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Do not let anyone deceive you in any way.1 Because that Day will not come2 unless the apostasy comes first,3 and that lawless human is revealed4 – the son of destruction.5 [John 17:12]
| 1 | Do not let anyone deceive you in any way: Or, beguile, delude. Paul echoes the Nazarene here, particularly in the context of the Parousia. Compare Matthew 24:4, 24; Mark 13:5, 22; Luke 21:8. Disciples of Christ must be alert that none deceive or mislead regarding predictions of the Parousia. It is a sad fact that throughout the history of the Church there have been those false prophets who conjured up some chronological proof of the imminent coming of Christ. There was a particular explosion of such between 1820-78 and again 1914-42. Such continue to make their appearance around the year 2000. |
| 2 | That Day will not come: By “that day” he means the Parousia or “YHWH’s Day” as mentioned above. For Christ will not Return and become present with you unless… |
| 3 | Apostasy comes first: Paul says a bit later that he used to speak of these matters when he was with them during his missionary tour. O, that we could hear those conversations! The word apostasy is from the Greek APOSTASIA [Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance #646, a falling away, defection, apostasy]. Some render this: KJV: falling away; WMS: the great revolt; MOF: the rebellion; TCN: the Great Apostasy; PME: definite rejection of God; NEB: the final rebellion. He speaks as though they should understand this and then continues to remind them that he used to speak of this apostasy. Many are the interpretations and largely these associate this “man of lawlessness” with The Antichrist of 1 John 2:18 and then the wild beast of Revelation 13. The explanations become endless. What could Paul mean by “the apostasy”? See Nazarene Commentary 2000© notes on Matthew 13:24-43. |
| 4 | Lawless human is revealed: The KJV has “man of sin [HAMARTIAS]” from the Received Text while Nestle/Aland and Westcott/Hort have ANOMIAS. The designation “man of lawlessness” is also rendered: TCN: that Incarnation of Wickedness; WMS: the representative of lawlessness; KNX: the champion of wickedness; NEB: when wickedness will be revealed in human form – most very interpretative. Paul nowhere makes statements that indicate this has been revealed to him as a mystery. He calls it a “mystery” in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 and there indicates this “lawlessness is already at work.” Such a remark is very similar to 1 John 2:18. So, whatever this “man of lawlessness” is it has already – around the middle of the first century – begun to function. In the verses that follow there are really two entities or persons: a) the man of lawlessness; and, b) in 2 Thessalonians 2:8 the “person” (or, “the one”) who “holds back” or “restrains” the full bloom of this “lawlessness.” Jesus had predicted a flood of lawlessness. [Matthew 24:12] Compare “lawlessness” at Matthew 7:21-23 and Matthew 13:40-42. |
| 5 | The son of destruction: The Greek is HO HUIOS TES APOLEIAS, or literally, “the son of destruction.” This is not the first occurrence of this designation for the Master Jesus uses it in his prayer at John 17:12 where the identical Greek phrase occurs. There Jesus calls Judas “the son of destruction.” Judas was a true apostate who stood apart from Christ in his betrayal. The apostles quoted Psalm 109:8 at Acts 1:20. In the context of Psalm 109 the idea of “son of destruction” may be conveyed in a paraphrase. A related phrase may be found in the LXX at Psalm 89:22 (88:22), “… the son of lawlessness shall not hurt him.” Psalm 109:6-8 (applied to Judas by the inspired apostles at Acts 1:20) reads (LXX), “Set thou a sinner against him; and let the Devil stand at his right hand…” It is possible Jesus paraphrases these Psalms and Paul echoes Jesus. It is clear Jesus applies the designation “son of destruction” to Judas, an apostate. Is this a single person? In the case of Judas it was “a son of destruction.” We note in Psalm 109:1-8 that the enemies are described as “they” and then in Psalm 109:6 it is “he.” This is a class or type of person who sins against or opposes the Messiah. Compare also Psalm 41:9 with John 13:18. There is a strong early church application of these portions of 2 Thessalonians to the