new areas. This was after the Jerusalem Council.
There were already many Gentiles who believed. Some Jews, mostly around Jerusalem, were telling the Gentile Christians that they had to be circumcised and follow the law. The Jerusalem Council declared that they did not need to be circumcised or obey the law.
Silas (also called Sylvanus) was one of the men at the Jerusalem Council. He was one of the men sent from Jerusalem to Antioch to deliver the results of the council. He was a prophet (Acts 15:32). He encouraged the believers in Antioch, and they asked him to stay. Paul asked Silas to accompany him on this journey.
You can see Lystra and Derbe in the upper right of this map, where Timothy joined them.
In Troas is where Luke joined them.
So now you have Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke traveling together to Philippi, a Roman colony. Philippi is the first city opened up in Greece. This is where they meet Lydia. There was no Jewish synagogue there. This is where the woman with the spirit of divination follows Paul around. That upset her employers, so they ended up putting Paul and Silas in jail. That was where the earthquake occurred and Paul and Silas were released from the stocks and they witnessed to the jailer and he believed.
Because of that jail incident, they have to leave Philippi. The travel on the Via Egnatia, or Egnatian Way (see the video above).
They would have been tired from the journey when they arrived in Thessalonica, but perhaps they were greeted by a beautiful sunset over the Aegean Sea.
Acts 17:1 APNT:
And they passed by the cities [of] Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Judeans.
With all the things described in Acts 17, Paul was there for more than just three weeks. After the Jews rejected him, then he went to the Gentiles, where there was a huge outreach. Scholars estimate that they spent five or six months in Thessalonica.
During this time, Paul worked in his trade. Many say that he was a saddlemaker, but it’s more likely that he made cloth for tents out of goat hair. He didn’t actually sew the tents because that was mostly women’s work. But it was an art to make the cloth for the tents. He would have learned that as a boy.
This older book is still available (click for the link) and provides a lot of information about Paul’s activities and the culture of the time.
1 Thessalonians 2:9 KJV:
For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.
Paul would work in the day and preach at night. Starting up a business is not something you would just do in three weeks and then leave.
2 Thessalonians 3:8 KJV:
Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you:
Paul wanted to be an example, not a burden, to the believers. He used is trade as a way to do that.
Philippians 4:15-16 KJV:
15 Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. 16 For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.
When Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke were in Thessalonica, believers in Philippi sent money, twice, to help them. The journey from Philippi to Thessalonica would normally take 3–5 days on foot. That’s another reason we know they were there for more than three weeks.
There was rapid outreach, followed by persecution.
1 Thessalonians 1:5 KJV:
For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
1 Thessalonians 2:14 KJV:
For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews:
Throughout Thessalonians we see that there was a great persecution.
Acts 17:3–4 APNT:
3 explaining and demonstrating that Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead and [saying], “This Jesus is the Messiah whom I declare to you.”
4 And some of them believed and followed Paul and Silas and many of the Greeks who feared God and also notable women, not a few, [followed Paul].
They were doing more than explaining; they were demonstrating. That means it was something you could see, not just words. They demonstrated that Jesus was the Messiah by manifesting the Spirit and healing people, with signs, miracles, and wonders following them.
Jesus Christ is the only one who was raised from the dead and is still alive.
The word Messiah, in Aramaic, is Meshika. It means “anointed one.” In the Old Testament, kings and priests (and some prophets) were anointed. “Christ” means Messiah, anointed one. In the Aramaic, there is also a verb that means “to measure.” There was a dual meaning to the word “Christ.” It means the anointed one, and also means he had the full measure of the Spirit of God on him.
You have Christ in you. You have the same measure that Jesus Christ had. We use “Christ” as if it were Jesus’s last name.
There were four classes of converts.
Acts 17:4 APNT:
And some of them [Jews] believed and followed Paul and Silas and many of the Greeks [Gentiles] who feared God and also notable women, not a few, [followed Paul].
Acts 17:4 KJV:
And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
“Devout Greeks” means proselytes, people who converted to Judaism.
The King James Version was translated from the Stephens Greek Text, also called the Textus Receptus. Other, better manuscripts separate out the “devout Greeks” from the other Gentiles.
When you put the Aramaic and Greek together you see the four classes of converts:
- Jews
- Many Jewish proselytes (devout Greeks)
- A great number of Gentiles (Greeks)
- Not a few chief or notable women (they had money, power, and authority)
In other cities, like Corinth, many of the lower classes believed. But in Thessalonica, there were many prominent people, upper class people, who believed almost from the beginning.
1 Thessalonians 3:2 APNT:
and to send to you Timothy, our brother and a minister of God and our helper in the gospel of Christ, so that he would strengthen you and would inquire of you concerning your faith,
Paul calls Timothy their helper in the gospel of Christ (the anointed one, the Messiah). That’s our gospel too. The suffering Savior, the risen Savior, and the coming Savior—the Messiah.
1 Thessalonians 1:9 APNT:
For they report what kind of entrance we had to you and how you turned to God from reverence of idols to serve the living and true God,
There was a pantheon of god’s up on Mount Olympus, and the people turned from those gods (like Zeus), to serve the living and true God.
