2 Thessalonians 1:7

7. rest with us] St Paul’s was a life full of harassment and fatigue, and the hope of rest was sweet to him (note the outburst of Gal_6:17). Men of an easy untroubled life miss the delight of the thought of Heaven.

But in his visions of future joy his children in Christ always shared. Comp. 2Co_4:14, “God will raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you;” again in 2Ti_4:8, “the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge (comp. 2Th_1:5 above), shall give me at that day—and not to me only, but also to all who love His appearing.”

when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven] Lit., in the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven. His advent is His people’s deliverance; it guarantees, and virtually contains in itself the relief for which they sigh.

Note, once again, the prevalence of the title Lord Jesus in these letters—the designation of the returning, triumphant Saviour. Compare notes on 1Th_2:15; 1Th_2:19.

Here and in 1Co_1:7 (so in 1Pe_1:7; 1Pe_1:13; 1Pe_4:13) Christ’s second coming is called His revelation; for it will exhibit Him in aspects of majesty unknown and inconceivable before. In like manner there will be a “revelation of the sons of God,” and “of the righteous judgement of God” upon the wicked (Rom_8:19; Rom_2:5); those events, along with this, certified beforehand, but in their form and nature beyond our present conception. The “coming” of Antichrist is also foretold as a “revelation” (ch. 2Th_2:3; 2Th_2:6; 2Th_2:8, see notes). So this revelation comes—

from heaven] comp. 1Th_1:10 (see note); 1Th_4:16; Php_3:20, “from whence we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ;” and the very definite promise of Act_1:11. It will be the unveiling of Christ in His glory (descending) from heaven; whereas His previous coming was in the form of a lowly man on earth.

with his mighty angels] Lit., with angels of His power: i.e. “attended by angels as signs and instruments of His power.” Comp. 1Th_4:16 (and note) for the office of the angels in Christ’s advent; and for their relation to Divine Power, Psa_103:20, “Ye angels, mighty in strength, that fulfil His word.” Their presence suits the majesty in which He comes as the Judge of mankind, “in his Father’s glory, with the holy angels” (Mar_8:38); and they are, perhaps, the agents of those changes in material nature by which it will be accompanied. Comp. Deu_33:2, Psa_68:17, for older theophanies.

New and severe features are added to the picture of the Advent in the next verse:

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Th_1:7-10

When the Lord Jesus Christ shall be revealed from heaven--This passage both consolatory and doctrinal--consolation designed for a persecuted Church--instruction for the world.

Our subject: the general judgment. We will regard

I. Its certainty. May be argued from moral government.

1. Indicated by reason.

2. Attested by conscience.

3. Proved from Scripture.

II. Its solemnity. Mark the attendant events.

1. The descent of the appointed Judge.

2. The glorious throne He will occupy.

3. The vast concourse of attendants.

4. The time and manner of advent.

5. The resurrection of the sleeping dead.

6. The transformation of the busy living.

7. The destruction of the universe.

III. Its reality. Not fictitious or nominal, but sternly real.

1. Universal citation.

2. Impartial scrutiny.

3. Final separation.

4. Judicial sentence.

5. Eternal execution. (J. Odell.)

Joy and terror in the coming of the Lord

The Lord will come the second time. When, we cannot know. Angels do not know. But this does not detract from its certainty. To us individually His coming is virtually near. It is not long till we go hence, and time for us will be no more. Eternity begins; Christ, the Judge, deciding our state for happiness or misery. Therefore we need not put His coming far away in the future. We are graciously permitted to prepare for it, so that it may be to us an event of joy and not of terror.

I. To unbelievers the Lords coming will be an indescribable terror. They rejected Him come to deliver them from sin. Now they must behold Him as their righteous Judge to pronounce upon them the condemnation of their own choosing. This is their condemnation--that they believed not on Him. Mercies slighted will make justice self-approved. Not mercy, then, but the wrath of the Lamb will be upon them.

II. To believers His coming will bring inconceivable joy. They have accepted Him in His mission of redeeming love in His first advent. At His coming to judge the world He will receive His own to Himself. Such a relation to Him carries with it a desire for His appearing, when they shall appear with Him in glory. They rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.

III. Points for remarks.

1. Great is the mercy of God in extending to us present salvation through the mediation of Christ. Great is His mercy also in forewarning us of His coming again as the Judge.

2. Life appears short in view of the event of Christs coming and the eternity awaiting us. How important this life is, considered as a preparation.

3. Terrible as must be the coming of Christ to the wicked, to the Christian it is a joyous anticipation. It has always been so. Christ is the chiefest among ten thousand, and the One altogether lovely. To see Him face to face and dwell with Him forever is heaven to the soul. This state may well awaken a desire to see Him. (The Study.)

The coming of Christ with His angels

I. There is a time coming when Christ shall be fully revealed and come all His glory.

1. What is this revelation? The coming of Christ is set forth as an apocalypse and as an epiphany. The former is in the text, and in 1Pe_1:13, 1Co_1:7, and means an unveiling; the latter is in 2Ti_4:8, Tit_2:13, and means a forth-flashing. The former is used because--

(1) Many have never seen Him (Act_3:21). This does not hinder His spiritual virtue and influence although it does the enjoyment of His bodily presence! (1Pe_1:8).

(2) His earthly state was obscure, His Godhead peeping through the veil in a miracle or so.

(3) His spiritual glory is seen but in a glass darkly (1Co_13:12). Vision is reserved for heaven (Joh_17:24).

(4) His kingdom is not always clear to the world (Luk_17:20).

(5) His subjects are under a veil (Col_3:3; 1Jn_3:2; Rom_8:19).

2. That this time is coming is evident from--

(1) The promise of His coming. This ancient promise (Jud_1:14-15) was ever kept afoot in the Church. The scoffers took notice of it (2Pe_3:4). It has been revived by all the Lords messengers. Moses, David, Samuel, Joel, Zechariah, Malachi, and more clearly by Christ (Joh_14:3). Christ would not flatter us into a fools paradise.

(2) His remembrancers in the Church (1Co_11:26; 2Ti_4:1).

(3) Our inward pledge of it. At parting there is a giving of tokens. Christ has gone to make ready for the day of His espousals. To prevent suspicion He left His Spirit to stir up in us expectation of that day (Rom_8:23; Rev_22:17).

