Jesus was to destroy the lawless one

JESUS WAS TO DESTROY THE LAWLESS ONE
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
2 Thessalonians2:8 8And then the lawless one will be
revealed, whom the LORD Jesus will overthrowwith
the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendorof
his coming.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Mystery Of Lawlessness
2 Thessalonians 2:7, 8
W.F. Adeney
The exact, objective application of this prediction, like that of the preceding
description, is not easyto discover. But principles are involved which are
susceptible of generalapplication.
I. THERE IS A MYSTERYOF LAWLESSNESS.By this expressionthe
apostle probably means a mystery the characterof which is lawless.
1. We may expect to meet with new mysteries. While time and inquiry resolve
some mysteries, they bring upon us fresh ones. We are not to expectto be able
to understand all the forces and influences with which we are surrounded. It

is enough that we are in the hands of God who knows all, and trusting in
Christ who can lead us safely through the darkness.
2. New mysteries may be characterizedby new lawlessness. The answerto our
inquiries may be very unsatisfactoryin revealing only evil. There are strange
novelties which are obscure in all points but their moral character, and that is
plainly evil. If so, we may hope for no good from them, and need not further
interest ourselves in them.
3. All lawlessnessis mysterious. How did it originate? How is its existence
possible? Why does not God sweepit away? These questions have perplexed
men in all ages.We bow before them in helpless, pained wonder.
II. THERE IS A RESTRAINT ON THE MYSTERYOF LAWLESSNESS.
1. Its full poweris not yet revealed. There are those who treat all sin with
unbecoming levity, because they do not yet see its terrible fruits. They are
playing with a torpid adder, that may awake atany moment and inflict a fatal
wound. No one knows what hidden possibilities of harm lurk in the deep
caverns of undeveloped sin. There are volcanoesin the hearts of some quiet
men which may burst into destructive fires.
2. Human means may be used to restrainthe mystery of lawlessness.
Government, law, society, healthy habits of the majority, keepit down for a
time.
3. God holds the mystery of lawlessnessin check. He is supreme over its
wildest raging. "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh." God restrains the
superabundant wrath of man (Psalm76:10).
III. THE HIDDEN MYSTERYOF LAWLESSNESS WILL BE REVEALED.
The volcano must break into eruption some day. Evil cannot slumber forever.
Hypocrisy will tire of its meek, innocent demeanour. The harvest of sin will
have to be reaped. Let not any man put his confidence in the secretnessor
slownessofthe processes ofevil. The more they are hidden now, the worse will
be the appalling outburst of them when the restraint under which they groan
at present is released. The longerthe wild horses are held in by the leash, the
fiercer will be their mad gallopwhen they break loose.

IV. CHRIST WILL CONQUER THE MYSTERYOF LAWLESSNESS.Evil
will not long be rampant. One fearful rebellion and then a tremendous defeat.
1. Christ is to be the Conqueror of it. He came to destroy the works of the
devil. We could not effectthis greatwork. He, our Saviour, does it for us.
2. Christ is to come againfor this object. When the mystery is revealed,
Christ's "manifestation" follows.
3. Christ conquers with a breath. His first work was difficult, involving his
death. His lastwork will be divinely simple, and yet sublimely successful. -
W.F.A.
Biblical Illustrator
And then shall that wickedbe revealed
2 Thessalonians 2:8
Antichrist

I. HIS TITLE. "Thatlawless one." It is the property of Antichrist to boast
himself to be above all laws, in which he resembles Antiochus (Daniel 11:36).
It cannot, therefore, be hard to find him out, for —
1. Who is that infallible judge that takes upon him to decide all controversies,
who judges all things, is judged of none; who destroys with fire and sword
those who question his authority, and who releases fromtheir allegiance the
subjects of those who dispute his supreme sovereignty?
2. Who is he that takes upon him, with faculties, licences,and pardons to
dispense with the law of God, and to allow open and notorious sins?
3. Who is he that by his own writers is said to be freed from all human law,
that has a paramount authority to all laws, that he cannot be bound by them?
One expresslysays that he is above law, againstlaw, and without law; a plain
description of the lawless one in the text; and another, not without a spice of
blasphemy, "God and the Pope have their will for a law."
4. Who is he that has brought into the Church the worship of God by images,
and the worship of saints and angels, whichis the greatlawlessnesswhichis
branded by the Christian law as such? If there be no such powerextant, then
we are yet to seek forAntichrist; but if there be, none so wilfully blind as they
that cannotsee woodfor trees, and know not where to fix this character.
II. HIS REVELATION.
1. His appearance in the world. He shall be in the world as soonas a certain
hindrance is removed.(1)The most learned argue that this impediment was
the Romanempire: that gone, Antichrist was to be revealedor the prediction
proved false.(2)Things of greatmoment cannot be removed nor establishedin
a minute. The removing of the Roman empire was not all at once, nor the
rising of the pontificate, but by degrees.WhenConstantine beganto remove
the imperial throne to Byzantium, though the majesty of the empire continued
at Rome, yet this was a step in removing the impediment; it lessenedthe
Emperor's authority there and increasedthat of the Pope's.(3)The progress
of Antichristian tyranny is, in short, this: About A.D. 600 their ecclesiastical
powerbegan to be raised when the majesty of the empire was weak in Italy.

When John of Constantinople had usurped the title of , said, "The king of
pride is near, and an army of priests is prepared to serve him as their
general;" and in about six years Phoeos conferredon Pope Boniface the same
title. About the Pope obtained the Pantheon, or temple of all devils, and
consecratedit to Mary and all saints. The temporal monarchy was long in
hatching, but beganin that century. Pope Constantine would have his foot
kissedlike another Diocletian, and openly resistedthe Emperor Philippius,
and encouragedthe treasonof Justine and Anastasius. In the eighth century,
Gregorys II and III continued the rebellion, and causedall Italy to withdraw
their obedience from the Emperor Leo; and later Zachary assistedPepin to
depose Childeric. Afterward Adrian took upon him to translate the empire of
the Greeks to the Latins, and ever since the Popes have made broils in
kingdoms and assumedthe right of deposing kings.
2. God's discoveryof him to the world was also by degrees,in raising up
witnesses againstthe tyranny and usurpation of Rome in every age. Five
hundred years before Luther, PeterBruis began, and Henry, his scholar,
succeededhim, and to both succeededthe and ; then Wicliffe, the ,
Savonarola, andlastly Luther and the German and English reformers.
III. HIS RUIN.
1. The manner of his fall.(1) "Consumed." Antichrist is not presently to be
destroyed, but to waste awayby a lingering consumption; as his rising was by
degrees so he will lose his authority.(a) The reasonfor this is that God has a
use for him as he has for the devil himself, and therefore permits him some
limited powerto scourge his people for their sins, to try his people's
obedience, to cure their divisions, and to keepup a remembrance of His
mercies.(b)Observe how this consumption is accomplished. The pomp and
height was about 1,500 years afterChrist, but what a decay has happened
since by the revival of religion and learning.(c)Caution. Antichrist is being
consumed, but he is not yet dead. What strength he may recoverbefore his
last destruction God knows;but it has re-enteredmany countries from which
it was castout, and made havoc among the evangelicalChurches. What, then,
shall we do? Watch and pray (Matthew 13:25); reform and repent (Revelation
2:5); be fortified and establishedby knowledge (2 Peter 3:17), by grace

(Hebrews 13:9; 1 John 2:20).(d) The author and means of this consumption,
"The Lord...with the breath of his mouth," which means either His
providential Word (Isaiah11:4; Psalm 33:6; Hebrews 1:3; John 18:6), or the
efficacyof His Gospel(Ephesians 6:17;Hebrews 4:12; Revelation2:16).
Antichrist's destruction is to be by the victorious evidence of truth. It must
needs be so, for the tyranny is upheld by darkness which is dispelled by the
light of truth; and therefore the Papists cannot endure the Scriptures. Again,
his kingdom is carried on by falsehood, and his impostures are discoveredby
the simplicity of the gospel.(2)"Destroyed."The coming which is to
accomplishthis final annihilation is most likely the SecondAdvent (2
Thessalonians 1:7, 8; 2 Thessalonians2:1-3). Others conceive some notable
manifestation of his presence and power in his Church, but it is certain that at
the judgment the beastand false prophet shall be castinto the lake of fire
(Revelation19:20).
2. The use to be made of this. Be not discouragedatthe survival of Antichrist:
his doom is sealed.
(T. Manton, D. D.)
The means of the destruction of Antichrist
C. Lee.
The gospel — "the breath of His mouth." And how admirably adapted is the
means to accomplishthe end!
1. The man of sin has usurped the place of God in the throne of the Church.
What is required to depose the tyrant? The proclamationand receptionof the
gospel. This shows that St. Peterhad no dominion over the consciencesofhis
brethren or the faith of the Church to which he ministered, and consequently
that he never transferred such power to others. The gospelshows that God is
the only Lord of conscience:and as this is knownand appreciatedwill man
fall from the position he has usurped, and God be raisedand worshipped.

2. The man of sin has dictated the creed of the Church and declaredit to be
the merit of human actions and sufferings. And what is necessaryto consume
this fatal error, but the knowledge ofthe gospelwhich declares that the just
shall live by faith: that salvationis of grace, through faith, and the gift of God.
3. The man of sin has vended and sold pardons and future rewards, whatis
necessaryto consume this powerof the Pope, exceptthe knowledge andbelief
that God only canforgive sins; that He forgives freely through the merits of
Christ, and for His sake confers the kingdom of heaven on those that believe.
4. The man of sin assumes a dominion over the invisible world, and professes
to have power to deliver souls from the flames of purgatory, what is necessary
to consume this error, but to circulate the Scriptures, which most clearly show
that God only has power to reachthe inhabitants of the invisible world.
5. The man of sin labours to keepmen in ignorance. What is necessaryto
dispel the darkness ofthe human mind, and thus to consume this his
stronghold, but to send men the light of life.
(C. Lee.)
The Christian revelation of life
NewmanSmyth, D. D.
1. In "ModernPainters" Ruskin reminds us of the delight we feelin view of a
bright distance overa dark horizon. At sunrise, beyond some line of purple
hills, we have seenthe sky become a greatspace of light, and though the
shadows ofnight were lingering in the valley we have lookedinto the dawn.
2. In the Bible we are always looking overa foreground in shadow into a
bright distance.(1)In Old Testamentprophecy the waste and tumult of
history were seenagainstthe far Messianic glory.(2)In the New Testamentthe
apostles have learned to see all the wickedness ofthe world horizoned by the
manifestation of the Coming of Christ.

