Daily Devotional Wednesday 15th February 2023
by William Moody2 Thessalonians 2
The Man of Lawlessness
2:1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,1 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness2 is revealed, the son of destruction,3 4 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. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Stand Firm
13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits4 to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 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.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
Footnotes
[1] 2:1
Or brothers and sisters; also verses 13, 15
[2] 2:3Some manuscripts sin
[3] 2:3Greek the son of perdition (a Hebrew idiom)
[4] 2:13Some manuscripts chose you from the beginning (ESV)
In this section we begin to see the main reason for this letter (v1-2). It appears that some people have been teaching that Jesus has already returned and that the Thessalonians have missed out. These false teachers have been saying that this is what even Paul says. Jesus in Matthew 24 v23-27 warns of those who’ll say that He has already come.
Paul teaches here (v3-4) that before Jesus’ Second Coming happens, there will be a great falling away and an evil man of sin will appear. (Elsewhere he is called the anti-Christ, see 1 John 2 v18 & 22). He opposes God and seeks to take upon himself the worship and rights that are due to God alone.
Paul teaches us that there is something restraining him from being revealed (v6-7). It appears that what was restraining the man of lawlessness was very evident to the Thessalonians but it has greatly puzzled theologians since. Some think it could be the church as it will greatly lose its power with the falling away (v3). Others think that it is the influence of the Holy Spirit and still others think it is the rule of law and order.
This anti-God influence is already at work in this world (v7 & see 1 John 2 v18). We can see this so clearly all around us now but we are not to despair for it is only for a short time then victory by Christ will appear (v8).
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