(4) Our constant experience of His love and care. There are frequent messages of love passing between us and Christ, in His word, prayer, sacraments, to show that He does not forget us.

(5) The interest of Christ which is concerned in it.

(a) Partly that the glory of His Person may be seen and fully discovered. His first coming was obscure, in the form of a servant, with a poor retinue, etc.; now He comes as the Lord of all in power and great glory.

(b) That He may possess what He has purchased (1Pe_1:18-19; Joh_14:3; Heb_3:13).

(c) That He may overthrow the wicked (Isa_45:23; Rom_14:10-11; Php_2:10).

(d) That He may require an account of things during His absence (Mat_25:1-46.).

II. When Christ comes He will bring His mighty angels with Him.

1. Those angels are mighty (Psa_103:20). One slaughtered many thousands of Sennacheribs army in a single night. Their greatness is mentioned to show the excellency of our Redeemer who is greater than all.

2. He will bring them--

(1) To show His glory and majesty. The most excellent creatures are at His command (1Pe_3:22; Eph_1:22; Heb_1:4-7).

(2) Because He has a service for them.

(a) To gather the elect (Mat_24:31). This shall complete their many services on His behalf and ours (Luk_2:18; Luk_2:14; 1Co_11:10; 1Ti_5:21; Luk_15:7; Luk_15:10; Heb_1:14; Psa_34:7; Luk_16:22).

(b) To execute His sentence on the wicked (Mat_13:41-42; Mat_13:49).

(c) To show that they are part of the army commanded by the Captain of our salvation. (Psa_68:17). (T. Manton, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. Vivid description of the infliction of justice at the parousia, 2Th_1:7-10.

7. And—It is rightful for God to repay to you who are troubled by persecutors, a rest, repose, a relaxation from an overstrain. The Greek word for rest is literally applied to the remission of a musical chord after it has been strained. Here it is applied to the repose of paradise after the overstrain, that is, the toils, the persecutions, the martyrdoms of Christian earthly life. It is the reposeful side of future blessedness, the active side of which is glory. Compare 2Co_2:13; 2Co_7:5; 2Co_8:13; and the analogous expression, Act_3:19.

With us—Your apostolic fellow-sufferers.

When… from heaven—Literal Greek, at the revelation (apocalypse) of the Lord Jesus from heaven. The picture is, of the person of Christ as revealing itself through the opening sky to human eyes. It is vividly given by John, Rev_1:7. Compare 1Co_1:7.

Mighty angels—Greek, angels of his power. The might belongs not to the angels, but to him. They are the offspring and instruments of his power. Their glorious procession, as his advance hosts, is a display of his power. Note on 1Th_4:16.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

2Th_1:8. In flaming fire.—Lit. “in a fire of flame.” “Fire is a symbol of divine anger and majesty in Scripture; and flame is fire in motion, leaping and blazing out” (Findlay). Taking vengeance on them that know not God.—St. Paul does not consider ignorance as a valid excuse where knowledge might be had, any more than a man would be looked on as innocent who should plead that, being a foreigner, he did not know that the law of any country which he visits forbids murder. “This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (Joh_3:19).

2Th_1:9. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction.—R.V. “who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction.” It has been repeatedly shown that only arbitrariness can limit the meaning of this terrible phrase. Our comfort must be that He with whom “it is a righteous thing to recompense affliction” will always be self-consistent. From the presence of the Lord. The fulness of joy is there, and they who, like Cain, go out from it carry the ache of an irreparable loss with them. The Hebraism in the phrase is brought out by the R.V. “from the face of the Lord.”

2Th_1:10. To be glorified in His saints.—Two meanings at least suit this phrase:

(1) It may be the apostle thought of the great ascription of praise rising from the vast assembly of saints, or

(2) it may be he is thinking of the saints as the trophies of the Redeemer’s love and power—the work that speaks the Master’s praise. And to be admired.—R.V. “marvelled at.” The same work describes the fawning sycophancy of men of the Balaam spirit, or it might describe the open-eyed and speechless wonder of an African chief in a State function.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—2Th_1:7-10

The Day of Judgment.

The apostle sought to comfort the persecuted and suffering Church at Thessalonica by assuring them of a coming day of recompense, in which the divine righteousness would be satisfactorily cleared, His enemies punished, and His people rewarded. He now proceeds to depict the startling scenes of that promised day—“that day for which all other days were made”—and to indicate the twofold aspect of severity and mercy which will characterise the awards of the great Judge. In dealing with a subject of such overwhelming import, and which affords such scope for the play of the most powerful imagination, special care should be taken to keep within the limits of the revealed word. These verses suggest:—

I. That the day of judgment will be ushered in with awful splendour.—

1. The person of the Judge will be clothed with dazzling brightness. “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire” (2Th_1:7-8). The career of Christ on earth was one of obscurity, humiliation, and suffering, relieved now and then with outbursts of divine glory; but when He comes the second time, He will appear in all the unveiled charms of His peerless majesty, clad with heavenly splendour and brilliant as a fiery flame. The revelation of Jehovah is often referred to in the Old Testament under the emblem of fire (Exo_13:21; Num_9:15; Deu_4:24; Isa_10:16-17, etc.). The glimpse caught by the seer of Patmos of the ineffable beauty and glory of the God-man bowed him with astonishment and awe (Rev_1:13-17). And who shall stand before the flashing splendours of the great and holy Judge! Heaven is too narrow for the full display of the divine majesty; it glances on every globe; it irradiates the universe.

2. The Judge will be attended by an angelic retinue.—“With His mighty angels” (2Th_1:7). The pomp and state of the earthly judge, the gaily decked chariot, the sounding trumpets, the accompanying officers of justice, are but a feeble representation of the pomp and state of the heavenly Judge, “who maketh the clouds His chariot, who walketh upon the wings of the wind,” and whose gorgeous train is composed of hosts of mighty angels, who attend to execute His will, to punish the wicked, and to assist at the final consummation (Mat_13:41-42). These angels of might are ministers of His power, and by their agency He will make His power felt. We have an illustration of the colossal mightiness of these angelic messengers in the apparent ease with which one angel in a few hours laid thousands of the Assyrians low (2Ki_19:35).

