6 God is just: he will pay back trouble to those who trouble you

너희로 환난 받게 하는 자들에게는 환난으로 갚으시고

Here in NIV it is missing but this sentence is preceded by a conjunction ‘since’ (ESV)/ ‘for after all’ (NASB).[1] It indicates that what follows is given as the grounds for the token, the clear indication in v.5. NIV uses the word ‘just’ and therefore the connection seems less obvious, but it is in the sense of ‘righteous’ as in the ‘righteous judgement’ in v.5. Therefore vv.6,7 are given out as a zoom-out of ‘the righteous judgement’ in v 5. Thus it is saying when we look at the bigger picture of what will take place in the end (i.e. vv. 6,7), it is a ‘clear indication’ that Paul’s boasting in the Thessalonians is the result or the manifest [2] of God’s righteous judgment, in which he will declare his children are indeed worthy of his kingdom.        

 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.

환난 받는 너희에게는 우리와 함께 안식으로 갚으시는 것이 하나님의 공의시니 주 예수께서 저의 능력의 천사들과 함께 하늘로부터 불꽃 중에 나타나실 때에 

So the emphasis is not so much on the giving trouble to the opposition, but on the fact God has his rest and peace in store for the believers who are greatly troubled in Thessalonica at the moment. It is to encourage them and to cheer them to stay in their faith but also to remind them that such righteous repayment is not just yet. It is going to take place at Chris’s second coming, ‘when he is revealed from heaven’. The ‘powerful angels’ and ‘blazing fire’ are given as the indication of God’s coming down and being present among his people in the OT, e.g. Deut 33:2.  

Lord, thank you for opening my eyes so that I may see the bigger picture of what is to happen when you come down to us again. It is not only for me or for the believers, but is universal and whole. Your righteous judgment reaches every corner and sphere. Lord, let me review my thoughts and see if my following you is just to overcome my current affliction or if I am really looking forward your revealing yourself from heaven. Even if it is too spectacular for me to imagine the scope of your full scale judgement, let me as your child and a believer look forward to it with a hope of hoping your will of our sanctification being completed and perfected. Let us have that bigger picture of yours in mind always. Amen my Lord.

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[1] εἴπερ (eiper) ‘if so/since’ (G1512) Conjunction or conjunctive particle. if indeed, if in fact, since if indeed, if in fact, since, if indeed, if it be so that, granted

[2]https://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/2_thessalonians/1.htm

Image: Michelangelo, Last Judgment, Sistine Chapel, altar wall, fresco, 1534–41 (Vatican City, Rome) (photo: Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0)