"To the church of the Thessalonians…"
As we embark upon our next expositional book study, I think it’s best that we start slowly and put first things first. Before we dive right into a verse-by-verse study of a new epistle, it’s important that we first lay the ground work for this letter, which includes some fact finding and answering basic questions such as: who? what? where? when? and why? Over the course of the next few studies, that is what we’re going to focus on before we even touch a single verse of Scripture in this epistle.
Why take the time to do all of that? The reason is because a part of doing proper Bible study is to put yourself in the right context, which means getting your isagogics (introductory studies) done first. Before we can start exegeting Scripture, we first have to understand who the author(s) is, who the recipients are, the date of the letter, the culture, and so many other aspects. If we don’t have those facts down first, then we will never be able to look at this book of the Bible through the same lenses that the original recipients used, which will lead us down a path of faulty interpretation. With that in mind, that is why it is essential to know this information beforehand, as it will ultimately lead to having a greater appreciation for the letter and the doctrine contained therein.
Our series of introductory lessons will seek to lay the groundwork for the rest of this study. In doing so, we will begin with a look at the history of Thessalonica and its geography, the city where these believers lived. Once we do that, we’ll then begin to examine Scripture and survey the circumstances surrounding the writing of this letter, including discovering who these recipients are and who exactly wrote this letter. When all of the preliminary questions have been answered, we will take a quick overview of the book as a whole and outline its chapters so that we can have a broad picture. It’s only after we have painted with broad strokes that can we crack open our Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 1:1 and make the picture clear with finer brush strokes to lay out the details.
So, next time, we will officially begin our study of 1 Thessalonians, starting with a history of Thessalonica. Until then, read through the epistle in its entirety and familiarize yourself with it. Keep your armor on!
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