II. That the day of judgment will be a time of punishment to the disobedient.—

1. The objects of punishment. “Them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2Th_1:8). Not that ample opportunity has not been given to all to acquire a knowledge of God. To punish for not knowing what we cannot know would be an injustice and a cruelty. God has given to all the double light of His works and word. He has also given the eyes of sense and reason, and the help of His Holy Spirit to guide all to the knowledge of Himself and of “the glorious gospel of the blessed God.” It is not the involuntary ignorance of the uninstructed that is meant, but the wilful ignorance of the determined adversary, who not only rejected the gospel himself, but barbarously persecuted those who received and obeyed it. Knowledge of God is of little value if it does not lead to obedience. Confused, indistinct, inoperative knowledge is no knowledge. To know and not to obey the gospel involves a heavier condemnation.

2. The character of the punishment.—“Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2Th_1:9). Awful words! Who can fully explain what they really involve? If destruction means annihilation, how can it be everlasting? Besides, the notion of the absolute extinction of anything God has made—the reduction to nothingness of either a reasonable soul or a material atom—has as little support from the teachings of revelation as of science. Again, it is urged that “everlasting” does not always in Scripture mean what lasts for ever, but sometimes what lasts only for a long period. But the utmost this argument could prove would be that the present possibly may be, not that it is, one of these peculiar cases. Were it the only fact in the case, there would still be the terrible uncertainty. “But then remember,” says Dr. Lillie, “that if it had really been intended to teach the eternity of future punishment, no stronger words, phrases, and images could have been found for the purpose than those actually employed.” Whatever the punishment may be in itself, is it not punishment enough to be for ever excluded “from the presence of the Lord,” driven, a moral wreck, “from the glory of His power”? Let the words of this ninth verse be seriously weighed in private meditation, and some sense of their awful signification cannot fail to be realised.

III. That the day of judgment will be a revelation of the glory and blessedness of the faithful.—

1. The glory of Christ is bound up and reflected in His Church. “When He shall come to be glorified in His saints and to be admired in all them that believe in that day” (2Th_1:10). The Church is the creation of Christ; for her He lived, suffered, died, and triumphed, and into her He poured the glory of His matchless character. “The glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them.” His Church, like a mirror, shall reflect to the gaze of an admiring universe the unutterable glory of the great Redeemer. “The beauty of the Lord our God shall be upon her, and His glory shall be seen upon her.” How great a change is this from the sins, the struggles, the failures, the disappointments, and sufferings of earth!

2. A life of faith leads to a life of glory.—“Because our testimony among you was believed” (2Th_1:10). Faith rests on testimony, and is vitally affected by the character of the testimony. Saving faith relies on the infallible testimony of the word of God concerning Christ. The faith exercised in the midst of discouragements and persecution is often tenacious and vigorous. The gospel is backed by evidence sufficient to convince every sane and reasonable mind. All may believe it who will; none will be excluded from glory but those who will not believe. In ancient Athens were two temples—a temple of Virtue and a temple of Honour—and none could enter the temple of Honour but by passing through the temple of Virtue. So none can enter the temple of Glory who does not first pass through the temple of Faith.

Lessons.—

1. The day of judgment, though future, is inevitable.

2. The proceedings of that day will be in harmony with the holiest principles of divine justice.

3. That day should be solemnly contemplated in its approach, in its attendant circumstances, and in its final decisions.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

2Th_1:7-8. The Divine Judge—

I. Has appointed a day of retribution.

II. Will be revealed on that day in terrible majesty.

III. Will take vengeance on the disobedient.

2Th_1:9-10. Divine Retribution—

I. Will be in strict harmony with the principles of universal righteousness.

II. Means terrible punishment to the wicked.

III. Will bring unspeakable felicity to the good.

IV. Will be recognised as faultlessly just.

V. Will enhance the divine glory.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

1:7 rest: Relief from suffering. • Elsewhere, Paul speaks of Christ’s “coming” (2:1; 1 Thes 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23); here, he speaks of the event as the “appearing” or “unveiling” of the Lord Jesus, who cannot currently be seen physically (cp. 1 Pet 1:7-8; 4:13).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

2Th 1:7. Καὶ ὑμῖν, and to you) To this refer 2Th 1:10-11.—τοῖς θλιβουμένοις, who are afflicted) In the middle voice, who endure affliction; comp. 2Th 1:4, at the end.—ἄνεσιν, rest) θλίψις, affliction, and ἄνεσις, rest, are opposed to each other with great propriety, 2Co 7:5; 2Co 8:13. Moreover rest includes also abundance of good things, 2Th 1:10.—μεθʼ ἡμῶν) with us, i.e. with the saints of Israel, 2Th 1:10, note. Comp. 1Th 2:14.—μετʼ ἀγγέλων δυνάμεως, with angels of might, mighty angels) The angels serve Christ in the putting forth of His power.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Th_1:7. Θλιβομένοις is passive. Bengel erroneously considers it as middle.

ἄνεσις] from ἀνίημι, denotes the relaxing which follows exertion, the ἐπίτασις (Plat. Rep. i. p. 349 E: ἐν τῇ ἐπιτάσει καὶ ἀνέσει τῶν χορδῶν. Plutarch, Lyc. 29: οὐκ ἄνεσις ἦν ἀλλʼ ἐπίτασις τῆς πολιτείας) passing over to the idea comfort, refreshment, rest. Comp. 2Co_2:13; 2Co_7:5; 2Co_8:13, and the analogous expression ἀνάψυξις, Act_3:19. Here ἄνεσις characterizes the glory of the kingdom of God according to its negative side as freedom from earthly affliction and trouble.

μεθʼ ἡμῶν] along with us. From this it follows that the apostle and his companions belonged to the θλιβόμενοι. μεθʼ ἡμῶν accordingly contains a confirmation of the notice contained in 2Th_3:2. Others (as Turretin, comp. also de Wette) understand μεθʼ ἡμῶν entirely generally: with us Christians in general. But the ἄνεσις which will likewise be imparted to the ἡμεῖς presupposes a preceding θλίψις, that is, according to the context, persecution by those who are not Christians. But such persecutions do not befall Christians everywhere. Strangely, Bengel (and also Macknight), μεθʼ ἡμῶν denotes: nobiscum i. e. cum sanctis Israelitis. Ewald: with us, i.e. with the apostles and other converted genuine Jews of the Holy Land, so that they shall have no preference.