3. In Christian vision, then, two aspects ofChristian life and world history
should be viewed together.(1)If we have been compelledto observe the evil of
the world we need to look on until we see its darkness beneath the brightness
of the Lord's presence.(2)On the other hand, we must not shrink from any
knowledge ofthe evil of the world. The GoodShepherd will seek the lost
sheep, and not wait for the coming dawn.
4. Observe how Jesus always seemedto see both aspects. Sinwas an ever
present fact to Him, but He saw it all setin the holy love of God; and because
of this He could at once condemn sin and rejoice over it.
5. A similar juxtaposition characterizes this chapter. We do not know exactly
of what Paul was thinking, but it is clearthat he saw the darker foreground,
and the bright distance, the mystery of iniquity still working, and the
manifestation of the coming of Christ.
I. THE TEXT DISCOVERS THE LAW BY WHICH THE
MANIFESTATION OF THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST FOLLOWS THE
REVELATION OF THE MAN OF SIN. The revelation of sin is necessaryfor
its judgment. As soonas the man of sin becomes revealed, then follows his
destruction. Things have to grow worse in order that they may become better.
We candiscoverthis principle when we survey greathistoric masses ofsin.
When Babylon's abominations were full, God's judgment brought all her
pomp down to hell. So with paganand mediaevalRome. The Goth and
Vandals were let loose by Providence when the vices of a decayedcivilization
had filled the cup of wrath; and the Papal corruption was ripe for destruction
when Luther sounded his appeal. What availed the voice of some New
England divine to check the growing systemof slaveryin America? Both
North and South were making money by letting it alone. But all the while it
was growing up under the law of God's judgment. Providence lets wheat and
tares grow till the harvest. And when at last that man of sin was fully
revealed, the compromises which had restrained the full growthand
revelation of slaverybeing takenaway, then came the hour of its destruction.
II. THERE IS ALWAYS, THEREFORE,REASON FOR HOPE WHEN WE
SEE SOME EVIL THING COMING OUT OF ITS CONCEALMENT, and

making its power felt with a more shameless impudence. Whether it be
intemperance, the powerof the saloon, or greed, or lust, or monopoly, or
anarchy. This law is a reasonfor hope and courage in all Christian work.
Something may have given you a moment's revelation of the mystery of
iniquity in your neighbourhood, and discouraged, youare tempted to say
What is the use of our feeble endeavour againstsuchpowers of evil? Or you
may have run againstsome dead wallof indifference, or custom, or wrong
method entrenched in some goodinstitution, and because rebuffed where you
expectedsympathy you either drop the work or continue with heartlessness.
But you have furled to look up until you saw some bit of God's sky at the end
of your way. If we are sure we have seenthe wrong and harm, we may be sure
that it will be manifest in time, and that in time what hinders its revelation
will be removed, and then it shall be consumed in the brightness of the Lord's
Coming. This is the reasonwhy the men who really have seenevil things, and
fought mightily against them, as a rule have been not only the bravest men,
the selfsacrificing, the martyrs, but also the cheeriestand most hopeful men.
It is the indifferent man, he who does not lift a finger to take any burden from
men's shoulders, who fears that his country is going to destruction, as it might
do for aught he does.
III. THE SAME PRINCIPLE OBTAINS WITH REFERENCE TO OUR
INDIVIDUAL SALVATION. Sins one after another come to revelation in our
lives, and, as they are revealedwill be consumed in some manifestation of
Christ. A man goes on in a life that was not satisfactoryto his conscienceor
heart. Something happens to bring that dissatisfactionto revelation. He sees a
larger, diviner selfrising before his present self, condemning it, and ready to
consume it as by the presence of Christ. That is a crisis for any man. And if we
disown the man of sin in us, and own the Christ self, we are converted. And
every time any sin comes to revelation is God's opportunity of grace. When it
Teachesits full measure it may not prove to be a vehement passion, or
devouring beast, but only some little meanness, selfishness, etc. Butat lastwe
see it as an evil thing, contrary to God. Then let it be consumedin the
presence ofChrist. "Beholdnow is the acceptedtime." And the progress
upward is one of ever increasing quickness ofperception of evil and power
over sin.

IV. Such is the benign law of growth and grace;BUT ITS ALTERNATIVE
CANNOT BE ESCAPED. If the man of sin in us is revealed, and we will not
let him go, what then? The sin must be punished. God cannot hold heaven safe
in one hand, and let the sin of the world escape from the other. The man of sin
must be destroyed, and if we cling to it how can God separate us from its fate?
We must go where sin goes, if our hearts cleave to the sin. That is so in this
world, why should it be different in any ether? All dishonesties go straight and
sure towards ruin, and eventually carry the defaulters with them. Hence the
urgency of the gospelto us now.
(NewmanSmyth, D. D.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(8) And then.—Then at length, when the obstructor is gone, two things shall
happen: (1) the Lawless One shall be revealed, and (2) then the Lord will
come and destroy him. The purpose with which St. Paul began this chapter
was to show relatively the date of our Lord’s Advent; but he is now so
engrossedin describing the events which must precede it, that when he does
mention the Advent again he does so in a parenthetical relative clause.
That Wicked.—Or, the Lawless One. The English versionhas againobscured
the passage by not keeping the same word as in 2Thessalonians2:7. The
generaltendency to “lawlessness”or“rebellion” will be brought to a head in
the personof “the Lawless One” or “the “Rebel,” justas the “obstruction” is
impersonated in “the Obstructor.” The publication of the “secretof
rebelliousness”will be effectedby the manifesto of the Rebel-in-chief. Of
course, this Rebelis the same person with the Man of Sin, the change of title
being due to the particularising of his sin by the word “lawlessness”in

2Thessalonians2:7; the specificationof the time is the only additional
intelligence;all the emphasis of the sentence, therefore, rests on“And then.”
The Lord.—The best text adds the name Jesus, whichserves more clearlyto
contrastHim with His rival. The word “whom” might be more pointedly
paraphrasedby “and him.”
With the spirit of his mouth.—St. Paul is quoting roughly from Isaiah11:4
(comp. Job 4:9; Psalm18:15; Wisdom Of Solomon11:20 : “might have fallen
down with one blast, . . . scatteredabroadthrough the breath of Thy power”);
and therefore we are to understand it to signify the perfectease with which
Christ will destroy Antichrist. Even when the phrase is used of speech(as it
may perhaps be here), the absence oflabour is the point to be noticed (e.g.,
Psalm33:6).
With the brightness of his coming.—Rather, with the appearing of His
presence. Here, again, it is the mere fact of the true Christ’s showing Himself,
which will reduce to nothingness (such is the meaning of the Greek for
“destroy”)the false Christ. When they shall stand face to face there will be no
possibility of delusion any more.
BensonCommentary
2 Thessalonians 2:8. And then — When every prince and power that restrains
is takenaway; that wicked — Ο ανομος, that lawless one, who boasts himself
to be above all laws, and the infallible judge, dispensing with, and interpreting
the laws of God, according to his pleasure. Nothing can be more plain than
that this wickedor lawless one, andthe man of sin, must be one and the same
person: shall be revealed — This revelationmust mean that he would then no
longerwork secretly, but would openly show himself, possessingthe
character, and performing the actions ascribedto the man of sin. Whom the
Lord shall consume — The apostle does not mean that he should be consumed
immediately after he was revealed;but, to comfort the Thessalonians,he no
soonermentions his revelation, than he foretels also his destruction, even
before he describes his other qualifications; which qualifications should have

been describedfirst in order of time, but the apostle hastens to what was first
and warmestin his thoughts and wishes. The word αναλωσει, here rendered
to consume, Chandler observes, is used to denote a lingering, gradual
consumption; being applied to the waste oftime, to the dissipation of an
estate, and the slow death of being eatenup of worms. He supposes it has the
same meaning here, importing that the man of sin is to be gradually destroyed
by the spirit — Or breath rather, as it seems πνευμα should have been here
translated; of Christ’s mouth — By which expressionthe preaching of true
doctrine, and its efficacyin destroying the man of sin, are predicted. For the
mouth being the instrument by which speechis formed of breath, or air from
the lungs, the breath of his mouth is a proper figurative expressionto denote
the speaking orpreaching of true doctrine. Accordingly, the preaching of the
gospel is termed, (Revelation19:15,)a sharp sword proceeding out of the
mouth of Christ; and (Hosea 6:5) God says, I have hewed them by the
prophets, I have slain them by the word of my mouth. See also Isaiah11:4. Or,
the expressionmay include both the preaching of the gospeland the powerof
the Spirit accompanying it; and shall destroy with the brightness of his
coming — By clear, convincing reasons and arguments contained in the
doctrine of those that shall speak or write by the Spirit of Christ, or by God’s
manifest judgments againsthim in the pouring out of the severalvials,
Revelation16. The originalexpression, επιφανεια της παρουσιας αυτου, is,
literally, the bright shining of his coming, and means that, as darkness is
dispelled by the rising of the sun, so the mystery of iniquity shall be destroyed
by the lustre with which Christ will cause the true doctrine of the gospelto
shine. “If,” says Dr. Benson, “St. John and St. Paul have prophesied of the
same corruptions, it should seemthat the head of the apostacywill be
destroyedby some signaljudgment, after its influence or dominion hath, in a
gradual manner, been destroyedby the force of truth.” According to Daniel,
(Daniel 7:27,) after the little horn is consumed and destroyed, the kingdom,
and dominion, and the greatness ofthe kingdom under the whole heaven,
shall be given to the people of the saints of the MostHigh; a prediction which
undoubtedly signifies the generalconversionof both Gentiles and Jews to the
Christian faith, and the universal reign of righteousness and peace through all
the earth.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
2:5-12 Something hindered or withheld the man of sin. It is supposed to be the
powerof the Roman empire, which the apostle did not mention more plainly
at that time. Corruption of doctrine and worship came in by degrees, and the
usurping of powerwas gradual; thus the mystery of iniquity prevailed.
Superstition and idolatry were advancedby pretended devotion, and bigotry
and persecutionwere promoted by pretended zeal for Godand his glory. This
mystery of iniquity was even then begun; while the apostles were yet living,
persons pretended zeal for Christ, but really opposedhim. The fall or ruin of
the antichristian state is declared. The pure word of God, with the Spirit of
God, will discoverthis mystery of iniquity, and in due time it shall be
destroyedby the brightness of Christ's coming. Signs and wonders, visions
and miracles, are pretended; but they are false signs to support false
doctrines; and lying wonders, or only pretended miracles, to cheatthe people;
and the diabolical deceits with which the antichristian state has been
supported, are notorious. The persons are described, who are his willing
subjects. Their sin is this; They did not love the truth, and therefore did not
believe it; and they were pleasedwith false notions. God leaves them to
themselves, then sin will follow of course, and spiritual judgments here, and
eternal punishments hereafter. These prophecies have, in a greatmeasure,
come to pass, and confirm the truth of the Scriptures. This passage exactly
agrees withthe system of popery, as it prevails in the Romish church, and
under the Romish popes. But though the son of perdition has been revealed,
though he has opposedand exaltedhimself above all that is calledGod, or that
is worshipped; and has spokenand acted as if he were a god upon earth, and
has proclaimed his insolent pride, and supported his delusions, by lying
miracles and all kinds of frauds; still the Lord has not yet fully destroyedhim
with the brightness of his coming; that and other prophecies remain to be
fulfilled before the end shall come.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
And then shall that Wickedbe revealed - ὁ ἄνομος ho anomos - "the wicked
one," referring to the "man of sin," and called"the wickedone" because of

