2 Thessalonians 2:9

9 him, whose coming is by the working of Satan, in all virtue, and signs, and great wonders, false, [him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, in all virtue, and signs, and great wonders, lying, or false,]

2 Thessalonians 2:9 Meaning and Commentary

2 Thessalonians 2:9

Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan
That is, as a deceiver, a liar, and a murderer; for such was the working of Satan with our first parents; he seduced Eve, not only by subtlety, but by lying; he abode not in the truth, is the father of lies, and a murderer from the beginning: and such is the working of antichrist his firstborn; he comes in a deceitful way, under a profession of Christ, and a pretension of faith in him, and love to him; but speaks lies in hypocrisy, for such are his doctrines and tenets; and is not only a murderer of the bodies of the saints, but of the souls of men; which are the wares the whore of Babylon deals in:

with all power;
not omnipotence, for that is peculiar to God, and is not in Satan nor in antichrist, though the latter assumes to himself all power in heaven and in earth, and claims a jurisdiction both temporal and spiritual over men; but rather this means great power, or all kind of power of doing miracles, as follows:

and signs, and lying wonders;
that is, such signs and miracles as are not real, but reigned, only in appearance, not in truth, like those that were done by the magicians of Egypt; and these were done to countenance lies, and to induce persons to believe them; and how many miracles and lying wonders the church of Rome pretends to, everybody knows.

2 Thessalonians 2:9 In-Context

7 For the private of wickedness worketh now [For why the mystery, or private, of wickedness worketh now]; only that he that holdeth now, hold, till he be done away.
8 And then that wicked man shall be showed, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with [the] lightening of his coming [and shall destroy with the illumining, or shining, of his coming];
9 him, whose coming is by the working of Satan, in all virtue, and signs, and great wonders, false, [him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, in all virtue, and signs, and great wonders, lying, or false,]
10 and in all deceit of wickedness, to them that perish. For that they received not the charity of truth, that they should be made safe.
11 And therefore God shall send to them a working of error, that they believe to lying [that they believe to lying, or gabbing],
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.