Chapter # 2 Paragraph # 1 Study # 6
December 20, 2015
Dayton, Texas
(042)
1769 Translation:
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:
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 Coming of the Man of the Lawlessness.
- A. It is according to the standard of the energy of the adversary.
- 1. This "standard" is typically the use of half-truths in order to substantiate outright lies.
- a. When the serpent declared "ye shall not surely die" in the Garden, he said words that could be taken as "truth" -- if they meant, you won't physically and immediately die -- but were a direct contradiction to the warning of God. Half truth in support of an overt lie.
- b. Half-truths are generally a deliberate misapplication of Scripture in this form: what was written to be applied to one aspect of man (spirit, soul, or body: 1 Thessalonians 5:23) is applied to a different aspect (example: what was written for the soul is "interpreted" to apply to the body) just as was done in the Garden (mentioned above).
- c. The use of short term physical appearances is used to validate lies so that there is a significant deceit involved.
- 1) This is "energy" expended mostly in the form of "working in the sons of disobedience" by persuading them to "disbelieve" truth so that "disobedience" is automatic (Ephesians 2:2).
- 2) This is using "appearances" by assigning a distinctly corrupt "significance" so that people are persuaded to accept the "interpretation" of the appearances so that they "disbelieve" the promises of God.
- 2. This standard is most fundamentally the practice of deceit ("Satan" operating as the "Devil").
- B. It is developed in the realm of "all power, signs, and lying wonders".
- 1. Here are the three main methods of "deceit".
- a. "Power" (dunamis) is the basis of "accomplishment", the goal of all "working"; the greatest of which will be the killing of God's two witnesses who, themselves, have the "power" to kill any who attempt to harm them (Revelation 11:5; 11:7 and 13:4) and the "apparent" resurrection of him who received a mortal wound, yet lived (Revelation 13:3, 12 and 14).
- b. "Signs" are events that contain the characteristics of a "type of meaning" that point to conclusions to be drawn. Satan works to "argue" that the "sign" signifies the opposite of the truth.
- c. "Lying wonders" are, as Hebrews 2:4 indicates, "wonders" that argue for validation of some claim, but either the "wonder" itself is "false", or the "claim" is (Revelation 13:13; 19:20).
- 2. The "satan" is fundamentally an opposer, but his method is fundamentally "deceit".
- C. It is "with all deceit of unrighteousness to those who are perishing because they did not receive the love of the truth unto their being saved".
- 1. This "deceit" is pointed directly at "unrighteousness" so that we may understand that the bottom line of "deception" is motivation, and motivation in the direction of "unrighteousness" is most fundamentally harmful intent.
- 2. Those "deceived" are characterized as "perishing".
- 3. The rationale is that they "received not the love of the truth so that they might be saved".