the eminent depravity of the systemof which he was to be the head; see the
notes on 2 Thessalonians 2:3.
Whom the Lord shall consume - The Lord Jesus;see the notes on Acts 1:24.
The word "consume" here - ἀναλώσει analōsei - means "to destroy;" see
Galatians 5:15; Luke 9:54. The word would be applicable to any kind of
destruction. The methods by which this will be done are immediately specified
- and it is of much importance to understand them, if this refers to the papacy.
"With the spirit of his mouth." What goes outof his mouth, or what he
speaks;that is, word, truth, command, or gospel - all of which he may be
regardedas speaking. In Revelation1:16; Revelation19:15, Revelation19:21,
it is said of the Redeemerthat "a sharp two-edgedswordgoethout of his
mouth;" that is, his word, doctrine, or command - what he speaks -is like a
sharp sword. It will cut deep; will lay open the heart; will destroy his enemies.
Compare Isaiah 11:4, "With the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked."
The reference in the passagebefore us is to one of the methods which would
be employed to "destroy" the man of sin; and the sense is, that it would be by
what is spokenby the Redeemer. This may refer either to what he will sayat
his coming, or to his truth - already spoken;to what has gone from his lips, by
whomsoeveruttered; and the meaning then is, that one of the grand agencies
for destroying this anti-Christian poweris the truth spokenor revealedby the
Saviour - that is, his pure gospel.
If this latter is the true interpretation, it may mean that the process forhis
destruction may have commencedlong anterior to the personalappearing of
the Redeemer, but that the complete destruction of this powerwill be
accomplishedby the splendor of his secondcoming. It cannotbe denied,
however, that the most obvious interpretation is that which refers both clauses
in the sentence to the same period - that of his secondcoming. Still, it is not
improper to suppose that it may be implied that his powerwill be weakened
and diminished by the influence of the gospel, though it may not be wholly
destroyeduntil the secondcoming of the Saviour.
And shall destroy - καταργήσει katargēsei. Shallbring to nothing; cause to
cease;put an end to. This is, in some respects, a strongerword than that
which in the former part of the verse is rendered "consume." It denotes a

more entire destruction than that, though it does not refer so much to any
positive agencyby which it will be done. In the former word, the attention is
directed more to the agencyby which the destruction will be effected - to the
exertion of some kind of powerto do it; in this word the attention is directed
rather to the entireness or totality of the destruction. The anti-Christian
domination will wholly cease,orbe entirely destroyed. The words would
naturally harmonize with the idea that there would be a somewhatgradual
process under the operationof truth towardthe destruction of the man of sin,
but that the complete annihilation of his power would be by some more
manifest exhibition of the personalglory of the Saviour.
With the brightness of his coming - This is evidently a Hebraism, meaning his
splendid or glorious appearing. The Greek word, however, rendered
"brightness" (ἐπιφανεία epiphaneia - epiphany) - means merely "an
appearing," or "appearance." So it is used in 1 Timothy 6:4; 2 Timothy 1:10;
2 Timothy 4:1, 2 Timothy 4:8; Titus 2:13, in all which places it is rendered
appearing, and refers to the manifestation of the Saviourwhen he shall come
to judge the world. It is used nowhere else in the New Testament. There is no
necessaryidea of splendor in the word, and the idea is not, as our translation
would seem to convey, that there would be such a dazzling light, or such
unsufferable brightness that all would be consumed before it, but that he
would appear, and that this anti-Christian powerwould be destroyed by his
appearing; that is, by himself when he would return. The agencyin doing it
would not be his brightness, but himself. It would seemto follow from this,
that, howeverthis enormous powerof wickedness might be weakenedby
truth, the final triumph over it would be reservedfor the Son of God himself
on his secondreturn to our world. Yet, if this be so, it need not lessenour zeal
in endeavoring to diminish the power of these corruptions; to establishand
spread the truth, or to convertthe defenders of these errors to a better faith.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
8. Translate, "the lawless one";the embodiment of all the godless
"lawlessness"whichhas been working in "mystery" for ages (2Th2:7): "the
man of sin" (2Th 2:3).

whom the Lord—Some of the oldest manuscripts read, "the Lord Jesus."
How awful that He whose very name means God-Saviour, should appear as
the Destroyer;but the salvation of the Church requires the destruction of her
foe. As the reign of Israelin Canaanwas ushered in by judgments on the
nations for apostasy(for the Canaanites were originallyworshippers of the
true God: thus Melchisedek,king of Salem, was the "priest of the most high
God," Ge 14:18: Ammon and Moabcame from righteous Lot), so the Son of
David's reign in Zion and over the whole earth, is to be ushered in by
judgments on the apostate Christianworld.
consume … and … destroy—So Da 7:26, "consume and destroy"; Da 11:45.
He shall "consume" him by His mere breath (Isa 11:4; 30:33): the sentence of
judgment being the sharp swordthat goethout of His mouth (Re 19:15, 21).
Antichrist's manifestation and destruction are declaredin the same breath; at
his greatestheighthe is nearesthis fall, like Herod his type (Isa 1:24-27;Ac
12:20-23). As the advancing fire, while still at a distance consumes little insects
[Chrysostom] by its mere heat, so Christ's mere approach is enough to
consume Antichrist. The mere "appearance ofthe coming" of the Lord of
glory is sufficient to show to Antichrist his perfect nothingness. He is seized
and "castalive into the take of fire" (Re 19:20). So the world kingdoms, and
the kingdom of the beast, give place to that of the Son of man and His saints.
The Greek for "destroy" means "abolish" (the same Greek is so translated,
2Ti 1:10); that is, cause everyvestige of him to disappear. Compare as to Gog
attacking Israeland destroyed by Jehovah(Eze 38:1-39:29), so as not to leave
a vestige of him.
with the brightness of his coming—Greek, "the manifestation, (or
appearance)ofHis presence":the first outburst of His advent—the first
gleamof His presence—is enoughto abolishutterly all traces of Antichrist, as
darkness disappears before the dawning day. Next, his adherents are "slain
with the swordout of His mouth" (Re 19:21). Bengel's distinction between
"the appearance ofHis coming" and the "coming" itself is not justified by 1Ti
6:14; 2Ti 1:10; 4:1, 8; Tit 2:13, where the same Greek for "appearing"
(English Version, here "the brightness")plainly refers to the coming itself.
The expression, "manifestation(appearing)of His presence," is usedin awful
contrastto the revelationof the wickedone in the beginning of the verse.

Matthew Poole's Commentary
And then shall that Wickedbe revealed:this revealing I think differs from
that mentioned before, 2 Thessalonians 2:3;he is first revealed, as I said:
quoad existentiam, when he comes forth into being, and then quoad
apparentiam, when he comes to be discovered. And this I suppose is meant
here, because his destruction is mentioned as following upon it; for the
discovering of him is the first stepto his ruin, and here is calledby another
name. At his first rising he is a man of sin; but after he hath violated the laws
of God and the laws of Christ by setting up his own, he is well calledanomov,
that lawless one;and now he that pretended so highly for Christ is discovered
to be antichrist. The mystery of iniquity that before lay hid comes to be
revealed, God enlightening the eyes of many learned ministers and princes,
yea, and of multitudes of people herein; the Scriptures, before shut up in an
unknown tongue, being now translatedto the understanding of the common
people; those that were made drunk with the wine of her fornication,
Revelation17:2, now put awaytheir wine from them, as Eli said to Hannah;
and the kings and kingdoms that gave their powerto the beast, now come to
hate the whore, & c., the time being come for the fulfilling the words of God
herein, Revelation17:17. And this revelation is signified and foretold when the
angelsaid to John, I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast
that carrieth her, Revelation17:7. There is need of a Divine revelationto
know the mystery of iniquity, as well as the mystery of godliness. And the
woman is the same with the man of sin mentioned before, once the spouse of
Christ, but now by her idolatry become a whore, and divorced from him; said
to be also that greatcity, which reigneth over the kings of the earth,
Revelation17:18. By the understanding these thngs this wickedone comes to
be revealed.
Whom the Lord shall consume; which is not done all at once;his consumption
goes before his destruction. As Jezebel, the prophetess who seducedthe
servants of God to commit fornication, is said to be castinto a bed of
languishing, Revelation2:20,22;as he rose up by degrees, so shallhe be
consumed gradually. His power declines by degrees, both civil and

ecclesiastical, and the authority he had gotboth in and over the consciencesof
men. The seven vials are the sevenlast plagues, which do gradually consume
him. And this is said to be done by the Lord himself, which is the Lord Jesus.
He that made warwith the Lamb is overcome by the Lamb, Revelation17:14;
though many instruments may be employed herein; for he is saidto have
those with him who are called chosenand faithful; and it belongs to him, as all
powerof heavenand earth is given to him, to save his people, and to destroy
his adversaries;as it is said of him, Psalm97:3: A fire goethbefore him, and
burneth up his enemies round about. As he is a refreshing, directing light to
his people, so a consuming fire to his adversaries. The stone cut out of the
mountain without hands, Daniel 2:34, smites the image in the time of the
fourth monarchy, when Christ came into the world, and in the latter end of it,
under the antichristian state, it is broken in pieces.
With the spirit of his mouth; as was prophesiedof him, Isaiah11:4: With the
breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked, eventhis wickedone here in the
text, Revelation18:8 19:15. And this, as some interpret, he shall do with ease,
as by a word speaking;or by a word of command, saying:Let it be done, and
it shall be done. Or, as we may read it, with the spirit of his lips, because ofthe
poweror spirit that goes along with his word. But this breath of Christ’s
mouth Cajetane and others understand of the word of the gospel, whichis the
breath of Christ’s mouth in the mouths of his ministers, calledthe everlasting
gospel, Revelation14:6, which an angelflying through the midst of heaven is
said to have, to preach to them that dwell upon the earth; and then followed
by another angel, saying: Babylon is fallen, is fallen, 2 Thessalonians2:8. The
mystery of iniquity will be unveiled by the clearpreaching of the word; and
the primitive pure institutions of Christ, and doctrines of the gospel:will be
vindicated from the antichristian corruptions and innovations. And the spirit
of Christ going forth with the gospel, willmake it effectualhereunto. These
are the rod of his strength, whereby he rules in the midst of his enemies,
Psalm110:2, and whereby he shall consume this man of sin. Nations and
people will fall off from him as they come to understand the truth by the word
preached.

