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Scripture Reading: 2 Thes. 2:1-12
In this message we shall consider 2:1-12. Here Paul gives the Thessalonians a word of correction of the misconception concerning the day of the Lord’s coming. Because the misconception corrected by Paul is common among many Christians today, Paul’s correcting word is needed as much today as when it was first written, if not more so. Before we consider 2:1-12 verse by verse, I would like to speak briefly about the different schools of teaching regarding the Lord’s coming.
Apart from teachings that are definitely heretical, there are among fundamental believers three main schools concerning the Lord’s coming and the rapture of the believers. One of these schools is called the pretribulation school. This is the teaching that the coming of the Lord Jesus will take place before the great tribulation. The word “tribulation” is a special term in the study of prophecy. It denotes a period of time at the end of the church age. At the end of the church age there will be a period of seven years, the last of the seventy weeks prophesied in Daniel 9. Daniel 9 speaks of seventy weeks of years concerning the history of Israel. First we have seven weeks, then sixty-two weeks, and finally, after a long interval, the last week, the last seven years.
Just before the beginning of these seven years, a powerful man will rise up — the Antichrist. Here in 2 Thessalonians 2 Antichrist is called the man of lawlessness. According to prophecy, this powerful person will restore the Roman Empire and will become the last Caesar of that empire. Then Antichrist, the man of lawlessness, will make a covenant, an agreement, with the Jews. This agreement will be intended to last for seven years. Because Antichrist will be so powerful, the Jews will be afraid of him; they will fear that he will persecute them in the practice of their religion. For this reason, the Jews will make an agreement with him, and in that agreement he will promise them freedom of worship. The Jews will be very pleased with this agreement, happy to have the freedom to worship the God of their fathers. However, after three and a half years, in the middle of the last seven years of the church age, the man of lawlessness will break his agreement with the Jews and begin to persecute them.
The last seven years may be divided into two periods, each three and a half years in length. In the Bible the second period of three and a half years is also called forty-two months, or 1260 days (Rev. 11:2-3; 13:5). From our study of the Bible we can say strongly and definitely that these last three and a half years will be the time of the great tribulation. This means that the great tribulation will be the second half of the last week; it will last three and a half years, or forty-two months, or 1260 days.
Many teach that the Lord’s coming will take place before the great tribulation. However, when they speak of the tribulation, they usually mean the entire last seven years. According to their understanding, the whole of the last week of Daniel’s seventy weeks will be the period of the great tribulation. They teach that Christ will come back to rapture the believers before this time of tribulation, that is, before the last seven years of this age. For this reason, this school of teaching is called the pretribulation school.
A second school is the school of post-tribulation. This is the teaching that Christ’s coming will be after the great tribulation. Those who teach that the coming of Christ will be after the tribulation use many verses from the Bible as a strong basis for their teaching. Those of this school teach that Christ will come back at the very end of the tribulation. Therefore, their teaching is called the post-tribulation school.
A third school of teaching, represented by Bible teachers such as Pember, Govett, and Panton, teaches in a more detailed way concerning the Lord’s coming back than those in either the pretribulation or post-tribulation schools. Those in this third school say that neither the pretribulation school nor the post-tribulation school is fully correct. Rather, each of these schools is only partially correct. The teaching of the first two schools can be compared to a city map that shows only main streets, whereas the teaching of the third school can be compared to a city map that shows not only main streets but also small streets, lanes, and alleys. Therefore, the teaching of those in the third school is more detailed and more accurate.
According to the third school, Christ’s parousia (presence) will probably begin a little before the middle of the last seven years and will last nearly to the end of this period. Christ will leave the throne in the third heaven and descend to the air concealed in a cloud and remain there for about three and a half years. During this period of time, a number of things will happen. The manchild in Revelation 12 will be raptured just before Antichrist begins to persecute every kind of religion, including Judaism and Catholicism, and he will exalt himself above every object of worship. The manchild will be raptured not to the air but to the throne of God. Furthermore, according to Revelation 14, the one hundred forty-four thousand will also be raptured during this time as the firstfruit, before the second half of the last seven years. We should not make the mistake of regarding the one hundred forty-four thousand in Revelation 14 as identical to the manchild in Revelation 12. These are two different groups of overcomers. The manchild and the one hundred forty-four thousand will be raptured to the throne of God. Then the Lord Jesus will begin His parousia; He will descend from the throne of God to the air. It seems certain that the manchild and the one hundred forty-four thousand will descend with Him. Then at the end of the last seven years, the Lord Jesus will come to earth. Second Thessalonians 2:8 refers to this: “And then the lawless one shall be revealed (whom the Lord Jesus will slay by the breath of His mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of His coming).” The Greek word rendered “coming” is parousia, presence. The appearing of the Lord’s parousia will be at the end of the last seven years, after Antichrist, the lawless one, has been revealed.
Let us now consider 2:1-12 verse by verse. In verse 1 Paul says, “Now we ask you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him.” As in verse 8, the Greek word for coming here is parousia. Two matters are covered in this verse: the Lord’s parousia (presence) and our gathering together (rapture) to Him.
