The antiChrist will exalt himself above God and all other gods. He will claim to be God himself, and sit in God’s temple.
Hello Readers, hope all’s well. Time for another End Times post.
Since I wrote about the antiChrist in recent posts (Part 58, Part 59), I’m going to keep going with this topic. Today I’m going to turn to Scripture again and see what it says about the antiChrist. Today’s post is another in-depth reading of Scripture, piece by piece.
The Scripture passage for today is 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12. Let’s get our facts straight on who this antiChrist is, when he will appear, and what he will do.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
In Part 59, I cited 1 John 2 and 2 Peter 2 for their guidance on recognizing false teachers. First John 2 says anyone who denies the Divinity of Jesus Christ is an antiChrist, moving in the antiChrist spirit. This means there are many antiChrists—and we know this, because we see and hear them everywhere today.
But the Bible also tells us of a singular antiChrist, one specific person who is a major power in the End Times. In 2 Thessalonians 2, this man is called “the man of sin,” “the man of lawlessness,” “the son of perdition,” and other ominous names like that.
This tells us at least two things about this singular antiChrist who is such a major player in the End Times. First, he will be male, second, it will be one person.
But let’s turn to Scripture and learn some more. First, here’s the full passage, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12. Then I’ll look at it in smaller chunks.
(1) Brothers and sisters, we have a request for you concerning our Lord Jesus Christ’s coming and when we are gathered together to be with him. (2) We don’t want you to be easily confused in your mind or upset if you hear that the day of the Lord is already here, whether you hear it through some spirit, a message, or a letter supposedly from us. (3) Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. That day won’t come unless the rebellion comes first and the person who is lawless is revealed, who is headed for destruction. (4) He is the opponent of every so-called god or object of worship and promotes himself over them. So he sits in God’s temple, displaying himself to show that he is God. (5) You remember that I used to tell you these things while I was with you, don’t you? (6) Now you know what holds him back so that he can be revealed when his time comes. (7) The hidden plan to live without any law is at work now, but it will be secret only until the one who is holding it back is out of the way. (8) Then the person who is lawless will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath from his mouth. When the Lord comes, his appearance will put an end to him. (9) When the person who is lawless comes, it will happen through Satan’s effort, with all kinds of fake power, signs, and wonders. (10) It will happen with every sort of wicked deception of those who are heading toward destruction because they have refused to love the truth that would allow them to be saved. (11) This is why God will send them an influence that will mislead them so that they will believe the lie. (12) The result will be that everyone will be judged who is not convinced by the truth but is happy with injustice.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 (CEB)
OK, now let’s look at this passage piece by piece.
Who Is He, and when will He Be here?
The chapter starts in verses 1-3 by telling us a clue about when the Day of the LORD will happen. Or, to be more precise, when it won’t happen.
(1) Brothers and sisters, we have a request for you concerning our Lord Jesus Christ’s coming and when we are gathered together to be with him. (2) We don’t want you to be easily confused in your mind or upset if you hear that the day of the Lord is already here, whether you hear it through some spirit, a message, or a letter supposedly from us. (3) Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. That day won’t come unless the rebellion comes first and the person who is lawless is revealed, who is headed for destruction.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 (CEB)
Here Scripture warns us clearly not to be deceived. We may hear, during the End Times, that the Day of the LORD is already here. This idea could come from a spirit (a demon), or a false prophet with a deception message (who’s also demonically deceived). An actual letter from Paul and Timothy is out of the question now. But maybe the idea that the Day of the LORD is already here could come from the church or its servants. They could make some official proclamation or something.
But verse 3 tells us clearly: That Day won’t come until the antiChrist appears and the rebellion happens. This singular antiChrist is the man of lawlessness, the man of sin. He is headed for destruction, damnation, Spiritual death. And he’s going to take many others with him, as we see in later verses.
So now we’re all clear. The Day of the LORD, the Second Coming of Christ will not happen before the antiChrist is revealed and sets up his evil New World Order. “These things must happen…” (Matthew 24:6)
Moving on, we start learning about the man of lawlessness.
(4) He is the opponent of every so-called god or object of worship and promotes himself over them. So he sits in God’s temple, displaying himself to show that he is God. (5) You remember that I used to tell you these things while I was with you, don’t you?
