Paul's letters to the Thessalonian believers have so far discussed the return of Christ for His church and the day of God's judgment. Yesterday he spoke about the wicked people who have been persecuting the believers, and he assured the believers that God would not let their tormentors go unpunished. Naturally, then, since he is speaking of the end times and of the judgment of evil, he now must speak of the most evil person who will ever live on the face of the earth: the one known as the Antichrist. Since this is a very complicated subject, we are going to be splitting it into two parts and studying the first half of this passage today and the second half tomorrow.
There has been someone in every era who could have filled the position of Satan's man---the Antichrist---if it had been the time chosen by God for the end, otherwise known as the "Great Tribulation". Not long after Paul wrote his letters to the Thessalonians, Emperor Nero became so insanely filled with hate for the Christians that, if his day had been the day chosen by God for the Great Tribulation, I think Nero would have been the Antichrist. Later in history, perhaps Adolf Hitler would have been the devil's emissary if Hitler's era had been the time of the end. In more ancient days, the Antichrist could have been Antiochus Epiphanes, whom we spoke of in great detail when we did our study of the book of Daniel. We could go on and on naming wicked world leaders who could easily have stepped into the shoes of the Antichrist, for there have always been men willing to do the devil's bidding.
But today Paul speaks of the one who will be the Antichrist of the end times, and though it's unprofitable to spend our time worrying about and speculating whether this man may already be in the world, Paul is going to tell us what his character is going to be like.
The apostle is concerned about the lies of some who are trying to tell believers they've missed the return of Christ for His church. I believe, as do most mainstream Bible scholars and theologians (who know far more about the Scriptures than I do) in a pre-Tribulation rapture of the church. I don't believe Christ will leave His bride here to endure the worst days this world has ever known. But Paul has been made aware that false teachers are telling the believers that the troubles they were facing were proof that they were about to enter the Great Tribulation. He wants to set the minds of the believers at ease, so he points out that the end will not come until the Antichrist has had his day. "Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 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." (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2)
It's bad enough that false teachers are telling lies to the church, but they're claiming that they got their message straight from Paul or from the other apostles or teachers. They are saying such things either to lend credibility to their untruths, or else they have completely misunderstood what they've been taught about the end times. To back up their misconceptions, they are pointing to things Paul has said in his letters and are twisting his words to suit their own beliefs.
Christ's return for His church (often referred to as the rapture) won't be a secret thing that the Thessalonians have to fear they might have missed. The sudden disappearance of millions of people from the earth is not a thing that can go unnoticed. The Thessalonian believers, who are as saved as anyone else who has trusted in Christ, haven't missed the rapture of the church and they haven't been left behind to endure the Great Tribulation. If Christ had called His church out of the world, the Thessalonian believers wouldn't still be in the world. It's true they were living in troubled times, but their troubles weren't a sign that they were left on the earth to endure the terrible days when God will pour out His wrath on wickedness. If they had indeed been left behind, there would have been no doubt about it, for not only would the church be missing from the world, but the Antichrist would be having his day in the spotlight. It would be quite evident to them that the most wicked man to ever live was enjoying world power for a short season.
Will this person come to power before Christ calls the church out of the world? The Scriptures aren't quite clear on this subject. But the Scriptures are quite clear that the church will be taken from the scene before the Antichrist, who will earn his political position by brokering a seven-year peace treaty, breaks the treaty midway through its term. The second half of the seven years is when he will show himself for who he really is, and during those days is when God will begin to pour out judgment on evil, so at some time before then Christ will fulfill this promise to the church, "Since you have kept My command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth." (Revelation 3:10)
So, keeping all this in mind, Paul reassures the Thessalonian believers that they are not living in the days of the Great Tribulation. No prophecies remain to be fulfilled before Christ calls His church out of the world, but some things still need to happen before the days of the Great Tribulation begin. "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." (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
As the people of Christ, we don't need to look around us in fear trying to determine whether the "man of lawlessness" is already on the rise. We don't have to be obsessed with studying the news reports for signs that the end is near. Our job is to keep on doing what Christ commissioned us to do, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20a) I love prophecy, and you may recall that I did a study on the book of Revelation some years back, and I intend to do a new study on Revelation when we get to the end of the New Testament. But our focus should be on winning souls to Christ, not on looking for signs that the end is imminent. We are to be sharing the gospel and living out the gospel so that as many people as possible will not face the wrath of God. While we live on this earth, we are to be about our Lord's business, and that business is leading others to salvation.
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