The Man of Lawlessness

This passage of Scripture has been hotly debated, almost from the time Paul wrote it. Historically it is noted for its exceptional difficulty.

Many believe that 2 Thessalonians 2 describes the end times leading up to the rapture of the church, the revealing of antichrist, and the second coming. Tim LaHaye, author of the Left Behind series that has sold over 63 million copies worldwide, is a representative of this perspective, and writes: “Second Thessalonians 2:1-12 contains the rapture, Tribulation, and Glorious Appearing all in one chapter, the only time I find this in the Bible.” While LaHaye claims to be certain, there are many brilliant scholars who have gone before him who are not quite so confident.

For example, the prominent fourth century church father, Augustine, writes concerning 2 Thess. 2: "I confess that I am entirely ignorant of what he means to say." New Testament Greek scholar Marvin Vincent wrote, “I attempt no interpretation of this passage, which I do not understand. The varieties of exposition are bewildering.” The renown Greek linguist A.T. Robertson finds that “the whole subject is left by Paul in such vague form that we can hardly hope to clear it up.” Gary W. Demarest writes that 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, “is undoubtedly one of the most difficult in all of Paul’s writings. It has given rise to more speculative and diverse interpretations than any other section of Paul’s letters.”

So, I’m going to add my understanding, or perhaps misunderstanding, of this pericope of scripture, which, by the way, has changed several times over the past 53 years of ministry. And if you disagree, let’s agree not to become angrily disagreeable in our disagreement and call each other names like “last day scoffers, or “Scofield-ites, etc.

Humbly and with no dogmatism, let me unpack this section of Paul’s writings as I presently understand it.

1. The Fulfillment of the Promise of Christ's Prsence in His Judgement Coming - 2:1-2

Someone had deceived the believers in Thessalonica into thinking they the Day of the Lord had come. The teaching probably first came through a “prophetic utterance” in one of their meetings, and then it was further enhanced by a letter claiming to come from Paul himself. The believers were instantly shaken by this teaching, and continued to be deeply troubled. Had God changed His program? Had not Paul promised them deliverance from the ongoing persecution and tribulations? (see 1Th_1:10; 1Th_5:9)

To calm their hearts and stabilize their faith, Paul explained that the Day of the Lord, in the context of its first century prophecy of a judgment coming of Christ. (I use Judgment Coming to distinguish it from the Last or Second Coming of Christ.), couldn’t happen till certain events of 2 Thess. 2:3 had taken place.

One of the first questions we need to try and answer is, was“the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" in 2:1 a reference to the Second Coming, that is, an event that is still in our future, or is it a coming in judgment upon first-century Jerusalem that would be the event to bring the "last days" to a close?

The word translated "coming” in verse 1 is the Greek word “parousia”, best translated as "presence" in other contexts (2 Cor. 10;10; Phil. 2:12). "The term itself does not mean “return” or “second” coming; it simply means “arrival” or “presence.”

Translating parousia as “presence” is just one of several ways in which the word is used in scripture. Using it for “coming or arrival is also acceptable, (read Philp 1:26; Matt.24:3).

The Presence of the "Lord in the New Testament - God's presence was a sign of blessing because of Israel's special covenantal status (Isa. 55:3; Jer. 1:19) and His departure was a sign of judgment, neither of which were physical. For the nations, God’s presence was a sign of judgment because of their wickedness. Because of Israel s abominations, God’s presence left the temple (Ezekiel 5-11). Israel was then treated like the nations because of the absence of God’s presence.

In similar fashion, because of Israel’s rejection of the Messiah and the persecution of His church, God would make His presence known to Israel in the form of judgment.

God rejected His once-covenanted people and their temple of stone because of the nation’s rejection of the promised Son of Man (Matt. 23:38; 24:1). Like Ezekiel (Ezek. 8), Jesus came to the temple, found it filled with abominations (Matt. 21:12-13), and left it desolate (Matt. 23:38). He returned in A.D. 70 to inspect the temple for a final time and found it full of abominations. His presence now abides with a new people of God constructed as a "spiritual house," the true temple of God (1 Peter 2:4-10; cf. 2 Cor. 6:14-18).

In effect, Christ's parousia in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 is the fulfillment of the promise that the presence of Christ will reside with the true Israel forever (Rom. 2:28-29; 9:6; 10:12; Gal. 6:15-16; Phil. 3:3; Col. 3:11; Heb. 8:8, 10). Remember, during His earthly ministry Jesus "came out from the temple" (Matt. 24:1), foretold its destruction (24:15-34), and returned in A.D. 70 to destroy it (22:7). A new covenant nation arose from the ashes of the temple: "Therefore I say to you [speaking to the chief priests and the elders], the kingdom of God will be taken from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it. And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust" (21:43-44).

2. The Falling Away is that of the Jews in the First Century and Not of the Church in Earth’s Final History – 2:3

“Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion (“falling away”in KJV) comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,” 

We generally think of the apostolic period as a time of tremendously explosive evangelism and church growth, a "golden age" when astounding miracles took place every day. This common image is largely correct, but it is flawed by one glaring omission. We tend to neglect the fact that the early Church was the scene of the most dramatic outbreak of heresy in world history.

Some heretics taught that the final Resurrection had already taken place (2 Tim. 2:18), while others claimed that resurrection was impossible (1 Cor. 15:12); some taught strange doctrines of asceticism and angel-worship (Col. 2:8, 18-23; 1 Tim. 4:1-3), while others advocated all kinds of immorality and rebellion in the name of "liberty" (2 Pet. 2:1-3, 10-22; Jude 4,8, 10-13, 16). Again and again the apostles found themselves issuing stern warnings against tolerating false teachers and "false apostles" (Rom. 16:17-18; 2 Cor. 11:3-4, 12-15; Phil. 3:18-19; 1 Tim. 1:3-7; 2 Tim. 4:2-5), for these had been the cause of massive departures from the faith, and the extent of apostasy was increasing as the era progressed (1 Tim. 1:19-20; 6:20-21; 2 Tim. 2:16-18; 3:1-9,13; 4:10, 14-16). One of the last letters of the New Testament, the Book of Hebrews, was written to an entire Christian community on the very brink of wholesale abandonment of Christianity.

Back to our text, Paul stated in 2:3 that two events had to occur before the day of the Lord would come in judgment: [1] the rebellion, and [2] the revealing of the man of lawlessness. In the more pessimistic views of last things, the positions of amillennialism, historic premillennialism and dispensationalism, frequently use this passage as evidence of worsening world conditions until the final apostasy.

The Greek word “apostasia” in verse 3 occurs only here and in Acts 21:21 in the New Testament. It is rendered by most modern translations as “the rebellion” or “the revolt.” According to Strong’s Concordance, it’s a word that can mean either [a] revolt (rebellion) or defection/departure (falling away). Did Paul predict a spiritual falling away? This is a popular idea, but this word can also indicate a social or political rebellion. But to which does it refer here? Does it refer to a future worldwide apostasy from the Christian faith? Amillennialist William Hendriksen writes that this teaches that "by and large, the visible Church will forsake the true faith." Dispensationalist Constable comments: "This rebellion, which will take place within the professing church, will be a departure from the truth that God has revealed in His Word." Or does the apostasia refer to a political rebellion of some sort? 

I think that it speaks of the Jewish apostasy/rebellion against Rome. The Jewish historian Josephus speaks of the Jewish War as an apostasia against the Romans (Josephus, Life 4). Probably Paul merges the two concepts of religious and political apostasy here, though emphasizing the outbreak of the Jewish War, which was the result of their apostasy against God. 

The “falling away” then refers to that of Jews after the ascension of Christ, rather than that of the Church in the end of this age.

3. The Figure that Paul Has in Mind is a Person that is Alive at the Time of His Writing This Letter – 2:3b-5

The “man of lawlessness or sin” has been shaped by modern prophecy teachers and writers into a composite image and given many titles, among the most notable is that of the Antichrist. But there is no mention of this being The Antichrist. He is against Christ for sure.

What is the significance of the title “man of lawlessness”? It’s very likely that Paul was saying that this man would trample on the Law of Moses and freely commit sins under the law. The fact that he would sit in the temple is another clue to the meaning of “lawlessness” because the temple was central to the practice of Mosaic Law. This would also confirm that he was revealed while the law was still being practiced (Hebrews 8:13), i.e. before the temple was destroyed in AD 70.

