We know that Jesus will come but we do not know when. Therefore two mistakes are often made, first, many people suppose that Jesus coming is so far in the future that we need not be concerned about it. People making that mistake will be taken by surprise when He comes (1st Thes. 5-3). Second, some people suppose that Jesus coming is so near that we need not be concerned about anything else. People making that mistake some times have left jobs or businesses, confident that Jesus will come before they run out of money; but they have been disappointed. It seems that some of the Thessalonians brethren were making that second mistake; and Paul wrote to correct it.
V. 1 Both in Paul’s former letter and in this one, he has taught that Jesus will come and gather us to Himself. Now he has a request to make in connection with that coming event.
V. 2 Paul, begged the Thessalonians not to be soon shaken by the idea that Jesus was coming that very week, or month or year. Paul mentioned three ways in which such idea might be spread (1) BY SPIRIT: In those days there were false prophets moved by their spirits and not by God’s Spirit. Christians must not believe everything they hear (1st John 4:1) Paul said they should not be upset by any spirit that claimed Jesus would come very soon (2) BY WORD: Anybody excited by the prospect of Jesus coming would likely spread the excitement by word of mouth. (3) LETTER AS FROM US: Paul’s first letter might be misinterpreted and used to support the idea that Christ would come soon. There might have been another letter supposed to be from Paul, but really written by someone else, a letter saying more plainly that Jesus was coming at that particular time. No matter how the letter might have come that teaching was false. An important example is in the case of Charles Taze Russell (1852 – 1916) who claimed and taught that God had rejected all existing churches: He then began the Jehovah’s witness movement. He predicted that 1914 was the year when the end of the world would come with the completion of the roll of the 144,000 elect. Many other leaders have predicted different dates for the end, and they have been shown to be as erroneous as Russell.
V. 3 Here Paul pointed out two events that would happen before Jesus return
FIRST: There would be a falling away, an apostasy. There would be false teachers, iniquity will increase and the warm love of many Christians would cool off (Math 24:11-12). This prediction has been fulfilled in many Christians and many churches past and present. This prediction may refer to a greater falling away still in the future, but we can not be sure of this.
SECOND: Before Christ’s coming, that man of sin would be revealed. He is the son of perdition which means he was doomed to be defeated outside the church. Perhaps a more horrible one is yet to come, but here again we cannot be sure.
V. 4 The man of sin will try to usurp the place of God himself. However this verse presents some problems to us because of questions it raises. Will this usurper declare in plain words that he is God? or will he just try to take the authority that belongs to God? will he take his seat in a literal temple like the one that used to stand in Jerusalem, or does the temple here mean the church? (1st Cor. 3:16) Is the man of sin literally a man like Hitler or Stalin or is this a reference to a principle movement such as Nazism or Communism? Has this prophecy been fulfilled already or is the man of sin some man or principle yet to be revealed? Perhaps this prophecy is unclear because it would not be good for us to know exactly when Jesus will come. One thing however is clear and that is that the prophecy did not say that Jesus will not come today.
V. 5 With this letter Paul was reminding the Thessalonians of what he had taught them while he was with them in person about the falling away and the man of sin that would come before the return of Jesus.
V. 6 The Thessalonians know what was restraining the progress of the apostasy and the man of sin before the time God chose for them. Paul had told them while he was with them, but we do not know because he has not told us.
V. 7 In this verse “Let” means withhold, hold down, hold back, or prevent. As at the time Paul wrote, the evil that would be plainly seen in the falling away and in the man of sin was already at work mysteriously under cover, though it was being restrained by some one or something unknown to us but known to the Thessalonians. We do not also know when this restrainer was or will be taken out of the way. Unknown to us is who the man of sin is or when he appeared or will appear.
V. 8 That “Wicked” here must be the same man of sin described in verse 3&4 we do not know how long he will be allowed to continue his blasphemy, but we know how it will end. Jesus will come and He will disappear. A puff of Jesus’ breath or just a word spoken with His Mouth will be enough to consume the arrogant man of sin. Jesus will come in the Clouds” with power and great Glory” (Math 24:30) and that “wicked” will vanish into oblivion before the brightness of His coming.
V 9 This verse tells more about the man of sin. Calling himself God he will try to imitate what Jesus did at His first coming. The man of sin will do Satan’s work with the power of pretended signs and wonders with false miracles.
V. 10 The man of sin will do Satan’s work with every kind of deceit that wickedness can devise. With this deceit he fools them that perish because they did not hold and cherish the love of the truth. When people like falsehood, better it is not hard to convince them that false is true. The result is fatal, they perish. They therefore need to find, love and cherish the truth so that they might be saved.
V. 11 Of course God does not provide a strong delusion. The way God sends delusion is simply by getting out of the way and letting Satan’s delusion reach those who want it. If we love the truth God gives it to us. If we reject the truth and prefer to believe a lie, God does not protect us from the lie we prefer.
V. 12 The result of choosing to believe a lie rather than the truth is that “they all might be damned”. People make this fatal mistake because they have pleasure in unrighteousness. They think it is fun or they make money by it, or doing as they please gives them a feeling of power.
V. 13 Paul thanked God for the Thessalonians because God had from the beginning chosen them to salvation from the beginning of creation (Rom 8:29-30). Our salvation is accomplished through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. To be sanctified is to be set apart, dedicated. When we become Christians the Holy Spirit sets us apart from the world and dedicates us to the service of God. When we accept God’s truth and begin to obey it, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us (Acts 2:38).
V. 14 The gospel Paul preached was the means God used to call the Thessalonians and us to salvation. When we hear the call of the gospel and answer by believing the truth and obeying it we are saved. By becoming Christians and faithfully following Jesus, we not only bring glory to Him, but also obtain for ourselves a share of His glory (Colossians 3:4).
V. 15 We must take our stand on the truth we believe and refuse to be moved by any permission, any enticement, any threat or any persecution. We must hold the tradition Paul taught the Thessalonians by word when he was with them and by epistle, when he wrote to them.
CONCLUSION: Be ready now” That is the repeated emphasis of Bible teaching about Jesus return. We cannot assign the falling away and the man of sin to come at some future time. The information we have is too indefinite. God alone knows when Jesus will come (Math 24:36). But we know that the time to be ready is now, and we know that the way to be ready is by living uprightly in the Lord.
We need to be alert and not shaken. The way to be ready for His coming is not neglect our daily work, but to do it diligently and well. Stand firm. If our persecution is only the scorn of some who think they are more enlightened we need to meet it with patience and faith (2 Thes 1:4).
Therefore brethren let us stand fast.
