Lesson for October 25, 2020
The Book of II Thessalonians
Chapter 2:1-5
“Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,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. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 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. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
Paul had previously taught them the doctrine of the Rapture and the Second Coming and that they would not go through the Tribulation period. Now false doctrine was being taught by false teachers and could have been a hindrance to them reaching spiritual maturity, if not quickly corrected by Paul.
The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him These people needed to be reminded of the true doctrine of the Rapture. The Greek word for gathering is “episunagoge,” which means to assemble. Rapture is a technical theological term for the resurrection of the Royal Family of God. Once the Royal Family of God is completed, the Church is resurrected to become the Bride of Christ. The Church Age is that period of human history when the Royal Family of God is being formed on earth. (Ephesians 1:22-23, 2:16, 4:4-5; Colossians 1:18, 24, 2:19) When the royal family of God is completed, then the Rapture occurs. (I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Corinthians 15:51-58) During the Tribulation (the conclusion of the Age of Israel), the bride of Christ (the Church) is prepared in Heaven by receiving a resurrection body exactly like that of the Lord. Then comes the Judgment Seat of Christ, when all Church Age believers are evaluated and rewarded. (II Corinthians 5:10)
There is no prophecy to be fulfilled between the Day of Pentecost when the Church Age began and the Rapture of the Church when the Church Age ends, which means that the Rapture could take place at any time after the Day of Pentecost in 33 A.D. It could occur at any time during our lifetime; no one knows the day nor the hour except God. The resurrection of the Church is the sovereign will of God and completely out of mankind’s hands. The resurrection of the Church is totally beyond our control because resurrection is the Lord’s victory. While the Rapture is imminent, the Second Coming is not. Before the Second Comingoccurs, there are many prophecies which must occur like the Rapture, the Tribulation, the Judgment Seat of Christ and the regathering of Israel into to the Promised Land. (Revelation 6-19)
Distortion of the imminency of the Rapture results in foolish explanations or speculations about the exact time of the Rapture which causes a believer to become spiritually unstable. It also causes worry and fear as we have seen in this church in Thessalonica. The Apostle James gives an admonition regarding this subject in James 5:7-8. “Therefore, brethren, have patience until the coming of the Lord [Rapture]. The farmer waits with anticipation for the valuable production of the soil, constantly being patient until it has received the early and the latter rains. Have patience! Furthermore, all of you become stabilized in your minds because the coming of the Lord [Rapture] is drawing nearer and nearer.”
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. The Greek word for shaken is “saleuo,” which means to be in a disturbed state of agitation. It was used for ships being shaken by the waves or a building being shaken by natural causes. Metaphorically, it was used for making insecure or unsettled.
The believers in Thessalonica who had believed the false doctrine regarding the Rapture were unsettled emotionally as to the why they were going to have to go through the Tribulation. This was emotional revolt of the soul, which means you are surrendering the control of your soul to your emotions.
These believers had lost their composure and were operating on their emotion and not on the accurate doctrine which they had been taught. Once a believer abandons Bible doctrine, and begins judging everything they hear or experience on the basis of human viewpoint thinking, they become emotionally and mentally unstable. Being anxious and afraid is the opposite of having a relaxed mental attitude. That is what has happened to these people. They had forgot the doctrine Paul had taught them regarding the Rapture as it related to the Tribulation and the Second Coming of Christ.
By a spirit refers to demon influence. When these believers allowed themselves to be deceived by those teaching false doctrine, they were actually believing satanic doctrine. Remember that demons can influence believers to believe false doctrine because negative volition toward the truth opens up a vacuum in the soul. This vacuum is the Greek word “mataiotes” meaning empty, futile or vanity as in Ephesians 4:17-19 and II Peter 17-19). This vacuum in the soul allows a believer to be influenced by demons though a believer can never be indwelt by a demon. (I John 4:4)
By a message refers to the verbal teaching of these false teachers. The message may sound “Christian,” but be filled with all kinds of false doctrine. Only an advancing believer with a large amount of accurate Bible doctrine in the soul will be able to discern the errors in the false teacher’s message.