And shall destroy; after is consuming follows his destruction, katarghsei,the
word destroy here signifies to abolish, enervate, to make of no force; and so
used often in the New Testament:sometimes applied to the law, Romans 3:31,
sometimes to the body of sin, Romans 6:6, sometimes to persons to whom
Christ will not be effectual, Galatians 5:4; here to the man of sin: so that
whateverremains there may be of him in the world, they shall be without any
efficacyor power: his jurisdiction shall be abolished, his keys shall not be able
to open or shut, the edge of both his swords shall be quite blunted, his triple
crownshall fall off his head, his purgatory fire shall be put out, his images
shall lose their veneration; the spell of the cross shallbe detected, the
intercessionofsaints shall be found to be a fiction, infallibility shall be fonnd
to be a deceit, supremacyof the church shall fall to the ground; the rivers of
his large revenues shall be dried up, &c., and the beastthat was, and is not,
and yet is, Revelation17:8, shall now utterly ceaseto be.
With the brightness of his coming: the breath of his mouth wastedhim, and
the brightness of his coming destroys him. Some interpret this of Christ’s
personalcoming to judgment, which will be with greatbrightness, as Matthew
24:27:As the lightning comethout of the east, and shineth even unto the west,
so shall the coming of the Son of man be; coming in the glory of heaven, and
every eye shall see him; and of his coming he spake 1 Thessalonians4:1-18,
and in this chapter also, as that which was not so near at hand as some
imagined. And without question his coming will destroy him, if not destroyed
before, as well as the rest of the wicked, 2 Thessalonians 1:9; but whether
judgment may not first proceedagainstthe antichristian state, and those that
have sinned under the gospel, is a question. It is sometimes mentioned
particularly with respectto them: as in the parable of the tares and wheat,
Matthew 13:1-30, of the ten virgins, and the talents, Matthew 25:1-46. And the
beastand false prophet are castinto the lake of fire, Revelation19:20, before
the generaljudgment, mentioned Revelation20:12. So that at Christ’s
personalcoming his judgment will, as some conceive, beginhere, and then

proceedto the restof the world; whereupon many assignsome greatlength of
time to Christ’s stay upon earth, and judging the world. Others take
the brightness of his coming in a spiritual sense, fora clearermanifestation of
Christ in the world. As the kingdom of antichrist, or of this man of sin, is
founded in darkness, so the brightness of this coming will dispel and destroy
it. With respectto his eternal generation, Christ is said to be
the brightness of his Father’s glory, Hebrews 1:2; but this is a brightness with
respectto men. And though he hath come in his Spirit to enlighten his church
from the beginning of the world, and more eminently after his ascension, yet
this will exceedall the former, and is peculiarly styled
the brightness of his coming. And so they expectthis destruction of this man
of sin before Christ’s coming to judgment; for if it be the same with the fall of
Babylon, mentioned in the Revelation, many things are to be done here upon
earth after that, before Christ’s last coming, and they mention the calling of
the Jews, the destruction of those enemies calledGog and Magog, the coming
down of the new Jerusalemfrom heaven, which is some glorious state of the
ctmrch here upon earth. However, the apostle here mentions nothing of a
destruction by the material sword; what princes may do of different religions
upon a civil account, I do not know, but as this man of sin rose out of the
apostacyofthe church, so he will not be consumedand destroyedbut by a
return from it, which is done by the breath of Christ’s mouth, and the
brightness of his coming. But yet, by some instruments or other, Godwill
avenge the blood of his servants upon this man of sin in the time and way
appointed of him.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
And then shall that wickedbe revealed,.... Thatlawlessone, who sets himself
above the laws of God and man, and dispenses with them at pleasure, who

judges all men, but is judged by no man; as he was in his ecclesiasticalpower,
when Phocas, who murdered the Emperor Mauritius, granted to Boniface III.
to be calleduniversal bishop; and in his civil powerin succeeding popes, who
took upon them the powerover kings and emperors, to crown, depose, and
excommunicate at pleasure:
whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth: that is, the "Lord
Jesus", as the Alexandrian copy, and Vulgate Latin version read; and the
Syriac version, "our Lord Jesus":who is Lord of lords, and God over all; and
so able to do what he is here said he shall do: and which he will do
with the Spirit of his mouth; meaning either the Holy Spirit, the third person
which proceeds from him, as in Psalm33:6, and so the Ethiopic version,
"whom the Spirit of our Lord Jesus shallcastout"; Christ will by his Spirit
blow a blast upon antichrist and his kingdom, which he shall never recover
again, but everafter consume and waste away:or else by his spirit is meant
his Gospel;the Scriptures in generalare the breath of God, being divinely
inspired by him, and are the swordof the Spirit, the twoedgedswordof law
and Gospel, which proceeds outof Christ's mouth; the Gospelcontains the
words of Christ, which are spirit and life; these come out of his mouth, and
are sharper than any twoedgedsword;and as hereby sinners are cut to the
heart, hewn and slain, convictedand converted, so by this likewise antichrist
will be consumed, and is consuming; for this phrase denotes the beginning of
his destruction, which took place at the time of the reformation by the
preaching of the Gospelby Luther and others; by which this man of sin
receivedhis deadly wound, and has been in a consumption eversince, and is
sensibly wasting in his powerand glory every day, and will ere long come to
utter destruction:
and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming; either in a spiritual way,
when he shall come in his spiritual kingdom and glory, by the light of his
Gospeland the illuminations of his Spirit; when at eventide it shall be light;
when he the sun of righteousness shallarise;when latter day light and glory
shall appear, and latter day darkness, the gross darknessofPopery,
Paganism, and Judaism, which coverthe people, shall, be removed, and
antichrist in every form shall disappear: or in a personalmanner, when he

shall come to judge the quick and dead, which will be in flaming fire and great
glory; and then will antichrist and his followers, the beastand those that have
worshipped him, be castwith the devil and the false prophet into the lake
which burns with fire and brimstone; and this will be the last and utter end of
him. In this passage there is a manifest reference to Isaiah 11:4, "with the
breath of his mouth shall he slay the wicked":which the Targumist
paraphrases,
"with the words of his lips he shall slay , "Armillus the wicked":''
and which the Jews saywill be done by the Messiahat his coming;
"for so (i) (say they) that phrase in Deuteronomy 22:8 "if a man fall from
thence", has respectto Armillus the wicked, who at the coming of our Messiah
will be slain, as it is said in Isaiah 11:4'
This Armillus, the Jews say(k), is the head of all idolatry, the tenth king who
shall reign at Rome, the city of Satan;that he shall rise up after Gog and
Magog, andshall go up to Jerusalem, and slay Messiahben Joseph, and shall
himself be slain by Messiahthe son of David; yea, they sayexpressly (l), it is
the same whom the Gentiles callantichrist: it is the same with Romulus the
first king of the Romans, and designs a Roman, the Roman antichrist; and it
may be observed, that the Targumistinterprets "the breath of his mouth", by
his word; and so says another of their writers (m),
"the meaning is by the word of his lips, for the word goes outof the mouth
with the vapour and breath:''
such an expressionas this is said (n) to be used by Moses, whenhe was bid by
God to answerthe angels who objectedto his having the law given him;
"I am afraid (says he) they will slay(or burn me), , "with the breath of their
mouth":''
much more may this be feared from the breath of Christ's mouth.
(i) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 148. 2.((k)Apud Buxtorf. Lex. Talmud. col. 221, 222,
223. (l) Abkath Rochel, par. 1. sign. 7. p. 52. (m) In Ohel Moed. fol. 19. 1.((n)
T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 88. 2.

Geneva Study Bible
{8} And then shall {i} that Wickedbe revealed, whom the Lord shall {k}
consume with the {l} spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness
of his coming:
(8) That wickedness willat length be detectedby the word of the Lord, and
will utterly be abolishedby Christ's coming.
(i) Literally, that lawless fellow, that is to say, he that will completely tread
upon God's law.
(k) Bring to nothing.
(l) With his word, for the true ministers of the word are as a mouth, by which
the Lord breathes out that mighty and everlasting word, which will break his
enemies apart, as though the word were an iron rod.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
2 Thessalonians 2:8. What was left to the readers themselves to supply to
μόνον, 2 Thessalonians2:7, from the conclusionof 2 Thessalonians 2:6, is now,
in its essence,althoughin an altered form, expressly indicated by καὶ τότε
ἀποκαλυφθήσεται ὁ ἄνομος.
καὶ τότε] and then, namely, as soonas the κατέχωνis taken out of the way.
The emphasis is on καὶ τότε, not on ὁ ἄνομος (Grotius), nor on
ἀποκαλυφθήσεται.
ὁ ἄνομος]the lawless one, is not a different person from ἄνθρωπος τῆς
ἁμαρτίας (Grotius), but identical with him. For καὶ τότε ἀποκαλυφθήσεται
points back to μόνον, 2 Thessalonians 2:7, and by this to ἀποκαλυφθῆναι
αὐτόν, 2 Thessalonians 2:6. The expressionἀνομία, justused, afforded the
easilyexplained occasionforcalling Antichrist ἄνομος.

With the relative sentence ὃνὁ κύριος … παρουσίας αὐτοῦ (which is
incorrectly enclosedin a parenthesis by Benson, Moldenhauer, Schott, and
Kern) the apostle immediately adds the ultimate fate which Antichrist has to
expect. That Paul so directly passes overto this, although he has it yet in view
to speak of the working of Antichrist before his destruction (comp. 2
Thessalonians 2:9-10), is an involuntary impulse of his Christian heart which
causes him immediately to resolve the horror which the announcementof such
an event as the ἀποκάλυψις τοῦ ἀνόμου has into comfort and consolation, as a
discord into harmony, comp. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4.
In a soaring and poeticalform of expression, the members of which have their
Hebrew parallels, Paul describes the fate of Antichrist. Not improbably Isaiah
11:4 was presentto his mind, where it is declaredof the promised Delivererof
the seedof Jesse:καὶ πατάξει λῆν τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ,καὶ ἐν
πνεύματι διὰ χειλέων ἀνελεῖ ἀσεβῆ.
ἀναλίσκειν] to consume, to destroy.
τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ]describesthe powerand irresistible might
of the reappearing Christ, the breath of whose mouth suffices to bring His
opponents to nothing. More definite interpretations, as the sentence of
condemnation (Vatablus, Cornelius a Lapide), or a command or address
(Theodoret:φθέγξεται μόνον; Theodore Mopsuestia,ed. Fritzsche, p. 148:
μόνον ἐπιβοήσας … τοῦτο γὰρλέγει τὸ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ ἀντὶ
τοῦ τῇ φωνῇ, ἀπὸ τοῦ παρʼ ἡμῖν αὐτὸ εἰρηκώς, ἐπειδὴ ἡμεῖς τῷ πνεύματι
συνεργῷ κεχρήμεθα πρὸς τὴν ἔναρθρονλαλιάν), are to be rejected; for they
destroy or weakenthe picturesque directness and strength of the figure.
Comp. moreover, Eurip. Med. 588:ἓν γὰρ οὖν κτενεῖ σʼ ἔπος.

