Prerequisites for the Day of the Lord

The Day of the Lord & the Church (1-2)

Christ’s coming and His gathering of His people to Himself

must be informed by the truth (2)

should increase the church’s joy and hope (2)

The Prerequisites of the Day of the Lord (3-4)

The rebellion (3)

rebellion = apostacy

1 Timothy 4:1 (ESV)

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons...

b. the rebellion will be among people who once claimed to be and were regarded as followers of Christ.

2. The revealing of the man of lawlessness (3-4)

a. His identity

a man: the text provides us with no good reason to conclude that Paul is referring to a spirit or mystical force of evil.

lawlessness: that he is lawless means that he will not consider himself to be subject to any law or lawgiver.

son of destruction: that he is the son of destruction references his ultimate destiny. He and his father, Satan, share the same end.

b. His behavior

opposes: he will be against anything and anyone that does not acknowledge his self-proclaimed rule over the universe.

Galatians 5:17 (ESV)

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other...

ii. exalts himself: he will claim a higher status than any other object of worship from a position of rivalry. Perhaps Paul had Daniel’s words in mind here:

Daniel 11:36–37 ESV

“And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done. He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all.

iii. takes his seat in the temple of God: it appears that he will establish his own cult and will appoint himself as god. He will expect/demand that others will ascribe their divine recognition to him. (see Ezek. 28:2-10) The temple mentioned here could refer to the temple in Jerusalem. Some suggest however, that it could also refer to the imperial cult in Thessalonica, which would have been more familiar to Paul’s audience. The bottom line here though is that this man will appoint himself as someone to be worshipped.

iv. proclaiming himself to be God: all of his behavior, as outlined in v. 4 is fueled by his ambition to be recognized as God. God above all other gods and worthy of all people’s worship.

In v. 5, Paul makes it clear that he has been over all of this (the return of Christ, the gathering of the church to Himself and all that relates to this event) before. Paul’s reminder is his urging that they “contend for the faith that was once delivered to them.” (Jude 3)

The Man of Lawlessness (6-12)

Under control (6-7)

What was true when Paul wrote this letter is true today: the man of lawlessness is being restrained and the mystery of lawless is already at work.

While Paul taught the Thessalonians who or what is retraining the man of lawlessness previously (and you know - v. 6), he does not go into detail here. The suggestions are therefore myriad. These include:

God

The preaching of the gospel

human government

the church

Satan

It appears that the power/force that is restraining the man of lawlessness (v. 6) and the mystery of lawlessness that is already at work (v. 7) are aligned. If this is the case, then Satan could be the restraining force.

In his first epistle, John references the lawlessness that is already at work.

1 John 2:18 ESV

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.

e. It is not until this restraining power is withdrawn that the lawless one will be revealed. For this restraint to be taken out of the way, that is, it is no longer an obstacle that will hold his revealing back.

Life expectancy (8)

The Lawless One will be be eliminated by Jesus. His power will be stripped from him and he will no longer possess any influence. Paul reflects what Isaiah prophesied:

Isaiah 11:4 ESV

but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

b. The end of the man of lawlessness will be effected by the appearing of Christ’s coming.

Behind the curtain (9-10)

The man of lawlessness is not Satan, but empowered and driven by Satan. He will serve Satan’s purposes, but ultimately to no avail.

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan which displayed all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders.

This man will possess supernatural power. We should no conclude that the false signs and wonders he will perform are not real. These signs will be real, but will not be to the praise of God, but will instead lead people away from God to their destruction.

wicked deception (v. 10) literally reads deception of unrighteousness. Those who refuse to love the truth and so be saved love unrighteousness instead.

Instrument of justice (11-12)

God sends all those who reject Him and the truth of His gospel His condemnation. His condemnation is sent in the form of a strong delusion which will lead to their belief of what is false. This is consistent with the way Paul described God’s judgement upon those who reject God:

Romans 1:24–28 ESV

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

b. Satan’s deception leads to people finding pleasure in unrighteousness, and this is contrasted with believing the truth. Those who are so deceived are condemned.

Paul introduces the contrast to those who refuse to love the truth in verses 13-15

The Church Loved (13-15)

Embedded in God’s love for the Thessalonians and for all His people is the fact that they are

chosen

sanctified

illumined

called

destined

purposed

Prayer for the Church (16-17)

Christology

Christ and the Father spoken of as equal. Christ appearing before God the Father is unusual.

God the Father

loved us: perhaps an allusion to His election of the Thessalonians (see 1 Thess 1:4 & 2 Thess 2:13)

He gives His people a hope that transcends this life and carries with it the promise of everlasting life.

He provides internal encouragement that would lead to a life that reflects God’s work in them.

Timing

Consider the words of Jesus

Matthew 24:10–13 ESV

And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Jesus foresaw a great deception and apostacy. There may be many forerunners of the man of lawlessness, but Paul provides some distinctives about him that marks him as unique and yet to be seen.

2. Consider the distinctives of the Man of Lawlessness

He will be revealed (3, 6)

A great apostacy will accompany his revealing (3)

He will exalt himself as God (4)

He will deceive many by performing miracles, signs and wonders

He will be eliminated by Jesus (8)

3. This will occur at the end of the age

The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him is the end of this life, and it is then that the Man of Lawlessness will be eliminated.

2 Thessalonians 1:6–7 ESV

since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels