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I. THE TERM APPLIED TO OUR LORD'S COMING "revealed." To reveal is to uncover what is hidden. This may be done in two ways —

1. Spiritually, as Jesus is now evidently set forth in His gospel.

2. Outwardly.

(1) In this way Christ has been already revealed, but only partially. Few saw Him, and those few very little.

(2) By and by He will come without disguise and "every eye shall see Him."

II. THE DIFFERENT PORTIONS WHICH WILL THEN BE GIVEN TO VARIOUS PERSONS.

1. The troublers and their portion.

(1) Wherever God has a people there will sure to be troublers.

(2) Sometimes God visits such with His displeasure here, just to show that He marks what they are doing, but generally He seems to let them alone.

(3) Their position is —

(a) Tribulation. Of this we all know something, but the deepest sorrow we have ever felt compared with this is as a summer cloud to winter midnight.

(b) Recompense. It is to come upon them as a consequence of their unkindness to God's people. Wretched they would have been had they let these people alone, but because they would not they shall be still more wretched.

(4) How seldom do some of us think of this. We regard "the hard speeches" of the ungodly as little more than the outbursts of prejudice, ill-humour, or harmless pleasantry; but God regards them differently.

(5) How this truth magnifies the love Christ bears to us, grounding His judicial proceedings on the conduct of men towards us as well as toward Himself. "He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of My eye."

2. The portion of the troubled.

(1) We must not think that we are in the number of these because the world ill-treats us. The world frequently torments its own followers.

(2) The blessing pronounced is —

(a) rest. The very thing for which most of us long. We are often grieved at this longing: but Christ in His compassion shows us that holy Paul had the same longings, and that they were lawful. This compassion is further shown in this revelation of heaven. Were we in that place where they" rest not day nor night" we should never call it by that name. That activity is quite in harmony with this rest; but Christ does not dwell upon it because He is addressing weary men.

(b) "Rest with us." It will be a rest of the same kind as that enjoyed by the highest saints. It may be enough to be with Christ; but if we love Him we shall love His people, and to meet with the latter also will augment our joy. Paul could enter into this. It gave him as much joy as them.

III. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THIS.

1. Christ came as a Saviour, and accordingly displayed love and mercy; He will come as a Judge, and what we look for in a judge is equity. God's justice now is very much a matter of faith, but then it will be made fully manifest.

2. To bring this about there must be evident justice in the portions assigned to different men. Their destinies must be suited to their character and conduct. See standing before the Judge two separate companies. Here are those who bore willingly hatred and reproach for His name's sake — there are those who reproached and hated them because they loved His name. Without looking any farther we see the force of these words.

(1) These latter have troubled God's people, and it is but their desert that they should be troubled in their turn.

(2) The harassed people find rest. True they merit it not, and remembering what they are we should have expected the apostle to say, "It is a merciful thing with God to give you rest." This he does say elsewhere, but here he enters into his Master's feelings who thinks only of His people's services and forgets their sins.

3. What the grace of God leads Him to promise His justice will lead Him to perform.

(C. Bradley, M. A.)Divine retribution a manifestation of Divine justice: —

I. THE JUSTICE OF GOD.

1. Justice is God's attribute as Governor. It is twofold.

(1) General — the perfection of the Divine nature. This is the same with His holiness. God loves righteousness and hates iniquity necessarily (Psalm 5:4; Zechariah 3:5).

(2) Particular which respects His office as Judge of the world (Deuteronomy 32:4).

2. Of His government there are two acts.

(1) Legislative justice, which determines man's duty, binds him to the performance and defines the rewards and punishments which shall be due upon man's obedience and disobedience (Deuteronomy 30:15).

(2) Judiciary or distributive justice, whereby He renders to all men according to their works (Romans 2:6; 1 Peter 1:17). This is twofold.

(a)  Rewarding (Hebrews 6:10; 2 Timothy 4:8).

(b)  Vindictive or punishing (Romans 2:7-9; John 3:19; Hebrews 10:29).

3. This distributive justice is exercised.

(1) More darkly here: yet even here the wicked are punished and the righteous rewarded (Romans 1:18; Psalm 58:11).

(2) More plainly hereafter (Romans 2:5). The difference between the last time and this is —

(a) That the righteous and the wicked have but the beginnings of their reward and punishment: the wicked inwardly (Hebrews 2:15; Ephesians 4:19; Psalm 81:12) and even outwardly, as witness the fall of nations, and the sudden and otherwise unaccountable destruction of individuals; so the righteous have inwardly much of his love, peace, etc.; and outwardly the wicked have it not all their own way (Malachi 3:17, 18).

(b) God's justice now appears more negatively than positively, i.e., God does nothing contrary to justice. As to His rewards His servants have deserved nothing which they enjoy; and as to His restraint of due punishment it is to bring the sinner to repentance.

II. THIS JUSTICE AS APPLIED TO THE DIFFERENT RECOMPENSES.

1. "Tribulation to them that trouble you" for a double reason.

(1) Their own disobedience to God's laws (Romans 2:8).

(2) Their opposition to those that would obey God, so consenting with the devil in his apostasy (Matthew 23:13; Matthew 24:49).

2. "To you who are troubled rest." How is this just? Things may be said to be righteous with God.

(1) In respect of strict justice when what is done deserves reward by its intrinsic value. So no obedience of man or angel can bind God to reward it.

(2) In respect of His bounty God is just. When He rewards man because he is in some way righteous. This capacity of reward respects either the righteousness of Christ (Romans 3:25, 26), or the difference between the person recompensed and others. General justice requires that He should put a difference between the godly and the wicked (Psalm 11:7).

(3) In respect of His promise (1 John 1:9).

3. Particularly discuss these two effects.

(1) The troublers are to be troubled (Romans 2:9). The law of retaliation operates often in the course of providence (Judges 1:7; Obadiah 1:5). Ahab's blood was lapped up by dogs where Naboth was murdered. Haman was executed on the gallows he had erected for Mordecai. Henry III of France was killed in the chamber where the massacre was contrived; and Charles IX died flowing in his blood in his bed. The rich glutton wanted a drop who gave not a crumb.

(2) The troubled rest — and the rest in proportion to the trouble.

(T. Manton, D. D.)

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KJV: Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;

WEB: Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay affliction to those who afflict you,