1 Thessalonians 2.17-Paul and Silas Express to the Thessalonians Their Great Desire to See Them Again (Doctrinal Bible Church in Huntsville, Alabama)

Doctrinal Bible Church

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Sunday June 30, 2024

First Session

First Thessalonians Series: 1 Thessalonians 2:17-Paul and Silas Express to the Thessalonians Their Great Desire to See Them Again

Lesson # 33

1 Thessalonians 2:13 Now, because of this, each one of us always makes it our habit of giving thanks to the one and only God, namely that, when each one of you received a message originating from this God which was obediently heard from each one of us, each one of you for your own benefit never received it as a message originating from human beings. On the contrary, for your own benefit, you accepted it as truly being a message originating from God, which for His own benefit, is also working in each one of you who are believers. 14 In fact, each one of you brothers and sisters entered into the state of imitating God’s congregations who live in Judea in union and fellowship with Christ Jesus. Specifically, each of you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they themselves also did from the Jews, 15 who also murdered the Lord Jesus as well as His prophets. They also severely persecuted each one of us. Consequently, they are displeasing to God as well as opposing each and every human being. 16 However, His wrath has been experienced by them until the end because they are hindering each one of us from speaking to the Gentiles in order that they would be saved. Consequently, they have been constantly bringing to completion their full number of sins. 17 However, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned from each one of you for a short period of time (in presence, never in heart), we made every effort with great desire to see the faces of each and every one of you. (Pastor’s translation)

1 Thessalonians 2:17 asserts that when Paul and Silas were orphaned from the Thessalonian Christian community for a short period of time (in presence, never in heart), they made every effort with great desire to see each and every one of their faces.

This statement stands in contrast to the previous assertions in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16, which describe unregenerate Jews who opposed the Christian community’s proclamation of the gospel.

Therefore, the contrast is between Paul and Silas and the unregenerate Jews who are described in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16 as murdering the Lord Jesus and the prophets, persecuting the Jewish Christian community in Judea as well as Paul, Silas and Timothy.

In Thessalonians 2:17, the nominative first person plural form of the personal pronoun egō, “we” refers to Paul and Silas but up to this point in the epistle, it has been referring to Paul, Silas and Timothy.

However, here it refers to only Paul and Silas and not Timothy which is indicated by Acts 17:1-11 as well as 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:1.

The former asserts in Acts 17:11 that the church in Thessalonica sent Paul and Silas away to Berea and does not mention Timothy as being in their party.

The latter asserts in 1 Thessalonians 3:1 that after Paul and Silas were separated from the Thessalonian Christian community, they sent Timothy to strengthen and encourage them with regards to their faith.

The Thessalonian Christian community is addressed in 1 Thessalonians 2:17 with the vocative form of the noun adelphos (ἀδελφός), “brothers and sisters” indicating that this statement in this verse is an emphatic emotional statement from Paul and Silas to the Thessalonian Christian community.

The verb aporphanizō (ἀπορφανίζω), “were torn away” here in 1 Thessalonians 2:17 is used in a figurative sense of causing someone to be an orphan, which deeply expresses the anguish of Paul and Silas as a result of being abruptly separated from the Thessalonian Christian community.

Paul and Silas are expressing to the Thessalonian Christian community the idea that their forced departure from their city was like being orphaned from them.

The metaphor is not only expressing the idea that they were forced to depart from Thessalonica abruptly but also the deep sense of anguish and loss as well as grief Paul and Silas experienced as a result of this departure.

This amazing and powerful metaphor is the fourth one employed in 1 Thessalonians chapter two to express these two men’s care and concern and affection that each felt toward the Thessalonian Christian community.

The first of these metaphors appears in 1 Thessalonians 2:7, which depicts Paul, Silas and Timothy as conducting themselves as “little children” in the presence of the Thessalonians.

The second also appears in this verse and is a figure of a nursing mother tenderly caring for her children to describe the conduct of Paul, Silas and Timothy when interacting with the Thessalonians.

The third metaphor to describe the conduct of Paul, Silas and Timothy when interacting with the Thessalonian Christian community is found in 1 Thessalonians 2:12.

As was the case with the contents of 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12, the purpose of 1 Thessalonians 2:17 is to defend the character of Paul, Silas and Timothy and in particular Paul and Silas who established the church in Thessalonica.

They felt a great need to defend their conduct with the Thessalonians because they were concerned that the Thessalonians would be deceived by the accusations made against them by their enemies in the city of Thessalonica.

The contents of 1 Thessalonians 1:5 and 2:1-16 suggest that Paul, Silas and Timothy were defending themselves against their critics and persecutors.

These individuals were composed of non-Christian Jews in the city of Thessalonica according to Acts 17:1-9 as well as non-Christian Gentiles according to 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16.

Now, the assertion in 1 Thessalonians 2:17 is designed to express to each member of the Thessalonian Christian community that even though Paul and Silas were temporarily separated from them for a short period of time, they had every intention of seeing them again.

This great desire is expressed again in 1 Thessalonians 3:10-13.

Further indicating that Paul and Silas had every intention of seeing them again is that 1 Thessalonians 2:18 asserts that Satan was the reason why they were hindered from seeing the Thessalonians again.

So therefore, immediately after planting the church in Thessalonica, Paul and Silas were driven from Thessalonica and went to Berea (Acts 17:1-10).

Acts does not say that Timothy left to go with these two and thus he might have remained behind or went to Philippi and then rejoined Paul and Silas in Berea (Acts 17:14).

Eventually, Paul fled to Athens after being persecuted in Berea, which left Silas and Timothy in Berea (Acts 17:14).

Then, Paul sent word back to these two instructing them to come to him in Athens (Acts 17:15).

Timothy rejoined Paul at Athens and then was sent back to Thessalonica according to 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5.

Silas might have returned to Philippi.

After Timothy left, Silas was also sent to Thessalonica (Acts 18:5).

From Athens, Paul moved on to Corinth (Acts 18:1).

Silas and Timothy came to Paul in Corinth from Macedonia at the same time (1 Thess. 3:6; Acts 18:5).

From Corinth, Paul wrote First Thessalonians and sent it to the church.

After hearing of their continued faithfulness to his apostolic teaching despite persecution, from Corinth, Paul sent them the letter which we know today as First Thessalonians in A.D. 50 or 51.

He wanted to commend the Thessalonians for their faithfulness and to encourage them to continue to remain faithful.

Paul also wanted to reassure them with this epistle that he, Silas and Timothy had every intention of returning to see them and minister to them again but had failed to do so because they were hindered by Satan.

Lastly, Paul also wrote First Thessalonians in order to explain why he had not yet visited the Thessalonians again and to express the fact that he had every intention of visiting them again so as to minister to them (cf. 1 Thess. 2:17-18).