To understand who the man of lawlessness is we will first have to explain why and how the Lord Jesus does away with him. Next, we will review the timing of the events that led up to the Man of lawlessness being done away with. Let’s also break down this passage of Scripture to get a better feel for the incoming events.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-11… However, brothers, respecting the presence (Parousia #G3952, Arrival) of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we request of YOU not to be quickly shaken from your reasoning nor to be excited either through an inspired expression (Pneuma #G4151, Spirit, Wind. As in 1 John 4:1-3) or through a verbal message or through a letter as though from us to the effect that the day of the Lord (Kyrios #G2962, Lord, Owner, Master “one exercising absolute ownership rights) is here.
There are three expressions or words that we want to investigate further and the first being that of Parousia #G3952. It can be rendered presence, arrival or coming and the use of either one of these words really comes down to a perspective of timing. Contexts suggest using the word arrival in this sentence. And I’ll explain this further in a little bit later on about this reason for this stated fact.
Next, we have the word Pneuma #G4151 rendered wind, spirit or inspired expression. If we understand that the inspired expression can be either from God by his Holy Spirit or by a wicked or unclean spirit pretending to be from God, then well and good but if not here would lie a problem. At 1 John 4:1-3 we are told to test out the spirit to find out who it is from. If you have learned to do this great but if not, it leads to a major problem a fundamental mistake of who and what we are believing, and it also plays a decisive role in the manifestation of the man of lawlessness as we will explain this later on.
The last expression we want to look at is that of the day of the Lord or day of Jehovah. Is there a difference between the day of the Lord and the day of Jehovah? Well, yes, there is a big difference.
The Day of the Lord
The day of Jehovah: this is actually referring to the destruction of wicked mankind. The day of Jehovah is spoken of in Isaiah 13:9, Joel 1:15 and Zephaniah 1:14-18 see the following Scriptures:
Isaiah 13:9… “Look! The day of Jehovah itself is coming, cruel both with fury and with burning anger, in order to make the land an object of astonishment, and that it may annihilate [the land’s] sinners out of it.
Joel 1:15… “Alas for the day; because the day of Jehovah is near, and like a despoiling from the Almighty One it will come!
Zephaniah 1:14-18… “The great day of Jehovah is near. It is near, and there is a hurrying [of it] very much. The sound of the day of Jehovah is bitter. There a mighty man is letting out a cry. That day is a day of fury, a day of distress and of anguish, a day of storm and of desolation, a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick gloom, a day of horn and of alarm signal, against the fortified cities and against the high corner towers. And I will cause distress to mankind, and they will certainly walk like blind men; because it is against Jehovah that they have sinned. And their blood will actually be poured out like dust, and their bowels like the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovah’s fury; but by the fire of his zeal the whole earth will be devoured, because he will make an extermination, indeed a terrible one, of all the inhabitants of the earth.”
The object of Jehovah’s day is to clear the land from all sinners by annihilation. It is called a despoiling, both cruel and with fury of the burning anger of God.
We should be able to see that according to the context that this cannot be the day of Jehovah but the Lords Day here in this passage of Scripture at 2 Thessalonians 2:1-11 because again all this all has to do with the timing of Christ Jesus arrival not the destruction of the wicked.
The apostle Paul is writing this to his anointed brothers who will be leaving when Christ arrives. They will not be worried during the great day of God almighty. No one will need a letter to tell them that destruction of wicked mankind is here. It is the great fear inspiring day of our God Jehovah.
Okay then what is the day of our Lord Jesus Christ? The day of the Lord Jesus includes, but not limited to, his administering to the Christian Congregation, exposing the man of lawlessness, and the resurrection of the dead.
The difference of the two time periods that of the Lord’s Day (Jesus) to the day of Jehovah can be identified here in Revelation 14:14-20, where the Lord Jesus Christ has the first harvests, the second harvest has to do with the tromping of the vine in the anger of God. So, what comes first the harvest of our Lord Jesus or the anger of God?
Revelation 14:14-20… And I saw, and, look! a white cloud, and upon the cloud someone seated like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel emerged from the temple sanctuary, crying with a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud: “Put your sickle in and reap, because the hour has come to reap, for the harvest of the earth is thoroughly ripe.” And the one seated on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. And still another angel emerged from the temple [sanctuary] that is in heaven, he, too, having a sharp sickle. And still another angel emerged from the altar and he had authority over the fire. And he called out with a loud voice to the one that had the sharp sickle, saying: “Put your sharp sickle in and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, because its grapes have become ripe.” And the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and he hurled it into the great winepress of the anger of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress as high up as the bridles of the horses, for a distance of a thousand six hundred furlongs.
