Verses 1-2 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
The Apostle Paul uses “we” instead of “I” because, as stated in Chapter one, this Epistle or letter is also from Silvanus and Timotheus. The Greek word translated as “beseech” is “erotao” and it means to question, to ask, to request, to beg or to desire. The Greek word translated as “by” is “huper” and it means in behalf of or for the sake of. The brethren or Christian believers are asked for the sake of Jesus’ future coming that they do not succumb to false information regarding the return of Jesus Christ so that they will not be agitated or troubled in their minds, frightened or alarmed should they hear that this event was happening or had already happened. This misinformation could be disseminated by devils operating in men or women, by verbal proclamation, or by letters written as if they were from the apostles. It seems that the enemies of Jesus and the Church may have been engaged in misinformation campaigns in an effort to weaken or destroy the faith of these believers. Not sure, but tactics like these can be seen today.
Application: “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall the coming of the Son of man be. ” Mathew 24:23-27 So Jesus and the apostles made it very clear that certain events had to happen first before His coming would ocurr, so not to be deceived. Can people be deceived today? Yes. Since at least 1995 and right now the sky has been and is being blanketed with sprays from planes that contain heavy metals and chemicals and most likely biological material all harmful to mankind and to the plants and animals. Aluminum, barium, and strontium-90 are some of the harmful components in these sprays. Now apparently niobate is being added which will allow for holograms to be projected anywhere in the sky above. It will be simple to project a coming Messiah for the whole world to see. Think about it.
Verses 3-4 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
One of the events that has to happen is what the Apostle Paul refers to as “a falling away“. Jesus referred to this in the parable of the seeds. “They on the rock are they, which when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.” Luke 8:13 Then in Hebrews 6:4-6 the Apostle Paul states, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” A non-believer cannot fall away as they have never been converted. Only the Christian believer can fall away from the Faith. In today’s world, it is apparent that many believers have fallen away and have embraced doctrines of devils and doctrines of men. Many churches that identify as being Christian promote false bible versions and support men and women who pervert the truth of the Gospel for personal financial gain. Many churches have become businesses run by boards where the bottom line is the numbers: the number of people in attendance and the number of dollars in the offering plate. Years ago the majority of people polled considered themselves to be believers in God. That number has dwindled considerably, the statistics being available for all to see on-line. According to the verses above, a Christian believer who has experienced the things of the LORD and who then “about faces” and turns back to the things of the world cannot be renewed (resume their relationship with the LORD after an interruption, cannot re-establish a relationship with the LORD).
Application: Most mainstream organized evangelical establishment churches teach the “once saved, always saved” doctrine of man. This topic has been dealt with elsewhere in this Bible study, but the Hebrews passage quoted above allows it to be revisited here and proves that this teaching is false. A saved from sin, death, and Hell Christian believer can “fall away” and not be restored in the Faith according to the Apostle Paul. To use the excuse to justify this false teaching that “the person really wasn’t saved in the first place” puts man in the place of judging the heart of a fallen away believer which is not only impossible, but is sin. Only God knows the heart of each man and woman and only He can judge their spiritual condition. An individual cannot have the indwelling of the Holy Ghost/Spirit unless he/she has converted through repentance and submission to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the believer is/was saved. There is no such things as eternal security in this world. Each Christian believer must make it through this world into the next fully serving and being in submission and obedient to the LORD Jesus Christ and therefore remaining in a righteous state pleasing to the LORD God Almighty.
The words, “son of perdition” only ocurr two times in Scripture: John 17:12 and the verse above. The Greek word translated as “perdition” is “apoleia” and it means destroying, utter destruction, a perishing, ruin, destruction, and the destruction which consists of eternal misery in Hell. The Greek word translated as “son” is “huios” and it means a son, a descendant, one who depends on another or is his follower, or a pupil. Most mainstream evangelical establishment churches teach that this is Antichrist based on the false C. I. Scofield doctrine. As has already been stated in this Bible study web site, there is no Scriptural support for an end time, one world leader or man called the Antichrist. So who is this son of perdition? Looking at the passage of Scripture in John 17, one has to go back to John 13 where Jesus revealed to His disciples that one of them was going to betray Him. “When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. He then lying on Jesus’ breast saith unto him, Lord, who it is? Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.” John 13:21-27 So of the 12 apostles, only Judas Iscariot was lost as Jesus stated in His prayer recorded in John 17. “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.” So followers of Jesus are referred to as sons, and therefore followers of Satan are his sons. When Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, Judas became Satan’s son. So perdition refers to Satan, not a fictional man called Antichrist. It is Satan who “opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” Satan, after he was through with Judas Iscariot, would have been in Caiaphas the high priest of Israel directing the arrest, trial and execution of the LORD Jesus Christ. All followers of Satan, especially those involved in witchcraft, Satanism, and the myriad of false religions, are all sons of Satan or of perdition because they are destined for destruction in Hell and ultimately, in the Lake of Fire.
