Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Thessalonians 1:9

"who shall suffer punishment, [even] eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might," — 2 Thessalonians 1:9 (ASV)

The phrase Punished with everlasting destruction specifies the “vengeance” to be taken. However, the word “destruction” is not simply a synonym for “annihilation.” This passage, in itself, gives us no reason to believe that the lost will be “destroyed” in the common sense of the word.

Instead, they are to be destroyed from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power; that is, they will be cut off from it forever. The “presence”—or more literally, “the face”—of the Lord, along with “the glory of His power,” is a metaphor drawn from the courts of Eastern kings. In such courts, only honored officials are allowed to spend their time in the sovereign’s immediate and familiar presence.

Familiar contact with Christ in the life to come, which will be granted to all the saved, was also God’s ideal for the lost. Therefore, to be banished from His presence is a true “destruction.” For the Jews, who looked for a Messiah who would reign in royal splendor, this punishment was especially fitting.

This word for destruction is also used in 1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Thessalonians 5:3, and 1 Timothy 6:9. Regarding the word translated as “everlasting” (or eternal, as it is the same word used in Hebrews 6:2, for example), it would certainly have conveyed to Paul’s readers the idea of incessant duration in time.

Of course, speaking of time in this context is merely an adaptation to human language, since we cannot know what will replace time in the next dispensation. However, based on the words themselves, there is nothing in these passages (Matthew 18:8; Matthew 25:41; Matthew 25:46; Mark 3:29; Hebrews 6:2; Jude 1:7) to suggest any future change in the state of the lost.

In this, as in some other doctrines, there appear to be two distinct sets of passages whose logical reconciliation seems nearly impossible in our present state of understanding.