2 Thessalonians 2:2 That you be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us… These are the three ways in which the Thessalonians were in danger of being deceived and so troubled. A fanatical spirit had insinuated itself, and, as in all such cases, fraud was sure to follow closely on its footsteps. I. SPIRIT. Voices had been heard in their assemblies which professed to come from those who had the gift of prophecy. These had to be tried, for they might be full of error (1 Thessalonians 5:21). II. WORD. Not simply any rumour that might be gaining currency, or any reckoning as to the time which men might make; nor some unwritten saying of our Lord, or oral message from the apostle; but simply ordinary teaching in the Church. It would thus seem that unscrupulous or fanatical men, getting a footing in the Church, were busy in misleading and so troubling believers. III. LETTER. "As from us," is not to be connected with all three terms, for the spirit, as of the absent Paul, could not have been feigned. The manifestation must have been present in his own person. And so, if it cannot be attached to the first, it should not be to the second. Confining it to letter it refers not to some misconstruction of Paul's former Epistle, but to actual fictitious letters. Such are hinted at in 1 Thessalonians 3:17. False or fanatical brethren had made such letters current in the Thessalonian community. Nor is this so very extraordinary. Literary forgeries, meant as pious frauds, were not uncommon, and the offence, daring as it was, is somewhat softened to our view when we reflect that Paul's letters, while they had the authority, were not yet invested with all the sanctity with which we now regard them. It is quite conceivable, then, that there were some who thought they were serving a good purpose, one that Paul had himself at heart, in circulating, perhaps anonymously, as a representation of Pauline teaching, letters which, as they thought, cleared up the obscurities of his instruction. (J. Hutchison.) Parallel Verses KJV: That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. |
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