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2 Thessalonians 2:2
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2 That [eis] ye [humas] be [saleuo] not [me] soon [tacheos] shaken [saleuo] in [apo] mind, [nous] or [mete] be troubled, [throeo] neither [mete] by [dia] spirit, [pneuma] nor [mete] by [dia] word, [logos] nor [mete] by [dia] letter [epistole] as [hos] from [dia] us, [hemon] as [hos] that [hoti] the day [hemera] of Christ [Christos] is at hand. [enistemi] KJV-Interlinear
2 that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. NASB
The Thessalonians in this letter, lived over 1900 years ago. They had it in their minds that the Day of the Lord was already at hand. This caused great consternation in them for they were anxious about the event, they were anxious regarding their preparation, or lack of it, for His return. And there were (as Paul warns them herein) constantly being bombarded with all sorts of do-it-yourself prophets, as well as shysters, and scoffers.
There were those who thought the whole idea was a hoax. There were those who tried to make fast money by taking advantage of those who believed in the imminent return of Christ. And as you should remember, the whole region was full of trouble and turmoil from rebellion and conflict with Rome. That would end in less that twenty years with the virtual destruction of Jerusalem and Judah. Millions would die.
The Day of the Lord was the subject.
By spirit, means by someone else's teachings or predictions, which were false. We have lots of false prophets, guru’s, even historical figures who have written predictions, in our present day.
By word, means by the spoken word, by gossip, by rampant misinformation. There is never a shortage of false impressions made by evangelists, teachers, or anyone who try to get the emotions stirred up into some type of action. Usually just to gain memberships.
By letter, refers to any written communication. Even back in those days, when something was put into writing, it was almost immediately thought to be truth. With all of our contemporary media and publication technology, people will generally believe the written or published word almost immediately. Even in the face of horrendous journalistic distortions or bias.
However, the overall importance of this letter from Paul, is a warning, a reminder, and a calming plea for everyone to not get upset, and more important, not to focus all of their energy on the expected coming of Christ.
His return will occur in due time. Your priority is not to do nothing as though He was going to stop by tonight, but to live your day to day life, with poise, and responsibility, and be prepared through your daily studies.
By doing so, then you will be prepared by default, whether Christ returns in your lifetime, or at some later date after you are already gone.
The date of His return is not relevant to your spiritual growth. Your advance to spiritual maturity is important, for it is through that mechanism that you will be made complete in your life, not through emotional hysteria.
We will all face scoffers and taunters, and those who simply dislike our beliefs. We will face a world that is going apostate, indifferent, apathetic, even violent against anything of a spiritual nature.
We are entering into a technological world where all things are going to be believed as being solved by technology or social public policies.
However, technology or government, discounts even ignores the sin nature of humanity. Thus when power and control is focused in the few, then abuses are not far behind, against the masses.
But not to worry, Paul says. God has a timetable and Gods timetable is perfect. God has a plan specifically for your life, and His plan for you, is a perfect plan. You can do no better on your own.
‘As that the day of Christ is at hand,’ means the ‘subject’ of His return, not that He is now on His way.
Paul did not say that Christ was coming now, but in fact Paul will lay out a sequence of events that have to occur, before Christ is going to return.
In their day, Paul was quieting the minds of the Thessalonians. In our day, Paul is preparing us for the identification of the ‘pattern’ of the end of our age, not the actual events.
