seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Thessalonians 2:1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 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. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 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.
5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 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. 8 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. 9 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, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits[b] to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings[c] we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
a. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Some manuscripts sin
b. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 Some manuscripts because from the beginning God chose you
c. 2 Thessalonians 2:15 Or traditions
This is from the easy English site.
Paul, Silas and Timothy had already taught the Thessalonians that the Lord Jesus would come again. Before he comes, those who believe in Christ will have to go through many troubles. But when he comes, he will take those Christians who are alive on earth to be with him. They will join with all those Christians who have died. God will raise up those Christians from the dead. So the Lord will take the whole of his church up from the earth (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17). That will be the start of the day of the Lord. The ‘day of the Lord’ is not a 24-hour day but a period of time. It covers many events. It will be a time when God will defeat all his enemies (Isaiah 2:12). In his anger, he will destroy them (Isaiah 13:9). This will bring trouble on the earth (Isaiah 13:11; Amos 5:18). It is a way of talking about the time when the Lord will deliver the nation of Israel (Jeremiah 30:7-9). It also is a way of speaking about the time when God will set up his kingdom on the earth.
But other people taught that the day of the Lord had already come and was now present. This worried the church in Thessalonica. It was wrong to teach this, and the Thessalonian Christians should not accept it. If the day of the Lord had already started, then Jesus would come very soon. But there are certain events that must take place before he comes. The writers show what these are in the next few verses.
Many of these false ideas seemed to have come with Paul’s authority. Some people said that a prophecy from Paul and his friends taught that the day had come. Some spoke messages and they said that they had come from Paul, Silas and Timothy. There were letters that some said that Paul and his friends had sent. All of these things taught that the *day of the Lord had begun. None of them had actually come from Paul, Silas and Timothy. The Thessalonians should refuse all of these ideas and not allow them to upset the church. They should not let these false ideas worry them in their minds and spirits.
There will be two major events before the day of the Lord comes. There will be a period of time in which many will turn away from God. Then a powerful and evil man will come. Neither of these two events had yet happened. At that time, many who said that they were Christians will change They will deny that they believe in the Lord. Paul, Silas and Timothy had told the Thessalonians about that time which is to come. They called it the ‘falling away’. There always will be some who say that they believe but later turn away from the Lord. But in the ‘falling away’, a large number of people will deny that they believe in the Lord. The ‘falling away’ is more than just to deny the Lord. It includes turning against him as well. That had not yet happened so the day of the Lord had not yet come.
The Man of Sin will come when the Lord allows him to come. Until that time someone or some force will stop him coming. The Thessalonians knew who that person or that force was. Paul, Silas and Timothy had told them this while they were with them. But the writers did not say who or what it was in this letter.
The most likely force that is stopping the Man of Sin is the power or the Spirit of God. God will not allow this man to come until the proper time. That is the time fixed by God for this evil man to appear. No one knows when it will be. But it is just before or it is part of the day of the Lord.
There is a power of sin, which is already at work in the world. The Thessalonians could not know the secret of that power, because they could not see it. They could see the effects of evil in what it did. And they could see it in the troubles that they suffered. That evil power cannot now do all that it wants to do. This is because there is someone who stops it. That person, who limits the force of evil, also holds back the Man of Sin. The ‘falling away’ and the ‘Man of Sin’ will not come until God takes that person away. When the time comes that God has planned, he will remove that person. This will allow the Man of Sin to come and then the full force of this secret power of sin will come.
God will remove the person who is stopping the wicked man. Then the wicked man will come. For a short period, he will have power on the earth. The forces of sin will be free to do all kinds of evil and wicked things. After this, the Lord Jesus Christ will come to the earth and destroy that wicked man. Jesus will destroy him by the breath of his mouth. It is as if the breath of Christ is a fierce sword, which will kill the enemy. It may be that the words of Christ will have special power to destroy the man. Or perhaps it is the command of Christ that results in the death of the man.
The wicked man cannot come until God takes away the one who stops him. When God allows it, Satan will send that Man of Sin. He will come as Satan’s agent, full of his power to do his evil work. That work is to lead people away from God, to cheat and destroy them.
The Man of Sin will come with all kinds of powerful works. These will show him to be someone great. He is the false Christ, the one who is instead of Christ. The wonderful things that he does will attract people to him. They will worship him as God. It will seem that the power of God is at work in all these things. Many will accept that lie for the truth. The reality is that the power is from the devil. The devil always lies. His purpose is to draw people away from the true God.
What the Man of Sin says and does is attractive. He will impress all those who do not trust in the true God. By what he does and says, he will trap people. They will believe his lies and will trust him. All that he does is false, because his power comes from the evil one.
The people had refused to accept the truth. The right choice could have brought them salvation. The truth could have saved them from the lies of the Man of Sin. But they did not love the truth. They did not turn to Christ. They chose not to receive salvation from God. As a result, they will die a death without hope.
The people did not receive the love of the truth. Therefore, God will cause a power to work in them so that they believe the lie. There is here a moral principle that God has made. It is the rule of life that those who refuse the truth will go further into error. A power works in those who will not accept the truth. That power causes them to believe a lie.
There were other teachers, some of whom were false. Some even said that they had Paul’s authority for what they taught. The Thessalonians had to refuse all that was false. They should hold on to what was true. They should be strong in their faith in the Lord. They should not let persecution or false teachers cause them to turn from the truth.
