2 THESSALONIANS 2: 6-12
LOVE GOD’S TRUTH
The Apostle Paul continues his comfort and correction by giving more information concerning the Day of the Lord, specifically about the Man of Lawlessness. Some among the Thessalonian believers were discouraged. They were disturbed because of a counterfeit letter or perhaps a deviant prophecy that the Rapture had already taken place, and they had been left behind. They wondered if they were then entering into the Great Tribulation.
The Apostle comforted these believers by clarifying the timing for some of these pending events. Paul cautioned them that “the Day of the Lord,” the day of God’s judgment on the earth, will not occur until three events have taken place. First, there will be a rebellion against truth, the apostasy of the false church. Second, the Man of Lawlessness (vv. 3-4, 8) or the Antichrist will be revealed. The third event that will take place before the Great Tribulation is the removal of the restraint against lawlessness (vv. 6-7).
There has never been a more confusing time than the time in which we are living right now. Nations and governments are perplexed because they are unable to solve their problems. Crises after crises come so quickly that there is no time to recover from one before the next strikes and each one brings the world closer and closer to the brink of economic meltdown, anarchy, and military confrontation.
The spirit of the Antichrist is working overtime to destroy and deceive the hearts and lives of people at an unprecedented rate. Yet, this deception will grow much worse before Jesus returns to set up His kingdom of peace.
Paul has taught us that the Day of the Lord cannot come without the two phenomena previously indicated, “the apostasy” and the “revelation of the Man of Lawlessness.” Now a third important event is referenced that must also occur before the Day of the Lord will come: the removal of the restraint against lawlessness (CIT).
I. THE RESTRAINER, 6-7.
II. THE APPEARANCE, 8.
III. THE ANTI-CHRIST, 9-10.
IV. THE DELUDED, 11-12.
Verse 6 teaches that a Restrainer is holding back Satan’s dominion. “And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.”
The conjunction and connects the previous description of end times and the Anti-christ. The subject of the Anti-christ continues, but the emphasis shifts to what is presently restraining the revelation of the Man of Sin. For this man of sin has been and is being restrained. For there is a controlling or providential plan in the affairs of men and Satan. Although the devil is ruler of this present world system. His activities are restrained by our Sovereign God.
Even when events seem out of control, the restraining hand of God is still at work. In the last days, God will act with deliberate purpose in holding back Satan's workman so that he may be revealed at the proper time. Just as Christ had an advent, entering history at the proper time ("when in the fulness of time," Gal 4:4), so the Antichrist will have a proper time for his revealing. This will be a strategic time in history, not only for this deceiver’s revealing but also for revealing what is in the heart of mankind fallne.
Paul said the Thessalonians knew what this restrainer was, but he did not identify it here. Perhaps he had told them in person. The first part of the verse concerns “what” is restraining. In the second part, “he” is going to be revealed. Something or Someone is holding back the culmination of lawlessness.
Verse 7 explains and expands on verse 6 revealing that the secret power of lawlessness was already at work. “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.”
The “secret power” or mystery (mystçrion) is one of the mysteries of the New Testament (Rom. 16:26; 1 Cor. 2:6-12; Eph. 1:9; 3:3-5; Col. 1:25-27). A mystery in the New Testament is a new truth previously unknown before its revelation (and only knowable by revelation). In this case the mystery is the revelation of a future climax of lawlessness in the world.
Though the coming of the "lawless one" is on the horizon, the power of lawlessness is already at work. This work is supernatural. It is designed and empowered by Satan, his minions, and all who do his bidding. Evil is being empowered by the energy of Satan.
Satan has great power and we should not ignore it. But God reigns over all, even Satan. That is why God restrains Satan's activities. That is why the culmination of history and time is settled. That is why there is no nail-biting anxiety as to whether Christ will triumph.
Satan has been allowed enormous influence and power, capturing the souls of billions. Though held back from the full vent of his evil, the power and energy of wickedness continues to work and build toward the day of the Antichrist's revealing.
Then and now the work or energy directed by Satan is being restrained, and this restraining will continue until the time appointed for revealing the Man of Sin and the climax of lawlessness. Satan’s desire to take control of the world through Antichrist will then be allowed.
Who or what then is the force hindering Satan? Who is restraining the satanically empowered movement against God’s law and is postponing the revelation of the man of sin? There are many candidates set forth by scholars as to who this "one" is who restrains Satan and his forces. The most logical course would be to determine who could possibly hold such power as to restrain the powers of Satan? No mere man could. His limits of time and power would make it impossible. So the "one" must also be superhuman. This places God at the forefront of possibilities. Yet, God does not abandon the world when the Antichrist is revealed. So the most reasonable explanation as to who holds back the boiling powers of evil is the Holy Spirit. [Knute Larson. Holman NT Com. I & II Thessalonias. 2000. Holman Publ. Nashville, TN. P107.]
