The Thessalonians were in a dither! Communication back then, of course, is not what it is today. The apostle Paul had spent a great deal of time with these young believers, teaching them no doubt more than we currently can determine from what our Bible says about the Lord Jesus Christ's return. Thinking that he has gotten them "solid", Paul moves on to other local churches in his ongoing "missionary journeys". Next thing Paul knows, he gets wind that the Thessalonians have been led astray by false doctrine, namely that they are living in the "last days", going through the "Great Tribulation".
Now, it is for sure that the Thessalonians were being persecuted. Paul is very plain to affirm that fact and to encourage then to "lean in" --- to use those oppositions/trials to deepen their faith in their Savior. But, his main purpose in writing 2 Thess is to clear up the misunderstanding as to when Jesus will return.
Our text for today is 2 Thessalonians 2:1-11 (NASB).
Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 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. 3 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, 4 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. 5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
Ironically, in this passage, in his attempt to be clear to the Thessalonians, a lot of present day confusion has been created surrounding the translations of this passage. Part of the problem is that Paul was "reminding" these folks. You know that when you "remind" someone of something, a detailed explanation is not necessary. You simply reinforce the key points. That's what we have here, the "Cliff's Notes" version. Accordingly, we tend to try to fill in the blanks in the passage, and this results in more than one interpretation. It's pretty much a mess, but let's see what we can make of it.
Paul says, "Look, He is not going to return until two conditions are met: (1) prevalent apostasy and (2) the man of lawlessness is revealed." First, "apostasy" is rendered in some translations as "the falling away". What does this mean? According to Alan Kurschner1, the Greek (ho apostasia) means "defiance of established system or authority, rebellion, abandonment, breach of faith”. Paul is speaking in a religious context here; so, it is reasonable to assume that he means that the faithful will abandon the faith. He follows this up in the next few verses by once again exhorting the faithful to "stand firm". So, the first sign that the Lord's coming is near is that "Christians" will (in droves) breach the faith. Does that mean that believers will "lose their salvation"? I don't think that that is possible; furthermore, in 2:13-15 Paul goes on to talk about "the elect", apparently affirming that those who are Christ's are forever His. What I do believe will happen is that many who call themselves Christians, who self-identify as Christians, will be revealed as having been pretenders. Now, to be fair, there are those who think "the apostasy" means something else, and I refer you to Kurschner's website1 for an excellent exegesis of those other positions.
The other criterion that must precede the Lord's physical return to earth is the revelation of the identity of the Man of Perdition, the lawless one. Almost every Bible scholar agrees that this is the man referred to elsewhere as "the Antichrist", who will be possessed by Satan and will wreak such havoc on the earth during the 7-year Great Tribulation. The revelation of the Man of Perdition (perdition means "eternal punishment or damnation") and the falling away (apostasy) are related. They don't necessarily occur in chronological order; it's entirely possible that one could lead to the other or that they could happen simultaneously. Regardless, they are related. Personally, I also think that verse 11's "strong delusion" is also related; but, we'll get to that tomorrow.
Allright, then, if that weren't enough, there is a whole controversy about verses 6-7. Who is this "restrainer"? Or, what events are "restraining", and so forth. If you want to delve more deeply into this, let me suggest these websites:
Randy Alcorn's take on it (he's the guy who wrote that book, Heaven, recently):
http://www.epm.org/resources/2010/Feb/1/who-restrainer-2-thessalonians-26-7-one-who-holds-/
David Rogers' take on it:
http://www.bibletruth.cc/the_restrainer.htm
{Both these views tend to depend on the original Greek having been mistranslated.}
Warren Wiersbe has a different view of who the Restrainer is:
https://books.google.com/books?id=Sn18qwyJw9QC&pg=PA735&lpg=PA735&dq=Wiersbe+who+is+the+restrainer?&source=bl&ots=uGF5uB1jD_&sig=_2y9_c5oGDWnfOsAipe_wAzD0nY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAGoVChMI9tmN3fDuxgIVhJyICh1RzwwX#v=onepage&q=Wiersbe%20who%20is%20the%20restrainer%3F&f=false
Dear Paul, could you have not been a little more clear?! :)
Ahhh, that is why we can study the Bible for a lifetime and still not understand it all! "God is good, and all His ways are righteous." (Psalm 145:17). As my parents said to me frequently, "If I had wanted you to know more, I would have told you."
Well, tomorrow we'll look at verse 11, quite the interesting verse as well.
Dear Father, we know that what you have revealed in Your Word is exactly what we need to know at the moment, in order to walk resplendent. Thank you for speaking to us, teaching us by Your Holy Spirit and may we not fight with each other over minor matters of interpretation. The important thing is that we draw ever closer to Your side, in order to prepare our spirits for what is to come. Draw us nearer to You, Lord! In Jesus' name, amen.
Source:
http://www.alankurschner.com/2012/02/22/what-does-the-apostasy-refer-to-in-2-thessalonians-23/
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