Video walkthrough of the Agora excavation in Thessaloniki:
Acts 17:5 APNT:
And the Judeans were jealous and gathered to themselves evil men [King James says “lewd fellows of the baser sort”] from the streets of the city and formed a large mob and disturbed the city and came and assaulted the house of Jason and wanted to take them from there and deliver them to the mob.
We don’t know much about Jason, but he was probably prominent in the community.
Acts 17:6 APNT:
And when they did not find them there, they dragged away Jason and the brothers who were there and brought them to the rulers [politarchs] of the city, crying, “These are they who have disturbed the whole region and behold, they have come here also.
They had information about what had happened in Philippi.
Acts 17:7 APNT:
And this is Jason, their host, and all of these stand against the commandments of Caesar, saying, ‘There is another king, Jesus.’”
Although Thessalonica was self-ruled, a very elevated status in the Roman Empire, but Ceasar was still the king. The politarchs in Thessalonica knew that this kind of talk could cause them to lose their free status, their ability to govern themselves. They wouldn’t want to lose their privileges.
Acts 17:8 APNT:
And the rulers of the city and all of the people were troubled after they had heard these [things].
In Philippi, they had been thrown in prison. But in Thessalonica, the rulers knew that this wasn’t serious enough to put them in jail or beat them. Instead, they charged bail and told them to stay away from Thessalonica. The fact that they took the bail from Jason suggests that he had been a prominent person in the city.
Acts 17:9– APNT:
9 And they took bail from Jason and also from the brothers and then released them. 10 Now the brothers immediately in the night sent Paul and Silas to the city [of] Berea. And when they had come there, they entered the synagogue of the Judeans.
Paul and Silas had to leave Thessalonica, but it seems that the mandate to stay away applied mainly to Paul because Silas later goes back.
1 Thessalonians 2:18 APNT:
And we wanted to come to you (I, Paul, once and again, yet Satan hindered me).
From this point on, Paul’s heart is strong toward the believers in Thessalonica and he really wanted to visit them again. There’s no record of him ever going back. So Paul is now in Berea.
Acts 17:11 KJV:
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
Acts 17:11 APNT:
For those Judeans who were there [in Berea] were nobler than those Judeans in Thessalonica. And they gladly heard the word from them every day, discerning from the scriptures whether these [things] were so.
This verse is talking about the Judeans or Jews in Berea. The Jews in Berea were more noble than the Jews in Thessalonica, because they searched the scriptures (the Old Testament). They saw in the Old Testament scriptures that there would be a suffering savior, a risen savior, and a coming savior.
Acts 17:12 APNT:
And many of them believed and likewise also from the Greeks, many men and notable women [believed].
Another short video of the Egnatian Way:
Acts 17:13–14 APNT:
13 And when those Judeans who were from Thessalonica knew that the word of God was preached by Paul in the city [of] Berea, they came there also and did not cease to stir up and to trouble the people.
14 And the brothers sent Paul away to go down to the sea and Silas and Timothy remained in that city.
The Jews not only had Paul expelled from Thessalonica, they made sure that he was kicked out of Berea, too. Imagine how this must have hurt Paul’s heart, especially after so many wonderful things were happening.
Acts 17:15 APNT:
And those who escorted Paul went with him as far as the city [of] Athens. And when they went away from his presence, they took a letter from him to Silas and Timothy that they should travel to him quickly.
Tradition says Thessalonians was written in Athens (because Paul, Silas, and Timothy were all together again there). But indications in Thessalonians point to them having been written from Corinth.
There was not the same kind of outreach in Athens that there was in these other cities. Athens did not respond with the same enthusiasm as other cities. Paul went on from Athens to Corinth.
1 Thessalonians 1:1 APNT:
Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians, which is in God the Father and in our Lord Jesus Christ: Grace [be] with you and peace.
This is one of the only epistles that doesn’t say Paul the Apostle. Perhaps because he didn’t need to establish his apostleship since he had been the one to open up that area.
The common salutation, “grace and peace” sort of summarizes the basis on which we stand. It also summarizes how the Greek and Jewish cultures came together and there is one new category. “Grace” (charis) was a Greek greeting. “Peace” (shalom) was a Jewish greeting.
Grace
The root verb for “grace” in the Aramaic shows the action that it is based on. That verb means “to be good.” The word for grace in Aramaic includes the fundamental idea of God’s goodness being poured out.
John 3:16 KJV:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
In Greek, the related word to charis is chairo, whichmeans “to rejoice.” So the Greek idea of grace was that it was something to rejoice over.
Putting the Greek and Aramaic ideas together, you could think of grace as God’s goodness poured out that causes incredible rejoicing.
We live in grace. We stand in grace. We come boldly to the throne of grace. Grace is how we live every single day. God’s goodness poured out to us gives us cause to rejoice all the time..
Peace
The Aramaic word for peace means to be whole or complete, not just the absence of stress. In our culture, we have a shallow idea of what peace is. In the Hebrew mind, it means to be whole, complete, and filled up inside.
The Greek word for peace is eirēnē. It can be translated as harmony, concord, serenity, or even security.
Note: The maps are copyright David P. Barrett (BibleMapper.com) used by permission.
See also: FreeBibleImages.org
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