- 2 Thessalonians
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The Day of Christ
2
1 Now, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him,* The reference is to the Rapture, presumably. we urge you 2 not to be quickly shaken from your conviction or disturbed, whether by a spirit† Attention! Paul is saying (and the Holy Spirit through him) that Christians may receive misinformation from evil spirits. Those ideas that just ‘pop into your head’ need to be evaluated as to their source. or a word or a letter as from us,‡ Evidently there were people fraudulently using Paul's name, even in writing. Fraud has been around for a very long time. as though the Day of Christ§ Instead of “Christ”, some 15% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘Lord’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.); the 85% that have “Christ” (including the best line of transmission) are doubtless correct. I remember one day in a Greek exegesis class, the professor stated that one reason he preferred the ‘critical’ text (that reads ‘Lord’ here) is that it fit better with his view of eschatology—the ‘Day of Christ’ is usually associated with the Rapture and blessing of the saints, while the ‘Day of the Lord’ is usually associated with heavy judgment upon the world and unrepentant Israel, including the outpouring of wrath just before and after the Second Coming of Christ, when He returns in glory to establish His Millennial Messianic Kingdom. The perceived difficulty here would appear to be that while verses 1, 6 and 7 evidently relate to the Rapture, verses 3-4 and 8-10 evidently relate to the Great Tribulation and the Second Coming. What to do? Look carefully at the Text.
In verse 2, why would the Thessalonian believers be “disturbed”? Someone was teaching that the Rapture had already happened and they had been left behind—I would be disturbed too! So “Day of Christ” is precisely correct with reference to the content of verses 1 and 2. The trouble comes in verse 3 because a clause is elided; as an aid to the reader translations usually supply a clause, preferably in italics, to show that it is an addition, as in NKJV—“that Day will not come”. But that would put the Rapture after the revelation of the man of sin and the ‘abomination of desolation’—definitely not congenial to certain eschatological systems. An easy ‘solution’ would be to change ‘Christ’ to ‘Lord’ in verse 2, but that would put the Rapture within the ‘Day of the Lord’—also not congenial. I submit that fine-tuning our view of eschatology is preferable to tampering with the Text.
If the ‘Restrainer’ in verses 6-8 is the Holy Spirit (which seems to me to be the only adequate identification), then the Rapture happens before the ‘abomination’, and may be viewed as its ‘trigger’. But if the ‘Day of Christ’ includes the Rapture, then verse 3 would appear to place the Rapture after the ‘abomination’. So where does that leave us? Although my own training was strongly ‘pre-trib’, I have moved to a ‘meso-trib’ position. If the Rapture follows immediately upon the ‘abomination’, then the ‘surprise’ factor remains untouched. If the ‘abomination’ and the Rapture happen within minutes of each other, then from God's point of view they form a single ‘package’, and the actual sequence is not important—for all practical purposes they happen at the same time. has come.
The man of sin
3 Do not let anyone deceive you by any means; because that day cannot come unless the rebellion* There has been no end of rebellion down through the centuries, but this one will be worse (the rebellion in the so-called ‘western world’ is getting nastier by the day). comes first and the man of sin† Instead of “sin”, some 5% of the Greek manuscripts read ‘lawlessness’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, etc.), but the 95% (including the best line of transmission) are doubtless correct. Yes, ‘the’ man of sin—there have been no end of evil men down through the centuries, but this one will be really bad. is revealed, the son of ruin,‡ He is characterized by ruin; he ruins everything he touches (like Midas). 4 who opposes and exalts himself over everything that is called a god or an object of worship, to the point of taking his seat as God§ Some 9% of the Greek manuscripts omit “as God” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). in God's sanctuary,* If this refers to God's temple in Jerusalem, it has yet to be rebuilt. (All the pieces are ready, and with modern technology it can be erected in 24 hours.) proclaiming himself to be God. 5 (Don't you remember that I used to tell you these things while still with you?)† Evidently eschatology was in the roster of subjects that Paul normally covered in his teaching.
The Restrainer
6 So now you know what is restraining, to the end that he‡ The man of sin. may be revealed at his own time. 7 For the mystery of the lawlessness is already at work;§ Why “mystery” and why “the lawlessness”? After Christ's victory on the cross, demonstrated by His resurrection, and His taking back the ‘keys’ (Revelation 1:18), Satan had to go ‘underground’. He is behind all human lawlessness and foments it in all sorts of ways, but his master plan is under wraps, hence a “mystery”. only He who now restrains will do so until He removes Himself.* Perhaps more literally, ‘gets Himself out of the middle’ (the verb γινομαι is inherently middle in voice). I would say that the Holy Spirit is the only one who satisfies the description. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and abolish by the splendor of His coming;† Note that “His coming” is subsequent to the revelation of the man of sin and the events he will usher in, and that revelation is subsequent to the departure of the Restrainer (even if virtually simultaneous). So if the Rapture is linked to the Restrainer's departure, the Lord's “coming” (here in verse 8) is a distinct, subsequent occurrence. 