Builders of Faith

Builders of Faith Explorer II:  Exploring End-Time Prophecy

Lesson 7—The Antichrist Behind the Antichrist

1.    What two events are described in II Thessalonians 2:1?

“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him….” II Thessalonians 2:1.

Answer:  The Greek word for “coming” in this text is parousia, which we learned in Lesson #1 means “an arrival and resulting presence”.  In fact, it was a technical word used in secular circles to describe a royal visit, which was hardly a secret event.  Thus, the event here refers to the visible, audible, and glorious Second Coming of Jesus.  The expression “our gathering together to Him…” refers to the rapture of God’s faithful people into the sky on their way to heaven.  Even those who teach the secret rapture regard “our gathering together to Him…” as a reference to the rapture.  Therefore, we have here yet another confirmation that the rapture of God’s faithful saints will occur at the one, visible, audible, and glorious Second Coming of Jesus!


2.    What event must occur before the return of Jesus in glory?

“…for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”  II Thessalonians 2:3-4.

Answer:  The event that must occur before Jesus’ return is called “the falling away”.  The Greek word for “falling away” is apostasia, from which we derive the word apostasy.  In classical Greek, this word was used to describe political rebellions or military coups.  But in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuagint), it is consistently used to describe spiritual rebellions among God’s own professed people.  Since the Greek text calls it the apostasy, and the entire context here is a religious one, Paul is talking about a very specific spiritual apostasy among God’s professed people, not a general apostasy which has plagued the Church almost from the beginning of its existence.


3.    How does “the man of sin” relate to this apostasy?

“…for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”  II Thessalonians 2:3-4.

Answer:  Some supporters of the secret rapture view this apostasy only as a prelude to seeing the man of sin do his separate work, unrelated to the apostasy.  However, there is nothing in the passage, or elsewhere in Scripture, to support this conclusion.  The text does not say the apostasy comes first in order that we may next see the man of sin.  Therefore, we understand that the man of sin is the leader of the apostasy, as the prophecy naturally reads, and as most Bible scholars have taught through the centuries.  This is reinforced by the literal rendering of “the man of sin” as “the man of lawlessness”.  While there is no substantive difference between the two phrases, the more literal one (“lawlessness”) tells us that he is opposed to, and is living outside, God’s law—that is, he is the leader of this apostasy.  Therefore, he is better known as the Antichrist, as most Bible scholars have acknowledged through the centuries.


4.    In what temple does “the man of lawlessness” sit?

“…so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”  II Thessalonians 2:4.

Answer:  He sits in “the temple of God”.  But what is God’s temple in this prophecy, for the word temple is used in the following four different ways in the New Testament?

A.    Jerusalem Temple—We learned in Lesson #3 that even if this temple were rebuilt in the end-time, it would not be God’s Temple because Jesus fulfilled all the sacrificial animals so that the veil in the Temple was torn from top to bottom by an unseen hand (Matthew 27:50-51); thus it would have no spiritual significance for God’s faithful Christians.

B.    Temple in Heaven—The books of Hebrews (8:2) and Revelation (11:19; 15:5-6) speak of God’s Temple in heaven being the only one that counts with God, as far as a physical structure is concerned.

C.    Individual Christians’ Bodies—I Corinthians 6:19-20 calls the believers’ bodies the temple of the Holy Spirit.

D.    Christian Church—I Corinthians 3:16-17 calls the Church as a whole the temple of God.

The “temple of God” in II Thessalonians 2:4 cannot be any rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem for reasons summarized under “A” above.  Obviously, “the man of lawlessness” cannot literally enter the heavenly temple, nor can he enter the individual Christian’s body unless such a person is demon-possessed; but that’s not at all what this prophecy is talking about.  Therefore, there is only one conclusion we can draw:  The “temple of God” that “the man of lawlessness” sits in is none other than the Christian Church!


5.    “The man of lawlessness” is also known by what other title, and what is its significance?

“…and the man of sin [lawlessness] is revealed, the son of perdition….”  II Thessalonians 2:3.

Answer:  He is also known as “the son of perdition”.  This title is used only one other time in the New Testament, in John 17:12, where it refers to Judas Iscariot—the one disciple in Jesus’ circle who betrayed him.  This significance simply confirms our conclusion that “the man of lawlessness” is one who professes to be Christian, but one who actually betrays Christianity from within it.


6.    I thought that the Antichrist was openly hostile to Christianity.  What am I missing?

Answer:  You might want to review Lesson #5 and #6 for a detailed teaching on the identity of the Antichrist.  The Greek prefix anti can refer to someone who is totally “against” something or someone in the traditional open, hostile manner.  More often in classical Greek, it is used to refer to someone who is against someone or something by taking the meaning of “in place of”.  This prophecy by Paul is confirming our earlier conclusion in Daniel 7 and 8 that the Antichrist is guilty of blasphemy in that he thinks he has the authority to change God’s Law and to speak officially for Jesus as His personal ambassador on earth.


