2nd Thessalonians 2, the man of sin

2 Thessalonians 2 

 

 1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

² That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

³ Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

⁴ Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

⁵ Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

⁶ And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

⁷ For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

⁸ And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

⁹ Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

¹⁰ And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

¹¹ And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

¹² That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

¹³ But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

¹⁴ Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁵ Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

¹⁶ Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,

¹⁷ Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

 

This passage is key in understanding the timeline of events leading up to the second advent of Jehoshua Messiah. Let’s look at this passage verse by verse:

 

Verse 1, the coming of Jehoshua will happen at the same time as the gathering of the Church. This speaks of the second advent of Messiah and the resurrection of the dead and translation of the living saints. These all happen at the last day according to the Son of God (John chapter 6). A pre-advent rapture to the sky is unbiblical and foreign to scripture.

Verse 2, we are not to fall into the trap of speculation concerning exactly when Messiah will return nor are we to be troubled about the timing of it and let it cause us to be anxious.

Verse 3, Paul warns of deceivers who will try say that the day of Messiah is at hand prematurely. He says there will be a great falling away first before the man of sin is revealed. When did this great falling away occur? Amazingly some people say it is happening now or that it will happen in the future prior to a seven year period before the Son of God’s return to earth. However if you study church history it is clear this falling away began in the 2^nd century culminating in the 4^th century with the union of Church and State with the Roman Empire. This means that the man of sin could have been revealed at any time form the 2^nd century onwards. The man of sin is something I will touch on later in this study just remember that is defined by transgression of the law.

Verse 4, the son of perdition man of sin will oppose God and exalt himself against him and all that He (God) represents. The titles given to the man of sin show clearly that he will be against God’s law as the man of sin is against all that is worshipped. God’s law is a part of worship. In the book of Daniel the little horn is described a sone that thinks to change times and the law (Daniel 7:25). The son of perdition will also sit in the temple of God showing himself as God. Futurists claim that this will take place by a future secular political leader in a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. However by this point in time the temple in Jerusalem had ceased being a legitimate place of worship and was no longer God’s temple. All throughout the new testament the temple of God is said to be the church individually and corporately. So this means that the little horn will arise out of the church not out of a secular organization such as a political party. This little horn will claim authority and tiles that only belong to God.

Verses 5-7, Paul identified a restrainer that was holding back this anti-messiah power. The early church believed this to be the Roman emperor/empire. They understood that the little horn had to arise out of the church and that it was unlikely to be revealed until the imperial Roman Empire was taken out of the way since it was an anti-Christian power. The early church posited that this anti-messiah would be one to claim to be the bishop over the whole church. Because the church was held in check by the imperial Roman empire it prevented any bishop from gaining a foothold over the whole church.

Verse 8, It will be the Lord Jehoshua Messiah who will destroy the anti-messiah at His second advent. The bible says the Lord will come in flaming fire with a sword to dash the nations to pieces and cast the anti-messiah into the lake of fire.

 

Verses 9-10, The arrival of the anti-messiah and his coming into power is a work of Satan and signs, wonders and miracles will accompany his rise to power and thereafter. These signs and wonders are done with all deceivableness of unrighteousness meaning they are convincing and alluring. Everything but the kitchen sink will be used to deceive men and women. However, these lying wonders only deceive those who are not begotten above by the Spirit of Jehovah. To be begotten from above by God is to be sealed with His name and protects one from the anti-messiah’s deception that is part and parcel with unrighteousness. These lying sings will be used to promote unrighteousness which is the breaking of God’s commandments (lawlessness).

This is why it is an error to make the anti-messiah future because the very function of the anti-messiah will be lawlessness and this could only relate to God’s commandments because civil laws change all the time and every country has laws so a future political anti-messiah could not be lawless because civil governments aren’t expected to institute biblical law as the law of the land. The lawless factor in terms of prophecy and specifically in this text relates to God’s law not man’s law so the anti-messiah has to be someone who attempts to change God’s commandments. This could not possibly a future anti-messiah as God’s commandments have already been abrogated within the church and theoretically there is no more law of God to change or alter as the Church has said that the law is done away with. If the anit-messaih were future then he could not fulfill the lawless prophecy of attempting to change God’s times and law because this has already been done centuries ago and there is no more law in the church especially the Sabbath which is a law based on time.

Verse 11, it is because the unrighteous deceived ones receive not the truth, which is that God’s commandments still stand, that they are then sent a strong delusion which is the lie that the law is done away with.

Verse 12, the ones that are perishing spiritually believe not the truth and therefore they are damned, meaning they will be cast into the lake of fire. Again, the truth is the opposite of the lie. The lie is that God’s law is done away with and there is no law in the new covenant. The truth is that God’s 10 commandments are eternal and that the Messiah gave us His law in which entrance into the Kingdom will be based on.

Verses 13-15, contrary to the lies of the anti-messiah and those who believe those lies Paul thanks Jehovah God for those who do believe the truth and are sanctified (set apart) by it. It is the Holy Spirit that leads us to all truth and we are called of God when we hear the gospel and receive it by faith. The obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jehoshua is by remaining steadfast in the truth until the last day. The truths that Paul exhorts the brethren to keep are the ones taught by the apostles. We are not to rely on the church fathers, the reformers or anyone else for truth as all truth is found in the doctrine of the 1^st century apostolic church. Paul’s epistle to the Thessalonians seems to be warning of those who would come after and try to change the traditions of the apostles.

Verses 16-17, Paul now gives a benediction from Jehoshua Messiah and God who Paul identifies as the Father. Paul says that the Father and Son have given the church consolation and hope via grace. This hope and consolation finds its ultimate fulfillment in the resurrection at the last day.

 

So what does this tell us about bible prophecy and what the church needs to look out for? I have shown that the man of sin will arise within the temple of God, which in the new testament is identified as the church. I have also proven that the man of sin will bring in lawlessness to the church and do this by the power of Stan through lying signs and wonders. As states this had to have happened in the past because the church has done away with God’s law so there is no more law’s to change. The early church identified the Roman emperor as the restrainer that was holding the revealing of the anti-messiah back. If the Roman empire is no more in existence then that means the anti-messiah has already been revealed. Ask yourself this, who has risen in the church that has attempted to change God’s times and law and claimed titles that are only for God?

The answer is obvious, the Roman Papacy. It was when the Roman empire adopted Christianity as the state religion that the Roman Papacy grew into a continent wide power. However, even long before that the Bishop of Rome was already exercising authority over the western churches and trying to strong arm the eastern churches into following their manmade customs. I will do a study soon on the specifics of how the Roman papacy attempted to change God’s times and law.