Suffering For The Gospel

In this passage Paul exhorts and commends the Thessalonian believers for their perseverance in the face of persecution from their fellow countrymen, as the churches in Judea were also suffering. Paul then goes on to express his frustration that the source of the persecution was the Jews. He then explains Israel's long national history of persecuting the men God had sent to them . . . persecuting Christ and the prophets, instead of receiving them and obeying them.