Paul, in addressing a false teaching going around in his day which claimed that the Day of the Lord had already come and gone, speaks of two things which will unmistakably precede and mark the real Day of the Lord:
“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” (2 Thessalonians 2:3).
Then, while expounding on these two signs, he says that some will believe “the lie” (verse 11).
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Many have speculated about the nature of that future (or present) untruth. They’ve also speculated about the meaning of “the rebellion”. Taking the entire passage in context it seems the two are closely related. The rebellion, whatever it is, will be somehow caused, fuelled or accompanied by “the lie”.
SYMPTOMS AND PREPARATION. There are many things we could attach to this “lie”, and perhaps all of them are pertinent, since the mark of the time will be (and is now) deception, according to Jesus and the apostles. Evolutionism attempts to explain all of creation in naturalistic terms only; UFO’s or UAPs and their alleged occupants are presented as delivering life from other parts of the universe; false prophets and teachers distort and deny the Word of God; false gods appeal to human weaknesses; false philosophies draw people away from plain truth; fake miracles and fake spiritual gifts satisfy those who fail to study or even accept Biblical Scripture; the lure of materialism and of godless sexuality and much more, could probably all be included in the one great “lie” of end-times, and they seem to be a part of end – times life as noted in Revelation and other Biblical passages.
Humanity thrives in a society looking to its creator. It may not be perfect by any means, but less likely to slide into deception. People who totally abandon objective truth as represented in the Biblical Scriptures and the God of the Bible are ripe for a multitude of false and foolish beliefs, even leading to apparently insane and totally illogical proclamations. Leaving God behind is falling into error.
REBELLION. The Greek word translated “rebellion” in many versions is “apostasia”. Poor interpretations have included calling this the rapture event, but if Paul had meant “the rapture” he would have said so. “Apostasy” and “rapture” are two very different words. The NIV, the NET, ESV and NLT all translate the Greek word as “rebellion”. The NASB translates it “apostasy”, and the KJV calls it a “falling away”. Strong’s Concordance defines “apostasia” as a turning away, a rebellion, an abandonment or apostasy.
It seems pretty clear then, that someone is going to fall away, turn away or even turn against something and oppose it. That something, in context, only makes sense as being faith; faith in the Biblical God or perhaps faith in the genuine truths and Word of God in favour of falseness. In relation to Paul’s times, only a minority of people in that culture were following the gospel of Christ, so while we could see this eventuality as the entire culture rejecting the God of the Bible (as the West has been doing) it may be more directly speaking of a rebellion within the Church, led, no doubt, by false teachers and prophets. Since the rebellion will accompany a rush to lawlessness (verse 3) it’s logical that the rebellion is against the laws, standards and principles of God.
This rebellion will probably not be labelled as rebellion. Since the theme of Paul’s message in this chapter is deception it’s likely that whatever is being taught or vaunted will be presented as the will of God or even as real Christianity. Perhaps it’s in the “God has told me”, or “I think God is saying” variety of deceptions. The Church is rife with people who are telling us what God “really meant” to say in many parts of Scripture. In lawlessness as God sees it, people reinterpret to fit their philosophies. They also call evil “good” and good “evil”. The things God calls “abomination” are being called “beautiful” and “natural”. The things God loves are trashed as being divisive and worthless. The work of the Spirit is being misrepresented.
PAUL’S SIGNS OF THE TIMES. It would help here to summarize the things Paul speaks of as part of the deception at this future (or present) time. Besides the rebellion we see “the man of lawlessness” appearing. He will lift himself up in pride over God and any other expression of faith (verse 4). His god, or he himself, will be the only acceptable truth. He will insist that there is only one God, and therefore that there is no divine Son to revere.