The harvest by Christ Jesus comes first then the anger of God is expressed at the vine of the earth. And here at Revelation 19:15 we can come to understand it is Jesus who treads too the winepress of the anger of God.
According to the context of 2 Thessalonians 2:2 the apostle Paul is talking about waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to come. Do you think that you need to be told that the day of Jehovah is here?
The sheer destruction of wicked mankind should tell you that it was happening around you. You would not need to be told that destruction of the wicked was happening, or would you sleepy head?
2 Thessalonians 2:3-11… Let no one seduce YOU in any manner, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed, the son of destruction. He is set in opposition and lifts himself up over everyone who is called “god” or an object of reverence, so that he sits down in the temple of The God, publicly showing himself to be a god. Do YOU not remember that, while I was yet with YOU, I used to tell YOU these things? And so now YOU know the thing that acts as a restraint, with a view to his being revealed in his own due time. True, the mystery of this lawlessness is already at work; but only till he who is right now acting as a restraint gets to be out of the way.
Who or what is acting as a restraint keeping the man of lawlessness from fully acting against anyone who opposes him? Notice that the man of lawlessness even receives reverence from the people of God. Also, the mysteries of who this is was already at work in the apostle Paul’s day.
What was this work that was happening in the apostle Paul’s day? The man of lawlessness was already at work back then. So, it then seems that it is not just one man, but it represents a group of men at any given time in history after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Apostles of Christ Jesus acted as a restraint from the works of the apostasy from the man of lawlessness and as the last apostle died the restraint for the apostasy was removed.
Then these men began to teach that the kingdom of God had already come. They were teaching that the resurrection had already occurred. That they were the authority in the congregation of God. They started to teach the teachings of men and denying even Christ Jesus as the Lord. Jude 1:4
2 Thessalonians 2:8-11… Then, indeed, the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will do away with by the spirit of his mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of his presence. (Parousia #G3952, Arrival) But the lawless one’s presence is according to the operation of Satan with every powerful work and lying signs and portents and with every unrighteous deception for those who are perishing, as a retribution because they did not accept the love of the truth that they might be saved. So that is why God lets an operation of error go to them, that they may get to believing the lie.
The first thing we want to do is focus in on the expression here in verse eight. Notice that the Lord Jesus will do away with Him by the spirit of his mouth and by the manifestation at his arrival.
Why Arrival and not Coming or Presence?
Who is Jesus coming for? As an anointed Christian you would understand Christ Jesus has yet to come to get you, if you’re dead then you will have to be raised up first. And if you’re alive, you would need to be caught up to heaven into the clouds to be with him at this ARRIVAL. Again, it’s all about the timing. The words Coming, Presence or Arrival are words describing an action with respect to context of Scripture; more than that they are words describing the timing of an event.
Next, you should understand that Jesus Christ has not started his thousand-year rule until all of the 144,000 are in heaven with him. Not till this celestial heavenly event occurs, that’s when he comes on the clouds to get all his bride, then that will start the thousand- year reign of Christ. But right now, Christ Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God waiting for the seventh trumpet to blow. You ask why can we say this? It’s really because of the following 3 scriptures:
Revelation 11:15… And the seventh angel blew his trumpet. And loud voices occurred in heaven, saying: “The kingdom of the world did become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will rule as king forever and ever.”
At the blowing of the seventh trumpet when all of the bride of Christ will be gathered together and go to heaven. The seventh trumpet is in fact the last trumpet, “God’s Trumpet” when it blows it signals something very significant as we read on you will see.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17… For this is what we tell YOU by Jehovah’s word, that we the living who survive to the presence of the Lord shall in no way precede those who have fallen asleep [in death]; because the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel’s voice and with God’s trumpet, and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first. Afterward we the living who are surviving will, together with them, be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we shall always be with [the] Lord.
According to the apostle Paul: who goes to heaven first? It’s not the living and it’s not those who died, but together we all go at the same time when we all hear God’s trumpet. But before that happens there is going to be a Tribulation.
Matthew 24:29-31… “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in lamentation, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet sound, and they will gather his chosen ones together from the four winds, from one extremity of the heavens to their other extremity.
So, how does the man of lawlessness get revealed? And how will he be done away with?
Have you seen this event in heaven with the sign of the Son of Man coming on the clouds or as someone told you about it?
Have you heard the trumpet blow? If you have then welcome to the Day of the Lord. Who has told you that Jesus Christ is ruling now?
So, how does the man of lawlessness get revealed? And how will he be done way with? If you were told any of these things, you need to read the following:
2 Thessalonians 2:3… Let no one seduce YOU in any manner, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed, the son of destruction.