ἐν τῇ ἀποκαλύψει τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ] a statement of the time when ἀνταποδοῦναι will take place, equivalent to ὅταν ἀποκαλυφθῇ ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς. ἀποκάλυψις (1Co_1:7) is a more definite expression for παρουσία. The return of Christ is the period at which He, so long hitherto concealed, will as Ruler and Judge be manifested, will publicly appear.[37]

ἈΠʼ ΟὐΡΑΝΟῦ ΜΕΤʼ ἈΓΓΈΛΩΝ ΔΥΝΆΜΕΩς ΑὐΤΟῦ] a specification of the mode of the ἈΠΟΚΑΛΎΨΕΙ.

ἈΠʼ ΟὐΡΑΝΟῦ] see on 1Th_4:16.

ΜΕΤʼ ἈΓΓΈΛΩΝ ΔΥΝΆΜΕΩς ΑὐΤΟῦ] with the angels of His power, i.e. through whom His power manifests itself, inasmuch as the angels are the executors of His commands, by their instrumentality e.g. the resurrection-call to the dead is issued (1Th_4:16). Calvin: Angelos potentiae vocat, in quibus suam potentiam exseret. Angelos enim secum adducet ad illustrandam regni sui gloriam. Oecumenius, Theophylact, Piscator, Benson, Flatt, and others erroneously explain it: with His mighty angels; still more erroneously Drusius, Michaelis, Krause, Hofmann, and others: with His angelic host. For this the Hebrew צָבָם is appealed to. But ΔΎΝΑΜΙς never occurs in this sense in the N. T.; the proofs to the contrary, which Hofmann finds in Luk_10:19, Mat_24:29, Mar_13:35, Luk_21:26, are entirely inappropriate. It would then require to have been written ΜΕΤᾺ ΔΥΝΆΜΕΩς ἈΓΓΈΛΩΝ ΑὐΤΟῦ. It is a wanton error, proceeding from a want of philological tact, when Hofmann separates ΑὐΤΟῦ from the words ΜΕΤʼ ἈΓΓΈΛΩΝ ΔΥΝΆΜΕΩς, refers this pronoun to God, and joins it with ΔΙΔΌΝΤΟς ἘΚΔΊΚΗΣΙΝ into a participial clause, of which ἘΝ Τῇ ἈΠΟΚΑΛΎΨΕΙ Κ.Τ.Λ. forms the commencement. Granted that ΜΕΤʼ ἈΓΓΈΛΩΝ ΔΥΝΆΜΕΩς, without the additional ΑὐΤΟῦ, might denote with an angelic host, yet Paul, in order to express the thought assigned to him by Hofmann, if he would be at all understood, would at least have entirely omitted αὐτοῦ, and would have put the dative διδόντι instead of the genitive διδόντος.

[37] That also we are not here to think, with Hammond, on the destruction of Jerusalem is evident.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Th 1:7 . After noting the principle of recompence (2Th 1:5-7 a ), Paul proceeds (7 b 10), to dwell on its time and setting, especially in its punitive aspect. He consoles the Thessalonians by depicting the doom of their opponents rather than (9 c , 10) their own positive relief and reward. The entire passage breathes the hot air of the later Judaism, with its apocalyptic anticipation of the jus talionis applied by God to the enemies of His people; only, Paul identifies that people not with Israel but with believers in Christ Jesus. He appropriates Israel’s promises for men and women whom Israel expelled and persecuted. The ἄγγελοι are the manifestation of Christ’s δύναμις , as the ἅγιοι (saints not angels) are of his δόξα (2Th 1:10 ); the position of ἀγγ . ( cf. Win., § 80, 12 b ) tells against Hofmann’s interpretation of δυν . = “host” ( צָבָא , so LXX). Here and in the following verses the divine prerogatives ( e.g. , fiery manifestation and judicial authority) are carried over to Jesus.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. ἐν φλογι πυρος is the reading of BDG 47 71, vg cop syr pesh, hcl txt, Tert; it appears to be a conformation to Isa 66:15, Exo 3:2 (Hebrew): so Act 7:30, with a varia lectio; Heb 1:7; Rev 1:14, &c. Weiss, on the other hand, supposes εν πυρι φλογος (given by אAKLP &c., and adopted by other critics) to be due to assimilation of εν φλογι πυρος to the LXX text of Exo 3:2.

7. καὶ ὑμῖν τοῖς θλιβομένοις ἄνεσιν μεθʼ ἡμῶν, and to you that are being afflicted rest with us: the other and principal side of the coming reversal. Ἄνεσις, here opposed to θλίψις (pressura), is commonly the antonym of ἐπίτασις (tension, strain); it signifies relaxation, relief, as of a tightly strung bow, or of the paroxysms of fever; cf. 2Co 2:12; 2Co 7:5; 2Co 8:13. The synonymous ἀνάψυξις (Act 3:19; 2Ti 1:16) is refreshment as from a cooling wind, a breath of fresh air; while ἀνάπαυσις (Mat 11:29, &c.) is cessation, the stopping of labour or pain. Job 3:17, “There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary are at rest,” resembles this text in the Hebrew, but is discrepant in the Greek: that passage relates, as this does not, to rest in death. St Paul says “with us,” for his life was full of harassing fatigue—a sigh on his own account! cf. Gal 6:17; 2Co 5:2; 1Co 4:9 ff. In the Apostle’s visions of glory and reward his children in Christ were always present to his mind; cf. “with you,” 2Co 4:14: also 2Co 1:7, 2Ti 4:8.

ἐν τῇ ἀποκαλύψει τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ μετʼ ἀγγέλων δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ, in the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven (attended) with angels of His power. This means more than “at the revelation”; the retribution just spoken of is a part of the Lord’s “revelation,” it belongs to the programme of the ἀποκάλυψις. It suits the O.T. imagery, in which the thought of the Epistle here moves, that the coming of the Lord is styled ἀποκάλυψις, not παρουσία as heretofore (1Th 3:13, &c.) and afterwards in 2Th 2:1: see also 1Co 1:7; Luk 17:30; 1Pe 1:7; 1Pe 1:13; 1Pe 4:13. Ἐπιφάνεια is its synonym in the Pastoral Epistles (cf. 2Th 2:8). St Paul uses ἀποκάλυψις (-πτω) of the extraordinary manifestation of Jesus Christ to himself at his conversion (Gal 1:12; Gal 1:16); this Biblical term implies always a supernatural disclosure, whether inward or outward in its sphere; cf., further, note on 2Th 2:6. On ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ, of. 1Th 1:10, and note. This “unveiling from heaven” affords a complete contrast to the lowly and obscure first coming of the Redeemer; see His own words in Mat 26:64.

