Paul's 'Day of the Lord'

According to The Interpreter's Bible, there are three likely scenarios that may have prompted some in Thessalonica to think that the "day of the Lord has come" (NRSV). One was that some had somehow misinterpreted part of Paul's first epistle to the Thessalonians; that there was a passage in a now-lost, but authentic Pauline letter that led to this belief; or that there was a forged letter, not from Paul, but claiming to be from the apostle and included faulty information. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul writes at some length about the pending return of Jesus, but stresses that no one knows when that day will come.

In his commentary of 2 Thessalonians, John Calvin makes no mention of the return of Christ or the day of the Lord in relation to the admonition against those who are shirking their work duties. Rather, Calvin suggests that there are always those who would seek to get out of doing their fair share of the work. This would be true if the return of Christ was at hand or not.

Neither The New Interpreter's Bible nor The Anchor Bible commentaries draw a direct connection between the day of the Lord mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:2 with the Scripture in chapter 3:6-13. The Anchor Bible states by the use of the word Παραγγέλλομεν at the beginning of the verse, which is the plural, present, active indicative tense, and translates as "Now, we command," Paul is intentionally shifting to a new topic through the use of the "now" (as translated into English). The New Interpreter's Bible does state that this section of 2 Thessalonians refers strongly back to 1 Thessalonians, but that it refers specifically to those passages in 1 Thessalonians that speaks to the reinforcement of the tradition of working together in Christ. A link to the "day of the Lord" is not made.

Looking at 2 Thessalonians 3, it appears there is a clear division between the comments being made in the first 5 verses and the theme Paul picks up, re: idleness and work, beginning in verse 6. Likewise, the themes in chapter 2 appear separate from the themes in chapter 3. It appears that Paul has concluded any comments and thoughts on the day of the Lord/the return of Christ in his discourse on the Man of Lawlessness in chapter. 2. It seems to me that if the idle/disorderly/freeloaders were using the return of Christ as an excuse for their behavior, Paul would have addressed that specifically. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul specifically addresses concerns about those who have died and how they will relate to the return of Christ. He could have just as easily done so in comments about the idle in 2 Thessalonians 3, had he wished to do so.

Given that Paul is not talking about those who are being idle/freeloading specifically in response to the return of Christ, which some in Thessalonica apparently believed was either happening or about to happen, Paul's admonish here should be seen as a more general and broad statement against those who exhibits such traits and those who coddle them. This admonition therefore speaks through the ages to our own time, to our own individual faith communities and to each reader of these words. This instruction against freeloading is not merely to be understood as a specific direction focused to one group at one place in time. Rather, it can be more broadly understood to be speaking to Christians of the modern era, just as it spoke to those of Paul's age.