1Thessalonians
1:9 says that “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out
from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might”. What is Paul’s message here?
The Bible records, see Acts 16 and 17, that Paul did not
have a good experience when he visited Thessalonica. Paul was beaten illegally and then put into
prison. They then forced him to leave
the city by night because unbelieving Jews brought false charges against
Paul.
Paul did not give up, he made several attempt to return but
he was hindered by Satan.
“But when we were separated from
you, brothers and sisters, for a short time (in presence, not in affection) we
became all the more fervent in our great desire to see you in person. For we
wanted to come to you (I, Paul, in fact tried again and again) but Satan
thwarted us” (1 Thessalonians 2:17-18).
In this first letter to the Thessalonian Church Paul was
concerned about the progress of the church and wanted to be with them to
strengthen them in their faith and beliefs.
“All this is evidence that God’s
judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of
God, for which you are suffering” (1 Thessalonians 1:5).
He wanted to reassure the Church that they were chosen by
God. He did not want the Thessalonians
to give up. He wanted them to look to
their faith so that they could endure the persecution that was sure to come. Paul knew that the people who persecuted them
were wicked and would get their just due, but this was not the message he had
for them here.
Paul was using God’s authentication and empowering of the
gospel message when he wrote this letter.
He said that because of their “…perseverance and faith in all the
persecutions and trials…” that they were enduring, it was proof that God chose
them. (1 Thessalonians 1:4). Because of
this fact he was encouraging them to continue to endure these persecutions.
For this message to have power it is important to understand
that the gospel that Paul preached were not his words, but the words came from
God through the Holy Spirit and he constantly used this fact to authenticate
and empower his words. The church in
Corinth he wrote:
“God has revealed these to us by
the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the things of a man
except the man’s spirit within him? So
too, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have not received the spirit of the
world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things that are
freely given to us by God. And we speak
about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom, but with those
taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people. The unbeliever does not receive the things of
the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand
them, because they are spiritually discerned.
The one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is
understood by no one. For who has known
the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him? But we have the mind of Christ (1
Corinthians 2:10-16).
Paul’s message was always that Jesus Christ made the
promises to all those who follow Him that when the Holy Spirit came, He would
empower the messengers so that others would believe and be saved to eternal
life. This is what this passage is based
on. It is an encouragement to all saints
down through the last almost two thousand years that in difficult days of
adversity and persecution, God’s word can serve to encourage us as the dark
clouds of persecution gather for Christians around the world. This power of
God will sustain believers when persecuted in the end times.
The message of Eternal
destruction, is an important message based on the fact that it is
mentioned throughout the Old and the New Testaments. The problem is that the phrase “eternal destruction”
is misunderstood by many. More
importantly, it is not the message we need to be taking away from this Biblical
passage. If this is done, the true
message is hidden, which is what Satan wants to happen.
Because it is mentioned here, it is important to have a
basic scriptural knowledge of what the phrase means. There is a very simple answer when trying to
describe what eternal destruction means, if you take each word individually. Eternal means, “Continuing without
interruption; perpetual”, (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/eternal ), forever,
it will never change.
Destruction means “to cause (something) to end or no longer
exist, to cause the destruction of (something), to damage (something) so badly
that it cannot be repaired. (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/destroy
). When a human being meets “eternal
destruction” as described in 1 Thessalonians 1:9, it means that that person
will be damaged so badly, that he or she will no longer exist. That that person cannot be repaired. The existence of that person will come to an
end.
The prophet Malachi explains it clearly:
““Surely the day is coming; it will
burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and
the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a
root or a branch will be left to them.”” (Malachi 4:1).
The non-believers and the wicked will be burned
to ashes to such an extent that there will be nothing left. There will be no “root” or “branch left”. When this happens there is no way that that
person can exist, period.