Jesus Has Not Returned Yet
An EasyEnglish Version with Notes (1200 word vocabulary) on Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians
Cynthia Green & Carol Betts
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Words in boxes are comments on the text.
The word list at the end explains words with a star * by them.
Thessalonica was a large city in Macedonia. Macedonia included the north part of the country that we call Greece. It also included the south part of the country that we call Yugoslavia. We think that Paul, together with Silas and Timothy, visited Thessalonica about the year *AD 50. That was about 20 years after Jesus died. Paul went there for a short time, to tell the people about Jesus Christ. A few months later, Paul wrote his first letter to the Christians who lived at Thessalonica. Paul wrote that first letter when he was in Corinth city. Corinth was about 300 kilometres (200 miles) south from Thessalonica.
While Paul was still at Corinth, he heard some news. The news was about the Christians who lived at Thessalonica. So, he wrote this second letter to them, only a short time after he had sent his first letter.
Paul knew that some people were still causing bad trouble for the Christians at Thessalonica. So he wrote to help them to be brave (chapter 1). He says that God knows about their troubles. God has a purpose in everything, and he will *punish his people’s enemies in the end.
Also, some people were teaching that Jesus had already returned to the earth. Other people were teaching that he would return very soon. Some of the Christians at Thessalonica may have believed what these people taught. We think that some of the Christians may even have stopped working as a result. So, Paul writes to explain that Jesus will not return yet. Certain things must happen before he returns (chapter 2). Paul also says that nobody should stop working (chapter 3). People should work so that they can get their own food.
v1 This letter is from Paul, Silas and Timothy to God’s people who live at Thessalonica. You are united to God, our Father, and to the *Lord Jesus Christ. v2 We pray that God, the Father, and the *Lord Jesus Christ will continue to be very kind to you. We pray also that they will cause you to be without trouble inside yourselves.
v3 You are like brothers and sisters to us, and we ought to thank God because of you always. It is right that we should thank God, because you are learning to believe Christ more and more. And every one of you is loving each of the other Christians more and more. v4 As a result, we speak about you to the other groups of *believers who belong to God. We are so happy to tell them about you. You are showing how God’s people should live. People often cause you bad trouble and pain because you are Christians. But you are continuing to believe Christ. You are continuing to be patient and brave.
v5 All this shows us something clearly about how God decides about people. God decides what should happen to people when they die. And he will always decide what is right for them. People are causing great trouble for you now because God is your king. So it is right that, as a result, you should live always with God and his people. And God’s plan is that this will happen to you.
v6 God will do what is right. So he will *punish those people who are causing trouble for you. He will cause trouble for them. v7 God will also do what is right for you. You have troubles now. But God will cause you to rest and to be without trouble. You will rest, together with us, when the *Lord Jesus will come down from *heaven. He will come with his powerful *angels. v8 He will come with a very hot fire. And he will *punish those people who do not know God. He will *punish those people who refuse to obey the good news about our *Lord Jesus. v9 To *punish them, he will go on destroying them always. He will shut them out from where the *Lord is present. So, they will never see how very powerful, great and beautiful he is. v10 All this will happen on that day when Jesus will come. On that day, Jesus’ own people will show what great things he has done for them. All those people who believe him will say great things about him. And you will be among them, because you believed our message. You believed what we told you about Jesus.
v11 So we always pray for you. Our God has chosen you to be his own people. And you must continue to be the kind of people that he wants. So, we pray that he will be happy about you. Then he will want you to belong to his people always. We pray also that God will work powerfully in you. So then he will make it possible for you to do every good thing that you want to do. You want to do those good things because you believe Christ. v12 We pray this so that other people will say good things about our *Lord Jesus because of you. They will see the great things that he has done for you. Also, Jesus will cause people to say good things about you. This will happen because our God and the *Lord Jesus Christ are so very kind to you.
v1 Our friends, we must explain something now about the time when our *Lord Jesus Christ will return. You know that, at that time, he will bring us all together to be with him. But we ask you something very strongly. v2 You must not let yourselves become confused or afraid easily because of false messages about the *Lord’s return. Those messages say that the day of the *Lord has already come. Perhaps somebody might say that God’s Spirit has shown him a message like that. Or somebody might report that we said it. Or they might say that we wrote it in a letter. v3 Do not let anyone cause you to believe something false in any way. That day will not come until certain things have happened.
Before that day, there will be a time when many people will turn against God completely. Also, the man who completely refuses to obey God will come before that day. He is the man that God will certainly destroy. v4 This man will be God’s enemy. He will be the enemy of everything that people call God. He will be the enemy of everything that people *worship. He will think that he is much greater than any god. As a result, this man will even go into God’s special house and he will sit down there. And he will say that he himself is God.
Verses 1-3 When he was with them, Paul had taught the Christians at Thessalonica about Jesus’ return. (See verse 5.) He had said more about it in his first letter to them. (See 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 5:1-10.) But other people there had been teaching that it had already happened. So, Paul is explaining that certain things must happen first.
The ‘day of the *Lord’ is not a 24-hour day but a longer time. It includes many events. It will be a time when God will beat all his enemies (Isaiah 2:12). He will destroy them (Isaiah 13:9). This will bring trouble to the earth (Isaiah 13:11; Amos 5:18). It is a way of talking about the time when the *Lord will deliver Israel’s people (Jeremiah 30:7-9). It also is a way of speaking about the time when Jesus will return. And then he will start to rule on the earth.
Verses 3-4 The ‘man who completely refuses to obey God’ is the opposite of Jesus Christ. Another name for him is ‘*Antichrist’ (see 1 John 2:18, 22 and 4:3). The book in the Bible called Daniel tells about a very bad ruler like this. (See Daniel 9:26-27; 11:31-37.) And the book called Revelation describes a strange animal that may also be like a picture of this person. (See Revelation 13:1-8.)
v5 I told you these things when I was with you. I am sure that you remember that. v6 This man will come at the time that God has chosen. But something stops him coming yet. And you know what it is. v7 Already *Satan is working secretly to turn people against God and against God’s rules. But there is someone who is stopping *Satan from working like that freely. And that someone will continue to stop him, until God takes that someone away. v8 Then the man who completely refuses to obey God will come. But when the *Lord Jesus will come, he will destroy that man. Jesus will kill him with the words that Jesus speaks. Jesus will destroy him with the very bright, powerful light that shines from Jesus himself.
Verses 6-7 Something (verse 6) and/or someone (verse 7) is stopping *Antichrist from coming yet. Paul had taught the Christians at Thessalonica about this. So, they knew what it and/or he was. But we do not know certainly what Paul means here. He could mean the government or governments that rule people in this world. God chooses to let governments rule people. And good governments make good rules. Those rules help people do what is right. The Romans (people from the country called Italy) ruled many countries at the time when Paul wrote this letter. So Paul may have meant that the Romans were stopping *Antichrist.
v9 *Satan will cause this very bad man to come. Also, *Satan will cause this man to be very powerful. So, this bad man will do all kinds of things that people cannot usually do. Those things will surprise people very much. Those things will cause people to believe this bad man. v10 This bad man will also do all kinds of bad things. He will make bad people believe what is not true. So, God will certainly destroy those bad people. Those bad people will believe false things because they refused to love the true message. And so, as a result, God does not save them. v11 For this reason, God causes them to believe wrong things very easily and very strongly. So then they will believe what is not true. v12 The result is that God will decide to *punish them. They refused to believe what is true. And instead, they enjoyed doing wrong things. So God will *punish all of them.
v13 You are like brothers and sisters to us, and the *Lord loves you. We must thank God always because of you, because God has chosen you. God chose you to be among the first people that he would save. He saves you because his Spirit makes you God’s special people. God’s Spirit makes you separate from everything that is bad. God saves you because you believe him. You believe what is true. v14 God asked you strongly to become his special people. He asked you because we told you the good news. He wanted you to become special people who would live always with our *Lord Jesus Christ. You will live in that beautiful place with Christ, who is so very great. v15 So then, our friends, you must continue to believe Christ strongly. Continue to believe the true things that we taught you. Other people first taught those things to us. And we taught them to you when we spoke to you. We also taught them to you when we wrote our letter to you.
v16 We pray about you to our *Lord Jesus Christ himself, and to God, our Father. They have shown how much they love us. And they have promised to give us good things. So, we can continue to be brave and strong always. We can hope strongly for these good things. They will give these things to us because they are so very kind. v17 We pray that our *Lord Jesus Christ and God, our Father, will make you brave. We pray that they will continue to make you strong inside yourselves. Then you will always do what is good. And you will always say what is good.
