Chapter # 2 Paragraph # 1 Study # 3
November 29, 2015
Dayton, Texas
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1769 Translation:
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 [Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
1901 ASV Translation:
3 let no man beguile you in any wise: for [it will not be,] except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition,
4 he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season.
7 For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only [there is] one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of his coming;
9 [even he], whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie:
12 that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
- I. The Man of The Lawlessness.
- A. The characterization in regard to "lawlessness" (the Authorized Version has "sin"; the textual support is pretty evenly divided between "sin" and "lawlessness").
- 1. The word is used in the New Testament as the opposite of "righteousness" (2 Corinthians 6:14; Hebrews 1:9).
- 2. There are two major implications: one, that "lawlessness" is a violation of known law; and, two, that "lawlessness" is extremely hurtful to human beings (the law being the epitome of "Love").
- 3. Philosophically, "lawlessness" is not allowing any "law" to hinder one's activities, even if it is employed in other circumstances. In other words, no "law" stands as "truth" to be observed. It was probably for this purpose that the Medes and Persians established "the Law" as something that had authority over everyone including the king because the Babylonians did not have such a "check" against absolute tyranny and the Medes and Persians did not want that kind of authority in the hands of one man.
- 4. At root, "lawlessness" is "rule by whim" without immutable character. Immutable character will always both establish "law" and govern accordingly because character is at the root of all decisions. This is the pinnacle of human rebellion against God. He is of immutable character and human beings simply want to be able to do whatever they wish in the moment regardless of how it affects others.
- 5. The Man of The Lawlessness is the ultimate human development of rebellion against God.
- B. The characterization as "the son of the destruction".
- 1. Being a "son" carries the connotation of "an image of a father".
- 2. "The Destruction".
- a. John 17:12 calls Judas Iscariot "the son of the destruction".
- b. Romans 9:22 ties "wrath" to "destruction".
- c. Hebrews 10:39 contrasts "destruction" with "salvation of the soul".
- 3. The automatic reaction of immutable character to whimsy is "circumscription" (God disallows the "lawless" to pursue their course without His oversight; He circumscribes their ability to simply run amuck). However, there is a good bit of latitude in this divine circumscription so that He does allow a certain amount of development of "lawlessness" ... unto a violent end under His intense anger and wrath against the wicked. He will ultimately destroy the lawless after He has allowed a certain amount of "destruction" to be accomplished by him/them. Judas is a classic example: allowed to betray the Christ but then driven to suicide by his own guilt.
- a. There is a present "restrainer" under the reality of circumscription.
- b. There will be a relatively complete elimination of the progression of "lawlessness" in the Kingdom of the Christ until satan is released from the pit.
- C. His activities.
- 1. He "opposeth...all that is called God".
- a. The "opposition" is a decided stance "against".
- b. The issue is not "opposition" to "God" as a concept, but to "God" as The Person.
- 2. He "exalteth himself above all that is called God".
- a. At issue is the self-deification of the man.
- b. At root is the intent to rule.
- 1) He is not against "worship"; he is simply against worship of anyone/thing other than himself.
- 2) He seats himself in the temple of the God, asserting that he is "God".
- II. The "Interruption".
- A. Do you not remember that when I was with you I was telling you these things?
- B. Paul indicates that he had a session or two or more with the Thessalonians about the future.