Remember we must live through the apostasy before the man of lawlessness is known. Who started this apostasy and where did it come from?
1 John 4:1-6 tells us it is the spirit of the antichrist who leads men into the apostasy and causes them to become false prophets and false teachers. The Man of Lawlessness are the false teachers who claim to represent the truth and the light. The main teaching of the apostasy is that the resurrection has already happened.
2 Timothy 2:18-19…These very [men] have deviated from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already occurred; and they are subverting the faith of some.
Our Only Lord Jesus Christ
Next we read at Jude 1:4… My reason is that certain men have slipped in who have long ago been appointed by the Scriptures to this judgment, ungodly men, turning the undeserved kindness of our God into an excuse for loose conduct and proving false to our only Owner and Lord, Jesus Christ.
The man of lawlessness has slipped into the congregation of God and are proving to be against Jesus Christ and those who claim him as their Lord, even when after Jude just reveals that Jesus Christ is our “Only Owner” / “The Lord”.
Now Reading: Colossians 1:15-16… He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; because by means of him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All [other] things have been created through him and for him.
The Son of God’s love is Jesus, Jesus was a first born… all other things were created through Jesus and for him. So, Jesus Christ is the rightful owner and master of us, he even paid for that right with the outpouring of his blood.
Who would deny these things? Would it not be the antichrist spirit who is leading the man of lawlessness into this apostasy?
2 Thessalonians 2:9-11… But the lawless one’s presence is according to the operation of Satan with every powerful work and lying signs and portents10 and with every unrighteous deception for those who are perishing, as a retribution because they did not accept the love of the truth that they might be saved. So that is why God lets an operation of error go to them, that they may get to believing the lie, in order that they all may be judged because they did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.
The Apostasy Comes First
Remember In 2 Thessalonians 2:2, we found that the word Spirit would be more appropriate rendering, we also verified this at 1 John 4:1-4 and we should read it from the Greek to English translation and you can see the word is Spirit and is a more suitable rendition and this fact adds a valuable point of how and why the apostasy came about.
Remember the Apostasy that must come and then the Revealing of the Man of Lawlessness “the son of destruction” comes in to play.
How did the apostasy begin in Jesus’s day? Who is the son of destruction or the son of perdition? How was the powerful work of Satan operating in Jesus’s day?
The apostasy began in Jesus’s day by the resistance of the religious leaders who were in charge. Also, there were the demonic forces that back them up. These men had seated themselves in the seat of Moses, placing themselves over the people of God. And with the goading of the powers that governed, the spirit of the world, they vehemently denied and hindered, resisting the teaching and the authority of Christ Jesus. The true messenger of the covenant, the true Lord who God himself had sent. Malachi 3:1
The son of destruction / perdition revealed himself even in Jesus’s day as the apostle John brings out in his writings of John 17:12 and we read about that in part as the public prayer that Jesus gave.
John 17:12… When I was with them, I used to watch over them on account of your own name which you have given me; and I have kept them, and not one of them is destroyed except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Who did this happen to and is there a second fulfillment to the son of destruction today?
Luke 22:2-6… Also, the chief priests and the scribes were seeking the effective way for them to get rid of him (Jesus), for they were in fear of the people. But Satan entered into Judas, the one called Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve; and he went off and talked with the chief priests and [temple] captains about the effective way to betray him to them. Well, they rejoiced and agreed to give him silver money. So, he consented, and he began to seek a good opportunity to betray him to them without a crowd around.
This was something that happened with Judas Iscariot that he became “the son of destruction or perdition” when the spirit of Satan entered into him.
As it was with Judas Iscariot and so also it will occur with the man of lawlessness. We also know that the man of lawlessness will have a two-fold identity. A fleshly one, like Judas Iscariot, and a spiritual one, just as when Satan entered into Judas and caused him to act as the betrayer so too it will be with the Man of Lawlessness, who receives the spirit of Satan. So, the Man of Lawlessness will be overtaken by Satan to do his work as the betrayer of the anointed.
Remember that the Apostle Paul just warned us of the Apostasy and about the arrival of Christ and our being gathered to Him.
This is the teaching of the Apostasy the teaching and saying: “that Christ Jesus has already came, and that those who die in union with the Lord are already being gathered to him in Heaven, and this reasoning along with the spirit and power of Satan is what the man of lawlessness uses to help him get and hold on to power over Gods people, the Holy Ones of God today.
Setting Himself Up
2 Thessalonians 2:4… He is set in opposition and lifts himself up over everyone who is called “god” or an object of reverence, so that he sits down in the temple of The God, publicly showing himself to be a god.
