… ¹⁵who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, ¹⁶hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost.

In a pluralistic society as we live in today, Paul’s words would be classified as “hate speech.” His comments would certainly be incendiary in his day if read in the synagogue. However, his words are true, and he stands by them. For we who believe the Word of God is inspired, including Paul’s writings, this passage is quite sobering. Paul leaves no room for a sympathetic understanding of the Jews’ misguided persecution of Christians. He does not mince his words.

That Paul is not speaking of all Jews is clear, for he himself is Jewish, along with the first believers in Jerusalem. Rather he speaks of “the Jews” (1 Thess. 2:14b) as that class of people who, being descendants of Abraham, rejected God and His Messiah. It was this class of people who killed not only the prophets but also the Lord Jesus. Despite the outward show of religiosity in their assumed conformity to the Mosaic Law, they were “not pleasing to God.” This may seem to the novice Bible reader a rather benign statement, but the last verse brings the eternal weight of condemnation: “But wrath has come upon them to the utmost.” To displease God is no small thing! Notice also that the Jews were also “hostile to all men.” How ironic, in light of the Abrahamic promise that the Jews would be a blessing to all the nations of the earth (Gen. 12:3). One can see why their behavior would make God very angry.

Further, the Jews who killed Christ did not want any non-Jews (Gentiles) to hear the message of Christ. One could understand the Jews wanting to suppress the Christian teachings among their own people, if they in fact thought those teachings were false. But their vengeance was to prevent the Christian teachings from going out to the Gentiles. They who were failing to be a blessing to the Gentile world, by bringing them to the wonderful benefits of following the one true God, wanted to stop any message of a way to God outside of their own narrow, bigoted practices. How tragic. The blind wanting to keep everyone else blind.

What is the result of this? The opposition to Paul’s message in Thessalonica is the same opposition that drove him and other Christians out of the synagogues in Judea and elsewhere. “They always fill up the measure of their sins.” They rejected not only the message but those who spread the message. Their punishment indeed is great.

Lord, help me to do everything I can to help the spread of Your gospel.