forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved; to fill up their sins always. But wrath has come on them to the uttermost.
Christ had already announced the hardening of Israel, but if they had accepted the gospel they might yet have been saved; but, in the continued opposition in Gentile lands, such as Thessalonica, Paul correctly read it.  It could only mean that the destruction of the Holy City was not too far away.  Jesus had faithfully promised: