In part one and two we looked at the historical inconsistency of the pretribulation rapture theory and Matthew chapter twenty-four which addresses what Christians must expect in the final hour of human history. Pretribulationists simply do not have history or Matthew twenty-four in their favor. The next step on this Biblical journey is observing how Scripture treats the role of Anti-Christ, and how the office of Anti-Christ manifest his demonic ministry before the return of Christ. In this essay let us look at the Man of Lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians chapter-two, and the Matthew twenty-four similitude found in Paul’s 1 Thessalonians chapter-four.
THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS: 2 THESSALONIANS 2
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 reads,
“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus Christ will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (ESV).
The text deals primarily with “the man of lawlessness” and those who subsequently fall into deception by the backing of Satanic signs and wonders. Let this sink in…this “man of lawlessness,” or Anti-Christ, will administer false signs and wonders to deceive the inhabitants of the earth. Matthew 24:10 says “And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.” Then, verses 10 and 24 point to “false prophets” and “false Christ” who administer, like the “lawless one,” Satanic signs and wonders to deceive and lead astray. Those who hate the truth of God, in the Church or not, will be offended, and thereby receive the word of Anti-Christ as they stand amazed by deceptive signs and wonders.
To back up a few verses, the preceding text of 2 Thessalonians chapter-two is an astonishing account of God’s vengeance and assurance of eternal damnation, and the glory of the day when Jesus comes for those who believe. Of this, Paul writes, “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of the Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 1:5-12). Paul first comforts the Thessalonian Church by indicating vengeance and vindication belonging to the Lord at the day of His’ coming. Encouraging through prayer to stand firm in the grace of God to the end means of glory. Paul did not write with chapters, they came later on in history, therefore, the next sequence of passages are continued thought process. Meaning, Paul’s instruction concerning the “man of lawlessness” is prefaced with the hope the Church has at Jesus’ coming. And the concluding verses of chapter-two are similar. However, there is an important difference, which reads, “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you, as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either, by spoken word or by our letter” (vs. 13-15). A pretribulation rapture theory seeks to escape suffering, while God points us to lean and learn from the Spirit, as suffering is an aspect of our sanctification.
The point seems clear enough. Paul is encouraging the Thessalonian Church of their reward in Christ, so that when the “man of lawlessness” is revealed they will not be deceived by Satanic deception administered with false signs and wonders. In verse-sixteen Paul prays, “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” The vernacular witness here is not of a pretribulation escapism, rather, it was a call to take comfort in our God amidst trying and perplexing times. And while this chapter does not wrestle the “rapture” as a central focus, nowhere in this text may an illusion of a pretribulation rapture theory be found.
1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-5:11
Verses 4:13-18 are a unique set of passages. Paul is encouraging the Thessalonian Church to not worry about persons dead in Christ, rather take hope in Jesus, who is the resurrection life. Paul comforts them by indicating the prophetic promise at Jesus’ second coming. Verses fifteen-eighteen read, “For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” Paul’s means here is to encourage and instill hope by giving a prophetic sequence for a time when those who are dead will reunite with those who are still living, in the sky, with Jesus, at His’ return. Notice to the similar language, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God,” which is found also in Matthew twenty-four: “they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angles with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect” (vs. 24:30, 31).
Verses 5:1-11, though they do not mention Anti-Christ, or detail the Tribulation, certainly parallel Matthew chapter twenty-four. “Sudden destruction” and “labor pains,” are associated with Paul’s understanding one may discern the hour of history they live in. Pauls’ contextual point is that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night…But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief” (vs. 2, 4). Understanding the order of eschatological events is not for the sake of checking boxes, it is the wisdom of God to inform His’ Church. One might respond, saying, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matt. 24:36). And this is true to the extent of faulty prophetic inklings. However, the sequence of events and clear instruction concerning the order of events related to the return of Jesus indicate that while no one knows the day or hour but the Father, the Church living in that day and hour, based on these events, should well understand the Lord’s return is soon. Therefore, the instruction, as “children of light” (vs. 5), is to “keep awake and sober” (vs. 6).
