The Thessalonians are thinking a LOT about the return of Jesus. If you were being jailed and beaten, rejected by your family and community, you would be hoping for Jesus to return soon too.
A story trope that we all like is when a bully gets his comuppance. Some mean kid with a gang of baddies have been terrorizing all the little kids on the playground. And then a new boy shows up as the bully is beating the stuffin’s out of some poor kid and he gives the bully a black eye and fights back against the whole gang and runs them off for good.
🥳 Yay! Our hero!
That is the scenario Paul describes in chapter 1. The Thessalonian Christians are getting badly bullied by both pagan Gentiles and unbelieving Jews. Paul tells them that one day the Lord Jesus will show up…
“And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus.”
2 Thessalonians 1:7-8 NLT
But they have apparently had some worries that maybe the Day of the Lord has already come and they missed it. We can tell by how Paul answers their response to his previous letter to them.
“Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him. Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us.”
2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 NLT
Paul isn’t the only person going around teaching things about God. There a plenty of 1st-century “influencers.” And apparently they are telling people that the “Day of the Lord” has already started. They’re even claiming to have divine revelation about it and a letter from the Apostle Paul himself to back them up. It’s “fake news.”
We have similar challenges. There are many influencers on tv and social media who claim divine revelation about a great many things. Some also claim apostolic authority to back it up. Paul would tell us, “Don’t believe everything you hear.”
This seems to be the first documented evidence of “date-setting” the return of Christ. It has happened many times since. And for some reason, people still fall for it. It’s like Charlie Brown falling for Lucy’s trick with the football every time…
Paul directly addresses the details of the Day of the Lord. In 2:1-8 Paul uses 4 terms to describe it.
- “The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2:1)
- “Our being gathered to Him” (2:1)
- “The Day of Christ” (2:2)
- Also inferred as “that day” in 2:3
- “His coming” (2:8)
Some interpret this as a single event. The Day of the Lord IS “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” which is concurrent with “our being gathered to Him” (which refers back to 1 Thess. 4:14-17). Personally, I lean toward this interpretation because it seems to me to be the straightforward meaning of the text.
Some interpret these 4 terms as referring to two separate events:
- A coming of Christ to gather His saints
- A return of Christ to earth to destroy the wicked and reign
Personally, I think this idea has to be read into the text. I don’t see any indication in the text itself that indicates these as separate events. But… we often saw a similar thing in OT prophecy about the first-coming of Christ. There would be a first clause about the suffering Messiah, then a second clause about His eternal reign with no indication that they two were separate events. And that is why I refuse to set my eschatology in concrete. I want to stay nimble and flexible in mind. I lean toward the return and “gathering” being a single event, but I’m open to the idea of it being 2 events.
Remember how the disciples kept asking Jesus if He was going to “restore the kingdom to Israel” right up until the Ascension? They were stuck in only one way to interpret the OT prophecies about Messiah. My aim is to have all of the Biblically sound possible interpretations on my end times BINGO card.
🤓 She really HAS an End Times Bingo card?
🙄 Of course she does.
🤓 Looks fun. I wanna play!
Some of these spaces may happen. Some may not. Let’s see what Paul said.
“Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 ESV
This is very clear. “That day” can only be referring to “the day of Christ” in verse 2. And “the day of Christ” in verse 2 seems to be pointing back to “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and “our being gathered together to Him” in verse 1.
And “that day” doesn’t happen until the apostasy-apocalypse happens first.
“Falling away” or “rebellion” is this word:
It’s not the world that is defecting from the Truth. They are already disconnected from the Truth. The only group that can “do” apostasy are people who were once part of Team Truth and they defect to the other side. This is talking about a collective forsaking of the Faith by the Church. And this should be high on our personal list of things to guard against.
The “revealing” of the “Man of Sin” is this word:
This is apokalupto:
And Paul says that there will be a collective forsaking of the Truth (by the Church) and the “Man of Lawlessness, the Son of Destruction” will be unmasked before the Coming of Christ (and our being gathered together to Him).
Might want to read that again.
It’s possible that the apostasy is a component of the unmasking. Like, “the man of sin” is revealed by the act of leading the Church away from the Truth.
Verse 4 describes what this Sin-Man will do.
“who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”
2 Thessalonians 2:4 ESV
This is the key verse that leads many people to believe that a 3rd Temple must be built in Jerusalem. And that option is on my BINGO card. But I don’t think a physical temple is the only way this verse could be fulfilled.
Q: Who did Paul consistently call the “temple of God?”
A: The Church
What if 2:3-4 is suggesting a man who will take his place within the Church as a false Jesus? And receive worship by believers who have defected from the Truth?
That would make the apostasy the event that reveals who the man of sin is.
And this is not even a stretch. There are already “churches” today that worship “another Jesus” (2 Cor. 11:4) and preach “another Gospel” (Gal. 1:6-7). These people have already defected from the Truth. People were defecting from the Gospel in the 1st century too. That’s why Paul could say that “the mystery of iniquity is already at work.”
But what if someone showed up who seemed to be all-knowing and could perform miracles, was as kind as Mr. Rogers, and who got the nations to lay down their weapons? What if a major Christian leader like the Pope, an Orthodox Patriarch, the Archbishop of Canterbury, or the President of some international Evangelical organization (or all the above!) were to affirm this man as a Christian? What if members of your own family went along? What if it became illegal to resist and it cost you your job? Your income? Would you be prepared to disagree with everyone and go against the will of everyone else?
Because that’s exactly what we need to be prepared to do.
