2 Thessalonians 2 Study Notes

2:1 Our being gathered to him probably refers to the gathering of believers at the time of the rapture (1Th 4:13-18).

2:2 Paul sought to persuade the Thessalonians that they should not be troubled by a false message that they were in the day of the Lord. That period of time would not come until two events occurred—the “apostasy” and the revealing of the “man of lawlessness” (v. 3).

2:3 The word apostasy (Gk apostasia) can also be translated “rebellion.” It carries the idea of defection or departure from true religion. It probably refers to the widespread religious defection from worship of the true God that will intensify during the day of the Lord through the workings of the man of lawlessness and Satan (vv. 3-9). An alternate view is that “apostasy” refers to an altogether different kind of departure: the departure of the church from the earth known as the rapture, which will take place before the day of the Lord begins. The man of lawlessness is probably the end-time manifestation of God’s enemy known as the antichrist (1Jn 2:18) or the beast from the sea (Rv 13:1-10). This particular title emphasizes that he is opposed to God and his law. He is also the man doomed to destruction (v. 8).

2:4 The man of lawlessness (or “man of sin”) is so blasphemous that he takes a seat in God’s sanctuary, declaring that he himself is God and demanding worship (see Rv 13:4 where the beast from the sea is worshiped). This act appears to be what Daniel termed the “abomination of desolation” and what Jesus said would occur during the tribulation period (Mt 24:15; see also Dn 9:27). The reference to God’s temple suggests that a future rebuilt temple will exist during this time in Jerusalem (Rv 11:1-2). The Greek word used here (naos) often refers to the inner sanctuary of the temple precincts.

2:5 Paul reminded the Thessalonians that he taught about these things when he was with them (Ac 17:1-13). Since Paul was with the Thessalonians for a relatively short time after he and the missionary team planted the church, this emphasizes the importance Paul placed on teaching about end-time events.

2:6-7 The identity of this restrainer has puzzled Bible interpreters for centuries. In v. 6 what. . . restrains him is in the neuter in Greek while in v. 7 the one . . . restraining is in the masculine. Some things are clear. First, the restrainer is holding back the actual manifestation of the man of lawlessness. Second, at some point the restrainer will cease this activity and the man of lawlessness will be revealed. One common view is that the neuter form refers to government, perhaps the Romans or possibly a future government, while the masculine refers to the leader of that government, perhaps an emperor. Paul elsewhere taught that one of the purposes of government is to promote the common good by restraining wrong (Rm 13:1-5). Possibly the restrainer is a future government and its leader. But since the lawless one’s actions and power stem from Satan’s power (2Th 2:9), God’s power and sovereignty are strongly suggested as playing a more direct role in the restraining force. A more appealing solution is to see the restrainer as God’s Holy Spirit. In v. 6 the reference could be to the restraining force of the Holy Spirit while v. 7 may refer to his personage. Either of these solutions could explain the shift in gender from v. 6 to v. 7. Another possible variation of this view is that the restrainer is the Holy Spirit working through the church. The phrase until he is out of the way would be a removal of the restraining force of the Holy Spirit through the rapture of the church prior to the day of the Lord.

2:7 In Paul’s writings, “mystery” refers to something not previously revealed but now made known. Paul taught that though the man of lawlessness is not currently revealed, the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Satan’s program of opposition to God and his standards of righteousness is a current and ongoing reality.

2:8 The glory of the lawless one will be short-lived. The Davidic Messiah upon whom the Spirit will rest “will strike the land with a scepter from his mouth, and he will kill the wicked with a command from his lips” (Is 11:4).

2:9 Miracles, signs, and wonders are not necessarily evidence of God’s acts. Satan has the power to perform deceptive supernatural acts. We must examine the source of the act and the content of the message being promoted in order to avoid deception (see Mt 24:24; Rv 13:13-14; 16:14; 19:20).

2:10-12 Satan’s activities will result in wide-scale deception of the unbelieving world. First, however, Paul pointed out that unbelievers reject the truth that would save them. Therefore God will send them this strong delusion after they have already turned him away. Their condemnation is based on the fact that they did not believe the truth.

2:13-14 Paul expressed confidence that God had chosen them for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit. The sanctification he referred to was not the process by which a Christian grows in Christlikeness, but the initial work of grace in which the Spirit works in a believer and makes him God’s possession.

2:15 The word traditions refers to God’s truths passed on to the Thessalonians by Paul (1Th 4:1-2). What we wrote refers to 1 Thessalonians.

2:16-17 Having exhorted them to “stand firm” (v. 15), Paul prays for God to encourage and strengthen them so that they can do so.