Sometime after Timothy had returned from Thessalonica and Paul had written the letter we call 1 Thessalonians, Paul received additional information about the believers in Thessalonica. It seems the suffering they were going through had increased dramatically. As we might say, these believers were on the ropes and needed some encouragement to fight on.

To encourage them, Paul turns to an aspect of Jesus' return he hadn't mentioned in his first letter. In 2 Thessalonians 1 Paul reminds the believers that at Jesus' return they will experience joy while their persecutors and others who've rejected Jesus will face eternal destruction. Their current position and that of their persecutors will be reversed, forever. This long term perspective can help us, as it helped those young believers, to continue to stand up for Christ as opposition to him increases around us.