2 Thess 2:1-8 -- The Rebellion comes first
1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him,
These are two things, the Lord’s coming and our being gathered to Him, what we refer to as the rapture. It appears that the Lord comes secretly immediately before the rapture.
we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come.
What a wonderful example of not cutting straight the word of God. Many believers and many excellent Bible teachers teach that we cannot know when the rapture is or when the day of the Lord is and even take a hands off approach as though we aren't supposed to teach on this. Paul is saying exactly the opposite here. We can know when the day of the Lord is here, there is nothing wrong with teaching the prophecies, the warning is about those who say the day of the Lord has already come despite the rebellion and the rapture not taking place first.
3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
Everyone should be very clear that a rebellion occurs first and the man of lawlessness is revealed. There has been some wonderful exposition of Isaiah that the US is the transplanted vineyard of the Lord, the vineyard He surrounded with hedges to the East across the sea. Some have even overlaid the pattern of the temple and the items in the temple over the US and the pattern is quite fascinating. So let’s look a little closer at this, the antichrist who is to come, the “man of lawlessness” will be “impudent and brazen”. To a lesser degree we saw this with Hitler, but it will be on full display with the man of lawlessness. Second, he will be a master of intrigue. You would have to be to make a peace treaty between Israel and the Arab nations while also dealing with Iran, China, and Russia. But then Daniel says that he will destroy the mighty but not of his own power. The antichrist is used to destroy Jezebel. That is the rebellion that must take place first, it was Jezebel’s corruption that the Lord is going to judge. The antichrist destroys the mighty, destroys Jezebel and all of her confederates, but not of his own power. It will be the Lord Jesus with his saints as His army. They are the ones who are restraining the evil Jezebel. According to the type she hired 400 prophets of Baal, she controlled the media. Meanwhile a hundred prophets of the Lord were hidden in a cave. So it is the Lord that destroys Jezebel, but it is the antichrist who takes credit for it and as this unfolds he is revealed. However, the word here is not "rebellion" but rather departure. Some argue that this can refer to a departure from the word of God or it can also refer to the rapture. Jesus said that at the end of the age the angels go out and separate the wheat from the tares. There is a "departure" a "separation" that has to take place prior to the harvest.
4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
We just shifted from past tense to future tense. Before the day comes the rebellion takes place and the man of lawlessness is revealed. That takes place before we are gathered to the Lord, i.e. raptured. But in the future, after the rapture, He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped. It does not say that he does this prior to the rapture. That is not how he is revealed. He is revealed because he is uniquely impudent and brazen, because he is a master of intrigue, because he destroys the mighty, and finally, because he receives a head wound and is resuscitated, allowing an evil spirit to enter into him. However, after he is inhabited by that evil spirit he will oppose God, even setting himself up in the temple and proclaiming himself to be God. He doesn’t destroy the mighty with his own power, but he does take full credit for it.
5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.
We know what is holding him back. We may not be “master’s of intrigue”, we may not know the deep things of Satan, but all Christians know Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God. This is what is holding him back. Also look at Paul's preaching, the rapture and the end of the age was central to his teaching -- "I used to tell you these things". It is essential to be clear on this because when it all happens there will be the "fog of war", a lot of confusion.
7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.
We are the salt and the light. When we speak the word of God it restrains evil and holds it back. We must continue to do so right up until we are taken out of the way during the rapture.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed,whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
So if we are paying attention to current events what we are seeing is a rebellion. The allegations of voter fraud is based on a software company that is owned and operated by Diane Feinstein’s husband, by Nancy Pelosi’s aid, and by Hillary Clinton’s foundation. Many Governors, mayors, and the Democratic party must be involved. The scale and scope of this is truly amazing. Laws were passed all over the country, often while the election was taking place. Judges were used to institute these changes. Polls were used to manipulate the impression of the election while the mainstream media has done everything in their power to create a narrative of fate accomplished. Tech giants have censored all stories that might be contrary to their narrative. Google, Facebook and Twitter are clearly pushing this agenda. What we are witnessing is a rebellion with Hillary Clinton at the epicenter. Those who are fighting this battle are Christians. You can see them in prayer for the country. They aren’t fighting for Trump or Biden to win, but rather that the election be legitimate and not stolen. They are standing for the constitution to be upheld and honored. There are also hundreds of people making signed affidavits. Again, they may not be a supporter of one candidate of the other, rather they are offended at the crime of stealing this election. It is interesting that thousands of dead people have voted. It is the Satanic version of the dead being raised to help support Jezebel and now these same dead that voted for her will also escort her back to hell with them. God is omnipotent, that means He can use anyone to accomplish His will. We will see the mighty hand of God as He executes judgement on Jezebel. However, it will be Trump who will take credit for it and that in turn will set the stage for further judgments on those who would not receive Jesus.
1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him,
These are two things, the Lord’s coming and our being gathered to Him, what we refer to as the rapture. It appears that the Lord comes secretly immediately before the rapture.
we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come.
What a wonderful example of not cutting straight the word of God. Many believers and many excellent Bible teachers teach that we cannot know when the rapture is or when the day of the Lord is and even take a hands off approach as though we aren't supposed to teach on this. Paul is saying exactly the opposite here. We can know when the day of the Lord is here, there is nothing wrong with teaching the prophecies, the warning is about those who say the day of the Lord has already come despite the rebellion and the rapture not taking place first.
3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
Everyone should be very clear that a rebellion occurs first and the man of lawlessness is revealed. There has been some wonderful exposition of Isaiah that the US is the transplanted vineyard of the Lord, the vineyard He surrounded with hedges to the East across the sea. Some have even overlaid the pattern of the temple and the items in the temple over the US and the pattern is quite fascinating. So let’s look a little closer at this, the antichrist who is to come, the “man of lawlessness” will be “impudent and brazen”. To a lesser degree we saw this with Hitler, but it will be on full display with the man of lawlessness. Second, he will be a master of intrigue. You would have to be to make a peace treaty between Israel and the Arab nations while also dealing with Iran, China, and Russia. But then Daniel says that he will destroy the mighty but not of his own power. The antichrist is used to destroy Jezebel. That is the rebellion that must take place first, it was Jezebel’s corruption that the Lord is going to judge. The antichrist destroys the mighty, destroys Jezebel and all of her confederates, but not of his own power. It will be the Lord Jesus with his saints as His army. They are the ones who are restraining the evil Jezebel. According to the type she hired 400 prophets of Baal, she controlled the media. Meanwhile a hundred prophets of the Lord were hidden in a cave. So it is the Lord that destroys Jezebel, but it is the antichrist who takes credit for it and as this unfolds he is revealed. However, the word here is not "rebellion" but rather departure. Some argue that this can refer to a departure from the word of God or it can also refer to the rapture. Jesus said that at the end of the age the angels go out and separate the wheat from the tares. There is a "departure" a "separation" that has to take place prior to the harvest.
4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
We just shifted from past tense to future tense. Before the day comes the rebellion takes place and the man of lawlessness is revealed. That takes place before we are gathered to the Lord, i.e. raptured. But in the future, after the rapture, He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped. It does not say that he does this prior to the rapture. That is not how he is revealed. He is revealed because he is uniquely impudent and brazen, because he is a master of intrigue, because he destroys the mighty, and finally, because he receives a head wound and is resuscitated, allowing an evil spirit to enter into him. However, after he is inhabited by that evil spirit he will oppose God, even setting himself up in the temple and proclaiming himself to be God. He doesn’t destroy the mighty with his own power, but he does take full credit for it.
5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.
We know what is holding him back. We may not be “master’s of intrigue”, we may not know the deep things of Satan, but all Christians know Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God. This is what is holding him back. Also look at Paul's preaching, the rapture and the end of the age was central to his teaching -- "I used to tell you these things". It is essential to be clear on this because when it all happens there will be the "fog of war", a lot of confusion.
7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.
We are the salt and the light. When we speak the word of God it restrains evil and holds it back. We must continue to do so right up until we are taken out of the way during the rapture.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed,whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
So if we are paying attention to current events what we are seeing is a rebellion. The allegations of voter fraud is based on a software company that is owned and operated by Diane Feinstein’s husband, by Nancy Pelosi’s aid, and by Hillary Clinton’s foundation. Many Governors, mayors, and the Democratic party must be involved. The scale and scope of this is truly amazing. Laws were passed all over the country, often while the election was taking place. Judges were used to institute these changes. Polls were used to manipulate the impression of the election while the mainstream media has done everything in their power to create a narrative of fate accomplished. Tech giants have censored all stories that might be contrary to their narrative. Google, Facebook and Twitter are clearly pushing this agenda. What we are witnessing is a rebellion with Hillary Clinton at the epicenter. Those who are fighting this battle are Christians. You can see them in prayer for the country. They aren’t fighting for Trump or Biden to win, but rather that the election be legitimate and not stolen. They are standing for the constitution to be upheld and honored. There are also hundreds of people making signed affidavits. Again, they may not be a supporter of one candidate of the other, rather they are offended at the crime of stealing this election. It is interesting that thousands of dead people have voted. It is the Satanic version of the dead being raised to help support Jezebel and now these same dead that voted for her will also escort her back to hell with them. God is omnipotent, that means He can use anyone to accomplish His will. We will see the mighty hand of God as He executes judgement on Jezebel. However, it will be Trump who will take credit for it and that in turn will set the stage for further judgments on those who would not receive Jesus.