The Holy Spirit of God is the only Person with sufficient (supernatural) power to do this restraining. [Some object to this being the Holy Spirit on the grounds that to katechon in 2 Thessalonians 2:6 is neuter (“what is holding back”). But this is no problem for two reasons: The neuter is sometimes used of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13-14). 2nd , in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 the words are masculine: ho katechôn, the one who . . . holds it back.]
How does He do it? How does the Spirit hold back the supernatural working of evil? A ministry of the Holy Spirit is to "convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment" (John 16:8). The Holy Spirit works on His own, but the Spirit also indwells the born-again spirit of every believer. Through Christians, whom He indwells and through whom He works in society he also is holding back the swelling tide of lawless living. Thus the true church and those individuals in it are also a restraining force of God in the world.
Now when the time for the Antichrist comes, the Holy Spirit will depart. “He” will be taken out of the way. How will He be taken out of the way? The taking out of the way of the Restrainer seems to refer to the rapture of the church when Christ comes to gather us, to snatch us up to be with Him. When the church leaves the earth in the Rapture, the Holy Spirit will be taken out of the way in the sense that His unique restraining of lawlessness ministry through God’s people will be removed (Gen. 6:3). When the church is rapture out of the way God’s providential restraint of evil through His Spirit will no longer hold back the forces of darkness as it has done through the centuries.
So the Thessalonians were not in the Great Tribulation because the Rapture had not yet occurred. The removal of the Restrainer at the time of the Rapture will precede the Day of the Lord. Paul’s reasoning is thus a strong argument for the pretribulational Rapture.
II. THE APPEARANCE, 8.
The departure of the restrainer, whom I believe is the Holy Spirit and the church, will cause the Lawless One to be revealed as verse 8 states. “Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;”
With the believers and Holy Spirit gone, the restraint will be removed and then the “lawless one will be revealed,” allowing Satan and his Antichrist to unleash their fury and abominations. “Wicked” (or lawless, a-nomias) refers to the wicked one, or Antichrist. Satan will fill a human vessel who will usher in the new economic system and world order preceding the Tribulation. This man’s name is never given in the Bible, but he will be known by his actions. He is the same person referred to in verse 3. He is also spoken of in Daniel 9:26-27 and 11:36-12:1. Paul was conscious of the spiritual forces behind this individual, and for this reason described his revelation as something that will take place by the power of another, not himself.
You may be thinking, “Do you really believe a literal, physical character claiming to be divine and godly, but actually filled with Satan, will appear on the scene?” Yes. Little by little, the world is unknowingly being programed to accept just such a beastly possibility and person.
Verse 8 spans the seven-year career of the Antichrist from the time he makes a covenant with Israel soon after the Rapture, till his overthrow by Christ at His second coming at the end of the Tribulation. [To some the duration of his rule and power is uncertain, but most agree that it will not be an extensive time.]
After strengthening himself in the worst of evil this powerful person will be destroyed by the mere breath of the Lord Jesus. Antichrist may control mankind, but he will be no match for Messiah. Jesus is Lord indeed. “The very breathing of the glorified Jesus will slay the lawless one like the blast of a fiery furnace” [Hiebert, The Thessalonian Epistles, p. 315]. Satan has been building toward this time of rebellion when he can hurl his evil in the face of God and His creation. But this will be over simply by the breath of Christ's mouth.
This battle will not be long. It will not be a back-and-forth contest. Satan's chosen man will be destroyed by Jesus. He will be killed and his work will be destroyed, brought to nothing. The shining forth of Christ’s presence when He comes to earth will immobilize the Antichrist’s program as certainly as the revelation of the glorified Christ on the Damascus Road stopped Saul in his tracks and terminated his program of fighting against God. The systems, the power structures, the religious perversions the Antichrist created will crumble with Christ's second advent.
III. THE ANTI-CHRIST, 9-10.
The activity of this lawless leader is described in more detail in verses 9-10. Verse 9 teaches us that Satan is the orchestrator behind the antichirst’s deceptive work and power. “[that is,] the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,”
His career will be empowered by Satan (Rev. 13:2b) and characterized by Satan’s method of counterfeiting. Satan’s desire to counterfeit and usurp God’s power and place in the world can be traced from Genesis through Revelation. Paul employed three terms to describe the supernatural power this man will demonstrate. Miracles (dynamei, power) emphasizes the supernatural power behind the works he will perform. Signs (sçmeiois) refers to the fact that they will have significance or authenticate of his claims for worship and obedience. Wonders (terasin) indicates the effect that they will evoke when people behold them- a sensation awe or awestruck. He will, in short, perform such powerful miracles that it will be evident to all that he has supernatural power, and people will stand in awe of him. He will be admired and treated with reverence and honor. [One such miracle and the people’s awe are mentioned in Revelation 13:2b-4 and 17:8.]
