Destruction (3639)(olethros from ollumi = to destroy. Derivative = apollumi = destroy utterly or fully and has to do with that which is ruined and is no longer usable for its intended purpose) is a state of utter and hopeless ruin and the end of all that gives worth to human existence! Do not confuse with a state of annihilation (and non-existence so that there is no longer an actual personal perception) for olethros signifies an unavoidable, very real experience of distress and torment! The destruction Paul warns about is a time of unavoidable distress, disaster and ruin. This destruction will not be a loss of being but rather a loss of well-being. The idea of olethros is to suffer the loss of all that gives worth to existence. Olethros - 4 times in the NT... 1 Corinthians 5:5 I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:3 While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 2 Thessalonians 1:9 And these ("those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus" 2Th 1:8, cp Jn 3:36) will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power Comment: This verse makes it very clear that olethros does not mean physical annihilation but rather the eternal separation from Christ of the lost. Regarding those who do not obey the Gospel see the discussion of the Obedience of faith and the Relationship of faith and obedience. MacArthur adds that: Retribution is not dealt out because of persecuting Christians, but rather because they did not obey God’s command to believe (cf. Ac 17:30, 31; Ro 1:5; 10:16; 15:18; 16:19) and call upon the name of the Lord to be saved from their sin (Ro 10:9–13; 1Co 16:22; Heb 10:26–31). Salvation is never obtained by works but always by placing one’s faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph 2:8–10). 1 Timothy 6:9 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin (olLInethros) and destruction (apoleia = utter ruin, complete loss of purpose for which one was created in the image of God! Not annihilation which is wishful thinking!). Olethros - 13 times in the LXX -1Ki 13:34; Pr 1:26f; 21:7; Jer 25:31; 8.3" class="scriptRef">48:3, 8, 32; 51:55; Ezek 6:14; 14:16; Hos 9:6; Obadiah 1:13. Here are some representative uses... Proverbs 1:26 I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread (Lxx = olethros) comes, Jeremiah 48:3 "The sound of an outcry from Horonaim, 'Devastation (Lxx = olethros) and great destruction!' Jeremiah 48:8 "A destroyer (Lxx = olethros) will come to every city, So that no city will escape; The valley also will be ruined And the plateau will be destroyed, As the LORD has said. Ezekiel 14:16 though these three men were in its midst, as I live," declares the Lord GOD, "they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the country would be desolate (Lxx = olethros). Will come upon (2186) (ephistemi from epí = by, near, upon + hístemi = stand) means literally to stand upon or over and then conveys the sense of to be at hand (instant) or to be present and is generally used of any sudden unexpected appearance. Ephistemi was often used in the NT of a person coming suddenly upon another (Luke 2:9; 24:4; Acts 4:1; 12:7). In this verse ephistemi conveys the idea that the unbelieving world will be oblivious to the coming of the God's righteous judgment. As MacArthur says " the Day of the Lord will come suddenly and unexpectedly on unbelievers. They will fail to heed the many precursors that should have warned them of its imminent arrival." Them - the ones upon whom the destruction falls, unbelievers, those who have spurned all warnings of coming judgment and rejected the offers of grace as described in 2 Thessalonians... And then that lawless one (Antichrist) will be revealed {apokalupto - see related word apokalupsis} whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming (parousia); 9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, (Why do they perish?) because they did not {ouk = absolutely do not ever} receive {dechomai} the love of the truth so as to be saved {sozo}. 11 (What does God do since they have rejected His free gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus?) And for this reason (because they rejected God's offers of grace cp Ro 2:4-note) God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false,12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. (2Thessalonians 2:8, 9, 10, 11, 12). Comment: Those who do not believe the truth of the glorious gospel of Christ when they have opportunity in this age, rejecting Him as Creator, Redeemer and Savior, are destined for eternal punishment {"destruction", "ruin"} in the lake of fire. There will be no opportunity for them to be saved in the tribulation period, for their names will have been blotted out of the book of life {Re 3:5-note; Re 13:8-note}. However, there will be a great multitude out of every tribe and nation saved during the tribulation period {Re 7:9-note, Re 7:14-note}. These will be men and women who never had a real opportunity to understand and receive the gospel before the rapture, but who will believe even suffering martyrdom for their faith when they read or hear it during this coming time of the Day of the Lord and His judgment on earth. LIKE LABOR PANGS UPON A WOMAN WITH CHILD: hosper e odin te en gastri echouse (PAPFSD): (Psalms 48:6; Isaiah 43:6, 7, 8, 9; 21:3; Jeremiah 4:31; 6:24; 13:21; 22:23; Ho 13:13; Micah 4:9,10) This common Greek idiom for a pregnant woman is literally rendered even as the travail to her in womb having Paul uses this phrase as a figure of speech to refer to labor pains or birth pangs which pictures intense pain and sorrow. The Old Testament uses a similar imagery... (The prophet Isaiah records) And they (referring to Babylon) will be terrified, pains and anguish will take hold of them. They will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another in astonishment, their faces aflame. Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation and He will exterminate its sinners from it. (Isaiah 13:8, 9) Comment: These verses had a partial fulfillment in the Medo-Persian triumph over Babylon, but awaits a final and complete fulfillment preceding the return of the Messiah at the end of the age. The comparison of birth pains is used many times in the OT to describe the human sufferings in the period just before the final deliverance of Israel (The Prophet Micah records) Now, why do you cry out loudly? Is there no king among you, Or has your counselor perished, That agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth? Writhe and labor to give birth, Daughter of Zion, Like a woman in childbirth, For now you will go out of the city, Dwell in the field, And go to Babylon. There you will be rescued; There the LORD will redeem you From the hand of your enemies. (Micah 4:9, 10) (Comment: Micah refers to the Babylonian captivity of the Jews and to their later return to Palestine under King Cyrus. What is fascinating is that in Micah's time, Babylon was only a vassal of Assyria!) (See other instances of this picture of a woman in birth pangs in Is 21:3; 26:17,18; 66:7, 8, 9ff.; Jer. 4:31; 13:21; 22:23; Ho 13:13; Mic 5:2,3) In all of these uses of the figure of birth pangs, including that by Paul in this verse, the idea from the very nature of this comparison is that the inevitable cannot be excluded. So just as the comparison with a thief indicated the unexpected character of the catastrophe, so birth pangs point to the fact that these events are inevitable. The sudden and inevitable nature of the coming Day of judgment for unbelievers is now explained as one from which they shall not escape. They stand in sharp contrast to the believers, addressed 1 Thes 5:4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, who will escape. The Lord Jesus used this same illustration in the Olivet Discourse But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs (odin). (Mt 24:8) In summary, the tumultuous nature of the birth process pictures the inevitability, suddenness, inescapable nature, and painfulness of the Day of the Lord. It is not only sudden but comes unannounced and with considerable pain. And even as maternal birth pangs exhibit an increasing intensity and shortened intervals between their occurrence, the events associated with the Day of the Lord exhibit a similar pattern, and as with human birth, the ultimate result and glorious purpose is to bring forth a new life. In other words, the coming of the Day of the Lord marks the beginning of the end of human existence as we have known it for some 6000+ years, the birth of this "new age" culminating with the return of the Messiah as King of kings at which time He restores the groaning earth to its redeemed state and fulfills His covenant promises to Abraham as He brings in a literal earthly kingdom of 1000 years, the Millennium (see also Millennium 2; Millennium 3). Paul describes the earth as in a sense "pregnant" and groaning... For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. (See notes Ro 8:22; 23)