A little while ago, I produced a verse by verse series in Philippians. I really enjoyed that exercise and have been wondering if I should take on another book. Well it turns out that 1 Thessalonians is the victim of my machinations, and hopefully, the thoughts produced by this fantastic book will edify and encourage the reader.

As with Philippians I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

1 Thessalonians 2:15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind

Paul does not mince words in this verse, comparing those who persecute the Thessalonians with those who persecute his countrymen.

But Paul doesn’t speak of those of Judea as if their persecution of the Christian church is simply a misunderstanding, or that this persecution will fade and cease soon. He eventually reveals the motivation and power behind this persecution. But let us not get ahead of ourselves.

This passage provides six acts of unbelieving Jew’s who took it upon themselves to quell the Christian message providing the Thessalonian church a sense of the depth of motivation and source of persecution that is against the church as a whole.

Now before we get into this passage, I need to warn my reader that this passage has been used in the past to foment hatred for the national Jew, and to provide justification for attacking, persecuting and causing great harm to the Jewish population through the centuries. I am convinced this is not the intent of the apostle, for he has in multiple passages to the churches spoke of living in peace with all men and loving our enemies.

The Christian message does not include retaliation.

Nevertheless, the apostle wants the Thessalonians to know they are not the only ones being persecuted.

Killed the Lord Jesus

Paul starts the list with reminding the Thessalonians that the One they follow was persecuted to His death. In my mind, this is the capstone of persecution, revealing how far those who hate the gospel will go in order to stop the message of a loving God reaching down to all mankind.

Killed the prophets

Many of the Thessalonians may not be as aware of the persistent and continual persecution the prophets of old suffered under the hand of the unbelieving Jew in the past. The history of the nation of Israel could be traced through the blood of the prophets, revealing the unbelieving Jew’s willingness to remove the influence and message God provided them.

Jesus Himself also referred to the history of persecution by unbelievers when He reminded the Jewish leadership of their compliance in the shedding of righteous blood.

Matthew 23:35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

Drove out the Christian Missionaries

How often has a motivated Jewish contingent of Paul’s day not only physically forced the Christian messenger from their promised land, but also followed after them, undoing the work of the apostle, defaming the messenger and his message and twisting the gospel to eliminate it’s freeing message. Those persecuting the church in the days of the apostle were very motivated, seeking in many ways to keep the message from those who need it.

The Thessalonian church witnessed this very hatred of the Christian message during their initial hearing and acceptance of the gospel! Luke is clear in who led the persecution of the missionaries in Thessalonica.

Acts 17:5 But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.

Displease God

But Paul, how can you say those who follow after Moses, and therefore follow after God, displease God. They claim such devotion to the God of their Fathers! Do they not have the same faith, and therefore live the same life as those of the patriarch’s?

Do they?

Claiming the same God as the father’s of the faith, and exhibiting a different life than that of the fathers is contradictory. Something is amiss, and I suggest the Lord addressed this very problem in Mark 7.

Mark 7:8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

This speaks of a challenge for our own lives as the church. The Jewish people of Paul’s day thought they followed after God. They were devoted, motivated and zealous in their understanding of Moses. As the Lord had taught, and we need to hear, the danger for each generation of those claiming to follow God is that they are to depend on the original message of God. We are not to trust in the interpretations of ancient commentators, former instructors and influential teachers. Each generation, each person needs to hear from the Living God directly through the written record He has provided, in understanding His message for each of our lives.

How dangerous for any of us to reject the Word in favor of a man’s teaching. Those who trust man’s teaching typically assign Almighty God’s authority to the teaching, and thus provides justification for untold atrocities in the name of God to be allowed. Even the murder of those who seem to be against a cherished teaching they hold to. The Lord warned His followers of this very motivation by those opposing them.

John 16:2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.

Claiming to follow God, while at the very same time displeasing God, is a very real possibility. Let us remember we need to hear from Him as our Master and not only from those who are also following Him.

Oppose all mankind

This final statement of Paul’s is also somewhat amazing. He does not teach the Thessalonians that the unbelieving Jewish forces are only offering an alternate way of life for those in the church. Those persecuting Christian apostles and adherents are actually opposing all mankind. They are fighting against the whole of mankind.

The phrase “oppose all mankind” in this verse may be translated as antagonistic to all mankind, or that they are adversarial to all mankind, hostile not only the the Messiah, and to His followers, but also to those who have yet to know the Savior.

He is not simply suggesting the persecutors of the church are passive towards all mankind, but informs us that they are active in opposing all mankind as they fight against the Savior and His message. This is incredible!

A very difficult passage to consider, and honestly not an enjoyable verse to discuss. Personally, I want to think the best of others, and yet the Word wants believers to live in truth. We as believers, are to understand that those who have not trusted the Messiah, be they Jewish or Gentile, have the capacity, given the right conditions and motivations, to become persecutors of those who follow after the Messiah.

It is this nature of the two kingdom’s taught in the Word, that is becoming clearer in my mind as I read and study. Either we enter the Kingdom of God, and follow after the One who was rejected, or remain in the kingdom of men and persecute by word or deed, those who follow the One who was rejected.

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