1 Thessalonians 2:9 Commentary and Bible Study

We see the hard work of the apostle, constantly preaching, and helping people, and answering questions, as well as working with his own hands. It is interesting that some people these days, in our Bible-believing churches, seem to think that all you should do is pray for revival. Well that is right and proper. But it is not all we should do, because here in this ninth verse you see the labour and travail. Two very strong words in the Greek – hard toil, painful toil is indicated by them. The verses that follow are still primarily speaking about preaching, though there was no doubt much personal interaction too. Paulk was so thankful for the miracle that took place among them, not the type of miracle that some people look for, but the greatest miracle: the salvation of souls. We are given a bird’s eye view here of the mission that he conducted in the city of the Thessalonians, about AD 51 or 50. and this letter was written within a year of the planting of the church there. The apostle, with Silas and Timothy, had preached the gospel with remarkable results. He had turned up in this city, exhausted after a long, long journey from Philippi where he had been cruelly beaten and ill-treated. He and Silas, both aged men for the day, and the younger Timothy came tired into the city, and immediately got down to the work of preaching the gospel, with extraordinary results and many, many conversions. And here in these verses he gives an insight into the conduct of that mission, in that city of some 200,000 people, a very prosperous, a very proud city.