For Tim LaHaye, and many other supposedly “prophecy experts”, the “man of lawlessness” in 2 Thess. 2 is "the king of Babylon' (Isa. 14:4), "Lucifer" (Isa. 14:12 KJV), "the son of destruction' (2Thess. 2:3), "the prince who is to come" (Dan. 9:26), "the little horn" (Dan. 7:8; 8:9), "the beast" (Rev. 13), the Antichrist and several other biblical characters all rolled into one. LaHaye asserts, "Many titles are given to Antichrist in the Scriptures - at least twenty in number." This futurized composite Antichrist supposedly will make himself known during the seven-year Tribulation period, after the rapture of the church. LaHaye maintains that he is European, specifically Roman, since he arises out of the midst of the "ten horns' on the head of the "fourth beast" (Dan. 7:7-8, 19-26). The fourth beast, like the fourth kingdom in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Dan. 2), is said to be a distant future, revived Roman Empire. This is the same beast that rises out of the sea in Revelation (13:1-10).

As a man of peace, the Antichrist will make a covenant with the Jews guaranteeing them peace and security in their own land. In the middle of the covenant period, he will break his agreement and turn on the Jews. He will then make war with the Jewish saints and will overcome them (Rev. 13:17; Dan. 7:21). According to LaHaye, during this three-and-one-half-year period of time, two-thirds of the Jews living in Palestine will be killed (Zech. 13:8-9). Although this was my position many years ago, it’s not now. In fact, I think this view of history has done more to impede the victorious gospel of the kingdom’s advance and impact than perhaps anything else!

A. The Restrainer is Known and Will be Removed – 2:6-7 -

In his description of the man of lawlessness, Paul makes it clear that he had a contemporary figure in mind. First, he tells the Thessalonians that “the mystery of lawlessness is already at work" (2 Thess. 2:7).

Second, the Thessalonians knew what was presently restraining the man of lawlessness: "And you know what restrains him now" (2:6). Paul does not write, "You know what will restrain him." In addition, Paul affirms that "only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way" (2:7). While there is a great deal of speculation on the identity of the restrainer, from these time-text passages we know that he was restraining in Paul’s day. Without ever being able to identify the man of lawlessness we can conclude that he appeared and disappeared in the first century.

Please, always keep this in mind, when we talk about the Jews. This was a first-century indictment of a single generation of Jews. God’s wrath was vented in A.D. 70. We have no right to lay the sins of the Jews of the first century or any other century on Jewish people today.

The “mystery of lawlessness” was probably a reference to the Zealot movement which had been gaining steam since Hezekiah the Zealot rose up in 47 BC, and especially since his son, Judas the Galilean (Acts 5:37), led a failed rebellion in AD 6. The goal of this movement was to regain for Israel the full independence which had been won by the Maccabees from 164-142 BC, but which was lost after Pompey the Great invaded in 63 BC. Their long-planned rebellion finally exploded into a full-scale war around August AD 66.

1. Who was the Restrainer” Many suggestions have been made to identify the restraining person or force of verses 2:6-7. These include: (1) the Roman government; (2) preaching of the gospel; (3) the binding of Satan; (4) the providence of God; (5) the Jewish state; (6) the church; (7) the Holy Spirit; (8) Michael, the archangel, (9) the presence of believers in Jerusalem whose leaders was James.

I have come to believe that the restrainer was, collectively, the Jewish high priests who led the peace movement in Jerusalem. Josephus, in Wars of the Jews, wrote a great deal about how they were a thorn in the side to the Zealots, at times preventing the Zealots from fully doing as they pleased. When the Jewish-Roman War began in AD 66, this peace movement was led by Ananus and Jesus ben Gamaliel. Josephus said that Ananus “preferred peace above all things,” was “a shrewd man in speaking and persuading the people,” and “had already gotten the mastery of those who opposed his designs or were for the war” (Wars 4.5.2). Ananus and Jesus were both killed, along with other priests, during the Zealot Temple Siege of February- March AD 68. I believe this was when the restrainer was taken “out of the way.” Their deaths marked a significant turning point for Jerusalem, according to Josephus.