9 that one's coming is according to the working of Satan with all power‡ When Satan fell he did not lose his power. and signs and lying wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception among those who are wasting themselves,§ The verb here, απωλλυμι, often rendered ‘to perish’ (John 3:16 in KJV), is used in a variety of contexts, but I take the core meaning to be ‘waste’. The participial form here is ambiguous as to voice, either middle or passive, but the basic form of the verb is middle. Ephesians 1:5-14 makes clear that a basic objective of our redemption is that we be ‘to the praise of His glory’, which was part of the original Plan (Isaiah 43:7). Only as we live for the glory of God can we realize or fulfill our potential, our reason for being. If you live for any other reason, you are wasting yourself. because they did not receive the love of the truth* The use of the verb ‘receive’ clearly implies an act of volition on their part; that love was offered or made available to them but they did not want it; they wanted to be able to lie and to entertain lies told by others. But the consequences of such a choice are terrible; they turned their back on salvation. so that they might be saved.† Since there are only two spiritual kingdoms in this world, that of Sovereign Jesus and that of Satan, “those who are wasting themselves”, in this text, are still in Satan's kingdom and therefore wide open to his “wicked deception”. The Text states plainly that they are wasting themselves “because they did not receive the love of the truth so that they might be saved”. They are not saved.
Believing ‘the lie’
11 Yes, because of this God will send them an active delusion‡ Notice the sequence: first they reject the love of the truth; it is as a consequence of that choice that God sends the delusion. The implication is that there is a point of no return; God sends the delusion so that they may be condemned. The only intelligent choice is to embrace the truth!
Consider with me the consequences of the facts enunciated in verses 10-12 for a whole nation, like Brazil, where I now live. We have many thousands of local churches that call themselves Christian. But I know of almost none that could be characterized as ‘loving the truth’. No one wants a Bible with objective authority. Humanistic, relativistic, materialistic values have taken over the churches. Biblical values are no longer acceptable. In consequence, Satan has control of the government, of education, of health services, of commerce, of the entertainment industry, in short, of the whole culture. The churches that have rejected biblical values are part of the problem—since they have rejected “the love of the truth”, they have been taken over by “active delusion”.
Note that God Himself sends that delusion with the declared objective of condemning all those who believed the lie. If God Himself visits “active delusion” upon a whole country, what possible escape is there? The only possible ‘medicine’ is “the love of the truth”. Those of us who consider ourselves to be true subjects of Sovereign Jesus need to appeal to Him to show us how to promote the love of the truth to the churches and to the society at large. Here in Brazil it may be too late, but if God's grace still offers us a window of opportunity, we must devote ourselves to promoting the love of the truth by all possible means. so that they will believe the lie§ Perhaps “the lie” is best illustrated in our day by the theory of evolution: ‘There is no Creator’—so there will not be any accounting; so you can do what you feel like. How terrible will be the awakening! 12 and so that all may be condemned who have not believed the truth but have taken pleasure in wickedness.* “Taking pleasure in wickedness” involves rejecting the Truth of a moral Creator who will demand an accounting, or even overt rebellion against that Creator (like Lucifer/Satan).
To be Saved is Different
13 Now we are obligated to always give thanks to God about you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning† Instead of “from the beginning”, perhaps 6% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘firstfruits’ (as in some versions). God chose you into salvation, through sanctification of spirit and belief in truth, 14 to which‡ Our versions typically have ‘sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth’, but the Text has no article with ‘spirit’ or ‘truth’; further, the relative pronoun ‘which’ is neuter in gender, while the most likely antecedents are either masculine (‘sanctification’) or feminine (‘salvation’ and ‘belief’). But when the antecedent is a phrase the pronoun is typically neuter, so I take the antecedent to be “through sanctification of spirit and belief in truth”. The human spirit must be sanctified. In 1 Peter 1:2, Peter includes all three persons of the Godhead in the process of our salvation; the part of the Holy Spirit is to ‘set us apart’ (He works in our minds to encourage or predispose us to obey). He called you through our gospel, so as to obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.§ Note that our salvation is not only about forgiveness of sins, it is also about obtaining glory, our Sovereign's glory.
15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions* Some traditions are good. that you were taught by us, whether by word or by letter.
Another model prayer
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort† “Eternal comfort”—I love it. and good hope, by grace, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good word and work.‡ Notice again that it is not ‘word’ alone, it is “word and work”.