Next up is one of the controversial points for which pretribulationists look to. The issue of “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (vs. 9). The idea that “God has not destined us for wrath” is a signal to pretribulation rapture theory, which equates the trials and sufferings incorporated with the Great Tribulation as subsequently, God’s wrath. I will touch more specifically on this in an upcoming essay. For now, the central issue with attaching this verse to a pretribulation rapture theory is the contextual point Paul is making. Paul is not relating “wrath” and “salvation” in this sense to a secret escapists rapture. Contextual to Paul’s argument, Paul is comforting those who awake in Christ, who walk sober-minded, who are not over-taken like a thief in the night, because they are children of the light, who are able to discern the hour of history they live in. The comfort Paul offers is our hope in Christ. When the eschatological prophesies begin unfolding before our eyes, “birth pains” and the revealing of “the Man of Lawlessness,” we know undoubtedly, the return of Jesus, our blessed hope, is soon.
CONCLUSION
George Eldon Ladd summarizes wonderfully, conveying,
“For if the Church is not to be in the world, when the Man of Lawlessness appears, Paul’s argument to the Thessalonians seems to be rather badly directed. In his first letter, Paul had taught them of the resurrection of the dead and the Rapture of the Church at the second coming of Christ. He did not assert that these events would precede the Tribulation. This letter created the reaction that the Day of the Lord had already come and that the end of the world [age] was immediately at hand (II Thess. 2:2). If this “Day of the Lord” is to be identified with the glorious Revelation of Christ at the end of the Tribulation, then Paul’s argument in this prophesy has omitted its most important point, namely, that the Rapture is the first event which will take place; and since the Rapture had not taken place and since the Thessalonian Christians were still on earth, it was impossible that the Day of the Lord had come…On the contrary, Paul writes as though Christians needed to be warned against the deception of the Antichrist, and he rejoices that God has chosen them from the beginning to be saved (vs. 13), not to perish through delusion by the Antichrist (vs. 10). One would naturally conclude from reading Paul’s words that the coming of the Lord, our gathering together unto him, and the Day of the Lord are one and the same event which will be preceded by the apostacy and the Man of Lawlessness. Since the Man of Lawlessness was not on the horizon, one might know that the Day of the Lord had not yet come” (Ladd. 74).
Matthew 24, 2 Thessalonians 2, and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 are consistent in similitude of events and the necessary preparation for the Church to live and be Jesus’ witnesses in that hour. Matthew 24 and 2 Thessalonians 2 both describe the rapture and the Day of the Lord as one event. Adding to it the resurrection from the dead. According to Jesus and the apostle Paul, the revealing of a man, not a system, the revealing of the “Man of Lawlessness” must appear, who will inflict much suffering upon the Church, precedes that coming. Neither Matthew 24, 2 Thessalonians, or the controversial 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 support a pretribulation rapture theory. Jesus and Paul, more likely, given the order of events and contextual presentation, seem concerned with the Church’s understanding of these things for the sake of their faithful witness. If a pretribulation rapture theory were to be correct, as Ladd has penned above, neither Jesus nor Paul needed to warn the Church of these events, or of the heart position which is required to remain a faithful witness in those trying times. Therefore, the “Man of Lawlessness,” among other signals, precedes the Rapture. And this “Man of Lawlessness” also signals the Day of the Lord is at hand. Though his Satanic office is devastating, his time is short. The Lord will consume him with His’ own “breath.” And the surety of our blessed hope will deliver the Church at His’ coming, not a second beforehand. The “Man of Lawlessness” precedes the Rapture; i.e., the Day of the Lord.
Works Cited
ESV. English Standard Version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway, 2001. Print.
Ladd, George Eldon. The Blessed Hope: A Biblical Study of the Second Advent and the Rapture.
Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 1956. Print.