![]() ![]() Worse yet, these false teachers were alleging that their message came from Paul. It seems that, later, some people began teaching the Thessalonian church that the Lord had already come and that Judgment Day was upon them (2 Thessalonians 2:1–2). But Timothy returned to Paul bearing good news about the thriving church in Thessalonica, and Paul wrote the book of 1 Thessalonians to encourage them and to explain the “ day of the Lord” more clearly. ![]() Paul “was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted ” and that his labors among them had “been in vain” (verse 5). So Paul sent Timothy to check on them and encourage them in their faith (1 Thessalonians 3:1–5). ![]() He tried to return to them “again and again-but Satan blocked our way” (1 Thessalonians 2:18). Although Paul does not state what kind of work he did, it was most likely tent-making, which was a trade he was experienced in (Acts 18:1–3).ĭue to the short time he had been able to spend in Thessalonica, Paul was concerned about the church there. In his first letter to the church there, Paul mentions that he had to work during his time in that city, in addition to teaching and preaching, in order not to be a burden to his hosts (1 Thessalonians 2:9). Paul’s stay in Thessalonica had most likely been difficult for him. Despite the hostile environment the new believers experienced in Thessalonica, they were holding fast to the word that was preached to them, and news of their devotion to Christ was becoming well-known throughout Macedonia (1 Thessalonians 1:7–8). First Thessalonians is one of the first of Paul’s letters, or epistles, to churches. Not long after his initial visit to Thessalonica, Paul was in Corinth, where he wrote two letters that we now call 1 and 2 Thessalonians, addressed to the newfound church in Thessalonica. Silas and Timothy remained in Berea to teach and strengthen the new church there. The Berean believers smuggled Paul to the coast where he boarded a ship for Athens. ![]() They followed the missionaries to Berea and tried to stir up the crowd against them there as they had done in their own city (Acts 17:13). In Berea, Paul found a much more receptive audience (verses 11 and 12).The Bereans considered Paul’s words and compared them with the Scriptures instead of taking offense and resisting the gospel as the Thessalonians had.Įven though Paul and Silas had left their city, the unbelieving Thessalonian Jews were not satisfied. Meanwhile, the new Thessalonian believers hid Paul and company until dark and then sent them on to Berea, a city about 45 miles to the southwest (Acts 17:10). After a hasty consultation with city officials, they made Jason post bond and released him. In Thessalonica, Paul and Silas stayed with a man named Jason, and when the Thessalonian mob decided to get rid of the missionaries, they rushed Jason’s house and dragged him into the streets. That was the beginning of the church at Thessalonica. However, “some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women” (Acts 17:4). He spent three weeks teaching in the Jewish synagogue, but most of the Thessalonian Jews became indignant and formed a mob to drive the men out of the city. Paul and Silas traveled to Thessalonica from Phillipi on Paul’s second missionary journey to preach the news about Jesus. Thessalonica was a prominent city in Macedonia (in modern-day Greece) due to its location: it had a seaport on the Aegean Sea and was a principal stop on the Egnatian Way, a major Roman road. ![]()
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