v1 Now, friends, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that, because of us, more and more people will hear the *Lord’s message soon. Pray that they will believe his message. So then they will thank God for it. That is just what happened among you. v2 Pray also that God will stop very bad people from causing bad trouble for us. Pray like that, because not everyone believes the message about our *Lord. v3 But the *Lord always does what he has promised. So, he will help you, so that you continue to believe him strongly. And he will keep you safe from *Satan.
v4 Also the *Lord makes us sure about you. You are doing the things that we told you to do. And you will continue to do the things that we tell you. We are sure about that. v5 We pray that the *Lord will lead you to know him more and more. So then you will continue to understand more about how much God loves you. And he will cause you to be patient and strong, like Christ.
v6 Our friends, we tell you this with the authority that the *Lord Jesus Christ gives to us. You must stay away from every *believer who is living a lazy life. People like that are refusing to obey the things that we taught you. v7 You yourselves know that you ought to copy us. You ought to do the things that we did. We were not lazy when we were with you. v8 We always paid for all the food that we received from anyone. We worked very much, during the day and at night. We worked so that we did not need to ask any of you for anything. So, you did not have to supply anything for us. v9 We could have told you to supply things for us. We have authority to do that. But we wanted to show you ourselves what you should do. So then you could copy us. v10 Even when we were with you, we told you this rule. ‘If anyone refuses to work, you should not let him eat’, we said.
v11 We say this because someone has told us news about you. They have told us that some people among you are living lazy lives. Those people do not work themselves. But they talk very much about other people. They are busy with things that should not matter to them. v12 We speak strongly to those people who are lazy like that. We speak with the authority that the *Lord Jesus Christ gives to us. We tell them strongly that it is their duty to work. They should work properly so that they may get their own food to eat.
Verses 6-12 In his first letter to them, Paul told the Christians at Thessalonica that they must work. (See 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 and 5:14.) But some of them were still refusing to work. They thought that Jesus would return to the earth very soon. So, they may have thought that they did not need to work. In this letter, Paul has already explained that Jesus will not return so very soon. Certain things must happen first. (See chapter 2:1-12.) So now, Paul tells them again that it is right for them to work.
Verses 7-10 See also 1 Thessalonians 2:7-9.
v13 But you other *believers must not become tired of doing what is good. v14 We have written things in this letter to tell you what you should do. If anyone refuses to obey these things, tell everyone about him. And stay away from him, so that he may be ashamed. v15 But do not think about him or speak to him as your enemy. Instead, tell him seriously, like a brother, that he should obey our message.
v16 The *Lord causes us to be without trouble inside ourselves. And I pray that the *Lord himself will do that for you at all times and in every way. I pray that the *Lord will be with all of you.
v17 I, Paul, am writing these words myself to say ‘hello’ to you. I write my name like this at the end of all my letters. This is how I write. v18 I pray that our *Lord Jesus Christ will continue to be very kind to all of you.
AD ~ AD 50 means the year that was 50 years after Jesus came, and so on.
angel ~ *spirit *being. Good angels come from God’s home above the earth. They are God’s servants. Sometimes they bring messages from God to people.
Antichrist ~ another name for the man who completely refuses to obey God.
being ~ a person or animal that is alive.
believer ~ a person who knows and accepts Christ.
heaven ~ the place beyond the earth where God and Jesus Christ live.
Lord ~ master; another name for God or Jesus; it means that he is greater than everyone else.
punish ~ to hurt someone, or to cause trouble for them, because they have done bad things.
Satan ~ another name for the Devil. He is the bad *spirit who wants to be God. He is the ruler of bad *angels and of all that is bad. He is the enemy of Christians.
spirit ~ a *being that is always alive, even without a body. There are good spirits, like God’s Spirit and his *angels. And there are bad spirits, like *Satan and his *angels. A person’s spirit is the part of them that will always be alive. It will be alive even after their body is dead.
worship ~ to love and thank someone (God) more than anyone else.
A. Marshall ~ The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament
P. Ellingworth & E. A. Nida ~ A Translator’s Handbook on Paul’s Letters to the Thessalonians
L. Morris ~ New International Commentary on the New Testament ~ The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians
F. F. Bruce ~ Word Biblical Commentary ~ 1 & 2 Thessalonians
Various Bible versions
© 1997-2004, Wycliffe Associates (UK)
This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level A (1200 words).
February 2004
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