2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 – 1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
Paul explains much on what we read in Daniel. He enters into the temple on the last days, defiles it, and then proclaims himself to be God.
The man of lawlessness is another name for the devil’s last day’s man. He’s better known as the antichrist.
We spoke about this in a Pre-Tribulation post already, but in verse seven it says he can’t be revealed until He is taken out of the way. The only one strong enough that is present today of holding back the antichrist is the Holy Spirit. When He goes, the church goes with Him.
Verses 9 to 12 explain that since people don’t want the truth and be saved, God allows them to be deceived. Kind of a – If that’s what you want and not Me, here you go.
Those who do want God will call upon the name of the Lord. It will cost most their lives on this earth during the tribulation. When I read Revelation, I mean most. It looks to be the biggest harvest in short period of time.
Revelation 6:9-11 – 9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.
Revelation 7:9-10 – 9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
We need to do our best to serve the Lord and get out there and reach others, so they may accept him now. If you don’t know Him yet, I have a page on how to do so in the right upper column.