By a letter refers to a letter claimed to be written by Paul teaching false doctrine regarding the Rapture. The writers of these false letters were teaching that the Tribulation was already begun causing these believers in Thessalonica to become worry and unstable. The day of the Lord refers to the Rapture. This forged letter claimed that the Tribulation had already begun and that they were already in the Tribulation. But the suffering they were experiencing did not mean that the Tribulation had occurred.
Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 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. Deceive means to fool someone with something so that they are completely led astray. The Greek word for deceive is “exapatao,” which means to be thoroughly and intensely deceived. How does a believer avoid being deceived? He avoids it by consistent and persistent study and application of accurate Bible doctrine in his soul. The way to avoid deception is found in John 8:31-32, “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” The way to avoid deception is also found in Galatians 5:1, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing firm (in doctrine) and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery (false doctrine).” The yoke of slavery is false doctrine, demon influence, Satanic doctrine entering the soul of a believer. These believers in Thessalonica were thoroughly deceived and led astray with false doctrine, specifically the doctrine of the Rapture and the Second Coming, which they should have known were not the same event. This false doctrine is still with us today as well.
For it (the Tribulation) will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed is a reference to the Tribulation, which had not occurred and will not occur until after the Rapture of the Church. So, as long as these believers were still on earth they were not in the Tribulation. Paul reminded them of this doctrinal teaching by explaining again the sequence of event that will take place before and during the Tribulation. The greatest apostasy man has ever experienced will happen during the Tribulation. The Rapture must occur before the Tribulation. The man of lawlessness belongs to the Tribulation, not to the Church Age, therefore the man of lawlessness cannot be known until the Rapture has occurred.
The man of lawlessness is Satan’s man (the Anti-Christ) who leads a revolution against God in the last seven years of the Age of Israel, the Tribulation. This man is the dictator of the revived Roman Empire in the Tribulation. The man of the lawlessness is identified by different names. In Revelation 13:1-10 he is called the beast out of the sea. He is called the little horn in Daniel 7:8-9, 19-26. In Daniel 9:26-27 he is the prince. He is called the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24:15, which emphasizes his religious activity complete with a statue of himself to worship. He is called the feet of the image in Daniel 2:31-45 having to do with the rise of the Roman Empire during the Tribulation. He is called the beast on which the woman sits in Revelation 17 because he uses religion (a world council of churches) to gain control over humanity. The woman represents religion with its headquarters in Babylon (the woman) and will use political power (the Beast) to gain power and authority (sitting on the beast) to deceive the nations into worshipping the beast.
The son of destruction, 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. The Greek word for destruction is “apoleia” meaning loss of well-being or waste. This word is used for only two people: Judas Iscariot and the Beast. Judas Iscariot in John 17:12 is called the son of perdition (destruction); the Beast (Anti-Christ) is called the son of destruction (perdition) here in II Thessalonians 2:3.
The Greek word for opposes is “antikeimi,” which means adversarial, to be the enemy of, to be opposed, or to be hostile. This is a description of the Antichrist, called the man of lawlessness which will be his modus operandi from time of his rise to power to his destruction at the Battle of Armageddon. He is in a state of total opposition to anything related to God or His plan. He is possessed by Satan and as a result, the Antichrist becomes Satan’s chief agent in the world during the Tribulation.
The Antichrist will be opposed to any form of the divine institutions. For example, he will be opposed to biblical marriage. He will be opposed to nationalism and will seek to have a strong international organization. He will be opposed to human freedom and will use the military, which is the basis for protecting human freedom, in order to destroy the freedom of those who oppose him. He will oppose those who are believers during the Tribulation who refuse to worship him. The Greek word for exalts is “huperairo,” which means to lift or raise one’s self above everyone else and so it is the ultimate in arrogance.
So that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. The Antichrist will set up himself as God complete with a statue of himself. This is why he is called the abomination of desolation (something that causes disgust or hatred). Satan will seek to set up the worship of the Antichrist as god in same manner Rome did with its emperors, which was in total opposition to Jesus Christ.
Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? Paul confirms the fact that all this doctrine had already been taught to these believers when he was with them in Thessalonica. They were obviously out of fellowship with God since we know that God the Holy Spirit helps believers with their recall of doctrine. They had violated God’s command of separation from those who teach or practice false doctrine. It is an important lesson to learn that association with those who subscribe and practice to false doctrine are to be avoided or they may over time get a believer confused and doubting the accurate doctrine they learned in the past.