A TRIBULATION TEMPLE? The man of lawlessness, “sets himself up in God’s temple”. It’s a common view in evangelical circles that there must be a third Jewish temple built on the temple mount so that Antichrist can desecrate it. While I once shared this view I’m now of the opinion that an actual building is not necessary, for reasons I’ve discussed before and will do so again. I will note just one relevant point here, which is that while Paul speaks of the man of sin being “in” the temple, and in some translations “sitting” in the temple (verse 4), Jesus simply spoke of him “standing in the holy place”. Daniel has him simply being “at the temple” (Daniel 9:27 NIV). Other translations such as ESV and NKJV don’t use the word “temple” or “sanctuary” at all, but see him simply setting up something “on the wing of abominations”.
Having been to the temple mount myself, I know that Jews will not walk just anywhere there (even if they were allowed to) for fear of standing on the spot where the holy of holies was and so desecrating it. This suggests to me that the Antichrist can fulfill prophecies without the need for a new Jewish temple being over his head. He can simply stand there on the temple mount – perhaps even “in” one of the Islamic structures there today, and make his claims, his boasts and his accusations against God and God’s people.
In this view of end times events, the first half of Daniel’s seventieth week has already transpired in the first century. Only forty-two months remains as Revelation shows, and Antichrist’s reign lasts for only that time-not for seven years (Revelation 13:5).
THE LIE. What then is the lie? It seems most plainly to be that this man – this charlatan – is speaking profound truths. He is lifting himself up into the place of God and putting the Biblical God down, along with God’s people. He is presenting himself as the answer to all our problems. The lie is Antichrist, and no wonder, because Satan has been a liar from the beginning. The book of Daniel contains similar warnings about this man.
It seems fitting to describe Satan himself, and his man on earth, as “the lie”. The lie is what Antichrist claims, says and appears to be able to do. He will be considered to be the answer to all of man’s problems and complaints against God. When he speaks he says things which have a ring of truth, yet their intent and meaning is the opposite of truth. He is the lie.
THE SPECTACLE OF FALSE MIRACLES. Paul warns of fake miracles, just as Jesus did:
“The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie” (verse 9).
The NIV here contains a second mention of “the lie”.
What’s so bad about miracles anyway? One answer is that they may just be man (or the devil) playing God. They are purporting to be the power of God when in many cases they are not at all from God and may even be nothing more than deception…even self-deception. Satan’s signature, says Paul above, is false “signs and wonders”. Antichrist’s reign will be accompanied by “counterfeit” miracles (verse 9). Jesus zeroed in on this phenomenon when speaking of the judgment:
“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:22-23).
These people will claim and may even believe that they’ve been doing the work of God. In reality there was no true relationship between the living God and the professing believer-just the claim of spirituality and power. The claim to spiritual power is not impressive to God, and it isn’t a ticket to heaven. Believing in the gospel of the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and repentance from sin, is the way of salvation.
Revelation tells us that a second character who is sometimes called “the false prophet” and therefore has a spiritual or even churchy background, will be able to deceive masses of people with his own miracles, even making fire fall from the sky (Revelation 13:13-14). Jesus warned of false prophets and even false Christs performing signs and wonders at the end of days (Matthew 24:24). Are we being warmed up for such deception by the false teachers and prophets that we already have today?
THE GREAT DIVORCE. There’s a theme of division, particularly in Revelation, within this chapter of Paul’s letter. A shallow view of the intention of God would see him running around trying to stop Satan doing his worst during end times. Instead, Paul tells us that God is firmly in charge of the entire procession of events. It’s God who actually sends and allows the lie, in order to divide the true children of God from the fakes and those in total unbelief:
“They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness” (verses 10b to 12).
We could see this as a mass trial by temptation. The Holy Spirit of God led Jesus Christ into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan:
“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).
God does not tempt anyone, as James tells us: he gives the job to Satan instead. The entire plan of God for this time is geared towards separating true believers from everyone else, and to delivering to condemnation all those who have rejected God’s only provision for His mercy. There is no condemnation for the person truly in Christ, but there is for all those who willingly reject Him. You have the choice to accept Christ at this very moment, in your heart and in a prayer of repentance to God. If you turn away, you will be among those deceived by The Lie.
Fuel for Faith, Food for Thought 