First Thessalonian Introduction Part 4 (Doctrinal Bible Church in Huntsville, Alabama)

Doctrinal Bible Church

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Sunday March 17, 2024

First Thessalonians Series: Introduction Part 4

Lesson # 4

There are five major themes found in First Thessalonians.

The first is thanksgiving (cf. 1 Thess. 1:2-10; 2:13-16) while the second is persecution (cf. 1 Thess. 1:6-10).

The third is the Christian way of life or in other words, experiencing sanctification is another theme which is found in this epistle.

The fourth is the rapture or resurrection of the church (cf. 1 Thess. 4:13-18) and the fifth is the future day of the Lord (cf. 1 Thess. 5:1-11).

With regards to these last two, it is significant that 23 out of 89 verses make reference to the future which is 26 percent of the book.

As we noted, the first major theme which appears in First Thessalonians is thanksgiving since Paul expresses his thanks for the Christian community in Thessalonica on two different occasions in First Thessalonians, namely 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10 and 2:13-16.

Paul employs thanksgiving in all of his epistles to the churches in the Roman Empire with the exception of 2 Corinthians, Galatians and the Pastoral Epistles (Rom. 1:8; 1 Cor. 1:4; Eph. 1:16; Phil. 1:3; Col. 1:3; 1 Thess. 1:2; 2 Thess. 1:3; Phlm. 1:4).

One of the major themes of First Thessalonians is persecution since 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10 records Paul commending the Thessalonians for persevering in the face of persecution as well as encouraging them to continue to do so.

The apostle Paul taught Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:12 that every believer who does at any time desire to live a godly life by means of fellowship with Jesus Christ will certainly be persecuted.

Persecution can take various forms in different countries and in different ages.

Some persecution is blatantly overt and some persecution is very subtle taking the form of rejection which can include being ignored, patronized or mocked and it can take the form of condescension as well.

Both forms express the hostility of those who are enslaved to sin and Satan and his cosmic system.

The third major theme which appears in First Thessalonian is that of Christian living or in other words, the believer experiencing sanctification which speaks of experiencing fellowship with God from the perspective of experiencing being set apart to serve God exclusively (1 Thess. 4:1-8).

The fourth major theme which appears in First Thessalonians is the rapture of the church since he addresses this prophetic subject extensively in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

In this passage, Paul reassures the Christian community in Thessalonica that the dead in Christ would be raised immediately before they are given resurrection bodies when the Lord Jesus Christ returns for His bride, the church at the rapture or resurrection of the church (cf. 1 Thess. 4:14-18).

The “rapture” is a technical theological term for the resurrection of the church, which is imminent, and will be invisible to the world, and will terminate the church age dispensation.

It will take place in the earth’s atmosphere when the Lord Jesus Christ will suddenly and forcefully remove the church from planet earth in order to deliver her from the Tribulation period.

Now we must remember that like the term “Trinity,” the term “rapture” is not found in the original languages of Scripture but rather is taken from the Latin term rapio, “caught up” that is used in the Latin Vulgate to translate the Greek verb harpazo, “caught up,” which appears in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

Like the term “Trinity” the term “rapture” is used by theologians to describe a doctrine that is taught in the Bible.

The rapture is taught in John 14:1-3, 1 Corinthians 1:7, 15:50-57, Philippians 3:20-21, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and Titus 2:13.

The prophetic subject of the day of the Lord is the last major theme which appears in First Thessalonians since in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 the apostle Paul reassures the Christian community in Thessalonica that they would not experience the prophetic events related to the day of the Lord.

In particular, they would not experience the events predicted to take place during the seventieth week of Daniel and he asserts that they were delivered from God’s wrath which will be exercised toward the inhabitants of planet earth during these seven years.

The term “Day of the Lord” occurs in the following passages: Isa. 2:12; 13:6, 9; Ezek. 13:5; 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14; Amos 5:18 (twice), 20; Obadiah 15; Zeph. 1:7, 14 (twice); Zech. 14:1; Mal. 4:5; Acts 2:20; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Thess. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:10.

The phrases “that day” or “the day” or “the great day” also refer to the day of the Lord and appear more than 75 times in the Old Testament.

The term “Day of the Lord” and the phrases “that day” or “the day” or the “great day” are used with reference to Daniel’s Seventieth Week (Isaiah 13:5-6; Ezekiel 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 29, 31; 38:10-19; 39:11, 22; Obadiah 14-15; Zephaniah 1:14, 18; 2:2-3; Zechariah 12:3-4, 6, 8-9; Malachi 4:5), the Second Advent of Christ (Zechariah 12:11; 14:4, 6, 8), millennium (Ezekiel 45:22; 48:35; Joel 3:18; Zechariah 14:9; Zephaniah 3:11), and the creation of the new heavens and earth (2 Peter 2:10).

To summarize, some “the day of the Lord” prophecies were already fulfilled in history in several different ways: (1) Assyrian deportation of the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C. (Amos 5:18, 20), (2) locust plague in Joel’s day (Joel 1:15), (3) Babylonian exile of Judah between 605-587 B.C. (Zeph. 1:7; Ezek. 13:5), (4) Babylonian defeat of Egypt in 587 B.C. (Ezek. 30:3), (5) destruction of Edom (Obad. 1-14).

There are several “day of the Lord” prophecies which will be fulfilled during the last three and a half years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week (Zeph. 1:14; Joel 2:1; 2:11, 31; 3:14; Zechariah 14:1-2; Is. 13:6-16) and some that will be fulfilled through the Second Advent of Jesus Christ (Zech. 14:3-8) and His subsequent millennial reign (Zech. 14:9-21; Joel 3:17-21).