The End Time Bible Commentary

The Day of the Lord (v1-12)
In 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, Paul already discussed the timing of the day of the Lord, and made clear that in his day it was not possible to know its time or season. Here in 2 Thessalonians, Paul writes concerning the second coming and rapture, and responds to arguments that the day of the Lord had already begun (v1-2). In verse 3, Paul refutes such arguments, highlighting two essential end-time signs that must happen first:

1) the rebellion must come first. Rebellion is a translation of the Greek word 'apostasia' meaning a falling away from faith. It is the word from which we get 'apostacy'.
2) the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction, must be revealed. This is the Antichrist.

In western countries during the last century, people have abandoned the Christian faith in unprecedented numbers. So the first of these signs has arguably been fulfilled already. It is also likely there will be a further falling away when the Antichrist is revealed. However, the second sign has not yet been fulfilled. There is no consensus among Christians about the identity of the Antichrist.

We know from Daniel 9:27 that the Antichrist is revealed when he confirms an international peace treaty, but breaks it after three and a half years. He then conquers Jerusalem and sets up the abomination of desolation. Paul adds that :

3) Antichrist "opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat in God's temple, displaying himself as God" (v4)
4) Antichrist's arrival will be associated with Satanically empowered miracles, signs, false wonders and evil deceptions directed at unbelievers (v9)

Paul's argument is that the arrival of Jesus, and our being gathered to him (v1) must come after these signs. This is a very important passage for refuting the idea of a surprise pre-tribulation rapture. If anyone alleges that the rapture is about to happen, the appropriate question to ask is "Who is the Antichrist?" If they cannot point to an individual who has fulfilled these signs, their argument is false. Paul says, "Let no one deceive you in this way" (v3). In 2 Timothy 2:16-18, Paul names two specific individuals who were falsely teaching that the resurrection had already take place. He accused them of undermining people's faith and warned that their message would spread like gangrene.

In verse 5, Paul says he used to tell them these things while he was still with them. According to Acts 17, Paul appears to have only spent three weeks with the Thessalonians. Such is the importance of understanding the end times that Paul taught them regularly about it during his brief time with them. These are not issues of secondary importance that churches can ignore. When Jesus spoke about the Antichrist setting up the abomination of desolation, he said "Let the reader understand" (Matthew 24:15).

In verse 6, Paul says the Thessalonians know what is holding the Antichrist back so that he will be revealed in his own time. Daniel 7:24 tells us the Antichrist will arise to power over a ten nation coalition that arises out of the fourth empire of Daniel 2 and 7. He cannot be revealed until this coalition is first revealed in God's timing.

In verse 7, Paul says that the hidden power of lawlessness is already at work. This is equivalent to John's statement that the spirit of Antichrist is already in the world (1 John 4:3). John says that many antichrists have already come (1 John 2:18). Paul goes on to say that "the one who holds him back will do so until he is taken out of the way". Christians who argue for a pre-tribulation rapture usually identify this restrainer as the Holy Spirit who indwells the Church. They argue that the Church must first be raptured so that the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way and the Antichrist can be revealed. But such an argument completely contradicts Paul's argument. Paul's argument is that Christ's return and our being gathered to him (ie. the rapture) cannot happen until after the Antichrist has been revealed. Antichrist must be revealed first. Although the Thessalonians knew the identity of this restrainer, scripture does not record it. Rather than the Holy Spirit, another possibility is that it is a restraining angel, similar to the angel who blows the sixth trumpet in Revelation 9:14. He is told to set free four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. Still another possibility is that the restrainer is God. The phrase "until he is taken out of the way" is literally "until he comes out of the midst". This "he" in not necessarily the same as the restrainer, but may be referring to the Antichrist. In that case, verses 6 and 7 essentially say the same thing, namely "6 And so you know what holds him (the Antichrist) back, so that he (the Antichrist) will be revealed in his own time. 7 For the hidden power of lawlessness is already at work. However, the one (God) who holds him back will do so until he (the Antichrist) comes out of the midst". (Reference: "The Blessed Hope" by George Eldon Ladd, p.95).