The Lord’s parousia will last for a period of time. It will begin with His coming from the heavens to the air (Rev. 10:1) at the time of the great tribulation, which will occur in the last three and a half years of this age, the second half of the last week of Daniel 9:27 (Matt. 24:21; Rev. 11:2), and it will end with its appearing, “the appearing of His parousia” (2 Thes. 2:8; Matt. 24:30). During the Lord’s parousia, the majority of believers will be raptured to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thes. 4:17). “The day of the Lord” in 2 Thessalonians 2:2 refers, according to the context, to the period of time of the Lord’s parousia (coming), in which the rapture of the majority of the believers will take place. Verse 3 tells us definitely that before this period of time Antichrist will be revealed to play the greatest role in the great tribulation (v. 4; Rev. 13:1-8, 12-15). This reveals clearly and definitely that the Lord’s coming (parousia) and the rapture of the majority of believers cannot take place before the great tribulation.
Verse 2 says, “That you be not quickly shaken in mind nor alarmed, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by a letter as by us, as that the day of the Lord is present.” According to Darby, “in mind” (lit. from the mind) denotes “a steady and soberly judging mind.” Paul did not want the believers at Thessalonica to be shaken in mind or alarmed with respect to the Lord’s coming and our rapture. The phrase “by spirit” refers to the pretending of a speaking spirit that claims to have the authority of divine revelation. Someone may claim that he has the spirit to speak concerning the Lord’s coming. Paul warns the believers not to hastily listen to such a one. He also warns them not to be shaken “by word, nor by a letter as by us.” This may indicate that someone pretended to write a letter using the name of the Apostle Paul. Here Paul seems to be saying, “Brothers, if anyone by spirit, by word, or by a letter as from us, says that the day of the Lord is present, you should not listen to him. Do not be shaken, and do not be alarmed.”
Verse 3 says, “Let no one deceive you in any way; because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.” The Greek word translated “deceived” may also be rendered “beguiled,” not only making a false impression, but actually leading astray.
In verse 3 the pronoun “it” refers to the day of the Lord’s coming. This day will not come unless the apostasy comes first. This apostasy will be a falling away from the straight way of God’s economy as revealed in the Scriptures. There is a strong prophecy in the Bible that before the Lord’s coming back there will be a great apostasy among His people, a falling away from the path of God’s economy. Even today there is a tendency among some Christians to leave the straight way of the New Testament.
Verse 3 also indicates that the day of the Lord will not come before the man of lawlessness is revealed. This man of lawlessness is the Antichrist, as prophesied in Daniel 7:20-21, 24-26; 8:9-12, 23-25; 9:27; 11:36-37; Revelation 13:1-8, 12-18; 19:19-20. He will be the man of lawlessness, casting down the truth to the ground, changing laws, destroying and corrupting many to an extraordinary degree, blaspheming God, and deceiving men. Hence, the Lord will utterly destroy him, and he will become the son of destruction.
Verse 3 indicates strongly that the Lord’s coming back will not precede the tribulation. Before the Lord’s coming there will first be the apostasy and also the revealing of the man of lawlessness. This means that prior to the Lord’s coming one matter — the apostasy — and one person — Antichrist — must appear first.
Paul told the Thessalonians that since the apostasy and the revealing of the man of lawlessness must come before the day of the Lord’s coming, they should not be shaken by anything or anyone that would claim that the day of the Lord has already come. The apostasy must take place, and the Antichrist must be revealed. Antichrist will be fully revealed during the great tribulation. This indicates that the Lord’s coming back will be after the tribulation, not before it. Second Thessalonians 2:3 is a verse used by those who follow the school of post-tribulation to say that the coming of Christ will be after the tribulation.
Among the Brethren, the leading teacher of the school of pretribulation was J. N. Darby. Darby was an excellent teacher of the Word, and we have learned much from him. However, we do not follow him in his teaching concerning pretribulation. The school of post-tribulation is more accurate. Concerning the Lord’s coming, there is too much guesswork in Darby’s teaching. For instance, he says that in Revelation 4 John was raptured and that this rapture was a type of the rapture of the church before the tribulation. According to Darby’s concept, the tribulation begins in Revelation 4. Darby claims that in Revelation 4 John was a representative of the church and that his rapture indicates the rapture of the church before the tribulation. In this matter Darby infers, or guesses, too much.
Benjamin Newton disagreed with Darby’s interpretation. He pointed to the second chapter of 2 Thessalonians, where Paul says clearly that the Lord’s coming will not take place unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness, that is, Antichrist, is revealed. As we have pointed out, this means that the Lord’s coming back will be after the tribulation.
Neither those who hold to the pretribulation school nor those who follow the post-tribulation school have seen the full truth concerning the Lord’s parousia. Those who see one aspect of the parousia teach the pretribulation coming, but those who see another aspect teach the post-tribulation coming. We consider the parousia as a whole and therefore do not stand with either the pretribulation or the post-tribulation school.
In verse 4 Paul gives a further description of Antichrist: “Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or an object of worship, so that he seats himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself that he is God.” This fulfills the prophecy concerning Antichrist in Daniel 11:36 and 37. This will take place in the midst of the last week, as prophesied in Daniel 9:27.
