NT Text: 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10
OT Source(s):
Source: Beale & Carson, Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Baker, 2007)
Reference Type: Echo
Connection Method(s): Promise-Fulfillment
Anchor Text: Dan 7:13-14 — The Son of Man Receiving Dominion
Significance: Paul describes the parousia: "when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God... on the day He comes to be glorified in His saints and regarded with wonder by all who have believed" (2 Thess 1:7-10). The scene operates within the imaginative world of Daniel 7: the Lord comes from heaven attended by hosts ("thousands upon thousands attended Him," Dan 7:10), amid blazing fire (Daniel's throne "flaming with fire," 7:9-10), to execute judgment on the arrogant power that oppresses the saints (the little horn that makes war on the saints, 7:21, 25-26) and to be glorified in His saints, who receive the kingdom (7:18, 22, 27). Paul's primary phrasing also draws Isaiah's theophany of fiery vengeance (Isa 66:15), but the courtroom-judgment-and-vindication structure is Danielic. The connection is promise-fulfillment: the coming of the Son of Man to judge the beast and vindicate the saints (Daniel 7) is realized at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven. The telos is the Christ who comes "to be glorified in His saints" — His parousia is not merely the dread of judgment on His enemies but the day His own glory is displayed in His suffering people, so that the persecuted are drawn to long for the appearing of the One whose coming will be their wonder and their joy.