THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS      2 THESSALONIANS 2:1-12

 

Recent events have encouraged me to examine this passage. My outlook has changed over the years. I was raised as a dispensationalist, but my study of scripture has caused me to have a different viewpoint as to the end times. This change took place over a period of years and much study of scripture. I am reminded of Karl Barth who took years to change his position from infant baptism to believer’s baptism. I am not the theologian that Karl Barth was, but I am comforted by the fact that it is not only me but others more learned than me can take years to arrive at the truth.

There are two basic rules of interpreting scripture that must be followed by any serious student of the Bible. There are other rules, but these two are so basic that we only need to deal with them. The fist rule is, “If the common sense makes sense, I must seek no other sense.” This means that even if I do not like what a particular passage of scripture seems to say, I cannot reinterpret to match my thinking. Instead I must change my thinking to conform to the Bible. One notable example in Hosea 1:2 which says, “When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, ‘Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.’” (NIV) Other translations have words like harlot in place of promiscuous woman. Even if I do not like the idea of God commanding his prophet to marry such a woman I cannot reinterpret the passage to anything other than what it plainly says.

The other basic rule is “Use the plain passages of scripture to interpret the not so plain passages.” For instance, there are apocalyptic passages of scripture found in Daniel and Revelation. They are filled with symbols. To properly understand these passages we must first look at other passages of scripture that use plain language instead of obscure symbols. Jesus speaks more clearly in Matthew 24 than he does in Revelation. Therefore, we should use his teaching in Matthew 24 to interpret Revelation and not the other way around.  

 

With these principles in mind let us look at some passages of scripture related to the theme of 2 Thessalonians 2.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18  says, ^“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

Dispensationalists consider this passage to be a description of the secret rapture of the Church. This is followed by a seven year period of tribulation and then Jesus returns to set up a millennial kingdom. There are several difficulties with this interpretation. One is “a loud command … the voice of the archangel … and the trumpet call of God,” does not exactly sound secret. In the Old Testament trumpet calls were sounded to warn the people of the coming of enemy armies or to call the people together for a sacred assembly. In Matthew 6:2 Jesus talks about hypocrites  announcing their giving with trumpets. Trumpets are always used in the Bible for public announcements.

Matthew 24:10-13 says, “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” This passage describes and apostasy, a falling away from the faith. 

Matthew 24:15-21 describes a period of tribulation. Matthew 24:29-31 says, “Immediately after the distress of those days “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” Note that Jesus in this passage says that he will return “after the distress of those days.” He also mentions a trumpet and gathering his elect. The gathering of the elect is a public event that occurs after the tribulation not a secret event that occurs before the tribulation. Note that all the peoples of the earth see Jesus coming and mourn.

Dispensationalists say that 2 Thessalonians refers to a separate event from the one referred to in 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians refers to the rapture and 2 Thessalonians refers to the second coming. However, 2 Thessalonians 2:1 talks about “our being gathered to him.” The coming of Jesus Christ and the gathering of the elect happen at the same time. They are not separated by a period of tribulation. Matthew 24 says that the trumpet call, the public coming of Jesus and gathering of Christians all happen at the same time which after a period of distress and not before.  Jesus’ clear teaching in Matthew 24 should rule out any idea of a secret rapture of the church.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters,  not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.  Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”

Now let us look at the passage. It must be noted that we do not have Paul’s complete teaching on the subject of the return of Christ. Verse five reminds us that Paul dealt with the subject while he was in Thessalonica. We have no record of what he said at that time. Despite Paul’s teaching on the subject at that time and Paul’s fist letter to the Thessalonians many of the Christians there were confused. His message had been misinterpreted. This should not be surprising since his letters are still misinterpreted today.

The Thessalonians were unsettled because they had received some conflicting teaching that had allegedly come from Paul. They had been led to think that the day of the Lord had already come. Christians of the first century expected that Jesus would return in their lifetime. Some of them must have thought that Jesus had returned and they had somehow missed it. How could any Christian miss the return of his Savior? This kind of thinking is not as strange as it first appears. When William Miller predicted that Jesus would return in 1843 or 1844 some of his followers said that Jesus did come, but did not go all the way to earth. The followers of William Miller expected that Jesus would come to earth and clean the sanctuary. Some of them came to the conclusion that they had been wrong about the location of the sanctuary. It was not on earth but in heaven. Jesus had simply gone to another part of heaven to perform his work which they termed, “the investigative judgment.”William Miller himself never endorsed this thinking and regretted his end times predictions.