Application: There have been men who historically went to the physical Temple in Jerusalem and who claimed godship. One example is Antiocus Epiphanies who upset and persecuted the Jews with his desecration of the physical Temple around 156 BC. Since the Apostle Paul wrote this epistle more than 200 years after this event, the only understandable based on Scripture conclusion can be that Satan is the son of perdition.
Verses 5-7 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
The Greek word translated as “what withholdeth” is “katecho” and it means to hold back, detain, retain, to restrain or to hinder the course or progress of. The Greek word translated as “might be revealed” is “apokalupto” and it means to disclose, make bare, to make known, or to disclose what before was unknown. The Greek word translated as “time” is “kairos” and it means due measure, a fixed and definite time, or the time when things are brought to crisis. So it seems that Satan and his kingdom is withholding the expected coming of Jesus because he, Satan, has to be revealed in God’s predetermined time.
The Greek word translated as “mystery” is “musterion” and it means hidden thing, secret, religious secrets, confided only to the initiated and not to ordinary mortals, or a hidden or secret thing not obvious to the understanding. The Greek word translated as “iniquity”, which in today’s English means immoral or grossly unfair behavior, is “anomia” and it means the condition of without law, or wickedness. In the Biblical use, the Law is the law of God and is not referring to the rules, regulations, codes, statutes, and laws of mankind. So the understanding of sin and iniquity, of its origins, or of the character of Satan who is a lawless one rebelling against the laws and authority of God Almighty is sorely lacking in society today as it apparently was also lacking in the days of the apostles. The Greek word translated as “letteth” is again “katecho”. So the Apostle Paul is referring to someone who will detain or hinder the course or progress until he is removed or taken out of the way. So this writer concludes that Satan, the son of perdition, is hindering the coming of Jesus until he, Satan, is removed or taken out of the way because God has a predetermined time when all things will come to an end, when judgement will separate the goats from the sheep or the unrighteous from the righteous, and when eternity will be ushered in where time once ruled. Remember that this chapter started with the Church in Thessalonica being reassured that Jesus had not already come back because several things had to happen before His return: first a falling away from the Faith and then a revealing of the son of perdition or Satan. So the entire chapter is explaining these two things.
Verses 8-10 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Then that entity who in the verse above is called Wicked with a capital W indicating a specific being, will be revealed for all of mankind to see. All that Satan and his army has done in secret will be revealed. All the people following him either aware or unawares will see Satan for who and what he is and he will be destroyed. When? On the last day when the LORD Jesus Christ comes for His people and will put an end to Satan and his army of fallen angels and of men and women here on the Earth. All these wicked will be found guilty through the truth of the written Word of the Scripture. And all eyes will see the LORD Jesus Christ at his coming. And all those who patterned themselves after the wickedness of Satan will perish because of their own choices and actions: “because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”
Verses 11-12 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Application: Most Christian believers can share experiences of trying to share the Gospel with the unsaved and of not being able to reach them with the truth. Many of these unbelievers are unable to hear or see the truth as they are under a delusion sent by God. The English definition of delusion is “an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument, typically a symptom of mental disorder.” A prime example of this delusional state in society today is trying to explain to people the truth about the aerial spraying that goes on daily all over the world. All they have to do is to look up and watch a perfectly blue sky being crisscrossed with toxic material sprayed from planes that slowly spreads out and turns the sky gray. But they think that this is a normal result of the engine combustion on the planes. They see, but they don’t see. Jesus summed this mental disorder up nicely in Matthew 13:13 when he explained His use of parables. “Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.” Is God cruel or unjust in sending this strong delusion? Not at all, because He knows who will surrender their will to Him and who will not when they are still in their mother’s womb. They are given the opportunity, but they will not believe the truth of God because they enjoy sin too much.
Verses 13-14 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Church the Apostle Paul was writing this epistle to was the opposite of the deluded men and women in the world. They were chosen from the beginning, from conception, to receive salvation and to have a belief in the LORD Jesus Christ who is Truth. They heard the Gospel though the Apostle and then through their obedience, obtained a place in the spiritual Kingdom of God. For these people the Apostle Paul and his companions were continually thanking the LORD.
Verses 15-17 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. 16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, 17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work. (2 Thessalonians 2)
The message of this chapter is summed up in the words, “stand fast”. The Greek word used here is “steko” and it means to stand firm, to persevere, or to persist, good and timely advice to all Christian believers down through the ages and today.