When he shall come. — Not simply a repetition of the temporal date which was mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 1:7 — “when the Lord,” &c — but an introduction of the contrast which will be presented “in that day” by the spectacle of the glory of the saints. Thus the penalty of 2 Thessalonians 1:9 is made to appear greater, while at the same time the readers’ minds are turned back to a more wholesome subject for meditation.
To be glorified in his saints. — This is not exactly the purpose, but the effect of His coming. A comparison of John 13:31-32; John 14:13; John 17:10; 2 Thessalonians 1:12; shows that the saints are the objects on which and by which the glorious perfection of Christ is exhibited: to see what the saints will be exalted to “in that day” will make all observers acknowledge, not the holiness or greatness of the men, but the divine power of Him who was able so to exalt them. As the persecutors were divided into two classes to be punished, so the saved are described under two aspects: in contrast with “them that know not God” they are “saints,” i.e., fully consecrated to God; in contrast with “them that obey not the gospel” they are “they that believed” (for the past tense is the better reading), i.e., accepted the gospel. As the profane Gentiles, looking on the saints, recognise the “glory” of the God whom they knew not, so the disobedient Jews, seeing the faithful, are aptly filled with “wonder” (Acts 13:41), before they perish, at the glory to be attained by obedience to the law of suffering.
Because our testimony. — Introduced to show why the writers had said specially “in all them that believed” (the past tense is employed because it looks back from the Judgment Day to the moment when the gospel was offered and the divergence between believers and unbelievers began); the reason was, because among “all them that believed” the Thessalonians would be found included.
In that day. — Added at the end to make the readers look once more (as it were) upon the wonderful sight on which the writer’s prophetic eyes were raptly fixed.