Jesus’ return to this earth will be spectacular and triumphant. No one will miss it. Backslidden Christians will not miss it. Non-Christians will not miss it. Matthew 24:26-27 says, “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Verse 30 says, “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.” Revelation 1:7 says, “‘Look, he is coming with the clouds,’ and ‘every eye will see him, even those who pierced him’; and all peoples on earth ‘will mourn because of him.’ So shall it be! Amen.”

In 2 Thessalonians Paul mentions two things that must happen before Jesus returns. There will be a period of apostasy. This is described as a rebellion in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and a turning away from the faith in Matthew 24:10. This means that many Christians will come to reject the truths of scripture.

 Throughout the history of the Christian Church there have been times of apostasy. One notable example is the time before the Reformation. Tetzel went around Europe selling indulgencies so people could buy their deceased loved ones out of purgatory. There have many people who have led people astray. 1 John 2:18 says, “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.” The second thing is that the “man of lawlessness” will be revealed. There will one final great apostasy, one final deceiver.

Some commentators identify the man of lawlessness with the Antichrist of 1 John. Others do not. Let us examine what 1 John says about the antichrist and compare it with what Paul says about the man of lawlessness. 1 John 1:7 says, “I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.” 1 John 2:18 says, “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.” Verse 22 says, “Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.” 1 John 4:2-3 says, “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,  but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” Leon Morris comments on this passage, “He never uses the term ‘Antichrist’, but plainly he has in mind the being John calls by this name.”

Although John and Paul use different terminology there are many similarities. Both the antichrist and the man of lawlessness use deceit as their main weapon. 1 John 1:7 calls the antichrist “the deceiver.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 says, “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” This is to be expected since deceit is Satan’s weapon of choice. Jesus said in John 8:44, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Both John and Paul say that there are already deceivers in the world, but there will be one final great deceiver. 2 Thessalonians 2:7 says, “For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work.” 1 John 2:18 says, “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.” History is filled with examples of deceivers such of which have had a powerful influence on Christians. Some of them have been political leaders like Hitler and Mussolini. Some have been religious leaders like Russell and Jimmy Jones. Today there are still political and religious leaders that deceive Christians. To name some would be to let others off the hook. .

John Piper in his internet article, “Who Is the Man of Lawlessness,” makes the following observations:

1. He’s a man — a human, not an angel, not a demon. A “man of lawlessness.”

2. He is quintessentially lawless. That is, he’s called a man of lawlessness. He considers himself absolutely above law. He is lawless in considering himself subject to no law and no lawgiver and no authority.

3. Since there’s only one person who’s above law — namely, God, who writes it — the man of lawlessness claims to be God. He says so explicitly. Verse 4: “. . . who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”

“This man of lawlessness claims to be the final climactic antichrist.”

So, this man of lawlessness claims to be the final climactic antichrist. “I am a man. I am God. But I’m not Jesus. And I don’t believe in Jesus. I’m against Jesus.” That’s the ultimate expression of antichrist. “Many antichrists have come,” John says (1 John 2:18). And this one is the last. He’s going to be destroyed by the mouth of Jesus, and the fire of heaven, when he comes.

4. He’s born for destruction. Paul calls him “the son of destruction” in verse 3. His DNA, so to speak, is from his satanic father, so he’s going to be destroyed. That’s what his DNA is. He is going to be destroyed. He has no future. He is quintessentially lawless and doomed.

5. As a man, he is coming, nevertheless, by the power of Satan. Verse 9: “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan.” He’s not Satan. He is empowered and driven by Satan, animated by Satan, serving Satan, accomplishing Satan’s purposes in vain.

6. Therefore, as a man, he will nevertheless have supernatural power. Paul calls it “all power” in verse 9. And he will work signs and wonders. And when the ESV translates verse 9 and calls them false signs and wonders, be careful. We should not read that to mean “They don’t really happen; they’re really not supernatural. This is cloak and dagger. This is the rabbit out of a hat.”

No, no, no. It’s not. It means they really do happen. Satanic power really is at work in them, but they happen in the service of falsehood. That’s what it means by calling them false signs and wonders. They serve a lie. They are signs and wonders in the service of a great lie, but the satanic supernatural power is real. That’s why it’s going to be so deceptive.

