1 Thessalonians 2:18

Text (1 Thessalonians 2:18)

18 because we would fain have come unto you, I Paul once and again; and Satan hindered us.

Translation and Paraphrase

18.

Wherefore, we were resolved to come to you, even I Paul (myself), once and twice (once and again), and (then) Satan cut us off (so we could not come).

Notes (1 Thessalonians 2:18)

1.

Paul could not get back to Thessalonica because Satan hindered him. Satan has always tried to interfere with the work of Christian teachers. It was Satan who tried to break up the church in Jerusalem by forbidding the apostles to preach, and persecuting its members so that they were scattered.

2.

The word hindered (Gr., egkopto) is a military term, and indicates the obstruction of an enemy's progress by breaking up the road, destroying bridges, etc. Did you ever think of Satan as a road-breaker? This surely explains why missionaries sometimes have so much trouble getting to various places. Paul used the same term, hindered, in writing to the Romans. Romans 15:22.

3.

We do not know exactly what means Satan used to block Paul so he could not get back to Thessalonica, But Satan has many meanssickness, poverty, persecution, etc., Perhaps Satan hindered Paul by the distress and affliction, mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 3:5.

4.

Paul had an unhesitating belief in the reality and personal activity of Satan. See Ephesians 2:2; Ephesians 4:27; 2 Corinthians 4:4; 2 Corinthians 12:17; Acts 26:18; 1 Timothy 5:15. We must believe that the devil is real, if we claim to have an apostolic faith.