καταργεῖν]to overthrow, to annihilate. On accountof Revelation19:20,
Calovius and Olshauseninterpret the verb of a mere “rendering inefficient,”
depriving Antichrist of his influence; but the parallelἀναλώσει decides
againstthis meaning, and a comparisonof the Pauline form of expressionwith
that of the Apocalypse is useless labour.
τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ]by the appearance ofHis presence. The
majestic brightness of the advent is not describedby ἐπιφάνεια (Musculus,
Hemming, Bullinger, Heinsius, Andrew Osiander, Cornelius a Lapide,
Erasmus Schmid, Calixt, Clericus, Bernard a Piconius, SebastianSchmid,
Schoettgen, Turretin, Whitby, Benson, Macknight, Koppe, Krause, Bolten,
Heydenreich, Pelt, Schott, Kern, Wieseler, and others); also παρουσία and
ἐπιφάνεια are not to be distinguished, as Olshausenstrangelythinks, as
objective and subjective, i.e. as “the actualfact of the appearance ofChrist,”
and “the contemplationof it on the part of man, the consciousnessofHis
presence;” but the placing the two togetherhas the same design as formerly,
τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ, namely, vividly to representthe powerof
Christ, inasmuch as the mere advent of His presence suffices to annihilate His
adversaries. Comp. Bengel:“apparitio adventus ipso adventu prior est, vel
certe prima ipsius adventus emicatio, uti ἐπιφάνεια τῆς ἡμέρας.”
Expositor's Greek Testament
2 Thessalonians 2:8. ὅν, κ.τ.λ., his careeris short and tragic. The apparition
(cf. 1 Timothy 6:14, etc., Thieme, Die Inschriften von Magnesia, 34 f.) of Jesus
heralds his overthrow.—ἐπιφανείᾳ = sudden appearance ofa deity at some
crisis (cf. Diod., Sicul., i. 25), as the godin 2Ma 2:21; 2Ma 3:24, etc. “In
hieratic inscriptions the appearing of the god in visible form to men is
commonly expressedby the same word” (Ramsay, Exp. Ti., x. 208). This
passage, with its fierce messianic anticipation of the adversary’s doom
interrupts the description of his mission which is resumed (in 2 Thessalonians
2:9) with an accountof the inspiration (κατὰ), method (ἐν) and results (2
Thessalonians 2:10), of this evil advent. Galen (de facult. nat., 1. 2, 4–5)
physiologicallydefines ἐνέργεια as the process ofactivity whose product is

ἔργον. The impulse to ἐνέργεια is δύναμις. The δύναμις of this supernatural
delusion is speciallymanifested in signs and wonders. The powerof working
miracles in order to deceive people (2 Thessalonians2:11)was an accepted
trait in the Jewishand early Christian ideas of such eschatologicalopponents
of God (cf. on Revelation13:13, and Friedländer’s Geschichte d. jüd. Apolog.,
493 f.).
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
8. And then shall that Wickedbe revealed]Then, “in his own season” (2
Thessalonians 2:6), in contrastwith the now of the lastclause, the time of his
restraint: then shall be revealedthe lawless one (R. V.).
It is essentialthat we keepin mind the identity of the figure depicted from 2
Thessalonians 2:3 onwards. The variety, of synonyms employed by the A.V. is
distracting. This “revealing of the Lawless One” is the unveiling of “the
mystery of lawlessnessalreadyat work;” he is no other than “the man of
lawlessness, the son of perdition” announced in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Three
times, with persistentemphasis, the word revealedis repeated(2
Thessalonians 2:3; 2 Thessalonians 2:6;2 Thessalonians2:8), as of some
unearthly and portentous object, that holds the gazerspell-bound. Comp. note
on “mystery,” 2 Thessalonians 2:7.
“The lawless” (anomos)is a term frequently occurring in the LXX, both in the
singular and plural; it denotes the typical “sinner,” or “wickedperson” ofthe
O.T.
whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth] According to the
true reading, and better rendering, whom the Lord Jesus shallslay with the
breath of his mouth (R. V.).

On the title “Lord Jesus” and its relation to the SecondAdvent, see note to 1
Thessalonians 2:19. Jesus, the human Name, could not be wanting here, where
the overthrow of “the man of lawlessness”is in question.
The words that follow come from the prophecy of the judgement of the Rod of
Jesse, Isaiah11:4 : “He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and
with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked.” Such predictions had not
been accomplishedin the humble, suffering Messiah,—orbut in foretaste, by
the denunciations of Jesus (Matthew 23. &c.);they remain to be verified in
His triumph. The Lawless One, being the ultimate embodiment of the world’s
wickednessand defiance of God, must suffer the conclusive fulfilment of the
prophet’s words.
Just as the sight of the Lord Jesus will suffice to bring ruin on cruel
persecutors (ch. 2 Thessalonians1:9), so it will need but the breath of His
mouth to lay low the haughty and Titanic Antichrist: “A word shall quickly
slay him!”
and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming] More exactly, and shall
bring to nought with the manifestationof his coming (or presence:Greek
parousia;see note on this word, 1 Thessalonians 2:19).
The Greek verb signifies to make inoperative, destroy in effect; it is a
favourite word with St Paul: comp. 2 Timothy 1:10, “having abolisheddeath;”
and Galatians 3:17, “to make the promise of none effect.” The electof the
manifestation of the Lord Jesus willbe to paralyse the Lawless One and strip
him of his power. See note on ch. 2 Thessalonians 1:9, “destruction(coming)
from the presence ofthe Lord.”

The word rendered “manifestation” (epiphaneia, our Epiphany) is not found
in St Paul againtill we come to his latestEpistles, where it is applied to the
Second, and once to the First Coming: 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 1:10; Titus
2:13. It signifies by usage an extraordinary, commonly a superhuman, divine
apperance. Similarly the corresponding adjective, rendered “notable’ in Acts
2:20 (from Joel2:31 : Hebrew, “terrible”). Prima ipsius adventus emicatio
(Bengel).
In 2 Thessalonians2:9-12 we are told (1) of the agencywhich brings about the
coming of the Man of Lawlessnessand the means employed for the purpose,
(2) of the victims of his ascendancy(2 Thessalonians 2:10), and (3) of the issue
for which in the sovereigntyof Divine judgement his poweris overruled (2
Thessalonians 2:11-12).
Bengel's Gnomen
2 Thessalonians 2:8. Τότε, then) immediately.—ὁ ἄνομος)This is the last and
most weighty appellation, comprehending the force of the preceding ones.
That unjust, iniquitous, lawless one, and(by a more nervous term used by
Plautus and Nonius, ‘illex’) the outlaw. ‫,עשר‬ LXX., ἀσεβὴς, ungodly, Isaiah
11:4 : He shall smite the earth with the word (rod) of His mouth (τοῦ
στόματος αὐτοῦ), and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the ungodly (ἐν
πνεύματι—ἀνελεῖ ἀσεβῆ).—ὃν, whom) after having long enoughacted the
part of a man of violence.—ὁ Κυρίος,[18]the Lord) the Lord of lords,
Revelation19:16.—τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ,by the breath [or
rather, the Spirit] of His mouth) There also proceeds out of this mouth a
sword(ῥομφαία), Ib. Revelation19:15; Revelation19:21.—ΤῇἘΠΙΦΑΝΕΊᾼ
Τῆς ΠΑΡΟΥΣΊΑς ΑὐΤΟῦ, with the appearance ofHis coming [But Engl.
Vers., with the brightness of His coming]) In some places appearance,in
others coming [παρουσία], is mentioned, the latter in 2 Thessalonians 2:1,
both being used in the same sense;but here the appearance ofHis coming is
before the coming itself, or at least(it expresses)the first dawn of the
brightness of His actualcoming, as ἐπιφάνεια τῆς ἡμέρας [expresses the
appearance ordawning of day].

[18] The 2d Ed. prefers the fuller reading ὁ Κυρίος Ἰησοῦς; and the Germ.
Vers. follows it.—E. B.
Tisch., with B (judging from silence), Rec. Text, Orig. 1, 668d, reads ὁ Κύριος.
But Lachm. better, with AD(Δ) corrected, Gfg Vulg., Orig. 4, 321b, Iren. 182,
323, Hilary, reads ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς. Orig. 1, 424e has Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς.—ED.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 8. - And then; namely, so soonas he that restraineth is takenout of the
way. Shall that Wicked; or, that lawless one, in whom the mystery of
lawlessnessis realized; not different from, but the same with, the "man of sin,
the sonof perdition." Be revealed; appearunveiled in all his nakeddeformity.
No longer working secretly, but openly, and in an undisguised form; no longer
the mystery, but the revelation of lawlessness. The apostle now interrupts his
description of the man of sin by announcing his doom. Whom the Lord; or, as
the bestattestedmanuscripts read, whom the Lord Jesus. Shallconsume; or
rather, shall slay (R.V.). With the spirit (or, breath) of his mouth. Various
interpretations have been given to this clause. Some refer it to the Word of
God, and others to the Holy Spirit, and suppose that the conversionof the
world is here predicted; but this is evidently an erroneous interpretation, as
the doom of antichrist is here announced. Others refer the term to a cry or
word, and think that the sentence of condemnationpronounced by the Lord
Jesus on the wickedis intended. But the words are to be takenliterally as a
description of the powerand irresistible might of Christ at his coming - that
the mere breath of his mouth is sufficient to consume the wicked(comp.
Isaiah11:4, "He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the
breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked"). And shall destroy(or, annihilate)
with the brightness (or, appearance)of his coming. The two words, epiphany
and parousia, which are elsewhereusedseparatelyto denote the coming of
Christ, are here employed. There is no ground for the assertionthat the first
is the subjective and the secondthe objective aspectof Christ's coming
(Olshausen). The brightness of Christ's coming is not here expressed;but the

meaning is that the mere appearance ofChrist's presence will annihilate the
wicked.
Vincent's Word Studies
Consume (ἀνελεῖ)
Better, slay, as Matthew 2:16; Luke 22:2; Acts 5:33.
Spirit (πνεύματι)
Better, breath. Πνεῦμα, almost always translatedspirit, is from πνεῖν to
breathe or blow. Frequent in class. in this sense. Comp. John 3:8; Hebrews
1:7. lxx, Psalm 147:7;Ep. of Jeremiah61. Philo says "the spirit of God
signifies, in one sense, the air, the third element; and it is used in this sense in
the beginning of Genesis... forair, being light, is born up, and uses wateras its
basis. In the other sense it is the pure wisdom in which every wise man
participates" (De Gigantibus, 5). See on Romans 8:4.
Shall destroy (καταργήσει)
See on cumbereth, Luke 13:7 and see on make without effect, Romans 3:3.
With the brightness (τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ)
See on 1 Timothy 6:14. Rev., correctly, manifestation. See lxx, Esther5:1;
Amos 5:22; 2 Macc. 2:21;3 Macc. 2:9. In class. (but late) of deities appearing
to a worshipper (Plut. Themistocles,30):of the sudden appearance of an
enemy (Polyb. i. 54, 2): of a manifestation of Providence (Diod. Sic. i.:15): of
the heathen gods assuming shape and appearing in order to work mischief
(Just. Mart. Apol. i. 5). In N.T. of the parousia. See 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy
1:10; 2 Timothy 4:1, 2 Timothy 4:8; Titus 2:13. In 2 Timothy 1:10, of Christ's
historicalmanifestation. So ἐπιφαίνω, Titus 2:11; Titus 3:4. Only here in Paul.
Coming (παρουσίας)
Or presence, which is the original meaning. In N.T. with a few exceptions, of
the secondcoming of Christ. The combination manifestation of his presence
(only here) appears to emphasize the resistlesspowerof the Son of man, not

