What does 1 Thessalonians 2:16 mean?
The persecutors of the Thessalonian Christians had stood in the way of Paul's outreach to the Gentiles. By doing so, they were curtailing Paul's ability to give others an opportunity to be saved (Matthew 18:6). They were piling up sins upon sins and bringing God's wrath upon them. Paul's reference to God's wrath may point to God's turning from the Jews in order to draw the Gentiles to Himself.In the early history of the church the Christians focused primarily on reaching Jews with the gospel. In Romans 1:16 Paul referred to this priority by stating, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." When a disorderly crowd of Jews in Antioch in Pisidia rejected the gospel message that Paul and Barnabas preached, the two missionaries announced: "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles" (Acts 13:46).