7.    What facts do we know about the power that restrains “the man of lawlessness” from being revealed?

“Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?  And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.  For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.”  II Thessalonians 2:5-7.

Answer:  First, we see that Paul hesitates to write openly in identifying the restraining power; he says he has already identified that power when he was with them in person.  Second, he uses the neuter gender (“what is restraining”) as well as the masculine gender (“He”) in describing the restrainer.  This strongly suggests that it is an institutional power headed by a man.


8.    Why is Jesus or the Holy Spirit not the restraining power in this prophecy?

“Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?  And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.  For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.”  II Thessalonians 2:5-7.

Answer:  Although many scholars and the New King James’ Version (NKJV) of the Bible believe that it is Jesus or the Holy Spirit, there are two good reasons why this cannot be the case.  First, as already noted in Question #7 above, the restrainer is identified with both a neuter and a masculine gender.  Neither Jesus nor the Holy Spirit should ever be referred to with a neuter gender, for they are Beings of the Trinity, not an “it”.  Second, note that the restrainer will be “taken out of the way”.  This language points not to a voluntary withdrawal but to another power removing it/him.  No one and nothing can be said to forcibly take any member of the Trinity “out of the way”.  Therefore, neither Jesus nor the Holy Spirit is the restraining power here.


9.    Who or what is the restraining power in this prophecy?

“…only He who now restrains….”  II Thessalonians 2:7.

Answer:  According to our analysis under Question #7 above, the restraining power must be an institutional power headed by a man.  Verse 7 here says that such a power is already restraining, so he must exist in Paul’s day.  Remember also that Paul was uncomfortable in openly identifying this power in writing.  All of this evidence points to the Roman Empire as the restraining power.  After all, the only institutional power headed by a man (emperor) in existence in the Christian part of the world capable of having any significant impact on the Church was the Roman Empire.  Moreover, many of the Early Church Fathers also identified the Roman Empire as this restraining power.


10.    What else do we know about “the man of lawlessness” here?

“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.  And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.”  II Thessalonians 2:7-8.

Answer:  The same double gender used for the restraining power is used of the Antichrist here.  The Greek word for mystery is in the neuter gender, while all other references to the Antichrist are in the masculine gender.  The only logical way to read the passage is that “the mystery of lawlessness” is the same as “the lawless one”, and thus the same as “the man of sin” and “the son of perdition” in earlier verses.  There is no foundation for calling the “mystery of lawlessness” the “spirit of lawlessness” as many do.  They do so because of the common bias that the Antichrist won’t arise until shortly before the Second Coming of Jesus.  But the Greek word for mystery never means spirit; instead, it means “hidden truth”, which fits the context—“the lawless one” is still hidden by the restraining work of the Roman Empire.  Therefore, the Antichrist is already there in Paul’s day, or at least is in its developmental stages.  The Antichrist, then, will exist from early Christianity until the Second Coming of Jesus.


11.    What institutional power headed by a man meets the full description of this prophecy?

Answer:  To answer this question, we must look for a significant developing institutional power, headed by a man, within the Christian Church.  This power must claim divine prerogatives, especially the authority to speak for Jesus Himself to the Church on earth.  Finally, it must arise or be noticeable about the time of the fall of Rome.  Furthermore, it is at least suggested by verse 7 that the Antichrist takes the place in some way of the restrainer since the latter has to be “taken out of the way” for the Antichrist to become fully operational.  There is only one power that meets all of these specifications, and that is the Papal Roman Church.  No other power comes even remotely close to fitting this prophecy.  Therefore, II Thessalonians 2 is consistent with Daniel 7, 8, and Revelation 13.


12.    Do you notice the sudden change in II Thessalonians 2:8-9?  What does it mean?

“And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.  The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders….”  II Thessalonians 2:8-9.  “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive….”  Matthew 24:24.

Answer:  Verse 8 refers to the visible, audible, and glorious Second Coming of Jesus, who will destroy the Antichrist power.  But please note that the word for “coming” in verse 8 is parousia, the same word used in verse 1.  The very next sentence in verse 9 begins with “The coming”, which is a translation of the parousia, applied to “the lawless one”.  This back-to-back positioning of the word parousia, never used earlier in this chapter for “the man of sin”, tells us that the Antichrist will attempt to counterfeit the Second Coming of Jesus.  But it cannot be the Papal Antichrist since his power has been in existence through almost all of Christian history.  Therefore, Paul is using a literary device called telescoping, in which the name or title of the power in focus is suddenly used as a type for the full fulfillment of that type (called the antitype).  That is, the antitype of the Papal Antichrist is a being that embodies the ultimate fulfillment of the Antichrist.