For the office of the “angels” at the Advent, see note on 1Th 4:16. These beings attend the judicial Theophanies of the O.T., as contributors to God’s glory and ministers of His power: see Psa 68:17; Psa 103:20; Deu 33:2. It is significant that “in some cases the very expressions used in the Hebrew prophets of God have been adopted by St Paul in speaking of Christ” (Lightfoot).

Αὐτοῦ, qualifying δυνάμεως, forbids our reading the latter in the abstract, as a mere (Hebraistic) epithet of ἀγγέλων; so the A.V., “mighty angels,” and Beza, “potentibus.” The δύναμις of this sentence and the ἰσχύς of 2Th 1:9 form a part of the consolation: now “power” belongs to the wrongdoers (cf. Luk 4:5 f., Luk 22:53; Eph 6:12, &c.); with this attribute, on “the day of the Lord,” His “angels” will be clothed.

ἐν πυρὶ φλογός has been wrongly carried over to 2Th 1:8; the clause qualifies ἀποκαλύψει (2Th 1:7), and completes the foregoing description given in terms of local movement (ἀπό), personal accompaniment (μετά), and material surrounding (ἐν). Fire of flame is Christ’s awful robe: cf. Rev 1:13-16; Isa 66:15. Πῦρ φλογός (or φλὸξ πυρός) was a recognized sign of miraculous, especially judicial, theophanies; it attends angelic mediations, in such a way that the “angel” and the “flame” are more or less identified: see on the latter point, Psa 104:4 (as read in Heb 1:7); Isa 6:2; Isa 6:4; and, generally, Exo 3:2-6; Isa 4:4 f., Isa 30:27; Isa 30:30, Isa 64:1 f.; Dan 7:9 f.; also reff. under 2Th 1:7 (angels). This “fire of flame” surrounding the returning Jesus may have been associated in St Paul’s mind with the “light from heaven surpassing the brightness of the sun,” which flashed on him in the “revelation of Jesus Christ” that brought about his conversion (Act 26:13); that first appearance to himself unmistakably colours his prediction of the final ἐπιφάνεια in Php 3:20 f. “Fire” symbolizes Divine anger and majesty; “flame” is fire in motion, leaping and blazing. In 2Pe 3:7; 2Pe 3:10, “fire” is the predicted means of destruction for the material world at the Day of the Lord (a conflagratio mundi was anticipated by Stoic philosophy); St Paul in 1Co 3:13 ff. makes this fire, symbolically, the means of final judgement.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rest [ανεσιν] . See on liberty, Act 24:23. With this exception only in Paul.

With us. According to Paul 's habit of identifying his experience with that of his Christian readers. See 1Co 4:8; Rom 8:23; Phi 1:29, 30; Phi 2:18; Phi 3:20, 21; 2Co 1:7.

When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed [εν τη αποκαλυψει του κυριου ιησου] . Lit. in the revelation of the Lord Jesus. For ajpokaluyiv revelation, see on Rev 1:1.

With his mighty angels [μετ αγγελων δυναμεως αυτου] . Lit. with the angels of his power.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He confirmeth them also by the way, by this means, that the condition both of this present state and the state to come, is common to him with them.

A most glorious description of the second coming of Christ, to be set against all the miseries of the godly, and the triumphs of the wicked.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

rest--governed by "to recompense" (Th2 1:6). The Greek is literally, "relaxation"; loosening of the tension which had preceded; relaxing of the strings of endurance now so tightly drawn. The Greek word for "rest," Mat 11:28, is distinct, namely, cessation from labor. Also, Heb 4:9, "A keeping of sabbath."

with us--namely, Paul, Silas, and Timothy, the writers, who are troubled like yourselves.

when--at the time when . . . ; not sooner, not later.

with his mighty angels--rather as the Greek, "with the angels of His might," or "power," that is, the angels who are the ministers by whom He makes His might to be recognized (Mat 13:41, Mat 13:52). It is not their might, but His might, which is the prominent thought.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 7. And to you who are troubled, rest with us] And while they have tribulation, you shall have that eternal rest which remains for the people of God.

When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed] But this fulness of tribulation to them, and rest to you, shall not take place till the Lord Jesus come to judge the world.

With his mighty angels] The coming of God to judge the world is scarcely ever spoken of in the sacred writings without mentioning the holy angels, who are to accompany him, and to form his court or retinue. See De 33:2; Mat 25:31; Mat 16:27; Mat 26:64; Mr 8:38.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7 When the Lord shall be manifested. Here we have a confirmation of the foregoing statement. For as it is one of the articles of our faith, that Christ will come from heaven, and will not come in vain, faith ought to seek the end of his coming. Now this is — that he may come as a Redeemer to his own people; nay more, that he may judge the whole world. The description which follows has a view to this — that the pious may understand that God is so much the more concerned as to their afflictions in proportion to the dreadfulness of the judgment that awaits his enemies. For the chief occasion of grief and distress is this — that we think that God is but lightly affected with our calamities. We see into what complaints David from time to time breaks forth, while he is consumed by the pride and insolence of his enemies. Hence he has brought forward all this for the consolation of believers, while he represents the tribunal of Christ as full of horror, that they may not be disheartened by their present oppressed condition, while they see themselves proudly and disdainfully trampled upon by the wicked.

What is to be the nature of that fire, and of what materials, I leave to the disputations of persons of foolish curiosity. I am contented with holding what Paul had it in view to teach — that Christ will be a most strict avenger of the injuries which the wicked inflict upon us. The metaphor, however, of flame and fire, is abundantly common in Scripture, when the anger of God is treated of.

By the angels of his power, he means those in whom he will exercise his power; for he will bring the angels with him for the purpose of displaying the glory of his kingdom. Hence, too, they are elsewhere called the angels of his majesty

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(7) Rest with us.—Why “with us”? It shows sympathy in their present trials, for it implies that the writers themselves had earned or were earning (see Act_18:12) that rest by the like trials. The word “rest” (or relaxation) is the opposite of the “strain” at which the persecution kept them. Such “rest” is not to be expected in its fulness till the judgment day.