Take note: here are some details that are given on the actions of the man of lawlessness. What is his desire? Is it not to exalt himself and to show himself mighty? The fact that he chooses to sit in the true temple of God, this too is a big deal. But what or where is the temple of the true God today?
God’s true temple today is the body of Christ Jesus. This man of lawlessness would have to sit, claiming to be a governing authority over the body of Christ today, like the Pope or as some others claim the “Governing Body.”
Ephesians 2:19-22… Certainly, therefore, YOU are no longer strangers and alien residents, but YOU are fellow citizens of the holy ones and are members of the household of God, and YOU have been built up upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, while Christ Jesus himself is the foundation cornerstone. In union with him the whole building, being harmoniously joined together, is growing into a holy temple for Jehovah. In union with him YOU, too, are being built up together into a place for God to inhabit by spirit.
Just as Satan entered into Judas in the first century due to his sin, (Luke 22:3; John 13:26-27; John 17:12) so too this is how the spirit manipulates the Man of Lawlessness today through sin and how he will sit in the true temple of God today.
2 Thessalonians 2:7… True, the mystery of this lawlessness is already at work; but only till he who is right now acting as a restraint gets to be out of the way.
We see that the Man of Lawlessness was already at work in the apostle Paul’s day. How was he at work and what was his teaching?
2 Timothy 2:18-19…These very [men] have deviated from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already occurred; and they are subverting the faith of some. For all that, the solid foundation of God stays standing, having this seal: “Jehovah knows those who belong to him,” and: “Let everyone naming the name of Jehovah renounce unrighteousness.”
Here you can see some aspects of the apostasy at work in the apostle Paul’s day. First “They have deviated from the truth.”
Then they were teaching that the “resurrection had already occurred”. So, is the resurrection of the holy ones happening as of now?
2 Thessalonians 2:8… Then, indeed, the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will do away with by the spirit of his mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of his presence (arrival).
The Man of Lawlessness is Done Away
We know that this prophecy of 2 Thessalonians has its fulfillment in the end times because here in verse 8 the man of lawlessness gets revealed by the spirit of Christ Jesus mouth and is done away with by His arrival or His Coming! So, how does the man of lawlessness get revealed? And how will he be done way with?
The Spirit of Truth that will be sent to speak by the mouth of Jesus, it will reveal what is true, and when Jesus shows up, the power that The Man of Lawlessness has over Gods people will be broken and done away with, the lies that he had been propagating will have been proven untrue, no one will listen to him any longer, he will have lost his power over God’s people. Because by truth from the mouth of Christ Jesus and by his arrival the son of perdition is to be done away with.
Matthew 24:29-31… Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in lamentation, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet sound, and they will gather his chosen ones together from the four winds, from one extremity of the heavens to their other extremity.
The Son of Man is coming in the clouds, have you seen him? And who is he coming for?
Have you seen this event or heard this great trumpet sound? Has the Resurrection or the Gathering of all the Holy Ones already happened?
NO, IT HAS NOT HAPPENED AS OF YET! If you are being taught this, it’s a lie, RUN…
Now you know what the man of lawlessness is teaching, and his Bible position, and what his beliefs are.
This should help us see that these teaching puts him at odds with Christ Jesus. There is a deviating from the truth. This teaching that the kingdom has already come or has been established. Or that if you die, you’re going straight to heaven without the rest of the chosen ones the bride of Christ, all these teachings are a lie and are at odds with Jesus Christ.
Done Away With
Now these are the key points to understanding how and why Christ Jesus will do away with The Man of Lawlessness. Once we have come to that understanding it will help identify who the man of lawlessness really is.
Do you now know who the man of lawlessness is? If you know who the Man of Lawlessness is… Flee, escape into the wilderness or to the mountain of God, and Jehovah will protect you, trust in him as the only true God.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-11… But the lawless one’s presence is according to the operation of Satan with every powerful work and lying signs and portents and with every unrighteous deception for those who are perishing, as a retribution because they did not accept the love of the truth that they might be saved. So that is why God lets an operation of error go to them, that they may get to believing the lie.
Matthew 23:39… For I say to YOU, YOU will by no means see me from henceforth until YOU say, ‘Blessed is he that comes in Jehovah’s name!
Matthew 25:31-34… When the son of man arrives in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will put the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. “Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, YOU who have been blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for YOU from the founding of the world.
Hallelujah come Lord Jesus.
Please read the next chapter of this book, it is called “The Cry of Peace and Security” by clicking on the link: The Cry of Peace and Security
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