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2 Thessalonians 1:9
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9 Who [hostis] shall be punished [dike] [tino] with everlasting [aionios] destruction [olethros] from [apo] the presence [prosopon] of the Lord, [kurios] and [kai] from [apo] the glory [doxa] of his [autos] power; [ischus] KJV-Interlinear
9 And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, NASB
The word here for destruction, ‘olethros,’ is a different word than used in Matt. 25:46, and which means punishment.
Here, destruction is an ongoing destruction, a never ending destruction. And that is what awaits those who reject Christ, entirely from their soul, unbelievers in other words (those who have never believed in Christ).
At the time of the Second Advent, and our topic in this verse is the Second Advent not the Rapture, for no destruction occurs at the Rapture, however, when the Second Advent occurs, the second most violent event (out of three) will occur.
The first was in the Flood of Noah, when many millions drowned in what most certainly was terror to those who died.
The second major violent event occurs at the Second Advent, when the entire world population then remaining, most likely billions, will die. Just a very few mature believers will be rescued and live into the Millennium.
And the third and final most violent world event will occur at the end of the Millennium, when Satan is released from his 1000 year imprisonment and all unbelievers will be stood before the Great White Throne of judgment and cast into the Lake of Fire.
And it is at this final event that the prophecy here stated, will actually occur.
At the Second Advent all unbelievers will die and be thrown into the temporary holding cell called Torments. Torments, is one of four underworld compartments. The underworld is called Hades. And in Torments is where all unbelievers from history are held in captivity.
Those who reject Christ through unbelief, have a destiny. And that destiny is eternal and never ending destruction.
And as we stated, destruction here is not a thing that is destroyed and then it is over, as with a building that is burned down, a ship which is sunk and then it is simply lost, and such things. But here, the destruction indicates the ongoing process of destruction.
I could use as an example, being forced to listen to rap music, where it never ends and you have to listen and listen and you scream and hold your hands over your ears but it does no good. But then there might actually be people out there who are believers and like rap music. So enough of my humor!!
This ongoing destruction is of course far, far worse. It is an eternal separation from God and that is the worst possible situation for anyone to find themselves.
God holds the universe and all things together by His own power and sovereignty and more. When God is not present, then nothing is held together. So when unbelievers go into the Lake of Fire, there, God will not be. And since man nor angel, cannot hold together anything, then there will be in their lives, eternal horror.
The Lake of Fire is elsewhere described in the Bible and I have a special study on the Lake of Fire, on the web site, for your review when you have the chance.
This is not a pretty picture for unbelievers, and you certainly would not wish to participate in it.
If, however, you have already believed in Christ, then you are saved, you are born again, and that is something that cannot be undone. You cannot undo your birth, you cannot undo your re-birth, and you cannot cancel out a belief in Christ, once you have made it. Once saved, always saved. Salvation depends on Christ’s work on the Cross, never on your work or efforts or failures.
This eternal destruction is often called the second death. And be assured that believers do not participate in the second death. For with believers in Christ, there will never be a second death, never, ever. But only heaven and eternal glory and happiness and so forth.
When we studied Colossians, we studied ‘your story,’ the ‘song of your life.’ The things that give you meaning and purpose.
When we studied 1 Thessalonians, we studied the concept of waiting. And though they, and we all, are waiting for the next great event of history, the Rapture, our priority in life is to prepare ourselves for the next life, not to sit around doing nothing and waiting for something that may not occur for another generation or so. Our priority is to define and design our next life. We do that through advancement to spiritual maturity, by means of our daily study of the scriptures.
And now we are in 2 Thessalonians, where the subject is sin. And yes, there is going to be a reference to the Rapture, but more important, there is going to be a description of society in the days (or generations) leading up to the Rapture. And namely that will be the phenomenal disillusionment of the world which has rejected truth.
And this nation, which has probably become the greatest nation in history, and has gone and elected the most incompetent and disillusioned government in history, is our best contemporary good example of this concept.
Not just the rejection of Christ, but the rejection of truth, which is the guiding and fundamental principle that establishes and stabilizes life for society. But without truth, there will never be a stable society. And without doctrine, there can never be an understanding of truth.
It is for those folks, who reject truth, and God and Christ and doctrine and so forth, that this destruction is waiting on the horizon.
In the mean time we will all suffer to some degree. And during this time of truth rejection, even believers in Christ will get caught up in the disillusionment of the lies of the world, because they reject their daily studies and imitate the thoughts and actions of unbelievers.
But as for you, if you get your head together, if you get with a daily study program, if you get over whatever it is that keeps you from a daily study, then there is a life waiting for you, by Gods personal design specifically for you, that is beyond your imagination.