2 Thessalonians 2:4-5 (CEB)
This tells us the most important characteristic of the antiChrist for us to recognize him by. He’ll hate God, every other god or objects of worship, and he’ll exalt himself over them. That’s how we’ll recognize him
The antiChrist will exalt himself above God and all other gods. He will claim to be God himself, and sit in God’s temple.
When this person appears, it should be obvious to us as Christians. In recent years, Christians have accused people like Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and others of being the antiChrist. But none of these men have claimed to be God, exalted themselves above God, and seated themselves in God’s temple.
So no, this antiChrist person hasn’t appeared yet. Again, it should be obvious when he does. Wait till you see someone claiming to be God and exalting themselves above God. And that’s not all to watch out for, as verses 9-11 tell us. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First, verses 6-8 tell us a little more about the timing of when the antiChrist will appear.
(6) Now you know what holds him back so that he can be revealed when his time comes. (7) The hidden plan to live without any law is at work now, but it will be secret only until the one who is holding it back is out of the way. (8) Then the person who is lawless will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath from his mouth. When the Lord comes, his appearance will put an end to him.
2 Thessalonians 2:6-8 (CEB)
Here we learn that the antiChrist is being held back, so he can be revealed when it’s his time. Verse 7 says the hidden plan to live without any law (God’s Law) is in the works right now, but it’ll stay secret until the one holding back the antiChrist is gone. Setting up the antiChrist’s evil New World Order is a monumental task, one that’s been in progress for decades. Even society itself needed to be changed, slowly becoming more accepting to sin over time. Slowly drifting farther away from God and His Word over the course of decades. So many people are anti-Christian nowadays; it seems like there are more every year. God is openly mocked and many people feel no need for Him or Christianity. Now demonic deceptions are spreading through the mainstream like wildfire. These are ideas like “you are God” or “you can create your own reality,” things like that. I’ve spoken about these false teachings a few times on my blog, when I talk about New Age.
Anyway, these social changes have been happening for many years, but we don’t always notice them. They’ve mostly happened behind the scenes. But now society is ready for lawlessness, as in, ready to live under a system that goes against God’s Law.
There was, is, or will be a person who holds back this antiChrist agenda, delaying it from happening. This can’t be God, because verse 7 says this person will be out of the way at some point. God can’t be moved out of the way by any other force, so it must be a person. Once this person is gone, then the antiChrist will be revealed.
Some Christians think the person holding back the antiChrist was Trump. As for me, I don’t know and I don’t care, because it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because the rise of the antiChrist, and the terrible events that come with it, is all part of God’s plan for the End Times as shown in Revelation.
Remember: We can’t stop this. There’s nothing in Revelation that says we can stop it. It’s not God’s Will that we stop it. What we can do is stay strong in our Faith, and endure. We can endure suffering and never renounce our Faith in Jesus. That’s all we can do. And it’s going to take all we’ve got.
Speaking of Jesus, verse 8 tells us one more reason why it doesn’t matter that the antiChrist will arise. Jesus will destroy him with the breath of His mouth! When LORD Jesus comes, He will put an end to the antiChrist! Amen!!
So we’ve learned a little more about when the antiChrist will be revealed. Let’s keep going in 2 Thessalonians 2, and learn some more about how he will appear.
The Deceived Follow Him to their Deaths
When that person holding him back is gone, and the antiChrist appears, what will happen? Verses 9-11 tell us more.
(9) When the person who is lawless comes, it will happen through Satan’s effort, with all kinds of fake power, signs, and wonders. (10) It will happen with every sort of wicked deception of those who are heading toward destruction because they have refused to love the truth that would allow them to be saved. (11) This is why God will send them an influence that will mislead them so that they will believe the lie.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-11 (CEB)
Satan is a master of deception who works any fake power, sign, and wonder he chooses. He can deceive even the Elect, if they aren’t careful. When the antiChrist appears, it’ll be Satan’s doing, as verse 9 says. So the master of deception and lies will make this happen with spectacular, showy sights meant to deceive. Fake powers, fake signs. To non-Christians it will seem like a miracle. Countless unbelievers will rejoice for the antiChrist’s appearance, and happily follow him toward destruction (damnation).
