2 Thessalonians 2. Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed… (2 Thes 2:1-2).

Do not be alarmed (New Living Translation). Do not go jumping to conclusions or let anyone shake you up (The Message). Do not be unsettled, do not let anyone deceive you (New International Version). The Apostle Paul’s main point in chapter 2 is this – the Thessalonian church has not missed the return of King Jesus Christ; his second coming has not happened yet.

To support his argument, Paul reaches back into Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 24-25 regarding the signs of the end of the age, Daniel’s prophecy about the abomination that causes desolation, and the second coming of the Christ. Paul talks about things that must happen before the second coming – the rebellion or apostacy, the revelation of the man of lawlessness or the son of destruction, false signs and wonders, and the removal of restraint (2 Thes 2:3-12). Do I understand what all this means? Nope.

Prophecy and apocalyptic writings about the end times are tricky. Interestingly, Biblical Scholar Craig Keener writes in The IVP Bible Background Commentary that “The interpretations of this passage [chapter 2] are more diverse than those of most passages in the New Testament. Even the translation is not certain.” So even biblical scholars struggle with this text, which means we should probably just content ourselves with understanding the overarching main point.

Did you catch this part – the Lord Jesus will kill/overthrow [the lawless one] with the breath of his mouth and destroy [him] by the splendor of His coming (2 Thes 2:8).

To recap – The second coming of King Jesus has not happened yet. Some crazy stuff will happen first, but do not be alarmed because King Jesus is going to display his power and sovereignty and set things right (including all the justice we discussed in chapter 1). Do not be deceived. Stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught (2 Thes 2:15).

What are we meant to be doing while we await the return of Christ?

Are you, or people you know, obsessed with end times prophecy and trying to figure out exactly what is happening next? Do you think this is a productive way to spend energy, why or why not?