2 Thessalonians Chapter 2

A word of Warning, continued

Although the warning here comes near the end of this chapter (Verses 9-12 respectively) nevertheless for the sake of those not so familiar with the implications of the text we should begin with Verse 1 in order to get the full picture of events, some of which is in the past, and some of which is yet still future. Another reason for our going into such detail in this particular instance is because we believe this particular study will greatly aid us in our study of Matt 24, particularly Verses 25-27.

VERSE 1 “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you…”

Paul was entreating the Thessalonians: “We beseech you, brethren, concerning the presence [Greek parousia] of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Second Advent), and our gathering together unto him.” He was the apostle who showed, particularly, that at the end of the Gospel Age, the presence would be a period of time and that those who slept in Christ would be raised first. Later the feet members of the body of Christ (those still alive this side of the vail) would (upon their deaths and the faithful completion of their sacrifice) be invisibly and spiritually raptured [translated] as a group. (To have a single last member would detract from the first, the head and the preeminence given him.) As pictured by Elijah’s having been taken up by a whirlwind, a class will be taken together. When John the Baptist was beheaded, he portrayed the last members (plural) of the body of Christ.

At the end of the age, there are two collective gatherings of faithful Christians: first, the dead in Christ, which took place in in 1878 A.D., and then the feet members at a yet-future date (1 Thess. 4:17). In between these events, saints who die as individuals do not sleep but are instantaneously changed (1 Cor. 15:51, 52). When Paul uttered these words, however, he was probably thinking of himself and the brethren at Thessalonica, rather than the feet members especially, but he was quite aware of both.

VERSE 2 “…not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.”

Paul was cautioning the Thessalonians not to be soon shaken “by spirit” (doctrine), “by word” of mouth (a rumor, for example), or “by letter as from us” (Paul’s first epistle and possibly also a letter purportedly from an apostle that was, in fact, false or counterfeit) to believe “that the day of Christ is at hand” (that Jesus was already invisibly present, then).

Part of Paul’s first letter was misconstrued, but in addition, other sources of information seemed to confirm their misunderstanding. For instance, when Jesus died on the Cross, an earthquake occurred and “saints” (believers who had died during his 3 1/2-year ministry) were awakened from the tomb (Matt. 27:51–53). Being initially thoroughly confused to find out that Jesus, the one they had listened to and accepted as Messiah, had been crucified, they waited and did not go into Jerusalem until the third day, that is, after his resurrection. When they received information that Jesus was alive—that he had been resurrected—they could then testify that they, too, had been raised from death.

Comment: The fact Paul said in Verse 3, “Let no man deceive you,” indicates there were individuals teaching erroneously that the resurrection had already begun.

Paul said in the first epistle, “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:1, 2).

In other words, “You are fully aware that Christ’s Second Presence will be SECRET AND INVISIBLE, and NOT a physical coming.” Based on this knowledge and the resuscitation of saints in the earthquake, the Thessalonians falsely concluded that Jesus was already present. They also knew that Jesus would deal first with his Church and afterwards with the world. Thus they concluded that the “day of Christ” had already come. Jesus had died and was raised as a spirit being, so what would stop him from setting up his Kingdom right away? In fact, some of the disciples asked Jesus that very question during his earthly ministry: “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). “Will you set up the Kingdom now?”

Paul was trying to tell the Thessalonians, “I fully informed you of the nature of the Second Advent—that Jesus would be invisible. You are correct on that point, but you are incorrect in thinking that Jesus’ presence is taking place now” (See Verse 5).

VERSE 3 “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition.”

If we were not familiar with Present Truth (truths now due in our day) we might think of the “man of sin” as a literal being, as some individual or wicked person, but IT is NOT, it is a false religious SYSTEM just as the “man of God” is the true Church, a collective body made up of component parts or “joints.”

The ideal is the picture of Jesus as the head and the Church as the body parts. Similarly, the man of sin is an organization with a person (the pope) as the head and the corresponding component parts of the Antichrist system (the Papacy) as the body. The man of God is The Christ, The Elijah, with Jesus as head. The man of sin is the Antichrist, the Papacy, a religious system, with Satan as its head. As the head of the man-of-sin system, Satan works through Papacy, whereas Jesus, the head of the man of God, works through the ecclesia, the Church.

Paul received much information through visions. Although he was not allowed to reveal in detail what he saw, he was probably given certain parameters of liberty within which he could inform the brethren. With all the knowledge Paul was given, he would have carefully, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, selected the words he used when writing his epistles. Every single word is meaningful. Even a seemingly simple adjective can be extremely revealing. The point is that Paul was well informed about the length of the time period before Jesus’ invisible return—it was not short, and the great Antichrist system had to first grow and develop and be recognized. General recognition of the man of sin did not occur until Martin Luther’s day in the 1500s and the Protestant Reformation. Tyndale in England was just as clear on the subject as Luther, but Luther was favored as being the sixth messenger to the Church.

“Let no man deceive you by any means [the means listed in Verse 2: spirit, word, or letter]: for that day shall not come, except there comes first a falling away (the apostasy, which had its beginnings not shortly after the last of the Apostles died, but more particularly when in 539 A.D. the abomination of desolation was set up), and (secondly) that the man of sin be revealed (exposed, made apparent).”

Even if a spirit being should come visibly, they were not to believe it was Jesus, for the day of Christ’s presence would not come until, first, a falling away from the faith occurred and the man of sin was revealed. Although Paul could not give details, his mention of the apostasy was a hint of what had to take place; namely, the man of sin had to come and be revealed before Jesus could invisibly return. A great deception would precede even the beginning of the day of Christ.

The “man of sin” is called the “son of perdition” because the system is going into everlasting destruction, never to rise again. Stated another way, under the symbol of the beast, the system will be cast alive into the lake of fire and brimstone (Rev. 19:20). The deception at the end of the Millennium (Rev 20:7, 8) will not be along religious lines for all religious systems devised by men will have long since met their demise.

The natural mind thinks of the man of sin as a literal individual, a literal man—something like Judas, who was also called the “son of perdition” (John 17:12). The word “perdition” means everlastingly lost. (Excerpts taken from The Book of Thessalonians)

We continue with Verse 4 in our next post.