First and Second Thessalonians

The first scriptural reference to Thessalonica, a city near Philippi in the Roman province of Macedonia, is found in chapter 17 of Acts. For three Sabbaths Paul reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews, “opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ” (Acts 17:3). Although some believed, including many Greeks, wicked men, incited by the Jews, troubled the city, and Paul and Silas were compelled to leave. Anxious to return, but hindered by Satan, Timotheus is sent from Athens (1 Thess. 2:18; 3:1-2, 6). It is upon his return that Paul writes his first letter to the Thessalonian saints—the very earliest of his epistles. The second followed probably within eighteen months of the first.
These letters are characterized by the freshness of first love. Word of their faith had spread abroad (1 Thess. 1:8). Having “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God”, they waited for His Son from heaven, their deliverer from the coming wrath (1 Thess. 1:9-10). Such a testimony does not go unnoticed in this world, and, like their brethren in Judea, they suffered persecution (1 Thess 2:14).
Paul does not assert his apostleship; rather, in both epistles he reassures the saints concerning different aspects of the Lord’s coming. The first epistle addresses the Lord’s coming for the blessing of His saints—both for those who have died and those who are alive—in contrast to the day of the Lord (a time of judgment), of which they were knowledgeable.
In the second epistle, we find that the hope of these dear Thessalonian saints had been shaken, thinking that the day of the Lord was already come. Paul shows that certain events must first precede that day.