Sunday School Lesson 10 - 2 Thess. 2:1-8 - THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS
INTRODUCTION: Last week, in 1 Thess. 1:1-12, we heard Paul praise the Thessalonians for their increasing faith, love, and perseverance in the midst of their persecutions and afflictions and inform them that their faith and endurance in adversity verified their status as inheritors of God's kingdom. Paul assured them that God would avenge those who persecuted them and give them relief when Jesus returns with His angels, which had not happened yet. Today, in 2 Thess. 2:1-8, we'll hear Paul explain the ''Day of the Lord'' as an event from which Christians are exempt. This was intended to clear up the confusion of some Thessalonian believers who thought they had entered this time of hardship and judgment. Paul tells them to put such thinking aside, regardless of the source. He assures them the day of the Lord will not commence until a rebellion or apostasy occurs, followed by the emergence of the man of lawlessness. This figure will try to take on the role of God and deceive those who are lost and had rejected the truth.
NOTE: For the purpose of brevity, I'll be teaching today's lesson from the perspective of a pre-Tribulation Rapture of the church and a pre-Millennial Second Coming of Christ. Evangelical theologians and indeed, many Southern Baptists differ on the timing of these events. If any of you want to know more of these different views, I'll give you 4-page summary on the subject.
Read 2 Thess. 2:1-2 - REGARDING THE COMING OF OUR LORD
1 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
v. 1: "Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him" - With this verse, Paul is intent upon correcting any misunderstandings the Thessalonians have about the Second Coming of Christ. Their persecution had been so severe that many of them believed that they were already living in the Tribulation period. From the perspective I'm teaching, the "coming" and the "gathering together to Him" refers to the Rapture of the church prior to on the onset of the Great Tribulation. Thus, all Christians, living and dead, will be raptured and meet Jesus in the air (1 Thess. 4:17) before the tribulation period begins.
v. 2a: "that you not be quickly shaken from your composure" - It's apparent to Paul that many of the Thessalonian believers had fallen prey to false teaching, false writings, rumors or all of the above. When Paul states they shouldn't "be shaken from your composure or be disturbed," he's telling them, in effect, there's really nothing to worry about. Then Paul goes on to identify three potential sources of misinformation:
v. 2b: "either by a spirit" - This is someone who apparently claimed to have received a revelation or prophecy given to them by the Holy Spirit, which Paul emphatically labels as false.
v. 2c: "a message" - This would be a person claiming direct revelation from God, which is also false.
v. 2d: "or a letter as if from us" - Paul is saying that any such letter on that topic has to be a forgery.
v. 2e: "to the effect that the day of the Lord has come" - Paul assures them that "the day of the Lord" is a future event that has not yet arrived-and they haven't missed it! We should keep in mind that these Thessalonians were really "baby Christians," new to the faith, who could be easily sidetracked by false teachers or people who just wanted to make their lives miserable, like the local Jews or their pagan neighbors.
Read 2 Thess. 2:3-5 - IT WILL NOT COME UNLESS...
3 No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
v. 3a: "No one is to deceive you in any way!" - Christians always need to be on guard against deception, both from within (false teaching) and without (false prophets). Paul now proceeds to reassure the Thessalonians that they could not possibly be in the Tribulation Period because certain events that must first take place have not yet happened.
v. 3b: "For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first" - The word "apostasy" (Gk. apostasia), literally mean falling away. So, the first sign of the Day of the Lord is a worldwide, general apostasy of the church away from its biblical foundations. (Keep in mind that, from my teaching perspective, this Day will be preceded by the Rapture. Are we all still on the same page?)
v. 3c: "and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction" - The second sign of the Day will be the revelation of is the "man of lawlessness," who will personify hostility to God and His revelation (elsewhere referred to the antichrist [1 Jn. 2:18-22]; however, his actual identity is unknown). The title "son of destruction" refers to his future destiny when he will ultimately be defeated by God's judgment.
v. 4a: "who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship" - This lawless man will violently oppose every form of divine worship and will insist that he alone is God.
We have seen tyrants in recent history who have exalted themselves to the position of god: Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tse'Tung, Kim Il Sung (N. Korea), etc. And on a smaller scale, we've seen a similar phenomenon in some churches, where magnetic people who claim that they have all the answers, and who distort the meaning of Scripture to fit their purposes, set themselves up as congregational demi-gods (e.g., Jim Jones and the massacre at Jonestown, Guyana in 1978).
v. 4b: "so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God" - The term "temple of God" has been variously interpreted as the church, the heavenly temple, or the Jerusalem temple destroyed in 70 A.D. (Note: Dan. 9:27 and Mt. 24:15 both show that this blaspheming action of the lawless man will take place in the middle of the Tribulation Period.) .
v. 5: "Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?" - Here, Paul reminds the Thessalonians of what he had taught them when he was there in person. Since He taught them verbally, we have no written record of what he actually said. The expression "Do you not remember," seems to indicate that he was surprised that his own teachings on the end-times had not prevented the Thessalonians from caving-in to the false teaching. However, when the false teaching seemed to support the idea that the intense persecution they were suffering was evidence of the Tribulation, they may have simply forgotten the fine details of Paul's verbal instruction. It's also an excellent example of the superiority of the written word over the spoken word. Because we have a complete Bible and many good commentaries that explain it even further, we have no excuse for such mistakes. As modern Christians, we need to have a firm foundation in Biblical prophecy and Eschatology. Why is it important? While we don't need to memorize all of the terminology and details associated with the end-times, we surely need to know enough to be able to recognize false teaching or preaching when we hear it (e.g., Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses).
