2 THESSALONIANS: Man of Lawlessness

The letter of 2 Thessalonians may be even more of a stretch for me to write about. These two letters are simply not my strong suit of study (yet!). I can say that the little work I’ve done has brought to my attention that I’m not a fan of 2 Thessalonians, and I find myself wondering about authorship.

I’m not one to question the canon (which I accept wholeheartedly) or the stance of the early orthodox community, but many biblical teachers and early Reformers had their questions about different books, and mine revolve around 2 Thessalonians. I say this because the Greek seems to be distinctly un-Pauline. I’m no Greek scholar (it ruined my GPA in college!), but what I have looked at seems to be some of the messiest Greek I’ve seen in the New Testament, and very uncharacteristic of Paul. It also seems to spend an unusual amount of time trying to convince the reader of its Pauline authorship and rejection of any “other letters” they might have received.

But alas, these are topics far, FAR above my pay grade, so I’ll continue as I always have, and foresee myself doing in the future, accepting the second letter to the church in Thessalonica as a part of authoritative, God-breathed scripture.

This short entry will revolve around what I see as one of the dominant pictures in the book: the man of lawlessness.

For many, this passage has been a picture of what is often called “the Antichrist” — which is usually depicted as an individual who arises at the “End Times” to lead all kinds of folks astray. Yet this isn’t at all how it would have read to its original audience.

The description here in the Greek talks not about a particular individual, but the terms used are descriptive terms about the “kind of man” who will be at work in these last days — what the Jews would have called acharit hayamim. This term referred to an era of time in which they were currently living, not a future dispensation of tribulation. The acharit hayamim was the era that preceded the restoration of all things — or what they called “the age to come.” Other descriptions of this would be olam haba, or “eternal life.” You may even remember us looking into this idea when we spoke about John the Baptist.

The author of 2 Thessalonians is warning them about the kind of individual they will run into in these “last days.” You might recognize his description as familiar to the opening chapter of Romans and our description of Hellenistic culture.

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

Now again, even though this Greek is quite messy, I don’t believe it reads to be speaking about any particular individual, although even if we did want to read it that way, there is no way a contextual reading of this description doesn’t immediately associate this description with Caesar himself. There would be no reason to assume the Text is speaking of a day many centuries in the future.

I feel like the conversation here is very similar to everything else we’ve read (and will read) throughout the New Testament: an early church staring into the face of the Roman empire and wondering who is going to win this epic struggle. Some of them have even feared that everything they have been waiting for has come and gone and now a whole new age is on the rise. But Paul reassures them this is not the case. They know how the story ends. They know how to feel about the kind of humanity that would oppose the work of God and claim to be gods themselves.

So Paul encourages them to continue in the work they must do. He tells them to continue to stand firm and resist the temptation to fall into idleness. He calls them to pray and be spiritually awake.

As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.

Amen.