From heaven.—St. Paul seems to delight in calling attention to the quarter from which “the Lord Jesus” (the human name, to show His sympathy with trouble) will appear. (See 1Th_1:10; 1Th_4:16.)

With his mighty angels.—Literally, with the angels of His power—i.e., the angels to whom His power is intrusted and by whom it is administered. The angels do not attend merely for pomp, but to execute God’s purposes. (See Mat_13:41; Mat_13:49; Mat_24:31.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And to you who are troubled, rest with us,.... This is another branch of the justice of God, in rendering to them who are afflicted and persecuted for righteousness sake, "rest"; a relaxation or rest from persecutions, for a while at least; as the churches of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had, from that persecution raised at the death of Stephen, Act 9:31 and as the Christians had at the destruction of Jerusalem; which though it was a day of vengeance to the unbelieving Jews, were times of refreshing to the saints, who were now delivered from their persecutors: or rather this designs a rest which remains for the saints after death in the grave, and at the coming of the Lord, and to all eternity; when they shall rest from all their toil and labour, and be freed from sin, and all disquietude by it, and from the temptations of Satan, and likewise from the persecutions of men; see Job 3:17. And this will be enjoyed in company with the apostles, and other believers; and as it is some alleviation to the sufferings and afflictions of saints now, that the same are accomplished in others, so it will enhance the heavenly glory, rest, and felicity, that they will be partners and sharers in it with the apostles of Christ Jesus, and have the same crown of glory they have; and indeed their company and conversation will be a part of their happiness.

When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven; then will the justice of God take place in both the above branches and instances of it, rendering tribulation to persecutors, and rest to the persecuted. Christ, ever since a cloud received him out of the sight of the apostles up to heaven, has been, as it were, hid, and has not been seen with corporeal eyes by men on earth ever since, but by a very few, as Stephen, and the Apostle Paul; he has only been seen by an eye of faith; at his second coming there will be a revelation of him, and every eye shall see him: and this revelation of him will be "from heaven": thither he was received at his ascension, and there he now is; and here he is received, and will be retained until the end of all things; and from hence the saints expect him, and from hence will he descend in person, and then he will be revealed, and appear to the view of everyone: and that

with his mighty angels; which will add to the glory, majesty, and solemnity of that appearance: these are called his angels, because he is the Creator of them, and the object of their worship and adoration, and he is the Lord and head of them, and they are ministering spirits to him and his; and "mighty" angels, because they excel all other creatures in strength; a remarkable instance of the might and strength of angels is in Kg2 19:35. The words from the original text may be rendered, "with the angels of his power"; as they are by the Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, for they will be the ministers of the power of Christ in gathering the elect from the four winds, and all nations, before Christ; and in taking out of his kingdom all that offend, and do iniquity; and in severing the righteous from the wicked; and in casting the latter into the furnace of fire. The Syriac version reads the words, "with the power of his angels".

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

Ver. 7. Rest with us] As Noah’s ark, after much tossing, rested upon the mountains of Ararat; as the ark of the covenant, formerly transportative, was at length settled in Solomon’s temple. The word ανεσιν here used properly signifieth remission and relaxation from hard labour, Rev 14:13; "they rest from their labours." And as the sleep of a labouring man is sweet, so here.

With his mighty angels] Oh, what a glorious day must that needs be, when so many glorious suns shall shine at once; the Lord Christ outshining them all, velut inter ignes luna minores! he will not leave one angel in heaven behind him, Mar 8:38.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And to you who are troubled - That is, “it will be a righteous thing for God to give to you who are persecuted rest in the last day.” As it will be right and proper to punish the wicked, so it will he right to reward the good. It will not, however, be in precisely the same sense. The wicked will deserve all that they will suffer, but it cannot be said that the righteous will deserve the reward which they will receive. It will be right and proper, because:

(1) There is a fitness that they who are the friends of God should be treated as such, or it is proper that he should show himself to be their friend; and,

(2) Because in this life this is not always clearly done. They are often less prospered, and less happy in their outward circumstances, than the wicked. There is, therefore, a propriety that in the future state God should manifest himself as their friend, and show to assembled worlds that he is not indifferent to character, or that wickedness does not deserve his smiles, and piety incur his frown. At the same time, however, it will be owing wholly to his grace that any are ever admitted to heaven.

Rest - The future happiness of believers is often represented under the image of rest. It is rest like that of the weary laborer after his day of toil; rest, like that of the soldier after the hardships of a long and perilous march; rest, like the calm repose of one who has been racked with pain; see the notes on Heb 4:9. The word “rest” here (ἄνεσις anesis) means a letting loose, a remission, a relaxation; and hence composure, quiet; 2Co 2:12; 2Co 7:5.

With us - That is, with Paul, Silas, and Timothy; 2Th 1:1. It would increase the comfort of the Thessalonians derived from the anticipation of the future world, to reflect that they would meet their religious teachers and friends there. It always augments the anticipated joy of heaven to reflect that we are to share its blessedness with them. There is no envy among those who anticipate heaven; there will be none there. They who desire heaven at all, desire that it may be shared in the highest degree by all who are dear to them.

When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven - Shall appear; shall come from heaven; see the notes, 1Th 4:6.

With his mighty angels - Margin, “angels of his power.” So the Greek. The sense is, that angels of exalted rank and glory will accompany him; see the 1Th 4:16 note; Mat 24:31; Mat 25:31 notes.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Having spoken of the recompence of the troublers, here of the troubled: and in this we may observe a parallel, as in the former. The recompence to these is expressed by rest; in the Greek, dismission, or cessation from labour or trouble; as Heb 4:9; There remaineth a rest to the people of God, where the word is, keeping a sabbath, importing a rest from labour, as this text doth speak of a rest from trouble. And though the word rest is properly negative, yet under it the apostle comprehends all the felicity of the future state; elsewhere called a crown, a kingdom, an inheritance, glory, salvation, eternal life, yea, it contains in it the perfect satisfaction of the soul in the fruition of God, &c. And this is said to be given them by way of recompence, as tribulation is to their troublers; though there is no parity between their trembles and the rest, that is, their recompence, yet it is a proper recompence; and therefore the grace and mercy of God will be much manifested therein, though it is said to come from God’s righteousncss in the text. The righteousness of God dispenseth both these recompences; but yet the righteousness in both is not alike; ακριβοδικαιον, strict justice, dispenseth the one, and the punishment of the wicked riseth from the nature of their sin, and the merit of it; but it is only επιεικεια, equity, that dispenseth the other, and that not so much with respect to the nature of the saints’ duties or sufferings, as the promises and ordinance of God, and the merit of Christ for them. And this rest the apostle sets forth before them, under a twofold circumstance:

1. Rest with us. Us, the apostles and ministers of Christ, we and you shall rest together; as we have partaken of troubles together, so we shall of rest. And you shall enjoy the same felicity with the apostles themselves, in the same state of rest. And though now place doth separate us, yet we and you shall rest together, which will the more sweeten this rest to you and us.

2. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven; the other circumstance. This is the time of their entering into this rest. Christ’s coming is sometimes called his επιφανεια, appearing, 2Ti 4:8, or shining forth; sometimes, φανερωσις, his manifestation, 2Co 4:2; 1Jo 3:2; sometimes, αποκαλυψις, his revelation, as in the text. Now the heavens contain him, but he will come in person, and his glory shine forth: though before that their souls shall be at rest in heaven, and their bodies in the grave, yet not till then shall their persons be at rest. And as Christ himself is already entered into his rest, Heb 4:10, so he will come again to take his people into the same rest with him.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And to you who are troubled afflictedrest. The word "rest" here is a noun in the accusative, not a verb, as English readers might at the first glance suppose. It literally denotes relaxation, case. The meaning of the passage is that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense rest to you who are afflicted. The recompense of the persecutors those who afflict, is affliction; the recompense of the persecuted the afflicted, is rest. (comp. Mat_11:28, Mat_11:29) The rest or relaxation here mentioned is that which awaits believers, not in this world, but in the next, "where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest". (Job_3:17) "There remaineth a rest for the people of. (Heb_4:9) The happiness of heaven on its negative side, as freedom from earthly affliction and persecution, is here stated. It is rest to the weary, freedom to the enslaved, release from sorrow, suffering, and pain, relaxation from toil, ease from noise and turmoil, the quiet haven of peace after being tossed about in the tempestuous ocean. With us; that is, not with us believers in general, or with us the apostles, the champions of the faith, and still less with us Jews, the saints of israel; but with us, the writers of this Epistle, namely, Paul and Silas and Timothy. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed; or, more literally, at the revelation or apocalypse of the Lord Jesus. The advent of Christ is generally expressed by another word, parousia, denoting "presence;" here the word is apocalypse, bringing before us in a more vivid manner the visible manifestation of Christ. The advent of Christ is the period when he who has hitherto been concealed will be manifested as the supreme Ruler and Judge of the world. From heaven; where now he is concealed from human view, seated at the right hand of God. With his mighty angels; not with his host of angels, but, as it is in the margin of our Bibles, "with the angels of his power serving his power and proclaiming his might. It is the uniform declaration of Scripture that Christ will come to judgment attended by his holy angels. (Mat_16:27 Mat_24:31 Jud_1:14) And these angels are "the angels of his power," sent forth to execute his commands. By their instrumentality the dead shall be called from their graves, and the wicked separated from among the just 1 Thessalonians. (Mat_13:49)

Vers. 7, 8.

The manner of Christ"s second coming.

1. He shall come in person. Not merely in spirit or in power, but in a visible form; he shall be revealed from heaven; every eye shall see him.

2. He shall come in power. He shall be accompanied by the angels of his might, who shall execute his commands, call the dead from their graves, assemble together the elect, separate between the righteous and the wicked, and consign the wicked to the abodes of woe.

3. He shall come in glory. "In flaming fire in the Shechinah, the cloud of glory.

4. He shall come in justice; punishing the ungodly and rewarding his faithful servants.

Vers. 7-10.

The great day.

I THE JUDGMENT OF THE WICKED.

1. The revelation of the Judge. It is the Lord Jesus, who once was despised and rejected of men; he is ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. He shall come as God once came down on Mount Sinai, in the like awful glory.

(1) With the angels. They shall gather the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire. The angels will be the ministers of his justice the blessed angels who are now the messengers of his love and grace. Now they rejoice over each sinner that repenteth; then they will cast the impenitent into the everlasting fire. We think of the angels as gentle, loving, holy, as our friends and guardians; they are so, so far as we are Christ"s. They desire to look into the mysteries of redemption; they announced the Saviour"s birth; they ministered to him in his temptation, his agony; they celebrated his resurrection and ascension. Now they are sent forth to minister for them that shall be heirs of salvation; they encamp round about those who fear the Lord, and deliver them. They help in carrying on his blessed work of love. But they are holy; they hate evil; they must turn away from those who have yielded themselves to the dominion of the evil one; they must execute at the last the awful judgment of God. Fearful thought, that the blessed angels, loving and holy as they are, must one day cast the hardened sinner into hell, as once they cast Satan out of heaven.

(2) In flaming fire. The Lord shall be revealed in flaming fire, in that glory which he had before the world was. His throne is fiery flame. (Dan_7:9) He himself is a consuming fire. The sight will be appalling to the lost, full of unutterable terror; "they shall say to the rocks, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us." "By thine agony and bloody sweat, by thy cross and passion, good Lord, deliver us.

2. The lost. Two classes are mentioned here.

(1) Those who know not God the heathen. They might have known him. Some of them did know him. They had not the Law, the outward Law, but it was written in their hearts; God spoke to them in the voice of conscience. They listened; they did by nature the things contained in the Law. Such men, we are sure, God in his great mercy will accept and save. But, alas! the fearful picture drawn by St. Paul in the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans represents with only too much truth the general state of the heathen world in the apostolic times. Their blindness was criminal; it was the result of willful and habitual sin; their ignorance was without excuse.

(2) Those who obeyed not the gospel. All, whether Jews or Gentiles, who had heard the preaching of Christ. They had heard, as we have, all that the Lord Jesus had done and suffered for us; they had had the opportunity of hearing his holy precepts. "This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light." To know the gospel and not to obey it, to have the light around us and not to admit it into our hearts, not to walk as children of light this must bring the judgment of God upon the disobedient. The greater the light, the heavier the responsibility of those who sin against light and knowledge.