May the Lord help us to be cautious so we are not taken in by so-called signs and wonders even in this day. They indeed can be false. Christ performed miracles, signs, and wonders, and the lawless one will also. The difference is that the Antichrist's miracles and signs are designated as false (pseudous) [Like the signs of Pharaoh’s magicians were]. The Antichrist's miracles originate from the realm of falsehood and lies because they are empowered by the father of lies, Satan. Antichrist and Satan have no legitimate claim to authority and worship.
Signs and wonders do not produce faith (Hebrews 3:19). They only produce a craving for more signs and wonders. As we approach the final days, there will be an increase in signs and wonders, along with vulnerability even within the body of Christ to chase after, and to be intrigued by them. Jesus said signs and wonders shall follow those who believe (Mark 16:17). The problem today is that those who believe are following after signs and wonders. There’s a big difference. Miracles do not produce faith. Only the Word produces faith (Romans 10:17).
[The portrayal of the man of sin (Antichrist) has parallels to the Son of Man (Christ). Both have a coming and a revealing-when people become aware of what is already in their midst. One proclaims the truth and the other proclaims a lie. Both demonstrate power through signs, miracles, ami wonders-one from the truth and the other; a counterfeit. Each claims exclusive worship. Both are empowered-Christ by God and the Antichrist by Satan.]
Throughout history, it has been the desire of Satan to exalt himself above the throne of God and to be worshiped. This one who will come, “the lawless one,” is Satan’s man, the product of the working of Satan himself (vs. 9). So why hasn’t Satan been able to reveal his man before now? He has been restrained. Satan, as the arch enemy of God and man, is active night and day seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8). This villainous creature would have long ago brought the kingdoms of this world to even greater ruin and raised up his own kingdom so that he might be worshiped if it were not for the sovereign restraint of God’s hand. He would devour you too, if not for the protection of God’s sovereign hand. That is why there is no safer place that in the center of God’s will. [Those who do not fully worship God in spirit & in truth leave themselves open to give worship to another.]
Verses 10–12 portray the progression of sin and evil within the human heart. First comes the unrighteous rejection of the love of truth which sanctifies as is seen in verse 10. “and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.”
His miracles are not the only thing that will deceive people into thinking he has divine power. Everything he does will mislead people, especially those whose minds are blinded to the truth of who he is and what he is doing because they have not believe God’s Word.
This lawless one will traffic in every sort of evil. This evil that deceives has no limits. What Satan can devise, and what Antichrist will enact, are beyond the imaginations of mere mortals.
Let me remind you that evil is being used to ensnare people, to lure them away from what is true. Most likely this is the evil which attracts the base and natural inclinations of fallen humanity such as power to control, narcissism, sexual degradation, and moral blindness that elevates selfishness, etc.
And how deceptive and appealing unrighteousness can be. The ancient story of the temptation in Genesis rings so true! The serpent is attractive. The appeals are enticing because they offer wisdom, autotomy, and life. The tempter is not so stupid as to try to lure us with offers of ignorance, evil, and death. The appeal of sin is that it promises so many wonderful things.
The greatest power of deception that Satan has is to compromise a Christian’s convictions concerning the truth. I’m not sure if I know anyone whose convictions are not compromised from time to time but there are some who live under this deception and have been in that place for so long that they don’t even realize how far they have gone. There was a time when righteousness and holiness were the rule in the church but now it is the exception.
Notice that those who are being deceived by the man of sin are perishing (apollymenois), in the present tense, indicating that they who don’t love the truth are already in the process of perishing. This deception which causes man’s perishing is the result of their refusal “to love the truth” of God and accept it. Their own choice brings about their condemnation. In spite of the power and pull of the saving truth of the gospel, unbelievers refuse it. To love the truth indicates true acceptance of it and adherence to it. The truth of God contrasts with the lies of the man of sin. The consequence of believing and loving the truth is salvation, both initial salvation and continuing sanctification. One’s responses to God’s truth, His Word, must be a matter of the heart (love), rather than simply of the head.
There are two prayers a man can pray. We either pray, “Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done”—or “my kingdom come; my will be done.” One comes from a desire to be the king of your own domain, to call the shots in my life. God gives us freedom to pray either prayer.
