1 Thessalonians 2:14, commentary and pictures

The Thessalonian believers became followers of the churches of God in Judea by suffering like things from their own countrymen, even as those churches had suffered from the Jews. That suffering came when unbelieving Jews who rejected the message stirred up the city against Paul and Silas, as described in Acts 17:5, and the converts' own countrymen carried out the assault that drove the apostles from Thessalonica. The Gentile churches received the gospel in harmony with the Jewish Christian churches in Judea, taking them as models after which church life at Thessalonica, Corinth, Galatia, and elsewhere was patterned. Those who followed the Judean churches also kept the seventh-day Sabbath with them, so their likeness to the Judean churches identifies the Greek converts as Christian Sabbath-keepers. The opposition that caused this suffering brought wrath upon the opposers to the uttermost, fulfilled in coming calamities upon the Jews when hundreds of thousands perished in Jerusalem's destruction by famine, sword, and fire.

Suffering and Historical Setting

The Thessalonian believers became followers of the churches of God in Judea which are in Christ Jesus by enduring the same kind of suffering from their own countrymen as those churches had endured from the Jews. To follow those Judean churches was to imitate them in suffering persecution at the hands of one's own people. That likeness in persecution included keeping the Sabbath as the Judean churches did, marking the Thessalonians as Christian Sabbath-keepers. Following Paul's example in this context includes keeping the Sabbath, and following apostolic churches stands as an approved precedent.

The persecution at Thessalonica was instigated by the Jews and carried out by the converts' own countrymen against those who had received the apostles' teaching. The Jews who rejected the message stirred up a mob and attacked the house of Jason, as described in Acts 17:5. The Thessalonian church had been founded by Paul and Silas, who were driven from the city by violence from the Jews.

This suffering came from local opposition to the gospel, not from a general Roman policy of religious persecution during the period covered by Acts. Such shared suffering under persecution from their own countrymen, as the Judean churches had suffered from the Jews, marked the experience of the churches. Opposition from wicked and unprincipled men was one way the cause of Christ and his salvation advanced. The phrase churches of God is the plural name for congregations belonging to God.

Following the Judean Churches

Gentile Christians at first received the gospel and its precepts in harmony with the Jewish Christian churches in Judea, following their customs and practice. The Judean churches were the models after which Gentile church life at Thessalonica, Corinth, Galatia, and elsewhere was patterned, so that Gentile church life was based upon Jewish models. The Thessalonian believers, though converted from the Gentiles, followed the churches of God in Judea, and both endured persecution from their own countrymen. This following of the practice of apostolic churches stands as an approved precedent.

The Judean churches kept the seventh-day Sabbath, so the Thessalonian and other Greek converts who followed them also kept the Sabbath. They had kept the Sabbath before receiving the gospel, and the Judean churches, also Sabbath-keepers, remained their pattern as a Christian church. Their likeness to the Judean churches identifies them as Christian Sabbath-keepers, including in their suffering persecution from their own countrymen. This proves that in A.D. 54 not only Jewish but also Greek Christians kept the Sabbath.

The Thessalonians in turn became examples for the churches of Macedonia and Achaia, including Philippi and Corinth. The Thessalonian church which followed the Judean churches thus served as a pattern for the church at Corinth.

Following Paul's example includes keeping the Sabbath. Paul's instruction about laying aside alms on the first day was not teaching first-day observance in place of the Sabbath but directing morning benevolence for the poor saints at Jerusalem. Those were needy Jewish believers no longer supported by their Jewish brethren after accepting Christ, especially in the famine in the days of Claudius Caesar, and Paul established among the Gentiles the Jewish custom of laying aside alms on first-day morning for them.

Wrath, Apostasy, and Endurance

The verse introduces the statement that wrath had come to the uttermost upon those who opposed the gospel. That wrath referred to coming calamities upon the Jews, fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem. There hundreds of thousands perished by famine and sword and fire, upon the people who had called for the blood of Jesus to be upon themselves and upon their children. Yet the calamities that destroyed Jerusalem and the Jewish nation did not settle their final account, for those who rejected Christ will face him and their sins again in the judgment.

God in long-suffering mercy does not overthrow nations or peoples until their iniquity is full. He waits till the transgressors are come to the full and there is no more hope of good from them. The verse stands connected with Paul's testimony that the apostasy had already begun in the apostles' time, though the Man of Sin would be revealed later. That was the gradual development of the Romish apostasy.

Believers are to endure tribulation until Christ comes. Opposition from wicked and unprincipled men was one way the cause of Christ and his salvation advanced.