The Circumstances of the Recompense, I (2 Thessalonians 1:8)

The Apostle, consoling the Thessalonians in their endurance and encouraging them toward steadfastness in it, has—as we have seen—assured them of the certainty of recompense for those who are troubled and for those who trouble. But when will this recompense be?

“At the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven, with the angels of His power.” With these words from verse 7 of chapter 1 of the epistle, St. Paul begins to depict the circumstances in which the judgment and recompense will be accomplished. He does this because nothing is so powerful, on the one hand, to keep from falling away and apostasy, and on the other, to encourage cheerful endurance of every injustice for the sake of a righteous cause, as the contemplation of the scene of the future righteous judgment and recompense. St. Chrysostom writes: “The Apostle here points to the time of the recompense, and (further) through the description (of the event itself) lifts their thoughts on high, as if by his word he were opening the heavens and presenting them to their gaze, surrounding the Lord with an angelic host, thus sketching a brilliant image both of the very place and of what is found there, in order thereby to grant the Thessalonians the possibility of somewhat recovering themselves” (2 Thess. 1:7)—that is, to breathe from their pressures, to take comfort, to taste in anticipation the hoped-for rest.

“In the revelation.” What is hidden is revealed. And the Lord is now hidden. He was hidden also during His earthly life. The Resurrection for a moment disclosed His glory, but the Ascension hid Him again. It was fitting that “heaven receive Him until the times of the restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21). And although He sits at the right hand of the Father in glory and, as Head of the Church, works all things in it and in its members, yet all this is accomplished invisibly and is grasped only by faith, or by the sense of a purified heart. But then, at the end of the ages, He will be revealed manifestly to all in glory, as King and Lord of all, by descending from heaven and being visible to all. “Now the Lord is hidden—but do not lose heart; He will be revealed” (Theophylact).

“With the angels of His power.” Everywhere in Holy Scripture the Second Coming of Christ is depicted such that hosts of angels accompany and surround Him. Here they are called the angels of His power as heralds of the Lord’s power, or executors of His commands, through which His boundless power will be revealed—as, for example, they shall sound the trumpet and the dead shall rise, and the like. Others understand the angels of His power to be the same as the angels of His host, just as it is common among us to call an army a “force.” The Lord will appear accompanied by angels who form His host. Others interpret the angels of power as mighty, powerful angels (Oecumenius, Theophylact).

2 Thess. 1:8. In flaming fire rendering vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“In flaming fire” is either an attribute of the Lord’s appearing, if these words are joined with the preceding: “in the revelation of the Lord from heaven,” or it is the instrument of punishment for sinners, if joined with what follows: “rendering vengeance.” In other places of Scripture both the appearance of the Lord is accompanied by fire and the torments of sinners are placed in the fiery gehenna. In this passage the flow of speech allows these words to be joined with both what precedes and what follows. The ancient commentators likewise accept now one, now the other interpretation, and sometimes both together. Blessed Theodoret writes: “He first presented the coming Judge, then the power of the angels who serve Him, and after this the very manner of punishment: the condemned are handed over to a flame of fire.” “Fire will be the instrument of recompense” (Ambrosiaster). Oecumenius is of a different opinion: “In the revelation,” he says, “of Christ, which is to be ‘in flaming fire,’ as David also says: ‘Fire goes before Him and burns up His enemies round about’ (Ps. 96:3).” Photius in Oecumenius and Theophylact retain both interpretations. Photius: “In flaming fire”—either conveys the manner of punishment that those who are ignorant of God and who reject the Gospel will bear, or it points to the very coming of the Lord, which will be in blazing fire. So those who came before us interpreted it. Theophylact: “In flaming fire” must be referred either to “rendering vengeance”—as if to say: punishing unbelievers with gehenna—or thus: “in the revelation of the Lord from heaven,” which will be in flaming fire, as David (Ps. 96:3) and Daniel say: “a river of fire flowed before Him” (Dan. 7:10).

(Theophylact adds below: “Note that ‘in flaming fire’ he says in place of: in a fire that burns but does not illuminate. For sinners the fire will only burn but not give light; for the righteous it will give light but not burn.” — Author.)

“Rendering”—the present tense in place of the future, signifying an unchangeable determination that things must be so and not otherwise, or with the purpose of rendering vengeance. “Vengeance”—not as personal revenge, but as a just, deserved punishment, which satisfies not the sentiment of the Judge but the demand of justice, which repays according to merits. The appearing of the Lord is depicted as the appearing of a Judge who punishes the ill-wishers of Christians and of Christianity—not only in order to console those who suffer and to relieve their troubled feeling: why then do we suffer while those are in happiness? But also in order to give a warning to them themselves—not to fall away from the faith and not to falter, for the judgment will be without any partiality.

“Those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel.” Above, the Apostle said that those who afflict the believing Thessalonians will be repaid with tribulation; then he added that this will be when the Lord appears to render vengeance on “those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel.” It follows, by the flow of speech, that those “who afflict” are either the same as these “who do not know and do not obey,” or constitute a part of them more deserving of punishment. Theophylact writes: “Those whom he previously called ‘those who afflict,’ he now calls those who do not know God.” St. Chrysostom intensifies this: “If those who do not obey the Gospel will undergo punishment, what will those not suffer who, in addition to this disobedience, also afflict you?” (So also Theodoret and Oecumenius). If, for the consolation of the persecuted, assurance was needed that the unbelievers who press upon the faithful would not always triumph, then by this turn of speech such a purpose was fully achieved. “Note, I pray you, the wisdom of the Apostle,” says Chrysostom. “He did not say here: to those who afflict you, but: to those who do not obey the Gospel. That is, he says: if not in vengeance for you, then in vengeance for Himself (the Lord) must necessarily subject them to punishment. Thus this was said for greater assurance that in every case the persecutors must be punished.”

Those who do not know God and those who do not obey the Gospel encompass the entire circle of persons who will be subjected to the wrath of God and to punishment. Not only those who do not know God will be condemned to eternal torments—for even such persons are without excuse (Rom. 1:20)—but also those who do not submit to the Gospel. At the judgment no such plea will be accepted as justification: I knew God, believed in His creative power and providence, acknowledged the obligation to obey conscience, and hoped for the life to come. Even such a person will be found guilty if he did not believe the Gospel. By this word the Apostle condemns not only atheists, materialists, and pantheists, but even the most enlightened deists. Eternal salvation will be the portion only of those who believed the Gospel and have been transformed by divine grace. It is also evident that by “those who do not obey the Gospel” the Apostle means not only those who do not accept the Gospel and do not subject their reason to the yoke of faith, but also those who, though they accept the Gospel, do not live according to its demands—who do not subject their will and feelings to the precepts of the Gospel. This latter meaning is suggested by the verb “do not obey,” which encompasses both aspects of obedience.

In the times of the Apostles those who showed themselves to be ignorant of God were chiefly the Gentiles (1 Thess. 4:5; Gal. 4:8; Rom. 1:28; Eph. 2:12), and those who showed themselves disobedient to the Gospel were chiefly the Jews (Rom. 10:3, 1:21; 1 Thess. 2:15, 16). Perhaps the holy Paul meant exactly this. But if we look at our own time with the word of the Apostle, and even more at the time of the judgment, we will be compelled to acknowledge that the Apostle here designated not these or those nations, but rather the moral and religious qualities and states that deserve God’s vengeance—states by which those who ruin themselves are possible among all nations. This is all the more permissible in that even the Gentiles did not obey the Gospel, and the Jews proved to be ignorant of God, not having recognized the work of God in Christ Jesus (Jn. 8:54, 55, 15:21).