They’ll be deceived so easily because they refuse to love the truth that would Save them: The Truth of the Gospels and Christianity. The Truth that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior, that He can forgive us our sins, and that He wants to Save every one of us.
Many people don’t want to believe in Jesus. They have different reasons for this. Some are resentful toward religion, and don’t want to submit themselves to any Master, Spiritual or otherwise. Some were abused in early childhood by religious people, and grew up to hate religion as adults. I feel nothing but sympathy for them. It’s a horrible sin that they get turned away from the Truth like this by the sins of others. That’s unacceptable.
Still others don’t want to live by the rules laid out in the Bible. That’s too bad for them, because living life by those rules makes for a better life all around! But that’s another topic.
Anyway, why will these people rejoice when the antiChrist appears? It’s probably because he’ll say something like: “All religions are false, including Christianity. But since I can do all these wonders and signs**, worship me as a god instead. And it’ll be better because I won’t have so many rules for you. Actually, I won’t have any rules at all. Anything goes. Do as you will.“
**Remember, these wonders and signs are done by the devil’s power.
This is only a guess at what he could say. Only a guess, that’s all. But I imagine he’ll say something along these lines. And “do as you will” (or any variation of it) is the essence of satanism.
Those who don’t want to live by the rules laid out in the Bible will rejoice to hear there will be no rules, no law. Those who are resentful toward religion, for any reason, will rejoice to hear that “all religions are false.” And so on. These people will rejoice because they’re hearing what they want to hear. So they’ll happily follow anyone telling them what they want to hear.
This is how the LORD will “send them an influence that will mislead them so that they will believe the lie.” (Verse 11) They want to follow their own desires, and exalt their own will. They want to live their life of sin, in disobedience to God’s Law. So when the antiChrist appears, telling them what they want to hear, telling them their sins are OK, they will be glad to believe it. If they had only submitted to God’s Will instead, and obeyed the LORD, they would avoid the consequences of following the antiChrist.
And what are those consequences? Verse 12 tells us:
(12) The result will be that everyone will be judged who is not convinced by the truth but is happy with injustice.
2 Thessalonians 2:12 (CEB)
Everyone who doesn’t believe the Truth, but is happy with injustice (sin) will be judged. They will be damned, and lose their Salvation. They won’t receive their true eternal life. The price of following this antiChrist is death. It’s as simple as that.
No Worries—All Will Be Glory in the End
These End Times we live in are dangerous; everyone knows it, even non-Christians. One of the worst dangers we face is the amount of demonic deception spreading around the world now. There’s so much deception going on, we might even question what’s real.
Satan is working overtime now, trying to deceive as many as he can before the End. He knows his time is up soon, so he’s going all-out before the LORD returns and destroys him.
The antiChrist is a part of Satan’s deception agenda. The antiChrist must arise, because it’s all part of God’s Plan for the End Times. We can’t reach God’s New World described in Revelation 21 and 22 unless we go through all the horrible events in Revelation first. It’s going to be terrible to live through, but when it happens we know we’re one step closer to God’s New World!
Even if we die during this, it’s all good! If we’re Saved Christians, we will go to join Christ and receive our eternal life, and all our problems will be over!
We know the antiChrist is a major player in the End Times, one of Satan’s main agents for deceiving the masses. It’s good to be alert for his appearance, but it’s not good to be obsessed with him. This obsession can be seen when Christians go around accusing people of being the antiChrist, and the accusations don’t line up with Scripture. What Scripture says about the antiChrist is very specific—everyone needs to read Scripture so they know exactly who to look out for.
The antiChrist will not just be someone who you disagree with or don’t like. Know what to watch out for.
And for that matter, reading God’s Word every day is the best way by far to avoid being deceived in these End Times. There are countless demonic deceptions out there today. But God’s Word will let you cut through them all. Besides that, Scripture gives us Hope.
Do you know why I don’t worry about the rise of the antiChrist? Because 2 Thessalonians 2:8 tells me I have no reason to. When our LORD Jesus returns, He will destroy the antiChrist with the breath from His mouth. LORD Jesus will put an end to the antiChrist when He appears. So again, I ask: What’s there to worry about? All will be Glory in the End.
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Until next time, be strong and do good!
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3 comments on “Do Not Fear the End Times Part 64: Look out for the Man of Lawlessness”