(as Lightfoot) his splendor and glory. The mere appearing of his presence
suffices to destroy his adversary.
PRECEPT AUSTIN RESOURCES
BARCLAY
THE LAWLESS ONE (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12)
2:1-12 Brothers, in regardto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and in
regard to our being gatheredto him, we ask you not to be readily shakenin
your mind and not to getinto a state of nervous excitement because ofany
statementpurporting to come from us either in the Spirit or by word of
mouth or by a letter and alleging that the Dayof the Lord is here. Let no one
deceive you in any way. The Day of the Lord will not come unless there comes
first The RebellionagainstGod, and unless there be revealedThe Man of Sin,
The Son of Perdition, the one who opposes himself to and exalts himself
againsteveryone who is calledGod or made an object of worship so that he
attempts to take his seatin the very temple of God and proclaims that he
himself is God. Don't you remember that when I was still with you I told you
these things? As for the present, you know the power which restrains him so
that he may be revealedin his own time. Forthe secretof lawlessnessis even
now in operation. But The Man of Sin will appear only when the one who
restrains him is removed from the scene. And then The Lawless One will be
revealedand the Lord Jesus will destroyhim with the breath of his mouth and
will render him ineffective by his appearance andhis coming. The coming of
The Lawless One is for those who are doomed. He will come according to the
working of Satan with all powerand signs and wonders which issue from
falsehood, and with all wickeddeceit. They are doomed because theydid not
receive the love of truth that they might be saved. For this cause Godsends
them a deceiving energy in order that they might believe in a lie so that all

who have not believed but have consentedto that principle of unrighteousness
may be judged.
This is undoubtedly one of the most difficult passagesin the whole New
Testament;and it is so because it is using terms and thinking in pictures
which were perfectly familiar to those to whom Paul was speaking but which
are utterly strange to us.
The generalpicture is this. Paul was telling the Thessalonians thatthey must
give up their nervous, hystericalwaiting for the SecondComing. He denied
that he had ever said that the Day of the Lord had come. Thatwas a
misinterpretation of his words which must not be attributed to him; and he
told them that before the Day of the Lord could come much had still to
happen.
First there would come an age of rebellion againstGod; into this world there
had already come a secretevil powerwhich was working in the world and on
men to bring this time of rebellion. Somewhere there was being kept one who
was as much the incarnation of evil as Jesus was the incarnation of God. He
was The Man of Sin, The Son of Perdition, The Lawless One. In time the
powerwhich was restraining him would be removed from the scene;and then
this devil incarnate would come. When he came, he would gatherhis own
people to him just as Jesus Christhad gatheredhis. Those who had refusedto
acceptChrist were waiting to accepthim. Then would come a lastbattle in
which Christ would utterly destroy The Lawless One;Christ's people would
be gathered to him and the wickedmen who had acceptedThe Lawless One as
their master would be destroyed.
We have to remember one thing. Almost all the Easternfaiths believed in a
powerof evil as they believed in a powerof good; and believed, too, in a kind
of battle betweenGodand this powerof evil. For instance, the Babylonians
had a story that Tiamat, the dragon, had rebelled againstMarduk, the
creator, and had in the final battle been destroyed. Paul was dealing in a setof
ideas which were common property. The Jews, too, had that idea. They called
the Satanic powerBelialor, more correctly, Beliar. When the Jews wishedto
describe a man as utterly bad they calledhim a son of Beliar(Deuteronomy

13:13;1 Kings 21:10;1 Kings 21:13;2 Samuel 22:5). In 2 Corinthians 6:15
Paul uses this term as the opposite of God. This evil incarnate was the
antithesis of God. The Christians took this over, later than Paul, under the
title Antichrist (1 John 2:18; 1 John 2:22; 1 John 4:3). Obviously such a power
cannot go on existing for ever in the universe; and there was widespreadbelief
in a final battle in which God would triumph and this force of anti-God would
be finally destroyed. That is the picture with which Paul is working.
What was the restraining force which was still keeping The Lawless One
under control? No one cananswerthat question with certainty. Mostlikely
Paul meant the Roman Empire. Time and againhe himself was to be saved
from the fury of the mob by the justice of the Romanmagistrate. Rome was
the restraining power which kept the world from insane anarchy. But the day
would come when that powerwould be removed--and then would be chaos.
So then Paul pictures a growing rebellion againstGod, the emergence ofone
who was the devil incarnate as Christ had been God incarnate, a final struggle
and the ultimate triumph of God.
When this incarnate evil came into the world there would be some who would
accepthim as master, those who had refusedChrist; and they along with their
evil masterwould find final defeatand terrible judgment.
Howeverremote these pictures may be from us they nevertheless have certain
permanent truth in them.
(i) There is a force of evil in the world. Even if he could not logicallyprove
that there was a devil many a man would say, "I know there is because Ihave
met him." We hide our heads in the sand if we deny that there is an evil power
at work amongst men.
(ii) God is in control. Things may seemto be crashing to chaos but in some
strange way even the chaos is in God's control.
(iii) The ultimate triumph of God is sure. In the end nothing can stand against
him. The Lawless One may have his day but there comes a time when God
says, "Thus far and no farther." And so the greatquestion is, "On what side

are you? In the struggle at the heart of the universe are you for God--or
Satan?"
STRONG DELUSION
Dr. W. A. Criswell
2 Thessalonians 2:8-11
5-11-58 7:30 p. m.
This sermon tonight is the most terrible that I have ever prepared in my life.
In the secondchapterof the secondThessalonianletter – Second
Thessalonians, the secondchapter – if you would like to read with me the
passage, we shallbegin at the eighth verse: SecondThessalonians, the second
chapter, beginning at the eighth verse.
The title of the sermon tonight is The Strong Delusion. The text is the
eleventh verse:"Forthis cause Godshall send them strong delusion, that they
should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth"
[2 Thessalonians2:11-12].
Now let’s read the context if you would like. SecondThessalonians2,
beginning at the eighth verse, and we’ll read the chapter.
And then shall that wickedbe revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with
the Spirit of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming,
Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and
signs, and lying wonders,

And with all deceivablenessofunrighteousness in them that perish, because
they receivednot the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
For this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a
lie,
That they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.
But we are bound to give thanks alwayto God for you, brethren beloved of
the Lord, because Godhath from the beginning chosenyou to salvation
through sanctificationof the Spirit and belief of the truth,
Whereunto He called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been
taught, whether by word or our epistle.
Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath
loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolationand goodhope through
grace,
Comfort your hearts and stablish you in every good word and work.
[2 Thessalonians 2:8-17]
Nor would I preach on a thing like this were it not so evidently before me as
we go through the Bible and were it not also so much a fabric of the texture of
the gospel.
A greatpart of this sermon tonight, I do not understand. I do not know. I – it
is beyond me. But it’s in the Bible, and I see it not only in the Book Godhas
written with His hand, but I see it in the book all around me of human life and
human story.
The text is that these who oppose God in Christ "with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receivednot the love of the

truth, that they might be saved" [2 Thessalonians2:10] – "no" to God, and
"no" to Christ, and "no" to Jesus – "for this cause,"turning down the appeal,
"for this cause" – saying "no" to Christ – "for this cause Godshall send them
strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned,
that they all might be judged, who believe not the truth" [2 Thessalonians
2:11-12]. And the text: "Forthis cause Godshall send them strong delusion"
[2 Thessalonians2:11].
Now it is a different translation. I mean, the actualwords are not "strong
delusion." Means the same thing: "For this cause Godshall send them
energeia." And you’ve got an English word like that Greek wordenergeia.
Bestway to translate it would be "working" – "Godshall send them a
working," an energeia planēs.
Ninety-one times in this New Testamentdo you find that word and cognate
words and words that mean the same thing. Ninety-one times will you find
that – translatedin many places "deception, deceiving, a working of
deception." Planaō means "to wander," or "to cause to wander," and finally
"to leadastray," and then "to deceive."
That’s interesting thing – words. "Planet" comesfrom that. It’s from the
Greek word planaō, "wandering, to make to wander, to deceive, to lead
astray." Planētēs – one of the forms of the verbs – a planētēs, and your word
"planet" comes from it. And that came because in the ancient world, the so-
calledastronomers – they weren’tastronomers, they just did the best they
could looking up there in the sky. Some stars seemedto wander, to move
around, so they calledthem planētēs:"planets." Theymoved around, and
some stars seemedto be fixed. That’s what the ancient lookedat up there in
the sky.
Well, that’s this word here: "a wandering, a causing to wander, a leading
astray," and then finally the meaning "a deception, an illusion, a deceiving."
And it is so much in the Word of the Lord. As I turn the page here, Paul
traces the fall of humanity, all of it, to a deception, to a deceiving. "Adam was
not deceived" – he knew what he was doing – "but the woman being deceived,
was in the transgression" [1 Timothy 2:14].

