This message is part three of a three part series on the Second Coming of Jesus as taught in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. It deals with 2nd Thessalonians 2.1-12. We tend to come to the Bible looking for certainty. We want to absolutely know God, what it means to belong to Him, etc. And the Bible provides certain answers to many of our questions. At the same time some passages are more obscure like the one discussed in the audio file below this post. It primarily deals with the figure known popularly as “the anti-christ.” It is helpful to know some things about 2nd Temple Judaism to understand what Paul teaches about this person. 2nd Temple Judaism is the period between Israel’s return from exile in Babylon up to the destruction of the “2nd” Temple by the Romans in 70 AD. This period in Israel’s history is one of longing. They long for God to completely fulfill the promises He made to them while they were in Babylon. As they wait they look over their ancient texts (at this point this includes the Pentateuch and most but not all of the books in our current Old Testament between Joshua and Ezekiel) and they begin to see things in a new light. This is when the teaching of the Messiah gains prominence. The Day of the Lord becomes a major theme. This is also a period of turmoil as various world empires succeed each other and dominant many people including the Jews. One military-political leader outlaws Judaism and sacrifices a pig on the altar in the Temple. This person, and his act, is the basis for the New Testament idea of the “lawless one” who is now being restrained. In my view the lawless one will rise from within the church and is now being restrained by the preaching of the Gospel. In this message I also detail the other options available.
