Previously, I mentioned that the Lord comes in judgment against the gentiles, or those who are (willingly) ignorant of who God is (2Thessalonians 1:8; Romans 1:18-25, 28; Galatians 4:8). At the return of the Lord all the nations of the world would fall under his to rule (Revelation 11:15), and he would rule them with a rod of iron (Revelation 2:26-27; cp. 12:5). That rod of iron, however, happens to be the sword of the Lord’s mouth, which is the word of God (Revelation 19:15; cp. Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12). In this context, therefore, the nations are dashed in pieces (Psalm 2:9). In other words, the fact that the nations of the world would be dashed in pieces, as was predicted by the prophet, Daniel (Daniel 2:44-45), shows the nations will be eventually conquered by the Gospel. It is not their destruction, per se, that’s predicted, but the rule of the kings of this world would come to be judged by the word of God (the Gospel).
Notice as well, that the text says the Lord comes in judgment against the Jews, or those who claim to know him but refuse to obey the him (Romans 2:17-24), especially refusing to obey the Gospel (2Thessalonians 1:8; cp. Matthew 23:34-36). In the context of Paul’s letter, he has the Thessalonian believers’ persecutors particularly in mind. In the context of the first century AD, this would have been the Jews. The Lord did come and judge the Jews by removing their nation and their Temple (cp. John 11:48). Thus, the Lord ended or brought to a close the Old Covenant through his coming, ending the age (cp. Matthew 24:3, 14) in which the Lord dealt with mankind through a physical nation (i.e. through the Jewish state).
Paul went on to tell his readers that their persecutors would be punished with everlasting or eternal destruction (away from) the Lord’s presence and the glory of the Lord’s power (2Thessalonians 1:9). That is, their punishment would be perpetual (G166), and their destruction (G3639) would be ruin but not extinction. In other words, they would still exist, but they wouldn’t be able to escape their perpetual punishment. They would live, but not in the Lord’s presence. They may have power, but their power wouldn’t be strengthened by the power of the Lord. Whatever the kind of power or strength they would possess wouldn’t be the kind that would bring glory to the Lord. That power and strength would be lost to them perpetually (G166).
Some have assumed that this points to eternal damnation in hell, but this interpretation isn’t true. Such an idea of eternal punishment is a doctrine that crept into the church early, but the Scriptures deny it (see Micah 7:18-20). The Psalmist asks the question (Psalm 79:5; 85:5), but Micah tells us that the Lord delights in mercy not in wrath. Mercy is forever, but wrath is not. In fact, Paul told Timothy that the Lord was the Savior of all people, but especially of those who trust in him. In other words, he is a Savior even to those who are ignorant of him, and those who disobey the Gospel. Those who would argue against this, argue against the good news of the Gospel. The Gospel is all about love, not about fear. Those who preach fear cannot preach love (1John 4:18).
According to 2Thessalonians 1:10, the punishment of the persecutors would begin, when the Lord returned to be glorified and admired in his saints or those who have believed the Gospel. This is also the time the Lord had in mind when he told his disciples they would be rewarded within the generation in which they lived (Matthew 16:27-28). Therefore, the Scriptures point to cir. 70 AD as the time when the wrath of the Lord would be satisfied and the judgment of his enemies had begun.
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