2 Thessalonians

In his second letter to the Thessalonian church, Paul addressed their concern that the end times were upon them and that they had missed the appearing of the Lord. He did not want them to become distracted or deceived by such a notion. To fortify his position, Paul pointed out that the end times would not begin until the "man of lawlessness" had been revealed. At the time of Paul's writing, there was something that restrained the diabolical work of this man of sin. The Roman empire and emperors controlled the world. Christians were protected to some extent by the Roman authorities. Rome looked upon Christianity as an extension of Judaism, and, therefore, considered it as legal. (Any religion that existed when Rome captured a nation was accepted as legal. However, no new religion was allowed into being.) When Rome became aware that Christianity was not a part of Judaism, it was then declared to be illegal. Intense persecution, a la lion's dens and gladiators, sprung forth at that point. But the political climate was not conducive to the rise of such a man at the time of Paul's letter.

But who is the man of lawlessness? We must now consider the various statements Paul makes about him. He is lawless; he is the son of destruction (v3); he exalts himself; he takes his seat in the temple of God (v4); his coming and presence will be accompanied by all power and miracles and false wonders (v9). The Apostle John writes in similar terms of the antichrist, also foretold by the prophet Daniel.

Tomorrow's reading: Acts 18:24-19:20; 1 Cor. 1:1-3:23