2 Thessalonians
1:5-12
The medicine is horrible said the child to his mother, and
her reply was, yes dear, it has a terrible taste, but in time it will bring
healing to your body. Growing up
poor we did not go to a doctor for anything, but mother had two treatments and
they solved almost anything that bothered any of her three children; first was
cod-liver oil and it was grotesque.
When mother would say to one of us, your color does not look good, come
into the kitchen and get some cod-liver oil, a miracle took place we instantly
were healed. But most of the time
all the pleading did not work, so we followed instructions, we held our nose
and opened our mouths and let that horrible stuff slid down our throat. The other treatment was an enema; it
cured almost everything, that’s what mother thought. And today they call water boarding cruel and unacceptable punishment! I could look at a hot water bottle and
fear would fill my body, I will not go into great detail, but let me say this;
when your mother put hot soapy water in the water bottle and it made your guts
swell to the size of a basketball, and you knew that you were going to explode,
you considered many options before letting that happen.
And you ask, what does that have to do with 2 Thessalonians
1:5-12, and I’m not sure? But this
thought came into my mind while reading these verses, and I bet Paul was having
as hard a time convincing the new believers that persecution and afflictions
were working in their favor, in the same way as mother’s story about how
cod-liver-oil and an enema were going to make us well. Mother’s promise to us was in time this
persecution she called medicine would make us well. Paul is telling them that it is clear that God is to bring
judgment on those who are bringing affliction in the early church. But the apostle goes much farther with
his words of encouragement, look at what he said. “when the Lord Jesus is revealed
from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on
those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord
Jesus. They will suffer the
punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from
the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his
saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our
testimony to you was believed.” (2 Thessalonians 1:7b-10)
If you read those verses, it might be wise to read them
again and again, because Jesus is coming back and this time He is not coming as
a baby to be laid in a manger, but as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and love
will be set aside for justice.
Eternal destruction, and what is that, this is what is referred to as
being out of the presence of the Lord and His glory. But we who are in Christ will be well, and will be
glorifying our Lord and in awe of being in His presence.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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