You know, another interesting thing about words: most of the times, a word
that is used first back here in the beginning will have the same use and the
same significance all the way through the Holy Scriptures. And back there in
the third chapter of Genesis andin the thirteenth verse, Eve says to God:
"The serpent beguiled me" – there’s that word again, "deceivedme" – "and I
did eat" [Genesis 3:13].
"Adam was not deceived, but the woman, being deceived" [1 Timothy 2:14]
beguiled – same word. "Satanbeguiled me" – deceived me, led me astray –
"and I did eat" [Genesis 3:13].
I one time heard of a boy in England on the countryside walking down a lane
followedby a pig. Had he been followedby a dog, no one would have thought
of it, but it was unusual to see a boy walking down the lane followedby a pig.
And a man passing by, noticing it, saidto the lad, "How do you getthat pig to
follow you?"
And he said, "I do it with a bag of beans. I drop a bean here and a bean there
and a bean there, and the pig comes along and he follows me eating the
beans."
And the man said, "Where are you taking the pig?"
And the boy said, "To the slaughterhouse."
Deceived.
"Forthis cause Godshall send them strong delusion," an energy, a working of
deception, led astray, "that they might be damned who believed not the truth"
[from 2 Thessalonians2:11-12].
Now, I saidthere is a tremendous revelationof this thing in the Word of God.
"The Spirit speakethexpresslythat in these latter times" [1 Timothy 4:1] –
and all times are latter times for us. Brother, fifty years from now, you won’t
be here. Twenty-five years from now, most of us will not be here. Outside of
these young people, a score, a decade – these are latter times for us. "The
Spirit speakethexpressly. . . they shall depart from the faith, giving heed to

seducing" – there’s that word again – "deceiving spirits, doctrines of demons,
speaking lies in hypocrisy" [1 Timothy 4:1-2].
That’s the strangest:"in hypocrisy," a pseudologōn, pseudologōn. Pseudo is
"false." Logosis "word." "In hypocrisy": people who speak false words.
The true logos – and it’s translated "Word" – the true Word is Christ, and
here he speaks ofpseudologos. Here is the true Christ and the true gospeland
the true message,and here is a false word and a false hope and a false appeal
and a false invitation and a false gospel, calledhere – this is only place you’ll
find that word – a pseudologos:a "false word."
Turn the page, and here in SecondPeter, there are coming and have been – 2
Peter2:1 – "false prophets," pseudo prophētai. "Evenas there shall be false
teachers,"pseudo didaskoloi, "who privily shall bring in damnable heresies,
[denying] the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift
[destruction]"; pseudo didaskoloi, pseudo didaskolos, "a false teacher" –
didaskolos, "didactic, teacher," didaskolos;pseudo, "a false one."
This is a speaking of the day when we come to our highestintellectual
capacities,our greatestachievements inscience and research, when
psychologyhas plumbed the depths of the human soul, when culture and
knowledge and training and education are on every hand. This – instead of
the teacherand his science andhis knowledge leading and bringing to God, it
brings to grossermaterialismand atheism, and a spurning of the great
spiritual values of life, and a doing awaywith the necessityofa personal
commitment to Jesus Christ – a pseudodidaskolos.
And they are everywhere and in every institution, and our institutions become
a little more grosslymaterial, grosslyinfidel – not just our state institutions.
More and more and more people, they say, who are religious, who are
converted, who are saved, are that way because ofintellectual aberration.
They are ecclesiasticalnuts. If they knew better, they wouldn’t be that way –
didaskolos, "teachers,"pseudo, "false."
Then it says "false prophets." You know, when you read and you’re thinking
of a thing, everything you read seems to point in that direction. Times are
coming, says the Bible, when there shall fall upon this world fire and blood

and furor and smoke, war[Revelation8:5-13]. And it’s in those days that
people turn to any kind of a savior, anybody that could lead them out.
Now this is from Josephus [Titus Flavius Josephus, 37-100CE]in that
famous, famous accountof the fall of Jerusalemin 70 A. D. as he writes of it
in the sixth book of The Wars of the Jews [75 CE]. Josephus was the general
of the Hebrew army, and he was captured in Galilee. He headed the army in
Galilee, and he sat there in the tents of the commanders of the Roman legions,
and he saw the destruction of Jerusalem. You’ll not find in literature
anything more vivid than as he describes the blood that flowed in the streets
of the city of God. And this is the paragraph of its final destruction:
A false prophet was the occasionof these people’s destruction. He had made a
public proclamation in the city to that very day: God commanded him to get
up on the temple, and that there they should receive miraculous signs of
deliverance. Now there was then a greatnumber of false prophets suborned
by the tyrants to impose upon the people . . . that they might be buoyed up
above fear and care by such hopes.
[Book VI, Chapter 5, The Wars of the Jews, by Josephus, 75 CE]
False hopes:"You don’t need to worry; we not going to have another war.
You don’t need to worry; things are getting better and better and better. You
don’t need to be concerned;we all going to be saved. God’s good. God’s full
of love. He’s not going to damn anybody to hell. Don’t you be concernedor
troubled or agitated." False prophets!
Then he spiritualizes. Josephus always doing that. "Now a man" – he’s
telling why they were such dupes and why they followedthese false teachers
and prophets:
Now a man that is in adversity does easily comply with such promises; for
when such a seducermakes him believe that he shall be delivered from those

miseries which oppress him, then it is that he’s full of hope for such
deliverance.
These were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers . . .
– he uses the same Greek word there –
while they did not attend nor give credit to the signs that were so evident, and
did so plainly foretelltheir future desolation. . . but like men infatuated,
without eyes to see or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that
God had made to them.
[Book VI, Chapter 5, The Wars of the Jews, by Josephus, 75 CE]
Josephus believedthat Jerusalemwas committed by God to destruction, and
he’s speaking ofthe false prophets who say: "There’s a deliverance. God’s
not going to damn you. He’s not going to destroyyou." And they were
buoyed up in false hopes by false doctrines by false prophets. I had a great
deal prepared that I’m going to leave out.
False Christs. You had one in recentdays. Have you evergone to Chicago
and seenthat Baha’i, big temple of Baha’ism? They got one in Haifa [Haifa,
Israel], all over this world. And in our day, Abdu’l-Baha [1844-1921], the
original of Baha’ism, said, "I am all these early messiahs together. I
supersede all previous teachers. Christwas the highest until I came;and now
it is the duty of men to listen to me."
And this Book says, in this text that I am preaching from [2 Thessalonians
2:8-11], that that kind of a thing shall find its ultimate in this final Antichrist,
this final wickedone, this final man of sin, the son of perdition. Our world
shall be in such stress, such, suchheaviness and misery, such warand blood,
that they will look to anybody who will say, "I can lead the way out. I am
your savior."

And turning aside from God and the true Christ and repentance and faith in
Him, the multitudes flock to this false Christ and are led to ultimate
damnation and destruction which brings me to the heart of this messageand
this text. Turning aside from the truth and turning aside from the saving
gospelof the Son of God – the true, the alēthea logos, the true logos, the true
Word – therefore, God shall send them this energizing of delusion that they
might be damned who believed not the truth [2 Thessalonians2:10-12].
A thing like that strikes you dead. How is it that God, God do a thing like
that? "Forthis cause Godshall send them strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie, that they might be damned who turn aside from the truth" [2
Thessalonians 2:11-12]ofJesus Christ. I don’t know. I don’t understand. I
just see it everywhere.
There is a principle – like Godruns His universe by gravity, by the laws of
light – there is a spiritual law/principle that when a man says "no" to God and
"no" to Christ and "no" to the appealthat finally he becomes a negation
himself. God confirms him in that rejection. I canillustrate it endlesslyin the
Bible.
In the days of Noah, He said, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man"
[Genesis 6:3], and at the end of the 120 years of the preaching of righteous
Noah, God shut him in the ark [Genesis 7:13-16].
And that young evangelist, BucknerFanning [1922- ], preaching one night
on that described a thing that I have heard severaltimes, and always it’s the
truth of God. He described the rain as it began to fall and the waters as they
beganto rise, and then the people went to the door of the ark and pounded on
the door: "Noah!Noah!Noah!Open to us!" Why didn’t Noah open the door?
Becausethe Bible says God shut that door [Genesis 7:16]. God shut the door.
You find the same thing in the parable of the five foolishvirgins [Matthew
25:1-13]. While the five who were wise entered in, the five who were foolish
went to buy oil for their lamps [Matthew 25:10]; and when they came back,
the door was shut. And they said, "Lord, Lord, open to us" [Matthew 25:11].
And God shut that door and said, "Depart, I never knew you" [Matthew
25:12]. God did it.

You have the same confirmation in the life of Esau. Thoughhe sought it
carefully with tears, he couldn’t undo those decisions that he made [Genesis
25:29-34, 27:38-41;Hebrews 12:16-17].
You have the same thing in the story of Pharaoh. Pharaohhardened his heart
[Exodus 8:15], and Pharaohhardened his heart [Exodus 8:32], and Pharaoh
hardened his heart [Exodus 9:34]. Then the Bible says, "And then God
hardened his heart" – confirmed him in the decisionthat he’d made [Exodus
9:12, 10:1]. "Godshall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a
lie, that they might be damned" [from 2 Thessalonians2:11-12]. Hardened
his heart, hardened his heart, hardened his heart, then God hardened his
heart.
Same Scriptures describe Saul, who, turning aside from the appealof Samuel,
the prophet of God, and turning aside from the expressedand manifest will of
God [1 Samuel 15:1-15]– finally it says:"The Spirit of the Lord departed
from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him" [1 Samuel 16:14].
You have the same thing graphically describedhere in the first chapter of the
Book ofRomans three times. Did you everhear of that symphony of
Beethoven? [Ludwig van Beethoven, 1712-1773]Is it the ninth one? "Ta, ta,
ta, da" – that theme all through that. Sound like a death knell. "Wherefore
God gave them up," Romans 1:24. Romans 1:26: "Forthis cause Godgave
them up." Romans 1:28: "God gave them up."
You say"no" and "no" and "no" and "no," and some day it is a confirmed
negationin your life. You will die in that negative:"No, no."
I cannot enter into it. "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto
death, he shall ask, and He shall give him life for them that sin not unto death.
There is a sin unto death. I do not saythat he shall pray for it" [1 John 5:16].
There is a sin unto death: "No;no; no," and God says, "No."
"Preacher, why, I canrepent any time. I can give my life to the devil, and
then at the end of it, I can come and be saved. Don’t try to scare me. I’ve
heard the preachersay, ‘And He’s a Godof mercy’ [Deuteronomy 4:31]. I’ve
heard him say, ‘He delights not in the death of anyone’ [Ezekiel18:23]. I’ve

heard him say, ‘And whosoeverwill may come’[Revelation22:17]. I have
said ‘no’ to Him forty years. I’m going to say‘no’ to Him thirty more years,
and at the end of seventyyears, after I’ve given my life to the world, I am
coming down that aisle and be saved. "
Are you? Canyou? Will you? "Forthis cause Godshall send them a strong
delusion . . . that they might be damned who reject the truth" [2
Thessalonians 2:11-12].
I just don’t know whether you can do it any time or not – death bed
repentance the old-timers used to preach about. And the thief on the cross
nailed there, just before he died, turned in faith to Jesus, andJesus savedHim
[Luke 23:39-43]. So far as we know, being a malefactor, he wasn’ta cheap
robber or thief. He was an insurrectionist; he was a patriot; he was leading
armies againstRome. So far as we know, that political leader, that’s the first
time he ever saw Jesus. And the first time he ever had an opportunity to
acceptthe Lord, he did it. And so far as I know, there is no instance in the
Bible where a man has rejectedGod and then, on his deathbed, turned and
has been saved. So far as I know, I do not know of any.
There’s something about when you say"no." There’s something about it,
that your heart becomes that negation. "I don’t care what the preachersays,
I am not going down that aisle. I don’t care how many people pray, I’m not
going to respond. I don’t care how earnestlythey plead or how many times
they visit in my home, I am not going to respond."
"And God sends a strong delusion . . . that they might be damned who receive
not the truth" [2 Thessalonians 2:11-12]. Youbecome that. You are that, and
you die that way. As the eleventh chapter of Ecclesiastes says,"As the tree
falls, so shall it lie" [Ecclesiastes11:3].
Oh these things, they are awful. The damnation and the judgment and the
condemnation of God upon men who refuse Christ, it’s awful to contemplate:
forever and ever, and always and forever, and in unending eons of eternity,
always and forever in torment, in darkness, in loneliness [Matthew 25:30;
Luke 16:19-26].