In verse 8, Paul tells us that this lawless one (the Antichrist) will be destroyed by the breath of Jesus' mouth and the manifestation of his arrival. Various scriptures portray Jesus using his voice or fire as weapons at the second coming (e.g. Psalm 29:7, 45:3, 50:3, 97:3, Isaiah 11:4, 30:27-28, 31:4, 33:12-14, 66:15, Joel 2:11, Zechariah 9:14, 14:3, Revelation 19:15). However, Antichrist will not be destroyed immediately. We know that from the setting up of the 'abomination of desolation' (Matthew 24:15-21 and Daniel 12:11), Antichrist must rule for three and a half years (Daniel 7:25, 12:7, Revelation 12:14), or 42 months (Revelation 11:2, 13:5) or 1,260 days (Revelation 11:3 and 12:6). Taking a Jewish year as 360 days, and a month as 30 days, all three of these lengths are equivalent.

Like Jesus (Matthew 24:29-31), Paul associates 'our being gathered to him' (i.e. the rapture) with the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ (v1). In turn he associates Christ's arrival with Antichrist's destruction (v8), which must occur at the end of the Great Tribulation. So this passage points to the rapture taking place at the end of the Great Tribulation.

Antichrist's Claim to be God (v4, 9-10)
Let's give further thought to verse 4. Paul says the man of lawlessness "opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat in God's temple, displaying himself as God". In a similar way, Daniel 11:37 says, "He will not respect the gods of his fathers – not even the god loved by women. He will not respect any god; he will elevate himself above them all".

Assuming that the man of lawlessness (the Antichrist) is the same as Gog in Ezekiel 38, he is almost certainly a Muslim. His god of fortresses is surely none other than Allah, the false god who incites Muslims to wage jihad warfare against non-Muslims (e.g. Quran 9:29). Gog is the chief ruler of Meshech and Tubal which is today the muslim nation of Turkey. He invades Israel leading a coalition of nations that are also all Muslim nations (Turkey, Persia, Lybia and Sudan). But how is it possible that a Muslim could claim to be God and be accepted as such by other Muslims? Does not Islam expressly deny the possibility of Allah incarnating himself as a man? It certainly denies the possibility that Jesus is the Son of God. The greatest sin in Islam is the sin of 'shirk', which means to associate God with another. Islam's core doctrine is 'tawhid', the indivisible oneness of Allah. In answer to this question, I would make the following points:

1) Muslims will already have been convinced by his false miracles
Paul says in verses 9 to 10, "The arrival of the lawless one will be by Satan’s working with all kinds of miracles and signs and false wonders, and with every kind of evil deception directed against those who are perishing" (see also Matthew 24:24).

2) Antichrist is the ultimate false messiah (see Matthew 24:24), and it is likely that by this point he will already have been recognised as the Mahdi and Caliph of Islam by the main Islamic authorities.

3) He will have aroused such hope among Muslims by this point that it will be too costly for them to then change their minds. Instead they will find some way of explaining how it is possible after all for Allah to reveal himself in human form.

I think John 6 provides a good illustration of the kind of dilemma that Muslims will face at this point. In John 6, Jesus had just done incredible miracles like the feeding of the five thousand, and walking on water. He then preached a sermon, claiming to be the true bread of life that comes down from heaven. That was a difficult claim for his followers, since they did not understand how he had come down from heaven. But then Jesus made a seemingly outrageous statement. According to John 6:53-56 he said, "I tell you the solemn truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me, and I in him". Without explaining what he meant, and without any previous revelation of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, Jesus appeared to be teaching cannibalism. Jews were not even permitted to eat the blood of an animal. When they slaughtered an animal they had to drain the blood because the life was considered to be in the blood. The idea of drinking Jesus' blood was totally incompatible with the Jewish faith. Not surprisingly, most of Jesus' followers were so offended that they abandoned him at this point (John 6:66). Then Jesus turned to the twelve and said, "You don't want to go away too, do you?". Peter responded, "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God!"

I call this Jesus' lead-ballon sermon. Why he preached it without explaining it is a mystery to me. But what is clear is that it tested his followers. Those who were not yet committed abandoned him. But the twelve had passed the point of no return. They were so convinced, so committed, and so full of hope by this point that they were prepared to accept his words as an inexplicable mystery and carry on following him regardless. It was too costly to do otherwise.

Similarly, most of Antichrist's followers will continue to follow him, even after he claims to be Allah himself in human form.