2 Thessalonians 1:9 Commentary and Bible Study

Please note very carefully that the apostle does not say, ‘who shall be punished with destruction’. What is meant is ruin – ‘who shall be punished with ruin.’ Our translators render it ‘destruction’, but that is not what he says. If he said, who shall be punished with destruction, it would mean annihilation, end, finish, no more. What he says is everlasting destruction, that is, destruction that never ends. It is not destruction which will never be reversed, it is destruction that never ends. It is a very dangerous thing to be light with Scripture. Some people have taught that those who never come to Christ are destroyed, annihilated. That is not too hard for people to hear. Death is the end, I will take a chance. But it is a terrible cruelty to human souls to tell them that death is the end. Everlasting destruction – that is the warning that Scripture gives to drive us to Christ and the mercy of God and his forgiving love.It is everlasting destruction from everything that is good and glorious. Everything that is good and glorious will be taken from their lives as they go through the pain of everlasting destruction. No presence of the Lord, no sense or sight of the glory, the worth and the wonder of his power and goodness. And all that begins at the return of Christ.