- 2 Thessalonians
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*2:1 The reference is to the Rapture, presumably.

†2:2 Attention! Paul is saying (and the Holy Spirit through him) that Christians may receive misinformation from evil spirits. Those ideas that just ‘pop into your head’ need to be evaluated as to their source.

‡2:2 Evidently there were people fraudulently using Paul's name, even in writing. Fraud has been around for a very long time.

§2:2 Instead of “Christ”, some 15% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘Lord’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.); the 85% that have “Christ” (including the best line of transmission) are doubtless correct. I remember one day in a Greek exegesis class, the professor stated that one reason he preferred the ‘critical’ text (that reads ‘Lord’ here) is that it fit better with his view of eschatology—the ‘Day of Christ’ is usually associated with the Rapture and blessing of the saints, while the ‘Day of the Lord’ is usually associated with heavy judgment upon the world and unrepentant Israel, including the outpouring of wrath just before and after the Second Coming of Christ, when He returns in glory to establish His Millennial Messianic Kingdom. The perceived difficulty here would appear to be that while verses 1, 6 and 7 evidently relate to the Rapture, verses 3-4 and 8-10 evidently relate to the Great Tribulation and the Second Coming. What to do? Look carefully at the Text. In verse 2, why would the Thessalonian believers be “disturbed”? Someone was teaching that the Rapture had already happened and they had been left behind—I would be disturbed too! So “Day of Christ” is precisely correct with reference to the content of verses 1 and 2. The trouble comes in verse 3 because a clause is elided; as an aid to the reader translations usually supply a clause, preferably in italics, to show that it is an addition, as in NKJV—“that Day will not come”. But that would put the Rapture after the revelation of the man of sin and the ‘abomination of desolation’—definitely not congenial to certain eschatological systems. An easy ‘solution’ would be to change ‘Christ’ to ‘Lord’ in verse 2, but that would put the Rapture within the ‘Day of the Lord’—also not congenial. I submit that fine-tuning our view of eschatology is preferable to tampering with the Text. If the ‘Restrainer’ in verses 6-8 is the Holy Spirit (which seems to me to be the only adequate identification), then the Rapture happens before the ‘abomination’, and may be viewed as its ‘trigger’. But if the ‘Day of Christ’ includes the Rapture, then verse 3 would appear to place the Rapture after the ‘abomination’. So where does that leave us? Although my own training was strongly ‘pre-trib’, I have moved to a ‘meso-trib’ position. If the Rapture follows immediately upon the ‘abomination’, then the ‘surprise’ factor remains untouched. If the ‘abomination’ and the Rapture happen within minutes of each other, then from God's point of view they form a single ‘package’, and the actual sequence is not important—for all practical purposes they happen at the same time.

*2:3 There has been no end of rebellion down through the centuries, but this one will be worse (the rebellion in the so-called ‘western world’ is getting nastier by the day).

†2:3 Instead of “sin”, some 5% of the Greek manuscripts read ‘lawlessness’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, etc.), but the 95% (including the best line of transmission) are doubtless correct. Yes, ‘the’ man of sin—there have been no end of evil men down through the centuries, but this one will be really bad.

‡2:3 He is characterized by ruin; he ruins everything he touches (like Midas).

§2:4 Some 9% of the Greek manuscripts omit “as God” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).

*2:4 If this refers to God's temple in Jerusalem, it has yet to be rebuilt. (All the pieces are ready, and with modern technology it can be erected in 24 hours.)

†2:5 Evidently eschatology was in the roster of subjects that Paul normally covered in his teaching.

‡2:6 The man of sin.

§2:7 Why “mystery” and why “the lawlessness”? After Christ's victory on the cross, demonstrated by His resurrection, and His taking back the ‘keys’ (Revelation 1:18), Satan had to go ‘underground’. He is behind all human lawlessness and foments it in all sorts of ways, but his master plan is under wraps, hence a “mystery”.

