Thessalonians Audio Teaching Series
Part 3
Estimated reading time: 13 minutes
Thessalonians: Session 3
The Manner of Entering in … Love!
1 Thessalonians 2:1 APNT:
And you know, my brothers, that our entrance to you was not fruitless,
See how the word “you” is in bold (in the hardback edition of the Aramaic Peshitta New Testament Translation, APNT)? That means that in the Aramaic, there is a double pronoun. In English, you emphasize it with bold text, but in Aramaic, you emphasize it by repeating it.
When Paul, Timothy, and Silas were in Thessalonica, they preached the gospel, but along with preaching were signs, miracles, and wonders. Their manner of entering in was fruitful; it produced results, and it reached people.
1 Thessalonians 2:2 APNT:
but first we suffered and were dishonored in Philippi, as you know, and then with a great struggle, with the boldness of our God we spoke to you the gospel of Christ.
King James says “the gospel of God.” They were preaching about the anointed one (the Messiah) who had the full measure of the Holy Spirit on him, the victorious one.
In verses 3–6, they show what their message was not.
1 Thessalonians 2:3 APNT:
For our exhortation was not from deception, nor from uncleanness, nor with treachery.
The footnote (in the hardcover APNT) tells you that the word “nor” is repeated in the Aramaic. It literally means, “For our exhortation was not from deception, not even from uncleanness, and surely not with treachery.” It’s a progression. The message was not deceptive; it had very clear and pure motives. It was not crafty (like a decoy). Paul showed them the real thing. That’s how we should preach.
1 Thessalonians 2:4 APNT:
But as we were approved of God to be entrusted with his gospel, so we speak, not to please men, but [to please] God, who searches our hearts.
The hardcover shows that “to please” is a result of the figure of speech ellipses. The figure of speech places the emphasis on the words that were omitted (“to please”). You have to be careful about what you put in the ellipses because that’s the thing that’s emphasized.
In this case, we see the choice between pleasing men or pleasing God. This is the choice we always have, every day. The figure of speech in verse 4 places the emphasis on pleasing God.
1 Thessalonians 2:5–6 APNT:
5 For we never used flattering speech, as you know, nor with a plan of greediness [King James is “cloak of covetousness”]. God [is] witness.
6 And we did not seek praise from men, nor from you, nor from others, although we could have been honored [ones] as the apostles of Christ.
Verses 7–11 tell us what they did do.
1 Thessalonians 2:7 APNT:
But we were meek among you, and as a nurse who loves her children,
The sense here is of a mother (especially a nursing mother) caring for very small children.
1 Thessalonians 2:8 APNT:
so also we were loving and were desiring to give to you, not only the gospel of God, but also ourselves, because you were beloved.
There’s a play on the words there for loving and loved. “Beloved” could be “cherished.” Everything Paul did for them was out of a loving heart.
1 Thessalonians 2:9 APNT:
For you recall, our brothers, that we were laboring and toiling by the work of our hands, by night and by day, so that we would not burden one of you.
The King James version adds “we preached unto you the gospel of God.” But grammatically, in the Aramaic, that phrase belongs to verse 10.
The hardcover APNT shows that there is the figure of speech in “by night and by day,” merismos (enumeration of the parts of a whole).
1 Thessalonians 2:10 APNT:
You and God are witnesses how we preached to you the gospel of God, purely and uprightly, and we were without blame to all the believers.
“Purely and uprightly” is the figure of speech hendiadys, two parts of speech put together to make one—one thing meant but two words are used.
1 Thessalonians 2:11 APNT:
As you know, we were entreating each one of you as a father [entreats] his children and we were comforting your heart And were charging you
Verse 12 sums it up.
1 Thessalonians 2:12 APNT:
that you should walk as is becoming to God, who called you to his kingdom and to his glory.
That’s similar to “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (Ephesians 4:1 KJV).
There must be a balance. You shouldn’t have all doctrine and no practice. You also shouldn’t have all practice and no doctrine.
1 Thessalonians 2:17 APNT:
But we, our brothers, have been orphans away from you for a short time, in our presence, yet not in our heart. And we have been especially concerned to see your faces with great love.
Remember, Paul and Silas had been kicked out of Thessalonica amid all the persecution and turmoil. They were probably there no more than six months. Then they went to Berea and were kicked out of there, then to Athens and then Corinth. While in Athens, the Thessalonians were very much on Paul’s heart. That’s the context of verse 17.
1 Thessalonians 2:18 APNT:
And we wanted to come to you (I, Paul, once and again, yet Satan hindered me).
In English, “once and again” sounds like they tried a couple of times, but there is an idiom in Aramaic that makes this emphatic—we really, diligently tried to work it out.
1 Thessalonians 2:19–20 APNT:
19 For what is our hope and our joy and the crown of our glory, except you, before our Lord Jesus at his coming?
20 For you are our praise and our joy.
The hardcover APNT shows the figure of speech antimereia, the exchange of one part of speech for another. Here the second noun (glory) modifies the first (crown)—glorious crown. Those people would be Paul’s joy and glorious crown at Jesus’s coming.
The word “coming” is the Greek word Parousia. The Aramaic word, #0210, as you can see in my Word Study Concordance, has various meanings. It primarily refers to “arrival,” the personal presence of Jesus Christ. It’s not just “coming there.”
I did a word study on the word coming. First, I printed out all the verses using this Greek word. Then I organized them according to whether both the Greek and Aramaic had that word, or only the Greek verse had the word, or only the Aramaic verse had that word. There were three verses that used the word only in the Aramaic, and there were other verses where the Greek texts used that verse, but the Aramaic did not.
