Today is day 87 in our journey through the Bible in 90 days.
2 Thessalonians is brief, and is of course, a follow-up to 1 Thessalonians. They’re both about the future, but this one specifically addresses a concern that the Thessalonians church had that they had missed the Rapture somehow!
I have a friend who, as a young Christian, went to church for a small group Bible study one evening. He arrived a little late, and when he walked into the room, no one was there, but all their Bibles were sitting in a circle where their owners had been! He panicked and thought that somehow he had missed the Rapture…then his friends walked in from outside!
Missing the Rapture would obviously be a big deal – much bigger than oversleeping for work or missing a dentist appointment!
Paul fills them in on reality though – he lets them know some basic chronology of what will happen in the end times so that they can be aware.
Some Christians try to stay away from end times stuff (eschatology) because it freaks them out or they just don’t know much about it. It’s important for all Christians to be aware of the events that will take place before the Rapture and return of Christ (which are two separate events, by the way). God lays them out for us in Daniel, 2 Thessalonians, Revelation, and a few other places in Scripture. Only He knows the exact timing of all the events, though, so our job is to BE READY!
And just so they knew Paul meant business, he closed this letter with these words…
“I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write.” – 2 Thessalonians 3:17
Any time the Bible talks about going home to heaven, I get so excited! After all, for us who trust in Christ, it’s the moment we’ve been waiting for and an encouragement to keep going even when times are rough.