*2:7 Perhaps more literally, ‘gets Himself out of the middle’ (the verb γινομαι is inherently middle in voice). I would say that the Holy Spirit is the only one who satisfies the description.

†2:8 Note that “His coming” is subsequent to the revelation of the man of sin and the events he will usher in, and that revelation is subsequent to the departure of the Restrainer (even if virtually simultaneous). So if the Rapture is linked to the Restrainer's departure, the Lord's “coming” (here in verse 8) is a distinct, subsequent occurrence.

‡2:9 When Satan fell he did not lose his power.

§2:10 The verb here, απωλλυμι, often rendered ‘to perish’ (John 3:16 in KJV), is used in a variety of contexts, but I take the core meaning to be ‘waste’. The participial form here is ambiguous as to voice, either middle or passive, but the basic form of the verb is middle. Ephesians 1:5-14 makes clear that a basic objective of our redemption is that we be ‘to the praise of His glory’, which was part of the original Plan (Isaiah 43:7). Only as we live for the glory of God can we realize or fulfill our potential, our reason for being. If you live for any other reason, you are wasting yourself.

*2:10 The use of the verb ‘receive’ clearly implies an act of volition on their part; that love was offered or made available to them but they did not want it; they wanted to be able to lie and to entertain lies told by others. But the consequences of such a choice are terrible; they turned their back on salvation.

†2:10 Since there are only two spiritual kingdoms in this world, that of Sovereign Jesus and that of Satan, “those who are wasting themselves”, in this text, are still in Satan's kingdom and therefore wide open to his “wicked deception”. The Text states plainly that they are wasting themselves “because they did not receive the love of the truth so that they might be saved”. They are not saved.

‡2:11 Notice the sequence: first they reject the love of the truth; it is as a consequence of that choice that God sends the delusion. The implication is that there is a point of no return; God sends the delusion so that they may be condemned. The only intelligent choice is to embrace the truth! Consider with me the consequences of the facts enunciated in verses 10-12 for a whole nation, like Brazil, where I now live. We have many thousands of local churches that call themselves Christian. But I know of almost none that could be characterized as ‘loving the truth’. No one wants a Bible with objective authority. Humanistic, relativistic, materialistic values have taken over the churches. Biblical values are no longer acceptable. In consequence, Satan has control of the government, of education, of health services, of commerce, of the entertainment industry, in short, of the whole culture. The churches that have rejected biblical values are part of the problem—since they have rejected “the love of the truth”, they have been taken over by “active delusion”. Note that God Himself sends that delusion with the declared objective of condemning all those who believed the lie. If God Himself visits “active delusion” upon a whole country, what possible escape is there? The only possible ‘medicine’ is “the love of the truth”. Those of us who consider ourselves to be true subjects of Sovereign Jesus need to appeal to Him to show us how to promote the love of the truth to the churches and to the society at large. Here in Brazil it may be too late, but if God's grace still offers us a window of opportunity, we must devote ourselves to promoting the love of the truth by all possible means.

§2:11 Perhaps “the lie” is best illustrated in our day by the theory of evolution: ‘There is no Creator’—so there will not be any accounting; so you can do what you feel like. How terrible will be the awakening!

*2:12 “Taking pleasure in wickedness” involves rejecting the Truth of a moral Creator who will demand an accounting, or even overt rebellion against that Creator (like Lucifer/Satan).

†2:13 Instead of “from the beginning”, perhaps 6% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘firstfruits’ (as in some versions).

‡2:14 Our versions typically have ‘sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth’, but the Text has no article with ‘spirit’ or ‘truth’; further, the relative pronoun ‘which’ is neuter in gender, while the most likely antecedents are either masculine (‘sanctification’) or feminine (‘salvation’ and ‘belief’). But when the antecedent is a phrase the pronoun is typically neuter, so I take the antecedent to be “through sanctification of spirit and belief in truth”. The human spirit must be sanctified. In 1 Peter 1:2, Peter includes all three persons of the Godhead in the process of our salvation; the part of the Holy Spirit is to ‘set us apart’ (He works in our minds to encourage or predispose us to obey).

§2:14 Note that our salvation is not only about forgiveness of sins, it is also about obtaining glory, our Sovereign's glory.

*2:15 Some traditions are good.

†2:16 “Eternal comfort”—I love it.

‡2:17 Notice again that it is not ‘word’ alone, it is “word and work”.

© 2016 Wilbur N. Pickering, ThM, PhD