Grace Thoughts
The Great Reveal: Our Epic Journey Through Time, Space and Eternity – Part 34
Every true follower of Jesus Christ is on an epic journey. Our journey is with God. In fact, it’s God’s journey. We are walking with Him and following Him wherever He takes us.
What did Jesus say to the men He called to be His disciples? “Follow Me.” Those men, the men we call apostles, were on a journey with Jesus. Each of them was on a personal journey before Jesus called them to follow Him. Once they stopped their personal journey and followed Jesus, they were on an epic journey. It was something greater than any of them could have ever imagined.
That is what happens to a person who hears the call of Christ to follow Him. They leave their personal journey and step into a whole new world filled with unexpected twists and turns. This journey is an epic journey through time, space and eternity.
We’ve seen that the apostles of Christ referred to Old Testament Scriptures hundreds of times in their sermons and letters. That’s because the Old Testament Scriptures were the Hebrew Bible during the 1st century AD. The New Testament was born as the apostles wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
It’s important that we remember the primary reason we read and study the Old Testament. Jesus explained it to His disciples after His resurrection:
Then He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.’ And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Luke 24:44-47
The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) points to Jesus’ suffering and resurrection. It also points to the need of all people to repent of their sins and receive forgiveness through the name of Jesus.
The apostles learned their post-resurrection lesson well and preached from the Old Testament about Jesus Christ and salvation in His name alone. They did the same in their letters to the early followers of Christ.
We’ve been most recently looking at how the Apostle Paul used Old Testament references about Jesus, including his letters to the Romans, Corinthians and Galatians. Many scholars believe that Galatians was Paul’s first letter, followed by 1 & 2 Thessalonians.
Old Testament Scriptures in 1 & 2 Thessalonians
Paul visited the city of Thessalonica during his second missionary journey. Silas and Timothy were with him.
Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.’ And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas. Acts 17:1-4
Notice how similar Paul’s preaching was to what Jesus taught His disciples after His resurrection:
- Jesus — “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
- Paul — “reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.'”
The Old Testament message that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead was Paul’s message to the Jews in their synagogues. That did not go over well with many of the Jews. Those who were not persuaded by Paul’s preaching became envious and gathered a mob to attack the house of Jason where they believed Paul and Silas were staying. The new believers in Thessalonica sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. Paul preached in the Berean synagogue and the Jews there “were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so (Acts 17:11-12). Many of the Jews believed, including several Greeks who were prominent in the community. However, some of the unbelieving Jews in Thessalonica heard that Paul was preaching in Berea and went there to stir up trouble. The new believers in Berea sent Paul away, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. Paul went on to Athens.
What we learn from Acts 17 is that Paul started the churches in Thessalonica and Berea, but didn’t have much time to train the new believers. That fact helps us understand some of the issues that arose in Thessalonica and why Paul wrote two letters to them.
Let’s see how Paul used Old Testament references in those letters.
1 Thessalonians
The believers in Thessalonica had some misunderstandings about the resurrection of saints and the return of Jesus Christ for His people. Paul addressed that in 1 Thessalonians 4, then turned his attention to the Day of the Lord in chapter 5.
But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 1 Thessalonians 5:8
For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloak. Isaiah 59:17
We know the verse in Isaiah 59 is about Messiah the salvation of Israel because of the verses that precede it. Isaiah was writing about how the sins of Israel had separated the people from God. The Lord wanted His people to repent and confess their sins:
Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him. Isaiah 59:15-16
The verses that follow Isaiah 59:15-17 concern Messiah repaying the enemies of Israel when He returns as the “Redeemer” of Zion “and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob” (Isaiah 59:18-20).
Paul quoted from King Solomon a few verses later. While not specifically Messianic, it demonstrates how Paul would refer to wisdom from the Davidic lineage.
See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. 1 Thessalonians 5:15
Whoever rewards evil for good, Evil will not depart from his house. Proverbs 17:13
2 Thessalonians
Paul wrote his second letter to the Thessalonians several months later to continue teaching them about future events.
Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4
Paul’s comment in verse 4 is from the Book of Daniel in the context of a prophetic vision.
Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. Daniel 11:36
Paul quoted from Isaiah a few verses later in the context of the future reign of Messiah on earth.
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 2 Thessalonians 2:8
But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Isaiah 11:4
It’s important to see how Paul referred to the Old Testament to help young believers understand God’s eternal plan.
The Bible is one story — the story of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and their eternal plan to redeem the lost and take us on an epic journey in this life and the next.
Next Time
We’ll look at another of Paul’s letters and how he referenced Old Testament Scriptures when our series on The Great Reveal continues.
[You can read more about the story of the Old Testament Prophecies in our book A History of Man’s Quest for Immorality.]
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Apostle PaulEternal PlanJesus ChristOld TestamentThessalonians
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Founder & Director of GraceLife Ministries View all posts by gracelifethoughts
