1 Thessalonians 3:4 – As Predicted

4 For even when we were with you, we predicted to you that “we are about to be afflicted,” according as it came to be also, and you are aware.

Paul had not explained only afterward to the Thessalonians why he encountered so much opposition. While he was still with them, he had already told them beforehand. Affliction was part of his teaching. Elsewhere, too, he established believers with the message that “Through many afflictions must we be entering into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Paul did not present affliction as an exception, but as belonging to the way of faith.

And it did not remain merely words: “according as it came to be also.” The Thessalonians had seen how Paul had to leave their city. Nor did the opposition cease afterward. What Paul had announced to them beforehand actually took place. That is why he could add, “and you are aware.” They had not heard about it secondhand; they themselves had witnessed it.

This also sheds light on the preceding verse. That very opposition could give them reason to doubt Paul and his message. But it did not prove that his way had failed. Paul was not offering an explanation afterward for an unexpected setback; he had announced the affliction beforehand. What could have given reason for doubt thus became a confirmation of his words.

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