Today, I am looking at 2 Thessalonians 2.
Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the [a]coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your [b]composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a [c]message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the [d]apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above [e]every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7 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. 8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His [f]coming; 9 that is, the one whose [g]coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and [h]signs and false wonders, 10 and with [i]all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God [j]will send upon them [k]a deluding influence so that they will believe [l]what is false, 12 in order that they all may be [m]judged who did not believe the truth, but [n]took pleasure in wickedness.
13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you [o]from the beginning for salvation [p]through sanctification [q]by the Spirit and faith in the truth.14 It was for this He called you through our gospel, [r]that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter [s]from us.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace,17 comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.
Bible study tip of the day: Underline words that your unsure of the meaning or you think contradict your understanding of scripture and YHVH. Then go back and look those words up in the original language, greek and/or hebrew.
This passage can be scary to read. It talks about a Man of Lawlessness that will cause many to be deceived and lead astray from Truth. MY first thought is lawlessness? What laws? New Testament laws? Old Testament laws? Law of Moses? Laws of the land? YHVH”S Law? What laws is this man leading the people away from? starting at verse ten we get a hint about these things.
…” and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”
The TRUTH, keeps us from the man of lawlessness.
And if we are chosen by God for salvation and sanctification (to be set apart) by the Holy Spirit then we will have the faith in the truth that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This Gospel is what we must stand firm in and the teachings of the apostles. So, again we must, must, must know what is their teachings, what is the Gospel we are to stand on.
We must know what is wickedness that we should flee from it. Tomorrow we will conclude our reading of this letter to the Thessalonians.
I chose to included these letters written by Paul and his companions as a starting point of my study because so many people use PAul’s letters as an argument that we do not need to obey God’s Laws in the Old Testament anymore. So, I want to see if Paul indeed tells us in his many letters that we are free from the Torah. So far, in these letters I do not see that at all. Rather I see Paul referring often to the Word of God, the Way, and the teachings. Of course, the only scriptures of that day were the Old Testament, so he can only be referring to them.
As we conclude these letters, we will then go to the Gospel of Matthew and take a look the actual teachings of Yeshua (Jesus) on the mountain. Keep reading with me, as I seek to understand what is THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.
Shalom
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