Isn’t that funny? "Don’tyou be disturbed, preacher. If I go down to
perdition and damnation, most of the world will be there with me." Isn’t that
a strange thing? The Bible picture of perdition is not that you’re in the crowd.
You’re by yourself. You’re alone. You’re in darkness. You’re not going to
have a frivolous, tripping, likesome goodtime. Brother, you’re in hell.
You’re in torment. You’re damned! You’re shut out from God. You’re by
yourself. There’s no light there; there’s no glory there; there’s no fellowship
there; there’s no communion there. You are by yourself, shut out in utter
darkness, foreverand forever and forever and forever.
These things bow you to your knees. O, God!
You know, reading the lives of some of these Scots preachers, I came across
one not long ago. He said – he died when he was in his twenties. Theywere
trying to gethim to spare himself, and his answerwas very humble and very
simple. He said, "How can I sleepat night when there are three thousand
souls in this village, and I know not how it is with them and God?" No
wonder he spent his life.
A fellow went to the church to find out the secretof the young pastor’s
tremendous, tremendous effectin preaching. Wasn’t anybody there but the
janitor, and so he asked the janitor, "How is it that this young man was so
effective in his preaching?"
And the janitor said, "Why, I canshow you easily." He said, "You come with
me."
And he followedthe janitor to the pastor’s little cubbyhole of a study. He
said, "That’s his chair. Sit down in it." And the visitor sat down in the
preacher’s chair. He said, "Now that’s his desk." He said, "Put your hands
on it," and he put his hands on it. He said, "Put your face in your hands,"
and the visitor put his face in his hands. He said, "Now weep."
He took him to the auditorium. He said, "Mount up into the pulpit," and he
mount in the pulpit. He said, "Now stand there behind the sacreddesk," and
he stood there behind the sacreddesk. And he said, "Now coveryour face
with your hands and weep!"

That’s the fellow who said, "How can I sleepwhen there are three thousand
souls in this village, and I know not how it is betweenthem and God?"
I say of me – not speaking ofyou, of me – that I act as though this message
were a travesty. Where is the blood-red earnestnessin it?
Man, if you reject this appeal, you are lost; and if you continue to rejectthis
appeal, God will confirm you in that rejection! Your heart becomes
insensible. Your soul is calloused. Your life is draggeddown. You are lost
and you will die that waybarring the miraculous intervention of God. Oh, oh,
oh, let us pray.
Our saving Lord, the same blessedJesus who took up into His arms the little
children as lambs and blessedthem [Matthew 19:13-15], that same loving
Lord is the One who taught us almost all that we know of the fires of
damnation, of the awful day of judgment [Matthew 13:40-42]. He was the
One who wept looking over a lostcity: "Oh, how oft would I have gathered
thy children together, as a hen gathereth her brood under her wing, and you
would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate" [Matthew 23:37-38].
No other way, no other hope, no other truth [John 14:6]. Our salvationlies in
Thee, O Jesus.
Then, Lord, why can’t I preachlike it? Why can’t I persuade like it? Why
could people come to these services and go out these doors lost: "No, I will
not"? O merciful and compassionateGod, our Father, intervene tonight.
Stand in the way of a man’s headlong plunge into that final death and
judgment, and turn him around. May he come in faith to Thee. We pray in
Jesus’name. Amen.
While we sing this song of appeal, would you turn tonight, and in simple and
humble faith and trust, come to Jesus? Wouldyou? Would you? You may not
understand it all. I surely don’t. But no small part of the glory of being a
Christian is its continual unfolding and revelation. Even the angels look into
it [1 Peter1:12] desiring to understand it, and they cannot. How much less
could a man?

But I know enough to know that Jesus died for me. I know enough to know
that He has savedother people. Did you have a Christian mother? Did you
know a Christian father? Have you seena Christian mother or father? Have
you seengodly people? Let them be a testimony what God can do for you.
What He’s done for somebodyelse, He can do for you and will.
In simple faith: "Notthat I know it all or understand it all or canexplain it
all, but I know enough to know that Jesus died for me [Romans 5:8]. And I
can be savedby a look at the Crucified One." There is life for a look for thee
[Numbers 21:6-9;John 3:14-15]. Would you look tonight and be saved?
Would you?
CorrectionConcerning the Day of the Lord—Part 2 (2 Thes. 2:6-8)
Introduction
In this next section, vss. 6-12, the apostle is still writing to refute the idea that
the Dayof the Lord was present. The fundamental objective again, however,
was protectthe truth of the parousia and our gathering togetherunto Him,
i.e., what that means to the church as the “blessedhope.” The apostle had
appealedto the Thessaloniansto not be shakenor easilyunsettled about the
false claims that they were then in the Day of the Lord. His appeal was first
basedon two facts: that day cannot be present without the presence of the
greatfuture rebellion that must come first before the secondnecessary
ingredient—the unveiling of one called “the man of lawlessness.”This
rebellion is not the mystery of lawlessnessalreadysetin motion, but evidently
a future, sudden, and final revolt that provides the final seedbed for the
unveiling of the lawless one’s presence.
Throughout history, it has been the desire of Satan to exalt himself above the
throne of God and to be worshipped. This one who will come, “the lawless
one,” is Satan’s man, the product of the working of Satanhimself (vs. 9). So

why hasn’t Satan been able to revealhis man before now? Though the identity
of the restraineris very difficult by way of interpretation, part of the answer
to this question is found in these verses in the conceptof the restrainer. Satan,
as the arch enemy of Godand man, is now active night and day seeking whom
he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8). This nefarious creature would have long ago
brought the kingdoms of this world to even greaterruin and raisedup his own
kingdom so that he might be worshipped if it were not for the sovereign
restraint of God’s grace.
Both the activities of Satanbefore the flood and God’s response atthat time
illustrate this principle. Before the flood, the wickedness ofman was extreme
and the intent of his heart bent only on evil (Gen. 6:5). Satan’s activity was
certainly part of the cause for the extreme conditions that existed, but the
point is that God did not allow this to continue. Genesis 6:3-4 states the divine
intention to halt these conditions in the declaration, “Thenthe LORD said,
‘My Spirit will not contendwith man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be
a hundred and twenty years’” (NIV). Or as the NET Bible translates, “So the
LORD said, ‘My Spirit will not always protectmankind—his days will be a
hundred and twenty years.’” Regardlessofhow the word “contend”51is
translated, the point of the text “… seems to be that the Lord would not allow
the race to continue on in such debauchery; rather, there would be a limit.”52
Clearly then, because Godrestrains the forces of evil in the world today,
Satancan only do what he does by the permissive will of God as with Job(see
Job 1-2). But a day is coming when that restraint is going to be removed and
then Satanwill move quickly to set up his end time system of horror.
The SecondExplanation:
The Day of the Lord and Its Relationto the Restrainer
(2:6-8)
2:6 And so you know what holds him back, so that he will be revealedin his
own time. 2:7 For the hidden powerof lawlessnessis already at work.
However, the one who holds him back will do so until he is takenout of the

way, 2:8 and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy
by the breath of his mouth and wipe out by the manifestation of his coming.
The Delayof the Day of the Lord (2:6-7)
Paul has shownus that the Day of the Lord cannotbe presentwithout the two
phenomena mentioned, “the rebellion” and the “revelationof the man of
lawlessness,”but now a third important phenomenon is brought into the
picture that must also occurbefore the Day of the Lord canbe present. Verse
8 begins with tote, “then, at that time.” It is an adverb of time which shows a
sequence ofevents. This stands in strong contrastwith the focus on the
present seenin verse 7 which is brought out more forcefully in the translations
of the NIV and the NASB. The NIV has, “Forthe secretpowerof lawlessness
is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so
till he is takenout of the way” (emphasis mine). Note the words “already” and
“now.” “Already” is ede, an adverb of time meaning, “now, already.”53
“Now” is the Greek arti, another adverb which may refer to the present time
in general, “now, at the present time.”54 The point is that the mystery of
lawlessnessis now at work and the Thessalonians were facing suffering
because that lawless systemwas alreadyat work, but the man of lawlessness—
one of the vital evidences for the Day of the Lord—could not be revealeduntil
the restraineris removed.
But who or what is the restrainermentioned by the apostle in verses 6 and 7?
While we know God is at work restraining evil in general, the exact
identification of the restrainer has always baffled expositors with multiple
solutions offered. It’s clearthat Paul told the Thessalonians whator who the
restrainer was for he says, “you know what holds him back,” but he does not
tell us in this or in any other of his letters. What he does tells us is that the
restrainer is now at work until he or it is no longer present. Before tackling
the identity of the restrainer, let’s look at some of the details of verses 6-7.
Literally, verse 6a reads, “And now you know what holds back (or restrains).”
“Now” is nun, an adverb which may be understood in a temporal sense, “now,
at the present time.” Takenas suchit would modify “holds back” as in the
translation of the NASB, “And you know what restrains him now.” Or nun

may be taken in a logicalor resumptive sense in which case it modifies “you
know,” as in the NET Bible, “And so you know,” or“as it is (in view of the
previous teaching)you know.” The word order and flow of the argument
seems to fit the logicalsense better.
“What holds back” is to katechon, from the verb katecho, “to hold back,
hinder, check, restrain.” Grammatically, it is a present neuter substantival
participle which means, “you know that which is restraining” or “the
restraining thing.” Katecho occurs againin verse 7, only there it occurs in the
masculine, “he who” or “the one who restrains.” It should be noted the object
restrained is actually not mentioned in verse 6 or 7. Most translations have
something like, “restrainhim” referring to the lawless one, but it could just as
easilybe the mystery of lawlessness thatis being restrained. This restraint
naturally hinders Satan’s end-time plans from developing and so also the
historicalarrival and revelationof the man of lawlessness as verse 6bexplains,
“so that he will be revealedin his own time.” It will be then (tote), and not
before. “Time” is kairos which looks ata definite future and fixed time, but
primarily from the standpoint of the characteristicsofthat period when he
will be revealed, not the date. Only God knows the date, but we can know
something of the characteristics ofthis time of lawlessness as it is describedin
other portions of Scripture like Revelation6-19 and portions of Daniel, for
instance.
While verse 6b draws our attention to the intended result or purpose of the
restraint, “so that he (the man of lawlessness)willbe revealedin his own
time,” verse 7 focuses the reader on the present state of affairs, “for the
hidden power(mystery) of lawlessnessis already at work, only the one who
restrains will continue to do so until he (the restrainer) is (taken) out of the
midst.” The restraint of this present spirit of lawlessness willcontinue
according to God’s sovereignpurposes until things are ripe for the lawless one
himself to be fully developed and revealed.
But what is meant by the mystery of lawlessness?“Mystery” is musterion,
which in the New Testamentis something that lies beyond man’s natural
reachand can only be known by divine revelation.

Jesus was to destroy the lawless one

Jesus was to destroy the lawless one

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