It is obvious that Paul does not mean our entire Bible when he mentions the word of God because the New Testament did not then exist, so he must have something else in mind when he says that the Thessalonians heard the word of God from him.
Was he then referring to the Old Testament? Luke tells us in Acts 17 that Paul did use the Old Testament when in Thessalonica, ‘and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” As his audience listened to him, they realised that what he was declaring was what the Old Testament meant, and they believed him.
When Paul says that his readers had not regarded his explanation of the Scriptures as the word of men, he is indicating that others were probably making such an assertion. It would not be surprising if such had been the response of the Jewish leaders who refused to listen to his message. Therefore, when his readers accepted that he was speaking the word of God, they had to go against very powerful authority figures.
But such was their conviction that they not only initially went against these leaders, they also persisted in regarding the Old Testament as speaking about Jesus. Paul tells us that his readers were willing to go through intense persecution (vv. 14- 16) because they were persuaded that they had discovered the meaning of the Old Testament. His description indicates that many who believed his message were Gentiles, probably those who had a connection to the synagogue.
Of course, the message for us is that we should be thankful that we have the entire word of God since we also have the New Testament.
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