Just as every letter ever written was sent to and was to be understood by a contemporary audience, so both of Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians were written to **them** — to help **them** — and was for **their** understanding. That said, they are only of indirect value for us.[1] I don’t mean to imply they aren’t Scripture, and being Scripture, I don’t mean to imply they aren’t God’s word to us. However, just as Jesus’ testimony that he would be crucified and raised from the dead after three days and three nights was for that generation, and we don’t look forward for Jesus to rise **again** from the dead, so, too, the Great Tribulation, the wrath to come and the coming (parousia ) of Christ was for that generation, as well. In other words, we look backward to Jesus’ resurrection and backward to his second coming! Therefore, in order to put 1Thessalonians 4 in its proper context, we’ll first look at what Paul wrote in other parts of this epistle and also include his second epistle, so there will be no mistake in understanding the timeline of Jesus coming in 1Thessalonians 4.
The context of Jesus coming in 1Thessalonians 4 begins in chapter one where Paul alludes to Jesus’ words in the Olivet Prophecy (Matthew 24). Notice what Paul wrote:
And you became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction (G2347), with joy of the Holy Ghost… For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak anything. (1 Thessalonians 1:6, 8; emphasis mine)
Jesus said to his disciples men would deliver them up to be afflicted (G2347; Matthew 24:9), the very same word used in 1Thessalonians 1:6. Then Jesus said that the Gospel must be preached in all the world before the end would come (Matthew 24:14), which corresponds to Paul saying of the Thessalonians: “from you sounded out the word of the Lord” (1Thessalonians 1:8). Then Jesus said:
But whenever they lead you away and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what you should speak or think. But speak whatever shall be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speaks, but the Holy Spirit (Mark 13:11).
And then the sign of the Son of Man shall appear in the heavens. And then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the heaven with power and great glory (Matthew 24:30).
When we turn back to 1Thessalonians 1:5-6 we find Paul saying that the word of God came upon them in the power of the Holy Spirit (verse-5), whereupon they became followers of Paul and company and of Jesus (verse-6), and were able to endure the persecution that would follow, while they awaited the return of Christ (1Thessalonians 1:10).
We need to consider Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians and understand that he shows the pattern that Christ predicted would occur prior to his second coming. First the Gospel would be preached (Matthew 24:14; cp. 1Thessalonians 1:8), and it would be preached in the power of the Holy Spirit (Mark 13:11; cp. 1Thessalonians 1:6-7). Immediately following the preaching Jesus’ disciples would be persecuted (Matthew 24:9: cp. 1Thessalonians 1:6), and the believers would endure until the end, when Christ would return to vindicate them (Matthew 24:30; cp. 1Thessalonians 1:10). Paul’s letter detailing what occurred in Thessalonica immediately after he preached the Gospel there, parallels what Jesus predicted would happen. In other words, the coming of the Lord mentioned in 1Thessalonians 1:10 was the same coming of the Lord in power when he judged Jerusalem in 70 AD, which Jesus detailed in Matthew 24:4-30!
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[1] For example, our second President of the United States, John Adams, wrote several letters to folks living in his day. One of his letters to his wife, Abigail, dated April 14, 1776, contains information of some contemporary value, but it pertains to folks and events in 1776. While we, nearly 250 years later, may place a high value on these letters, because the information in them have some historical value to us, the events themselves, pertain to John Adams and his audience (his wife) about 24 years prior to his Presidency.
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