2. The Man of Lawlessness is Revealed – 2:4, 8-10 – Gallons of ink have been used in writing opinions on the identity of the man of lawlessness. They range from the Roman emperor Caligula, Nero, Muhammad, the Pope, Hitler, Henry Kisinger, etc. ad infinitum.

During the Jewish-Roman War, there were two Zealot leaders who took their place in the temple: The first one, Eleazar ben Simon, made the temple, including the inner court, his headquarters for about 3.5 years (from the fall of AD 66 until April AD 70). He was killed in Jerusalem in AD 70. The second one took over the inner court about five months before the temple was destroyed, precisely when the Roman general, Titus, arrived and began his siege against Jerusalem (from April - August AD 70). He was captured, taken to Rome, and sentenced to life in prison. That was John Levi of Gischala.

I believe that John of Gischala, the son of Levi, a contemporary of Paul, was the man of lawlessness. The eyewitness account of Josephus, a Jewish-Roman historian, truthfully and impartially documents his treachery and his critical role in Jerusalem's demise. No one else in history - Caligula, Nero, Titus, or Domitian comes as close to fulfilling this prophecy as this most influential and deceiving Zealot leader John of Gischala, (Gischala was a village in Galilee.)

After the deaths of Ananas and Jesus, the Zealots were unrestrained. They “fell upon the people as upon a flock of profane animals and cut their throats.” Others endured “terrible torments” before finally meeting their deaths. At least 12,000 died in that massacre (Wars 4.5.3). John of Gischala, burned the grain storages containing enough grain to withstand several years of siege by the Romans, and poisoned much of the water in storage.

He took over the forces of God-forsaken, demonized men and stood in the Temple exalting himself above all that is called God. He put himself above both God and Caesar.  He regarded neither the laws of God nor those of man.

IV. The End of the Man of Lawlessness – 2:8b –

“…whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.”

When "that lawless one" is revealed, "the Lord will slay" him "with the breath of His mouth and bring [him] to an end by the appearance of His coming" (2 Thess. 2:8). Paul uses descriptive language from the Old Testament to describe the judgment of this usurper of God's authority. Paul’s language is similar to Isaiah 11:4: "And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked." Notice that in its Old Testament context that Jehovah does not appear in bodily form. The language is obviously meant to be interpreted figuratively since God does not have a mouth or lips. Similar language is found in Hosea 6:5: “Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth."

Where is the historical evidence that the Jews used "signs and wonders' to deceive the people? Josephus writes: “And now these impostors and deceivers persuaded the multitude to follow them into the wilderness, and pretended that they would exhibit manifest wonders and signs, that should be performed by the providence of God. ... Moreover, there came out of Egypt about this time to Jerusalem, one that said he was a prophet, and advised the multitude of the common people to go along with him to the Mount of Olives.... He said farther that he would show them from hence, how, at his command, the walls of Jerusalem would fall; and he promised that he would procure them an entrance into the city through those walls, when they were fallen down.”

In another place Josephus tells of a false prophet “who had made a public proclamation in the city ... that God commanded them to get upon the temple and that there they should receive miraculous signs of their deliverance-Josephus writes, of "a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet that continued a whole year." There was "a heifer, as she was led by the high priest to be sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple."

Eschatological expectations intensified as Jerusalem’s war with Rome came to a head. Many believed that the Messiah would return to deliver them. False prophets took advantage of this spurious expectation and deceived many. God had sent them "a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness" (2 Thess. 2:11-12). This passage parallels 1 Kings 22:19-22 where Ahab is enticed to go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead. In like manner, first-century Israel was enticed to go up and fight against the Romans and fall at Jerusalem.

Conclusion

Based on this brief survey of 2 Thessalonians 2, we can conclude that Paul is not describing a future Antichrist who will make a covenant with the Jews during a period popularly described as the Great Tribulation. Such a view is pure speculation that has no basis in biblical fact. Paul’s man of lawlessness was revealed in his day and in B.B Warfield's words - “God has blown him away.”

(I must give credit to Gary Demar and Ken Gentry for much of the material I used in this lesson.)