2 Thessalonians

Second Thessalonians follows quickly on the first, addressing a church still under fire and now shaken by a rumor, perhaps even a forged letter, claiming the day of the Lord had already come. Paul steadies them on both fronts. To the persecuted he promises that God's justice will set things right when the Lord Jesus is revealed. To the alarmed he explains that certain things must come first, including the man of lawlessness, whom the Lord will destroy with the breath of his mouth. And to those who had quit working in end-times excitement, he gives a bracing rule: no work, no food.