Who wouldn’t want to be saved? Those who are deluded, those who believe a lie. Even in the Tribulation, God will honor man’s choice. He will allow those who don’t want to see to remain blind. This blindness thought is self-inflicted because the refused to love God’s truth, and be saved.
IV. THE DELUDED, 11-12.
These two verse relay the consequences for rejecting the truth. Verse 11 states that the rejection of the love of truth progresses to delusion and then to believing “the lie.” “For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,”
How easily we believe that evil is good, that darkness is light, that might makes right, that hate is love. Believing the lie is the final stage of the triumph of evil.
God desires that all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4-6). But when people refuse to focus on the truth, He lets them pursue and experience the consequences of falsehood (Rom. 1:18-25). God in facts begins this judgment brought on by their rebellion and subjects them to the powerful delusion (energeian plançs) which comes from choosing error over truth. They choose to believe the lie and God sends them the delusion that is built into their choice. This powerful judgment from God is justified by the unbelievers’ decision to refuse the truth. “The lie” is the claim that the man of lawlessness is God. This lie they will believe and bow down and worship before him. This worshiping of the beast is the eventual result of one’s refusal to believe God’s Word of truth.
Verse12 tells us a second consequence of their disbelief. “in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
The condemnation of God is seen as a just consequence of our choice to reject the truth and to find pleasure in unrighteousness. We’re back again to the reality that our choices and behavior do have lasting significance. In the deepest sense, this life is the arena in which we decide whether we want to choose the way of God or the way of the Lawless One. And the choice is not always that clear. Sometimes not to choose is to choose. Sometimes the way of compromise or procrastination is simply a subtle rejection of the truth.
The purpose of God action is to execute justice (1:6). Eternal condemnation will be the fate of all who on the one hand choose to disbelieve the truth and on the other hand take pleasure in wickedness. The opposite of believing the truth is delighting in wickedness. It is an inner determination or decision that leads to its moral manifestation. This consequence befalls everyone who disbelieves the gospel. Paul’s primary concern here is of course unbelievers who will be living when the man of sin will be revealed. But these principles of God’s judgment apply in all ages and can be seen in the 21st century.
Is this passage saying that those who do not believe the gospel before the man of sin is revealed—and who are therefore not caught up to meet the Lord at the Rapture but still live on the earth—cannot be saved after the man of lawlessness has been revealed? Or can people who recognize but knowingly reject the truth of the gospel before the Rapture be saved after the Rapture takes place? The “powerful delusion” (v. 11) that God will bring on these individuals in particular suggests that few then living on the earth will be saved after the Rapture. This seems to be a special judgment from God that will occur at this one time in history. The many saints which the Book of Revelation indicates will be living on the earth during the Tribulation which are saved after the Rapture (Rev. 7:4) seem to be mostly Jewish.
[IN SUMMING UP]
In summing up this section, Paul reminded his readers that the trials and persecutions they were experiencing (1:4) did not indicate that they were suffering the judgments of the Day of the Lord. They had not missed the Rapture. Before the judgments of the day of the Lord would come, certain identifiable events must occur. These are the apostasy (extensive turning away from the truth of God), the removal of the Restrainer (the Holy Spirit restraining evil in the world as He works through the church He indwells) at the Rapture, and the unveiling of the Antichrist, the man of lawlessness. Since these events had not (and still have not) occurred, the Thessalonians were not experiencing the judgments accompanying the day of the Lord.
Truth and wickedness are mutually exclusive. You will heed God’s truth or you will be caught up in the deception. Rejection of truth always pushes a person toward disbelief. The farther a person turns from God’s truth the deeper he becomes intrenched in the sin of disbelief and the harder his heart and conscience. We should turn to God before this strong delusion arrives and you end up bowing down before the Beast. Turn to God and begin to worship Him today before it is too late.
Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins and rose from the grave to be your Lord. But if you do not come to Him to seek salvation, His work will do you no good.
Will you come to Christ to be saved by placing your faith in Him today? Lay aside any feeling of worthiness and come just as you are; a hopeless sinner doomed to Hell with out Jesus. Trust in all He has done for your and receive eternal life as His gift today?
If you want to be saved today, then pray the following prayer with me.
Dear Father in Heaven, I’m a sinner headed to Hell and I need You to help me, to forgive me. I believe that Jesus paid for my sin debt and purchased my salvation when He died for me on the cross. By the power of His resurrection from the dead, raise me up and put me on the way to heaven. I trust in You and yield my self to You right now. Dear God, please forgive me and save me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
