2 Thessalonians 1:6-God Will Repay with Adversity Those Who Persecuted the Thessalonian Christian community

2 Thessalonians 1:3 Each of us is under obligation to always make it our habit of always giving thanks to the one and only God on behalf of each one of you brothers and sisters because it is appropriate for your faith is growing to an extraordinary degree. Correspondingly, the divine-love of each and every one of you is increasing to a considerable degree for one another. 4 Consequently, each one of us, we ourselves regularly expressed great pride in all of you in the congregations belonging to this one and only God, specifically about your perseverance as well as faith in the midst of all your persecutions as well as your adversities, which each of you are regularly enduring. 5 This is evidence of the exercise of this God’s righteous judgment so that each of you become worthy of this God’s kingdom for the benefit of which, each of you are regularly experiencing suffering. 6 Indeed, to repay with adversity for the detriment of those who regularly cause each of you to experience adversity is righteous in the judgment of this one and only God. (My translation)

The apostle Paul states in 2 Thessalonians 1:6 that to repay with adversity for the detriment of those, who were regularly causing each member of the Thessalonian Christian community to experience adversity, is righteous in the judgment of the one and only God.

Those who were regularly causing the Thessalonians to experience adversity were unregenerate Gentiles in the city of Thessalonica and this adversity was in the form of persecution according to 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16.

This statement in 2 Thessalonians 1:6 does not present the reason for the previous statement in 2 Thessalonians 1:5 as many translations and interpreters conclude (cf. NET, NASB95, ESV, LEB).

But rather, it advances upon and intensifies the concept of the righteous judgment of God, which is mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 1:5.

As we noted 2 Thessalonians 1:6 asserts that to repay with adversity for the detriment of those, who were regularly causing each member of the Thessalonian Christian community to experience adversity, is righteous in the judgment of the one and only God.

2 Thessalonians 1:7 presents an addition to this statement in verse 6 and asserts that God is righteous to give the Thessalonians rest at Jesus Christ’s Second Advent when He will establish His millennial reign on the earth.

2 Thessalonians 1:7 defines what Paul means when he asserts in 2 Thessalonians 1:5 that God is righteous to count the Thessalonians worthy of the kingdom of God.

They will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God at Jesus Christ’s Second Advent when He gives the Thessalonians their reward of reigning with Him for a thousand years on the earth in His millennial government.

Therefore, the advancement and intensification is that not only is God righteous to declare the Thessalonians worthy of His kingdom because of their perseverance and faith in the midst of persecution but also, because He is righteous to repay with adversity those who were persecuting the Thessalonians while at the same time, giving them rest when the Lord Jesus establishes His millennial reign on earth.

When Paul speaks of God the Father repaying with adversity these unregenerate Gentiles in the city of Thessalonica, he is speaking of the Father exacting retribution on these individuals for persecuting the Thessalonian Christian community.

The verb antapodidōmi means “to exact retribution” since the word pertains to cause someone to suffer in turn because of actions which merit such retribution.[1]

Therefore, this verb is expressing the idea of God the Father repaying with suffering unregenerate Gentiles in Thessalonica who persecuted the Thessalonian Christian community in the sense of exacting retribution against them for this persecution.

The noun thlipsis(θλῖψις), “adversity” pertains to an oppressive state of physical, mental, social or economic adversity.

Here it speaks of unregenerate Gentiles in the city of the Thessalonica who persecuted the Thessalonian Christian community experiencing adversity in the form of physical, mental, social or economic suffering.

So therefore, Paul is teaching in 2 Thessalonians 1:6 the principle of lex telionis which means that the Father’s repaying with adversity these unregenerate Gentiles in the city of Thessalonica who persecuted the Thessalonian Christian community fit the sins they committed against Him and the Thessalonians.

The punishment of those who persecuted the Thessalonian Christian community would correspond to the sins they committed against this community.

In other words, the punishment of these unregenerate Gentiles in Thessalonica would fit the sins they committed against God and the Thessalonian Christian community.

The principle of lex telionis is also called the law of retribution (cf. Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21; Prov. 12:14; 19:17; Ezek. 35:15; Hos. 4:9; Joel 3:4-8; Jer. 50:15, 29).

This means that these unregenerate Gentiles in Thessalonica who were regularly persecuting the Thessalonian Christian community would be treated in the same cruel manner as they demonstrated toward the Thessalonian Christian community in the sense that they would experience adversity in the form of physical, mental, social and economic suffering.

Therefore, 2 Thessalonians 1:6 teaches that God holds individuals accountable for their conduct in relation to not only Himself but to other Christians and other human beings who are unregenerate.

The principle of lex telionis or the law of retribution is also called the “the law of retaliation.”

This law or principle means that to the degree to which these unregenerate Gentiles in Thessalonica treated the Thessalonian Christian community, the Father would retaliate against them by expressing His righteous indignation against them for their unrepentant ungodly behavior.

He would do so by employing wicked people like themselves to exercise His righteous indignation against them.

Therefore, the Father will cause these unregenerate Gentiles to experience suffering in direct proportion to the suffering they caused the Thessalonian Christian community to experience by persecuting them.

This principle lex talionis appears in the book of Obadiah and the book of Habakkuk.

Now, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 indicates that the adversity which the unregenerate Gentiles in Thessalonica will experience is the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.

The implication of these verses is that Paul anticipated the imminency of the rapture which would be followed by the day of the Lord which is the seventieth week of Daniel and Second Advent of Christ.

If the rapture happened in his lifetime, which he was anticipating it would, then the unregenerate in his day and age would experience the wrath of God during the seventieth week of Daniel.

And if they survived the judgments during this period, they would experience the Lord’s righteous indignation at His Second Advent.

During the last three and a half years of the seventieth week of Daniel, through the elect angels, the Lord Jesus Christ would administer the seven seal, trumpet and bowl judgments in relation to every unregenerate person living on the earth at that time (Cf. Rev. 6-18).

This seventieth week of Daniel will end with the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, who at that time will personally and bodily exercise His righteous indignation against every unrepentant and unregenerate person who has survived these judgments which will take place during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week.

So therefore, at His Second Advent, the Lord Jesus Christ will bodily exercise His righteous indignation at His Second Advent.

Ultimately, however, the purpose of the Second Advent is to deliver His people, both regenerate Jews and Gentiles from Satan and the fallen angels, the Antichrist and the false prophet as well as the armies of the Gentile armies of the tribulation.

Zechariah 12 and 14, as well as Revelation 19:11-20:6 teach that the Lord Jesus Christ will deliver regenerate Israel at His Second Advent from Satan and the fallen angels, the Antichrist, the false prophet and the unregenerate Gentile armies of the tribulation at His Second Advent.

Now, the apostle Paul’s assertion in 2 Thessalonians 1:6 makes clear that the unregenerate Gentiles in the city of Thessalonica who were regularly persecuting the members of the Thessalonian Christian community would experience God’s righteousness when He repays them with adversity.

The adjective dikaios (δίκαιος), “righteous” describes God the Father exercising His judgment of these unregenerate people in Thessalonica as possessing perfect integrity in that this judgment adheres to God’s perfect, holy standards which are revealed by the Spirit through the communication of the Word of God.

Now, in 2 Thessalonians 1:6, we see that these unregenerate Gentiles in the city of Thessalonica who regularly persecuted the Thessalonian Christian community would learn through personal experience that the God of the Thessalonian Christian community is their judge and a God of perfect justice.

They would learn by experience that the God of the Thessalonian Christian community does execute judgments against those who violate His laws and thus does execute justice.

[1] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 491). New York: United Bible Societies.