1 Thessalonians 2:17-Paul and Silvanus Express to the Thessalonians Their Great Desire to See Them Again Lesson # 34

First Thessalonians Chapter Two  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  1:10:03
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First Thessalonians: 1 Thessalonians 2:17-Paul and Silvanus Express to the Thessalonians Their Great Desire to See Them Again Lesson # 34

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1 Thessalonians 2:13 And so we too constantly thank God that when you received God’s message that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human message, but as it truly is, God’s message, which is at work among you who believe. 14 For you became imitators, brothers and sisters, of God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, because you too suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they in fact did from the Jews. 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets and persecuted us severely. They are displeasing to God and are opposed to all people, 16 because they hinder us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they constantly fill up their measure of sins, but wrath has come upon them completely. 17 But when we were separated from you, brothers and sisters, for a short time (in presence, not in affection) we became all the more fervent in our great desire to see you in person. (NET)
1 Thessalonians 2:17 asserts that when Paul and Silvanus were orphaned from the Thessalonian Christian community for a short period of time (in presence, never in heart), they made every effort with great desire to see each and every one of their faces.
This statement stands in contrast to the previous assertions in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16, which describe unregenerate Jews who opposed the Christian community’s proclamation of the gospel.
Therefore, the contrast is between Paul and Silvanus and the unregenerate Jews who are described in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16 as murdering the Lord Jesus and the prophets, persecuting the Jewish Christian community in Judea as well as Paul, Silvanus and Timothy.
The first person plural form of the personal pronoun egō, “we” in 1 Thessalonians 2:17 refers to Paul and Silvanus.
Up to this point in the epistle, this word has been referring to Paul, Silvanus and Timothy, however, here it is referring to only Paul and Silvanus and not Timothy which is indicated by Acts 17:1-11 as well as 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:1.
The former asserts in Acts 17:11 that the church in Thessalonica sent Paul and Silvanus away to Berea and does not mention Timothy as being in their party.
The latter asserts in 1 Thessalonians 3:1 that after Paul and Silvanus were separated from the Thessalonian Christian community, they sent Timothy to strengthen and encourage them with regards to their faith.
The Thessalonian Christian community is addressed in 1 Thessalonians 2:17 with the vocative form of the noun adelphos, “brothers and sisters” indicating that this statement in this verse is an emphatic emotional statement from Paul and Silvanus to the Thessalonian Christian community.
The verb aporphanizō, “we were separated” is used in a figurative sense of causing someone to be an orphan, which deeply expresses the anguish of Paul and Silvanus as a result of being abruptly separated from the Thessalonian Christian community.
Paul and Silvanus are expressing to the Thessalonian Christian community the idea that their forced departure from their city was like being orphaned from them.
The metaphor is not only expressing the idea that they were forced to depart from Thessalonica abruptly but also the deep sense of anguish and loss as well as grief Paul and Silvanus experienced as a result of this departure.
G. L Green writes “Unlike the modern term, the word ‘orphan’ could refer to the child who had lost his or her parents or the parents who were bereft of their child, with the pain of this loss at the forefront.[1]”[2]
This amazing and powerful metaphor presented here in 1 Thessalonians 2:17 of Paul and Silvanus being orphaned from the Thessalonians is the fourth one employed in 1 Thessalonians chapter two to express their care and concern and affection that each felt toward the Thessalonian Christian community.
The first of these metaphors appears in 1 Thessalonians 2:7, which depicts Paul, Silvanus and Timothy as conducting themselves as “little children” in the presence of the Thessalonians.
The second also appears in this verse and is a figure of a nursing mother tenderly caring for her children to describe the conduct of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy when interacting with the Thessalonians.
The third metaphor to describe the conduct of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy when interacting with the Thessalonian Christian community is found in 1 Thessalonians 2:11.
As was the case with the contents of 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12, the purpose of 1 Thessalonians 2:17 is to defend the character of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy and in particular Paul and Silvanus who established the church in Thessalonica.
They felt a great need to defend their conduct with the Thessalonians because they were concerned that the Thessalonians would be deceived by the accusations made against them by their enemies in the city of Thessalonica.
The contents of 1 Thessalonians 1:5 and 2:1-16 suggest that Paul, Silvanus and Timothy were defending themselves against their critics and persecutors.
These individuals were composed of non-Christian Jews in the city of Thessalonica according to Acts 17:1-9 as well as non-Christian Gentiles according to 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16.
Now, the assertion in 1 Thessalonians 2:17 is designed to express to each member of the Thessalonian Christian community that even though Paul and Silvanus were temporarily separated from them for a short period of time, they had every intention of seeing them again.
This great desire is expressed again in 1 Thessalonians 3:10-13.
1 Thessalonians 3:10 We pray earnestly night and day to see you in person and make up what may be lacking in your faith. 11 Now may God our Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. 12 And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we do for you, 13 so that your hearts are strengthened in holiness to be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. (NET)
Further indicating that Paul and Silvanus had every intention of seeing them again is that 1 Thessalonians 2:18 asserts that Satan was the reason why they were hindered from seeing the Thessalonians again.
1 Thessalonians 2:18 For we wanted to come to you (I, Paul, in fact tried again and again) but Satan thwarted us. (NET)
So therefore, immediately after planting the church in Thessalonica, Paul and Silvanus or Silas were driven from Thessalonica and went to Berea (Acts 17:1-10).
Acts does not say that Timothy left to go with these two and thus he might have remained behind or went to Philippi and then rejoined Paul and Silas in Berea (Acts 17:14).
Eventually, Paul fled to Athens after being persecuted in Berea, which left Silas and Timothy in Berea (Acts 17:14).
Then, Paul sent word back to these two instructing them to come to him in Athens (Acts 17:15).
Timothy rejoined Paul at Athens and then was sent back to Thessalonica according to 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5.
Silas might have returned to Philippi.
After Timothy left, Silas was also sent to Thessalonica (Acts 18:5).
From Athens, Paul moved on to Corinth (Acts 18:1).
Silas and Timothy came to Paul in Corinth from Macedonia at the same time (1 Thess. 3:6; Acts 18:5).
From Corinth, Paul wrote First Thessalonians and sent it to the church.
After hearing of their continued faithfulness to his apostolic teaching despite persecution, from Corinth, Paul sent them the letter which we know today as First Thessalonians in A.D. 50 or 51.
He wanted to commend the Thessalonians for their faithfulness and to encourage them to continue to remain faithful.
Paul also wanted to reassure them with this epistle that he, Silvanus and Timothy had every intention of returning to see them and minister to them again but had failed to do so because they were hindered by Satan.
Lastly, one of the reasons why Paul wrote First Thessalonians was to explain why he had not yet visited the Thessalonians again and to express the fact that he had every intention of visiting them again so as to minister to them (cf. 1 Thess. 2:17-18).
[1] TDNT, 4.487–88; Philo, De Specialibus Legibus 2.31; Euripides, Hecuba 149; Sophocles, Antigone 425.
[2] Green, G. L. (2002). The letters to the Thessalonians (p. 150). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.
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