2 Thessalonians 2:1 - 11: Concerning The Man Of Lawlessness

 
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

• The text is stating both that the final Judgment in which Yeshua returns to the Earth has not yet come & that the Day has already come, insofar as Yeshua is the Christ & the Redeemer-Mediator who lived, died, rose again, &tc. has already come.   

• His life, death, & resurrection, &tc. constitute a non- repeatable historical event.   Therefore, don’t be deceived by anyone who claims the Christ has not yet come, & don’t believe anyone who says that he/she/it/they is/are the Christ.  

3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 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. 

• Covenantally speaking, this happens all the time in a cyclical basis.   

• Each covenantal era includes both heroes & villains who serve as foils for one another.   

• On the LORD’s side, the LORD raises up prophets, priests, kings, judges, & everyday people to speak the truth, particularly to power, & oppose the world system & “the god/gods of this world.

• On the Enemy’s side, any number of false/immoral/evil prophets, priests, kings, & others rise up as champions of Death & Hades. 

5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 

• Other than the LORD’s own restraining activity, the cycle of rest & restless on Earth reaches a point @ which conditions are fulfilled for the revealing of these Heroes & Villains in the sense that the ongoing cold war between the children of Abel & the children of Cain just plain can’t contain the conflict without both sides having to, at the barest minimum, blow off enough steam to rachet down the threat level or go to war with each other.  

• Thus, this story is very much what the writers of the New Testament had in mind when they talked abut the Day Of the LORD in terms of “wars & rumors of wars,” in texts like Matthew 24. 

• That said, the text also envisions a time in which the cold war will be insufficient as matter of containment & both the Children of Abel & the Children of Cain will have had enough of each other to the point that they are willing to resort to lawlessness &/or the appearance thereof in order to do one another in —-> so much so that a final transitional prophet is recognized & called by the LORD to pave the way for Yeshua’s certain return (Malachi 4). 

9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.  (2 Thessalonians 2:1–12, ESV)

• Never forget that prophecy is the LORD’s answer to idolatry, witchcraft, sorcery, & other assorted evils.   Thus the activity of the spirit of Accusing Adversaries on both sides precipitates the coming of the lawless/lawlessness one(s). 

• In addition, the LORD sends a strong delusion to carry out His judgment.

• In addition to giving Cain’s people over their delusions, the LORD is known to harden people via the internal & external proclamation of His Holy Word. 

• The LORD does this because he wants us, a people & people groups created in the LORD’s image to know & understand that He alone is our Creator-Deliver &  has provided Yeshua, the Christ, as our (& everyone else’s) Redeemer — Mediator whose person & work grounds the whole covenantal system, which in turn, grounds our & the whole of creation’s apokatastasis in the LORD Himself & His will of surety.

O LORD, HASTE THE DAY!