13.    Who is the lawless one who will attempt to counterfeit the Second Coming of Jesus?

“For you have said in your heart:  ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’”  Isaiah 14:13-14.

Answer:  The ultimate Antichrist has always been Satan, who wants the worship and authority of Jesus Himself.  Do you really think that Satan would assign someone else to counterfeit the Second Coming of Jesus?  Many object to our conclusion because II Thessalonians 2:9 says that this counterfeit parousia is “according to the working of Satan”, implying that it is someone else.  However, when a police investigation of a crime reveals that the criminal used a familiar method of operation as a known criminal, the first person of interest they will interview is the known criminal who is infamous for that same method of operation.  Therefore, there is nothing in this prophecy to exclude Satan as the great counterfeiter of Christ’s Second Coming.


14.    So who is “The Antichrist Behind the Antichrist”?

Answer:  We have concluded that the Ultimate Antichrist behind the Papal Antichrist is none other than Satan himself.


15.    How can we avoid being deceived when Satan counterfeits Jesus’ Second Coming?

“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie….”  II Thessalonians 2:9-11.

Answer:  Notice that the passage here says that the only way to avoid being deceived at Satan’s counterfeiting of the Second Coming is to receive “the love of the truth”.  It is not enough to know the truth, but one must love the truth just as we love Jesus, the Ultimate Truth.  Part of that truth is to know how Jesus will return.  A review of Explorer I, Lesson #22 and Explorer II, Lesson #1 will remind you that the real Second Coming of Jesus will be visible, audible, and glorious, and that Jesus’ feet will not touch the ground (because He raptures His faithful saints to heaven at that time).  Those who are ignorant of these facts, or who know them but do not love the Truth, will “believe the lie”, according to the passage above.  Please know that the Greek text also reads as the lie.  What specific lie is that?  They will believe that Satan’s coming is actually the Second Coming of Jesus.  How tragic!

 

Quiz for Lesson 7—The Antichrist Behind the Antichrist

 

1.  What two events are described in II Thessalonians 2:1? (2)

  The invisible return of Jesus

  The rapture of the saints to heaven

  The visible, glorious Second Coming of Jesus

  The Pre-Advent Judgment in heaven

 

2.  What event on earth must occur before the glorious Second Coming of Jesus? (3)

  A period of general apostasy within the Christian Church

  A significant specific religious apostasy within the Christian Church

  The coming of the Antichrist

  The “man of sin” will be revealed.

 

3.  What 3 names or titles based on II Thessalonians 2 apply to the same person or institution? (3)

  The man of sin

  The little horn

  The man of lawlessness

  The son of perdition

 

4.  Where does the man of sin sit when he is revealed? (2)

  In the Temple of God

  In the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem

  In the heavenly sanctuary

  In the Christian Church

 

5.  The Antichrist is “against” Christ in the sense that he/it claims to officially speak for Him on earth—that he/it is “against” Christ in that he/it claims to be “in place of” Him on earth. (1)

  True

  False

 

6.  Which of the following statements about the restraining power against the Antichrist are true? (4)

  The apostle Paul specifically identified it/him when he had been physically with them.

  The neuter and masculine genders are used to describe the restraining power.

  The restraining power is the Holy Spirit.

  The restraining power will eventually be taken “out of the way”.

  The restraining power is the Roman Empire.

  The restraining power is Jesus.

 

7.  Which of the following statements about the man of sin are true? (2)

  The mystery of lawlessness is the spirit of lawlessness.

  The use of both the neuter and masculine genders to describe him means that it is an institutional power headed by a man.

  The man of sin is the Antichrist power, which was forming in the apostle Paul’s day and will exist until the Second Coming of Jesus.

 

8.  Which of the following statements about the parousia of the Antichrist are true? (3)

  It means that someone will try to counterfeit the Second Coming of Jesus.

  Such a being cannot be the head of the Antichrist institutional power since he was developing even in Paul’s day.

  The word parousia in connection with the Antichrist must have a special, different meaning than it usually has.

  The Pope will try to counterfeit the Second Coming of Jesus by claiming to be Jesus in disguise.

  Here Paul telescopes to the end-time and points to the Ultimate Antichrist as the being who will counterfeit the Second Coming of Jesus.

 

9.  Satan himself is “The Antichrist Behind the Antichrist” who will attempt to counterfeit the Second Coming of Jesus. (1)

  True

  False

 

10.  Which of the following statements about Satan’s deception in counterfeiting the Second Coming of Jesus are true? (3)

  Those who will believe “the lie” will be those who did not receive the love of the truth.

  It is enough to know how Jesus will return in order not to be deceived by Satan.

  Part of the truth we should know is that Jesus will not touch the ground when He returns.

  Jesus is the Ultimate Truth.