WORD
1 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone,
2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith,
3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.
4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.
5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you—
7 for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith.
8 For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.
9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God,
10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?
11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you,
12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,
13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. 1TH 3:1-13
Imagine losing contact with someone you love and not knowing how the person is doing. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy had lost all contact with the Thessalonian believers. They knew of the difficulty and persecution, but they didn’t know if the new believers would stand strong in their faith. So they decided to send Timothy and were relieved to hear his good report. Our faith, too, is tested and refined through the challenges we face. In this lesson, we will look at the reality of affliction, the necessity of community, and how God enables us to endure tough times.
And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there. DEU 16:11
Kiddushin 34b:5
The Gemara asks: What can be said with regard to a widow, who no longer has a husband but is nevertheless obligated to be joyful on a festival, as it is written: “And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you . . . and the widow” (Deu 16:11)? The Gemara answers that the commandment does not apply directly to a widow; rather, it applies to the men with whom she is present, i.e., they have an obligation to ensure that widows rejoice on the festivals.
Rashi
The Levite . . . the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow—These four are mine, corresponding to four that are yours, viz., Your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant. If you shall gladden Mine, I will gladden yours (Midrash Tanchuma, Re’eh 18).
Like cold water to a thirsty soul,
so is good news from a far country. PRO 25:25
Rashi
To a thirsty soul—It cold water is accustomed to revive a thirsty soul.
So is good news—That too is equal to it, and so was it with Jacob (Gen 45:27): “The spirit of Jacob their father revived.”
22 . . . strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. ACT 14:22-23
As followers of Christ, we face affliction
3 . . . that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.
4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. 1TH 3:3-4
The authors of this letter didn’t just say that affliction is real; they said that we are destined for this. Though this is a promise we would rather not claim, the truth is, all believers will face affliction for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Why do you think Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy found it crucial to tell new believers that suffering and affliction would come their way?
1 I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.
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.
3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. JOH 16:1-3
2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.
Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. ACT 5:41
14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, 1TH 2:2, 14
As followers of Christ, we need community
7 . . . for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith.
8 For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. 1TH 3:7-8
Timothy’s good report of the Thessalonian church encouraged Paul and Silvanus. Their faith was mutually built and edified when Timothy told the Thessalonians about Paul and Silvanus’ love and concern, as well as when Timothy brought back the report. In the midst of affliction, followers of Christ are to stand fast in faith together. In 1Th 3:10, what was their prayer for the church? Why is seeing each other face to face and supplying what is lacking in our faith important?
. . . as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith? 1TH 3:10
10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—
12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. ROM 1:10-12
30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf,
31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,
32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. ROM 15:30-32
15 Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace.
24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. 2CO 1:15, 24
As followers of Christ, God establishes our hearts while we wait for our future hope
11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you,
12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,
13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. 1TH 3:11-13
Since the church planters could not be with the Thessalonian church, they did what they could from where they were. They asked God for a way to be with the church, committed them to God, and trusted God to complete his work in their lives. According to verse 13, who establishes our hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father? What attitude do you think we should have as we wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints?
He said,
“The Lord came from Sinai
and dawned from Seir upon us;
he shone forth from Mount Paran;
he came from the ten thousands of holy ones,
with flaming fire at his right hand. DEU 33:2
Rashi
He said, “The Lord came from Sinai”—Moses began his blessing by praising the Omnipresent, and then he addressed the needs of Israel. The praise with which Moses began, mentions the merit of Israel. All this was a way of intercession, as though to say, “These people are worthy that a blessing should rest upon them” (Sifrei Devarim 343:1).
Came from Sinai—He came out to meet them when they came to stand at the foot of the mountain, as a bridegroom goes forth to welcome his bride, as it is said (Exo 19:17), “And Moses brought the people forth to meet God”: this teaches us that He (God) came out to meet them (cf. Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 19:17:1 and Rashi on the verse quoted).
And dawned from Seir upon us (the Israelites), because he first offered the sons of Esau (the inhabitants of Seir) that they should accept the law, but they refused.
He shone forth—To them Israel.
From Mount Paran, because he went there and offered the sons of Ishmael (who dwelt in Paran, see Gen 21:21) to accept it and they also refused (Avodah Zarah 2b; Sifrei Devarim 343:6).
He came to Israel.
From the ten thousands of holy ones—With him were ten thousands of the holy angels, and not all of them and not even the majority of them: not as is the way of a human being who displays all the splendour of his riches and magnificence on his marriage day (Sifrei Devarim 343:11).
Flaming fire—The law which had been written before him from olden times in black fire upon white fire (Midrash Tanchuma, Bereshit 1). He gave to them upon the tablets the writing of his right hand (cf. Jerusalem Talmud Shekalim 9:1). Another explanation: As the Targum renders it, that he gave it to them from amidst the fire.
As I looked,
thrones were placed,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat;
his clothing was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
its wheels were burning fire. DAN 7:9
Rashi
Thrones were placed—Thrones were placed and established to sit in judgment, one for judgment for the nations of the world and one for charity for Israel.
And the Ancient of Days took his seat—The Holy One, blessed be he, was sitting in judgment on this kingdom and on those before it, who provoked him and oppressed his children.
White as snow—To whiten the iniquities of his people.
And the hair of his head like pure wool—He cleanses himself of the merits that the nations have before him, and he pays them all their reward in this world.
Fiery—As translated, fiery.
Burning fire—As translated, burning fire.
7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1CO 1:7-8