After Paul left Thessalonica, some of the people who belonged to the church died. Because Jesus had not returned, serious doubts arose in the minds of those Thessalonians who were still living, for they had been led to believe that Jesus the Messiah would return before any of them died. As they saw it, Paul was mistaken on this point, which then caused them to wonder whether he might also be mistaken on other points as well. Obviously, an explanation of some kind was in order, and this situation, more than any other single factor, prompted the writing of Paul's First Epistle to the Thessalonians.
In his statement regarding Jesus' second coming, Paul says that he has in no way abandoned his faith that the return of Jesus to this earth will take place in the near future. Concerning those who died or who might die before Jesus returns, he states that they will be raised from the dead and will share equally with those who are still living at that time: "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first." To this statement, Paul adds, "After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." The letter closes with a reminder that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. No one knows just when it will come, but all are admonished to live in such a way that they will be ready for it at any moment.
Paul's Second Epistle to the Thessalonians is in one sense a follow-up to the first letter. Evidently, the first letter was well received. People were satisfied with Paul's explanation concerning those who died and were ready and willing to suffer persecution if need be in order to remain true to the gospel that Paul preached. However, some members of the Christian community were so overly zealous about Paul's teaching that the end of the age was near at hand that they stopped making any plans for the future. Indeed, some of them stopped doing any work at all, believing that in this way they were demonstrating their faith in the nearness of the great event. Those who did not work were a burden to those who did work, and this situation constituted a new problem. Paul addresses this concern in his second letter.