7. Therefore, the man of lawlessness will be unparalleled in his ability to deceive. Verse 10 says he comes “with all wicked deception for those who are perishing” (2 Thessalonians 2:10). Literally, it reads, “in all deception of unrighteousness,” because two verses later, we see that the way he deceives is by making unrighteousness seem pleasurable. They found “pleasure in unrighteousness” (verse 12).

2Thessalonians 2:6-8 says, “And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.” This passage talks about a restrainer. There have been various theories as to who or what the restrainer is. One popular theory is that he is the Holy Spirit, but how can the omnipresent Holy Spirit be “taken out of the way?” Others have suggested that the restrainer is legal authority such as the Roman government. However, the Roman government has long since ceased to exist and the man of lawlessness has not yet been revealed.

The archangel Michael is an attractive suggestion. The book of Daniel lends some support to that idea. Daniel 9:12-13 says, “Then he continued, ‘Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.’” Verse 21 says, “No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince.” Satanic influence may be behind earthly rulers. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” 

 Daniel 12:1-2 says, “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.” The archangel Michael has some restraining influence on satanic powers. He is also associated with the end times both in Daniel 12:1 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16 both of which mention the voice of the archangel as one of the signs of the return of Jesus Christ.

Several people throughout history have been identified as the man of lawlessness or the antichrist. Several protestant interpreters have wanted to identify a particular pope or the papacy itself as the antichrist. 2Thessalonians 2:4 argues against this idea. The papacy does not exalt itself over everything that is called God. It claims to be God’s representative on earth, and is definitely not opposed to God. Obviously the man of lawlessness has not yet been revealed. I am not even sure that we can say that apostasy of the church has arrived although the church in North America is definitely in decline. 

Could any one of the world’s current religious or political leaders later be revealed as the man of lawlessness? That is a possibility. Some church leaders have backed Hitler, Putin and Trump. Other church leaders have been in opposition to each of these men. All three of these men have been masters of deception and have set themselves as above the law. Trump has told thousands of lies and has encouraged his followers to believer only him. He has also threatened to take over the justice department.

Let us look at some other factors that suggest that Donald Trump might be “the man of lawlessness” or at least a man of lawlessness. Donald Trump was found guilty of sexual assault and defamation yet he has claimed that he has done no wrong. He has also been found guilty of 34 felony counts. Some claim that this was biased, but he was indicted by a grand jury of ordinary citizens and found guilty of all 34 counts by a unanimous jury that his legal team had a role in choosing. The judge in this case did not impose any fine or imprisonment of him because he was elected as president. His probation office said that Trump showed no remorse but considered himself to be above the law. This sounds to me like he is a man of lawlessness.

His actions since he was last elected continue to show that he considers himself above the law. He issued an executive order banning birthright citizenship even those this is in direct conflict with the US constitution that says that anyone born in the US is an American citizen. Within hours after swearing an oath to uphold the US constitution he signed an executive order violating that same constitution that he swore to uphold. He has also fired investigators general without informing congress and giving 30 days notice. This is a clear violation of law. He has also pardoned over 1,000 convicted criminals some of whom violently attacked police officers.

The day after he was sworn in he attended a church service. At that church service the bishop asked him to show mercy towards immigrants. Instead of taking that advice he attacked the bishop. This reminded me of the words of Micah 6:8 which says, He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”  Donald Trump has not acted justly as his 34 felony counts show clearly. He has not shown mercy as his attacks of immigrants and anyone who has spoken out against him has shown. He has threatened to investigate and possibly imprison people who have investigated him. His frequent boasts about being the best president show that he does not walk humbly with God.   

Jesus says in Revelation 21:8, “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” Donald Trump has been proven to be a liar. He has committed literally thousands of lies. He has been shown to be sexually immoral. His sexual assault conviction is just one evidence of this.  

Despite all of his lies, his immorality and his convictions Donald Trump has shown no sign of repentance. Acts 2:38 says, “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” This is just one Bible verse among many that stress the necessity of repentance. Both John the Baptist and Jesus began their ministry with a call to repentance.

I find it puzzling that a number of church leaders endorsed Trump, but I know that a number of church leaders also endorsed Hitler. Donald Trump has shown himself to be an arrogant liar and he has attacked at least one church official. He does not even attend church except on special occasions. He has not acted as God has shown us how to act. Yet many Christians voted for him instead of a committed Baptist who attends church regularly.

Many Christians in the US think that they must vote Republican. Jimmy Carter clearly showed throughout his 100 years before, during and after his presidency that one can be a committed Christian, act on Christian principles, have a well respected Christian testimony and be a Democrat.