This is from bible-studys.org.
If he is not for Christ, he is antichrist. This has been the old devil's trick ever since Lucifer was thrown out of heaven. He wanted to be greater than God. He always appeals to the ego of man. His trick with Eve was telling her the fruit of the tree would make her wise like God. He lied then, and he has lied to the antichrist as well. He uses people vulnerable to believe his lies.
The antichrist is not satisfied with being opposed to Christ, but actually wants to sit in the place of God in the temple. He appears as an angel of light.
This restraint will be in place until the Antichrist is revealed, at the midpoint of the Tribulation, leaving him 42 months to reign (Dan. 7:25; Rev. 13:5).
We know this to be true, because we know that the spirit of the devil entered into Judas Iscariot, and he betrayed Jesus. There has always been a battle going on with good and evil ever since the Garden of Eden. Man has a free will. He can follow Jesus, or he can follow Satan.
The antichrist would not have to be the antichrist, if he would follow Jesus. The antichrist has chosen to be an instrument of Satan. The flesh of mankind has always been opposed to the spirit of mankind. The temptations of the flesh are what cause mankind to sin. The free will of mankind chooses to follow the flesh, or the spirit.
Mystery is many times veiled around evil. We know that even Babylon is called, mystery Babylon. It is definitely a mystery why anyone would follow evil instead of good. The only answer to that is they have fallen for a deception. All who oppose Christ are antichrist, but there is a person who personifies this in the end time, and he is the antichrist.
When the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit as teacher and guide is removed, then the antichrist will bring lawlessness and sin like the world has never known. Even now this influence is working in the children of disobedience.
So... once again... commentary is longer than the scripture.... so something major must be discussed. And get this... it's about he antichrist.... heavy topic these days... Right?
Paul thought that Jesus was going to return in Paul's lifetime. He was obviously off by at least a couple thousand year. Those people in Thessalonica thought Paul and company told them Jesus had already returned. They thought they missed the big reveal. They thought... "why bother".
Satan thinks he could do as good a job as God. Satan got kicked out of Heaven because he would not follow orders. God knew Satan was going to do that... it was part of the plan. After all... God sculpted the Angels too. Satan is just an angel with a bullheaded attitude. God controls Satan. God made Satan keep certain rules when God allowed Satan to mess with Job. When God threw Satan our of Heaven... I figured that's when God got the ball rolling for Jesus to take his part in the plan.
I know a lot of people who think God can not have sculpted Satan.... because God can do no wrong. Actually God can do anything He so chooses. He is after all, God. OK... with that stated.... I want to present a scenario. In this scenario.... Satan was called before God. God told him all the things he had messed up that day... and warned him that he would not like the end of the story if he was thrown out of Heaven. To which satan mouthed off and said.... "Sure... you're gonna send Your Son with all His goodie two shoes stuff to win those humans over to His side..... and then the martyr bit should seal the deal right? So You have the deck stacked against me." To which God replied "ok... you want someone to send... you can send anyone you want... as soon as I have the stage set... you can send an anti.... to match my son..... and I'll even let you play in the minds of some of the humans.... after all they do have free choice.... as a matter of fact... to make things fair... since I will have preachers and priests.... you can have some fake ones.... And since Jesus is My Son... I'll even allow you to have a bunch of anti-chirsts.... not just one.... but you can spiff up one and maybe you might consider kicking off the grand finally by trying to put him on the throne at the Temple Mount.... fair enough? To which Satan jumped up and replied "right on man.... you gotcha a deal.... I'm gonna beat the pants off the boss on earth.... let's get with it.... " to which God replied...." in due time... I'm not done setting up yet." and God popped that Godmade... bad attituded angel out of Heaven... so the plan could continue on course..... and Satan thought he was all that.
So Paul told the people at Thessalonica that Jesus had not returned because the anti-Christ had to come around first. Herod was a creep but he wasn't the anti-Christ. Pilate was a bad guy... but no anti-Christ. Ciapas was a real piece of work... but he was no anti-Christ. Paul told the people... before Jesus returned... the Anti-Christ would come along. Paul was waiting... but the sham artist hadn't made his appearance.
Before Jesus returns.... the boss of the world is going to take a jab at the sanctity of the Temple on the Temple Mount. He's going to sit on that throne... and probably hold up a copy of a fake bible.... his bible... the one he knows proclaims him the anti-Christ. That hasn't happened.
There is a lot of talk in Social Media about the anti-Christ. There is talk claiming that several preachers around the area have all been the minor anti-Christs..... and then the posters claim that all those fake preachers and minor anti-Christs are all gathering around one big kahuna.... a man who is holding a public office... a world leader.... and those minor anti-Christs are calling him "chosen".
I haven't bought that mumbo jumbo quite yet. The peace negotiations in Israel got me started... but then I remembered this is probably a Jubilee year and new contracts have to be negotiated.... the Old Testament says no one can sell the land.... but it can be leased out for 50 years... then it has to revert to the owner. So... I figure that's got something to do with all the stuff going on in Palestine. Then there was the talk about moving the embassy to Jerusalem.... and I thought well... there must be a peace accord.... and it will be broken. But not yet.... just setting another stage?
I'm looking forward to Heaven.... but I am not looking forward to the Anti-Christ.... and the 42 weeks that follow.