Read 2 Thess. 2:6-8 - THE MYSTERY OF LAWLESSNESS
6 And you know what restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed. 8 Then that lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will eliminate with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;
v. 6: "And you know what restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his time" - This informs us that there is a restrainer that is holding the man of lawlessness back and it will continue to do so until the appointed time. Bible scholars have differing views over the identity of this restrainer, however, those ideas are not really relevant to our study today. The most popular view, and probably the most likely, is that the restrainer is the Holy Spirit that indwells the church and the individual believer, but the fact is, that we don't know this for sure. What is important to know here is that the restrainer does exactly what God intends it to do for as long as God intends for it to keep on doing it. The function of the restrainer is to make sure that the man of lawlessness will be "revealed in his rime," and not before.
v. 7: "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed" - In terms of Bible doctrine, a "mystery" refers to some truth that had been hidden in the past until God chooses to reveal it. The gospel, for example, was a mystery-i.e., that salvation would be available to all people--until Jesus came and explained who He is and what He came to do. When Paul says here, "the mystery of lawlessness is already at work," he means that it's already at work in this world. The working of lawlessness in the world will ultimately lead to a worldwide rebellion against God, and it works in secret right now. The man of sin's rise to power will represent a climax of lawlessness, a satanic movement against the administration of God. This secret, behind-the-scenes movement is as yet restrained but is waiting to be revealed. Therefore, the mystery of lawlessness has been at work for a very long time-since Paul's day-and, when it finally erupts in all its hideousness, the world will be shaken to its core. The Antichrist, who leads this descent into lawlessness, will set new standards of depravity. The enormity of the acts of human monsters like Caligula, Hitler, Stalin, Kim Il Sung, and Idi Amin will pale in comparison to the evil of the Antichrist.
v. 8a: "Then that lawless one will be revealed," - The revelation of this lawlessness will coincide with the revelation of the Antichrist. The man of sin's rise to power will represent a climax of lawlessness, a satanic movement against the very administration of God.
v. 8b: "whom the Lord will eliminate with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming" - As Christian believers, we have the privilege of helping restrain the mystery of lawlessness even as we look for the return of our blessed hope, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. When He comes again, Jesus will reign and rule as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And according to Scripture, by the breath of His mouth, He will destroy the works of the enemy. The Antichrist will have "his power . . . taken away and completely destroyed forever" (Dan. 7:26).
APPLICATION-Understanding End-Time Biblical Prophecy
1. The Rapture of the church and the Second Coming of Christ are separate events. While Bible scholars differ on the exact timing of the Rapture, most agree that it will occur before the end of the Great Tribulation period reported in the Book of Revelation. Scholars generally agree that Christ's second Coming-also known as the Day of the Lord-will occur at the end of the Great Tribulation (Rev. 19:1-21).
2. All Christians should have a firm foundation in biblical, end-time prophecy so we can identify false teaching or preaching when we hear it. Since we have a complete Bible and access to many good commentaries that fully explain the end-times, we have no reason to be side-tracked by the false teaching and preaching going on in the world today.
3. The "mystery of lawlessness" is already working secretly in the world. Although this mystery has been at work since the time of Paul (almost 2,000 years), the "man of lawlessness" is being restrained by the Holy Spirit that indwells the church and all Christian believers. However, the working of lawlessness in the world will ultimately lead to a worldwide rebellion against God, and it works in secret right now. The man of lawlessness's rise to power will represent a climax of lawlessness in a satanic movement against the administration of God. This secret, behind-the-scenes movement is as yet restrained but is waiting to be revealed.
4. When God removes the restrainer-the Rapture of the church will remove the Holy Spirit-the revelation of this lawlessness will coincide with the revelation of the Antichrist. The Antichrist, who leads this descent into lawlessness, will set new standards of horrendous depravity. This will occur during the end-time period known as the Great Tribulation, before the Second Coming of Christ.
5. As Christians, we can look forward to Christ's return because the best is yet to come. On the Day of the Lord, when Christ returns, He will come in all His power as Lord of Lords and King of Kings. He will utterly destroy the man of lawlessness-the Antichrist. Then He will take the throne and rule-the Millennial Kingdom-for 1,000 years. To know how this prophecy finally ends, you need to carefully read and study Chapters 20, 21, and 22 of the Book of Revelation.