If your default answer to the scary things in Bible prophecy has been “Oh, I don’t plan to be here for that,” you might want to at least have a contingency plan just in case that one particular eschatological view is incorrect.
You might not want to be here for it, but what if you are? Will you depart from the faith? The time to make that commitment and build up your faith is NOW.
You should at least know that a pre-tribulation rapture is not, and has never been, the universally accepted view of the end times by the Church. You should also know that a pre-tribulation rapture was never taught by the early church fathers. It was popularized only recently in the 19th century with the Dispensationalist movement. The earliest writings of The Didache, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus were all consistent with the Church enduring persecution and being on earth when the “Deceiver” (the AntiChrist) would appear.
If you happen to live to see a wholesale apostasy and a miracle-working, world deceiver elevated to the level of divinity…
- Don’t freak out.
- Some people will think “Oh God! I’ve missed the Rapture.” But what if we’ve had the Harpazo in the wrong spot on our Apocalypse timelines? This is a real possibility based on the text of scripture.
- Don’t go along with the world.
- Do trust Jesus.
Personally, I’ve decided to be mentally prepared to live through all of it: the apostasy, the 666, not being able to buy or sell, the demon murder-locusts, the fire and brimstone, and probably die somewhere in the middle – although I think it would be REALLY cool to experience the whole “catching away” as a living person. Anyway, I’m quite cozy and confident that even if I have to endure the wrath of man and Satan (as the Church has always done and continues to do) He will give me the strength to remain faithful and I will be spared from the wrath of God just as Noah was.
Remember that there were 3 ways that the righteous were spared from the first civilization-ending outpouring of wrath:
- Enoch was “taken” before it came
- Methuselah died before it happened
- Noah was protected through it in the Ark.
“So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment.”
2 Peter 2:9 NLT
I don’t know exactly how all this is going to shake out and neither does anyone else, have they ever so many end-times charts. But I DO know that I can trust the Lord.
Whoever this “Son of Destruction” is, Paul tells the Thessalonians that Jesus will personally destroy him “with the breath of His mouth and the appearance of His coming.” And that sounds a lot like this:
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.”
Revelation 19:11, 15, 19-21 ESV
There has been a lot of discussion among scholars about who the “restrainer” is in 2:7. Something or someone is preventing, hindering, or impeding the revealing of this “mystery of lawlessness.” The mysterious lawlessness seems to be hidden like the tares among the wheat. Some say that the Restrainer is the Holy Spirit. Some say the Church. And I’d say those two are inseparable so there’s not really an argument there. Paul doesn’t actually say who the Restrainer is. But it’s pretty clear that the “Man of Sin” is the one John will call the “AntiChrist” and “the Beast” because that is who Jesus destroys “with the brightness of His coming” as Rev. 19 shows.
And a LOT of people – the vast majority of people – are going to fall for him. There’s something about this Man of Sin and what he says and does that will appeal to the flesh. People will want to believe his lie because it will allow them to practice the unrighteousness they want to do.
Paul tells the Thessalonians how to be prepared so they won’t be fooled. We would be wise to listen too.
“So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.”
2 Thessalonians 2:15 ESV
It’s fine to examine church traditions and let go of the man-made ones. But we must never EVER let go of, nor alter the Gospel as taught by the Apostles.
In the final chapter Paul addresses a problem he addressed in the first letter but that has not resolved. It has gotten worse. And it’s a problem that has happened among other groups that believed Jesus was about to return on a certain date. They quit their jobs and just sat on a hill waiting for the Lord to come.
(If you have about 9 extra minutes, here’s an entertaining animated video about one such instance in American history called “The Great Disappointment.”)
In his prior letter, Paul reminded the Thessalonians how they worked “night and day” (1 Thess. 2:9) so that they could preach the gospel and support themselves financially. He also admonished them to be quiet, mind their own business, and work with their own hands so they could provide for their own needs and not lack anything (4:11-12). Now in his second letter, Paul gets more direct.
“Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living.”
2 Thessalonians 3:11-12 NLT
He even tells the other Christians to withdraw from the those who refuse to work. And if they won’t work, they don’t get to eat.
This is the principle that keeps Christian charity from becoming enabling.
Captain John Smith of the Jamestown settlement in Virginia famously quoted this text in 1609 to the men who thought that common labor was beneath them and who began to be idle:
“Countrymen, the long experience of our late miseries I hope is sufficient to persuade everyone to a present correction of himself, And think not that either my pains nor the adventurers’ purses will ever maintain you in idleness and sloth…
…the greater part must be more industrious, or starve…
You must obey this now for a law, that “he that will not work shall not eat” (except by sickness he be disabled). For the labors of thirty or forty honest and industrious men shall not be consumed to maintain a hundred and fifty idle loiterers.”
William Bradford of the Plymouth Colony also cited this text for similar reasons.
If you’re working your tail off, and others are just drifting along, consuming without contributing, it can be VERY frustrating. It can make you want to just throw in the towel and say, “Fine! I’ll just show up and do nothing too!” (That is, by the way, what always happens under socialism. And it has always led to authoritarianism, gulags and starvation. Every time.)
This is Paul’s counsel for us:
“As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.”
2 Thessalonians 3:13 NLT
Don’t worry about the demon locusts, the volcanoes, or A.I robots taking over the world. We don’t need to quit our jobs and go sit on a mountain top waiting for Jesus to return. Keep working. Stand firm in the Gospel. Be sure you know the REAL Jesus. And never get tired of doing good.