3. The punishment. The Lord Jesus will award vengeance. "Vengeance is mine; I will recompense, saith the Lord." Terrible thought, that vengeance must come from him, the most loving Saviour, who loved the souls of men with a love so burning, so intense in its Divine tenderness! But it must be so. The exceeding guilt of sin is manifest in this; it turns the chiefest of blessings into an increase of condemnation; the cross is utter death to the impenitent and the ungodly. And that vengeance takes effect in destruction. The destruction is eternal; then it is not annihilation. It is the destruction of all gladness, hope, all that makes life worth living; it is the exclusion from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. Only the pure in heart can see God. The lost souls cannot see his face. The exclusion is eternal; is it endless? It continues through the ages; will those ages of misery ever end in restoration? Can a soul, once so hardened in guilt that it must be shut out of the presence of God, ever repent in that exclusion? It sinned obstinately against light during its time of probation; can it recover itself now that the light is withdrawn? It is hardened through the deceitfulness of sin and the power of evil habits; can it break those chains of darkness now? These are dark, awful questions. We may ask, on the other hand, how can "God be all in all," if sin is to exist forever? how can it be that "in Christ shall all be made alive," while there is still a hell in the universe of God? The subject is beset with difficulties and perplexities; it excites bewildering, harrowing thoughts. We must leave it where Holy Scripture leaves it. We would gladly believe, if it were possible, that there is hope beyond the grave for those who die unblest; but such an expectation has no scriptural authority beyond a few slight and doubtful hints. Who would dare to trust to a hope so exceeding slender? No; if we shrink in terror from the thought of being one day shut out of God"s presence into the great outer darkness, let us try to live in that gracious presence now.

II THE GLORY OF THE RIGHTEOUS.

1. Its time: when he shall come. They suffer now; sometimes they are persecuted, their name is cast out as evil. But they have their consolation; they see indeed through a glass darkly, but yet they do see by faith the glory of the Lord; they are changed into the same image from glory to glory as by the Lord the Spirit. They have a glory now; but it is an inner spiritual glory derived from the indwelling of the blessed Spirit whom the world seeth not, neither knoweth. Now they are the sons of God; when he shall appear, they shall be like him, for they shall see him as he is.

2. Its nature: the unveiled presence of Christ. He shall be glorified in his saints. "I am glorified in them," he said, when about to leave them. When he comes again, that glory shall shine forth in all its radiant splendour. He shall be admired in all them that believe. The glory of his presence abiding in them shall arouse the wondering admiration of all. The lost spirits will wonder; they will be amazed at the strangeness of the salvation of the blessed. "This is he" (RAPC Wis 5:3, 5) "whom we sometimes had in derision how is he numbered among the children of God, and his lot is among the saints?" The very angels will wonder at the exceeding glory of the Lord shining in his saints. For he will change the body of their humiliation, and make it like the body of his glory.

LESSONS.

1. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; let us keep thatawful day in our thoughts.

2. Think on the fearful misery of eternal separation from God; live in hispresence now.

3. We hope to be like him in his glory; let us take up the cross. B.C.C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

angels

(See Scofield "Heb 1:4").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That is,"As God will certainly punish your persecutors, so he will ere long give rest to you his sufferers, together with us who are companions with you in the same sufferings; you that are troubled shall have rest with us, his persecuted apostles: you shall have rest as well as we, and you shall have rest together with us."

Blessed be God that there is a day undoubtedly coming, when all the troubles of his people shall be ended indeed, and all his suffering saints shall be fully and finally rewarded for all their services and sufferings; and this distribution of rewards and punishments shall be in the presence of the whole world, at the great day, for the glory of divine justice. Then all those, who doubt or complain of God’s justice, shall awfully admire and adore it. To you that are troubled, rest with us.

Where note, 1. That the present time is a time of trouble to the people of God: their time of rest hereafter.

2. That Almighty God alloweth his troubled saints a liberty to comfort themselves with the expectation and hope, that their troubles shall shortly end, and their everlasting rest begin.

3. That it addeth much to the excellency of that rest which the troubled saints expect, that it shall be enjoyed, not by a few of the most eminent sufferers, but by all of them: All you that are troubled shall rest with us.; with us apostles, with all the prophets and faithful servants of God.

Hail, happy day! when all the saints shall sing and rejoice together; when there shall be not one wicked person among them to damp their mirth, or to diminish their joy. How desirable is the communion of saints here! How happy do they esteem themselves when they can get together by themselves! But how joyful will the time and place be, when they get to heaven, where none shall interrupt their quiet, nothing shall disturb their rest! God will recompense tribulation to them that trouble you: and to you who are troubled, rest with us.

When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In these words we have an awful description of the day of judgment, and of the process of that solemn day.

Where observe, 1. The judge described, The Lord Jesus, he shall be revealed from heaven: since his ascension, the heavens have contained him, and concealed him also from our sight and senses; but he shall then visibly appear, and locally descend from the highest heavens into the region of the air. He shall come in the clouds, and every eye shall see him.

Observe, 2. His noble attendants; the mighty angels, every one stronger than an host of armed men. As the work Christ comes about is a great and mighty work, so he will have instruments strong and mighty, sufficient for that work; yet doth Christ make use of the angels, not for necessity, but for majesty, he can do his work without them.

Observe, 3. The manner of his coming: in flaming fire, by which the heavens and the earth shall be burnt up, and in which the damned shall be eternally tormented.

Observe, 4. The end of his coming: to take vengeance on the ignorant, and on the disobedient, on such as knew not God, and on them that do know, but obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

Learn hence, 1. That it greatly tends to the comfort and support of persecuted Christians, that Christ their righteous judge will come: He shall be revealed, and nobly attended; he shall come as an exalted king, accompanied with a glorious train of mighty angels.

Learn, 2. That the dread and terror of the day of judgment, will be matter of comfort to the godly, no ways terrifying. Those very flames which shall set the heavens and the earth in a blaze, and occasion dreadful consternation and fear to the wicked and impenitent world, shall be a comfortable sight to the godly, and the fore-thoughts of them may and should yield comfort to them under their present troubles.

Learn, 3. That ignorance, whether in pagans or in Christians, doth very much, but disobedience to the gospel doth very much more, expose persons, and lay them open to the vengeance of the great day: If Christ will render vengeance to them that know him not, much more to them that do know, but obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

and to you that are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire ,

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. And not only that, but it is a righteous thing that he give to you who are troubled rest. That rest would come when there would be no persecutors, no stripes, no stonings, no prisons. It shall be when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed. At the Lord's coming. Compare Matt. 24:30.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.