1 Thessalonians 1:8 – The Word Sounded Forth

8 For from you has been sounded forth the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and in Achaia…

In the previous verse, Paul called the Thessalonians a model for all who believe in Macedonia and Achaia. Now he explains how that came about: “For from you has been sounded forth the word of the Lord.” Notice what the subject of the sentence is. It is not the Thessalonians themselves who are foremost, but the word of the Lord. That was what had sounded forth from among them.

The word Paul uses for sounded forth has everything to do with sound. Our word echo is related to it. That is a striking image. An echo produces no sound of its own, but carries onward what first reached it. An echo also invents nothing new; it passes on the original sound. So it was in Thessalonica. The Word had come to them, they had received it, and now that same Word sounded forth from among them.

Here again we see what the Word can accomplish. First it came to the Thessalonians, then they received it, and now it sounded forth from among them. They were not an endpoint. What had come to them sounded forth from them. The original sound was not theirs: it was and remained “the word of the Lord.”

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