The temple of God mentioned in verse 4 is “the holy place” in Matthew 24:15. Verse 4 indicates that the temple of God will be rebuilt before the Lord comes back. The temple was destroyed more than nineteen centuries ago. But this verse says that Antichrist will seat himself in the temple of God. Therefore, the temple must be rebuilt. The nation of Israel has been formed again, and the city of Jerusalem has been returned to Israel. However, the temple has not yet been built. Some Jews are deeply stirred concerning the rebuilding of the temple. One day, this temple will be rebuilt, and, according to the prophecy of Daniel, Antichrist will seat himself in it.
In verse 5 Paul says, “Do you not remember that, when I was yet with you, I said these things to you?” Although Paul had been with the Thessalonians for only three weeks, he had spoken to them concerning these things.
In verse 6 Paul goes on to say, “And now you know that which restrains, that he might be revealed in his own time.” This verse indicates that some power hinders the revelation of the man of lawlessness, Antichrist. The words “in his own time” denote the time appointed by God, which will be the last of the seventy weeks, as prophesied in Daniel 9:27; 7:24-26; and Revelation 13:1-8.
In verse 7 Paul continues, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already operating; only there is one who restrains now until he comes out of the midst.” The lawlessness that will characterize Antichrist is already operating in this age mysteriously. It is the mystery of lawlessness working today among the nations and in human society. Even now there is a tendency for lawlessness to be prevailing.
Antichrist will be the totality of lawlessness. No one can have unlimited power unless he is lawless. A lawful person cannot have unlimited power, because he is limited by the law. Those who are lawless, who are not limited by the law, but do whatever they please, may become very powerful. Hitler, an example of lawlessness, was such a one.
According to God’s sovereignty, “there is one who restrains now until he comes out of the midst.” This probably means that the restraining factor will be taken out of the way. Although the mystery of lawlessness is already operating, this lawlessness is at the present time restrained, restricted. But one day this restrainer will be taken away. We need to realize from the prophecy of the Bible that one day the restraining factor will be removed, and then Antichrist will be unrestricted.
In a democratic country such as the United States, even the President is limited by laws. He is not free to do whatever he pleases. But if the limitation of law were to be removed, the one in power could become lawless and do whatever he wants. In such a case, the ruler of a country could become extraordinarily powerful. Today lawlessness is operating, but the restraining factor still exists. Because of this restraining factor, no one can be lawless and become so powerful. But when the restraining factor is removed, someone will rise up to be lawless and do whatever he desires. Then he will become extraordinarily powerful. That man of lawlessness will be Antichrist.
Verse 8 says, “And then the lawless one shall be revealed (whom the Lord Jesus will slay by the breath of His mouth and bring to nothing by the appearing of His coming).” This will be fulfilled in Revelation 19:19-20. This verse indicates that the Lord’s coming (parousia) is hidden before it appears openly. This also indicates that the Lord’s coming involves a period of time. It will remain in secret, and then it will appear to the public.
In verse 9 Paul says, “The coming of whom is according to the operation of Satan, with all power and signs and wonders of a lie.” This verse reveals that the coming of Antichrist is according to the operation of Satan. The reason Antichrist will be so lawless is that he will be under Satan’s operation. Due to the motivation of Satan, he will become extremely powerful. The operation of Satan is with power and signs and wonders of a lie. The entire operation of Satan to deceive people (vv. 9-10) is in its totality a lie, just as he is a liar and the father of it (John 8:44).
This operation of Satan is seen in Revelation 13. At that time, people will be deceived by lying signs and wonders. One of these signs will be that an idol, the lifeless image of Antichrist, will be able to speak.
Verse 10 continues, “And with all deceit of unrighteousness among those who are perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved.” A large number of people will follow Antichrist. They will accept his deceit because they do not receive the love of the truth in order to be saved.
In verse 11 Paul goes on to say, “And because of this, God sends to them an operation of error that they might believe the lie.” Because the perishing ones did not receive the love of the truth, which God intended to give them that they might be saved, God sends to them an operation of error, an active power of misleading, that they might believe the lie.
In verse 12 Paul concludes, “That all might be judged who have not believed the truth, but have had pleasure in unrighteousness.” The believers have the pleasure of goodness (1:11); the perishing sinners who reject the truth of God have pleasure in unrighteousness. To sin is a delight to them (Rom. 1:32).
We all need to be clear regarding the Lord’s coming and not be shaken or alarmed by strange teachings concerning it. Today some teach that Christians will not pass through the tribulation, but will be raptured before the tribulation. This candy-coated teaching is not accurate. Do not listen to such teachings concerning the Lord’s coming and our being gathered unto Him. The word in 2:1-12 is brief, but it is very sound and clear. I would encourage you to read the Life-studies on Matthew and Revelation for more details.
We should not simply know about the Lord’s coming. We need to live a life to match the Lord’s requirements so that we may be counted worthy to be in the manchild, or to be among the one hundred forty-four thousand, or to be the living ones who are raptured according to Matthew 24. Those believers who are watchful and ready will be raptured before the tribulation. However, those who are not watchful and ready will pass through the tribulation.