I also looked at the various “arrivals” of Jesus. There were basically four different variations of His presence; four different “arrivals.” Four different ways of referring to it. Of course, we already know about three aspects to His coming.
- His first birth
- He comes toward the earth, and we meet him in the air (1st part of the Second Coming)
- The Day of the Lord, when we accompany Him back to the earth (2nd part of the Second Coming)
Here’s an example of His first coming.
Acts 7:52 APNT:
For which of the prophets have your fathers not persecuted and killed, those who foretold about the coming of the Just [one], whom you delivered up and killed?
Here are examples of the first part of the Second Coming, the Gathering Together, when He comes back for us.
1 Corinthians 11:26 APNT:
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you call to remembrance the death of our Lord until his coming.
1 Thessalonians 2:? APNT:
For what is our hope and our joy and the crown of our glory, except you, before our Lord Jesus at his coming?
Here’s an example of the second part of the Second Coming, when He comes back with us.
1 Thessalonians 3:13 APNT:
And may he establish your hearts without blame in holiness before God our Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his holy [ones].
The Gathering Together is also called “the coming of our Lord.”
1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 APNT:
15 Now this we say to you, by the word of our Lord, that we who remain at the coming of our Lord who are living will not overtake those who are asleep,
16 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.
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.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 APNT:
Now may the God of peace make all of you holy completely and may he keep your whole spirit and your life and your body without blame until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We see the word “gathering” in conjunction with “the coming of our Lord.”
2 Thessalonians 2:1 APNT:
Now we beg you, my brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and concerning our own gathering to him,
The first part of the coming of our Lord is a gathering.
Let’s look at a verse that requires more investigation.
2 Thessalonians 2:8 APNT:
And then the unjust [one] will be revealed, whom our Lord Jesus will consume by the breath of his mouth, and he will put a stop to him with the manifestation of his coming.
Is that talking about Jesus Christ’s coming or someone else’s coming? We’ll come back to that shortly.
Matthew 24:3 APNT:
And when Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came near and said among themselves and to him, “Tell us when these [things] will be and what is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age.”
Matthew 24:27 APNT:
For as the lightning comes out of the east and is visible into the west, so the arrival of the Son of Man will be.
Matthew 24:37, 39 APNT:
37 And as the days of Noah, so will be the arrival of the Son of Man.
39 and they did not know until the flood came and took all of them, so will be the arrival of the Son of Man.
The phrase “the coming of the Son of Man” is different than “the coming of our Lord.” Between verse 3 and verse 27, it talks about the coming (arrival) of the unjust one. That’s the one that was talked about in 2 Thessalonians:
2 Thessalonians 2:8 APNT:
And then the unjust [one] will be revealed, whom our Lord Jesus will consume by the breath of his mouth, and he will put a stop to him with the manifestation of his coming.
That arrival is what Matthew 24:39 called “the arrival of the Son of Man.” In the Aramaic it carries the sense of “the one who’s coming to judge.” The Son of Man is the judge.
The first part of the Second Coming is “the coming of our Lord,” the gathering together.
The second part of the Second Coming is “the coming of the Son of Man,” when he comes as judge. That’s when we’ll be coming with Him.
Parousia, coming or arrival, does not always refer to Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 7:6 APNT:
But God, who comforts the meek, comforted us by the coming [parousia] of Titus,
Parousia always refers to the personal presence of the one spoken of.
Let’s get back to Thessalonians.
1 Thessalonians 3:1 APNT:
And because we could not hold out against [knowing], we were willing to remain in Athens alone
The ellipses here refers back to the context from the previous verses and is knowing about how it was going with the saints. The next verse shows Timothy going to minister to them and find out how they are doing.
1 Thessalonians 3:2–5 APNT:
2 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,
3 so that none of you should be disheartened by these trials, for you know that we are appointed to this.
4 For even while we were with you, we previously said to you that we were going to be tried, as you know happened.
5 Because of this also, I could not hold out against [it], until I sent to know of your faith, so that the Tempter would not tempt you and our effort would be fruitless.
They were longing to know how the believers in Thessalonica were doing. What did Timothy learn?
1 Thessalonians 3:6 APNT:
But now, from when Timothy came to us from among you and told us about your faith and about your love and that you have a good memory of us continually and [that] you are longing to see us, as also we [long to see] you,
Back in verse 5, the Adversary was called the Tempter. That’s an unusual way in Scripture to identify him. If you recall how the Adversary tempted Jesus in the wilderness (“if you are the son of God…”), or in Genesis “did God really say,” then you understand how temptations are always some form of casting doubt on God’s Word.
1 Thessalonians 3:7–10 APNT:
7 because of this, we were comforted by you, our brothers, concerning all our adversities and our trials, because of your faith.
8 And now we live, if you stand fast in our Lord.
9 For what thanks are we able to repay on behalf of you to God concerning all the joy that we rejoice because of you,
10 but that we petition God earnestly, by night and by day, that we may see your faces and [that] we may make whole what your faith is lacking?
Paul’s manner was to love them (as a nurse with a young child) and like a father. His heart was to supply what they needed so that they could believe more, love more, and hope more.
1 Thessalonians 3:11–13 APNT:
11 Now may God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you.
12 And may he multiply and increase your love to one another and to everyone, even as we love you.
13 And may he establish your hearts without blame in holiness before God our Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his holy [ones].
This wraps up the doctrinal or teaching part of 1 Thessalonians.
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