The apostle Paul, Silas, and Timothy had been forced to leave the infant church in Thessalonica after only a brief stay (Acts 17:9-10). After some time, Timothy was sent to check on the church to see how they were. When Timothy returned with good news of their faith, love, and hope, Paul and Silas sent a letter--now called 1 Thessalonians--to exhort and encourage them to continue to live sanctified lives in the present in light of their splendid past and glorious future.

Yet within weeks of writing 1 Thessalonians, something happened. Somehow, unsettling theological tremors caused cracks and fissures to begin to form in the otherwise strong doctrinal and practical foundation of their newly built church. When Paul, got word of the troubles starting to nag the believers in Thessalonica, 2 Thessalonians was written to set things straight--reminding believers to remain faithful and quelling false teaching related to the details of the end times.