development of the Roman Catholic Church and the Papacy. (See Matthew Henry.) The key may lie in the word “lawlessness” which is used by Jesus in three interesting places: Matthew 7:21-23, Matthew 13:41, and Matthew 24:12. These are all Christians within the Kingdom of Christ (Christendom) who are lawless and called by Jesus “sons of the Wicked One.” So, the parable of the wheat and tares may hold the key: “While men were sleeping [the apostolic restraint] the Enemy [Satan] sowed weeds [man of lawlessness] among the wheat [children of the Kingdom].” All the apostles heard this parable and claimed they understood it. Judas would be one of the earliest manifestations of an apostate class of weeds, “sons of the Devil.” Virtually every inspired disciple who shared in writing the Christian Bible mentions an apostasy or falling away. Note Acts 20:29, “After my departure [as an apostolic restraint] ravenous wolves [man of lawlessness] will enter into your company.” Compare Romans 16:17, 18; 2 Corinthians 11:3, 13-15; Ephesians 4:14; Philippians 1:15-17; Colossians 2:8; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 3:6-9, 2 Timothy 4:3, 4; Titus 1:10, 11; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 1 John 2:18, 19, 22; 1 John 4:1, 2; 2John 7-11; 3 John 9, 10. In these texts we can identify “the one” who is something of a restraint, the apostolic body represented by Paul, Timothy, John, Peter and others. Their presence stifled the full development of the apostasy. It would not be until these “men were sleeping” in death following the first century that the apostasy would explode. |
Dear Friends of the Nazarene,
We choose 2 Thessalonians 2:3 as the theme verse of chapter two – Apostates. Now for the seventh time Paul keeps the parousia of Christ in his theme. It seems some in the Thessalonian congregation had misread Paul’s words – as is common even today – and thought the Return of Christ and the Day of Jehovah was imminent. [1, 2] Jesus had told his own disciples that the day would come when they would wish to experience his Return but would not. [Luke 17:22] The Nazarene taught that when he left for a far country to receive his kingdom he would only return “after a long time.” [Matthew 25:19; Luke 19:12]
Paul now tells the Thessalonians that the Return of Christ will not take place until after there is an apostasy within the Church. [3-5] Jesus and all of his inspired disciples who wrote the New Testament predicted the same thing. [See notes below.] This apostasy is described as a corporate “lawless human.” Such a body of men would exalt themselves as though they were gods. They will take their seat in the Temple of God, the Christian Church.
At the moment when Paul wrote he and the other apostles were acting as a restraint to the full appearing of such “a man of lawlessness.” [6-12] However, this apostasy was “already at work” within the Church. At the end of the day this apostate will be annihilated by Christ himself “at the moment of his visible Return.” As Jesus had taught in the parable of the wheat and weeds, it is Satan who works within the Church, causing lawless men and women to give “signs and wonders” – that is, “every kind of unrighteous seduction” – to mislead those who “refused to love the Truth.” God permits with “inner working of error and falsehood” to expose those who “start believing the lie.” They will finally be condemned.
However, Paul continues, God selected members of the Thessalonian congregation to attain salvation through sanctification by the holy Pneuma and faith in the Truth. [13-17] Paul encourages the disciples to “remain steadfast” keeping a tight grip on the traditions they were taught. Paul prays that their hearts will be encouraged to remain firm in “every good work and word.”
Abba our Father bless all who continue to believe The Truth.
[20 July 2002]
An apostasy must precede the Coming. That is, there shall be a general falling away from the purity of the faith. No apostasy of magnitude occurred in the history of the church for centuries, which could answer to Paul’s description, but the gradual declension, corruption, and departure from the ancient faith, which was fully developed a few hundred years later, has always been spoken of by Protestant church historians as The Apostasy. There is no good reason for doubting that it is to the apostle refers.
