2 Thessalonians 2:5-12 (NKJV) Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
V5 “Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?” This refers to the time Paul was with them and taught eschatology.
V6 “And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.” There is disagreement of who the restrainer is. I believe that the restrainer is the Holy Spirit indwelling all believers. We are praying, and all things cannot be fulfilled as long as the church is in the world. The 7 year Tribulation is primarily dealing with Israel preparing them for believing Jesus is their Messiah. The whole world, though, is evil and will suffer God’s wrath just like Israel. He = the antiChrist. His own time = the time God allows him to do the evil that he (the antiChrist) wants to do. God is able to restrain sin, no one else is able. Compare John 17:15, 2 Thessalonians 3:3 (God guards), and1 John 4:4 (God is greater than the world). God can restrain, stop, cast out the devil, if He wishes–compare Job 1:9-11 and Job 2:1-8, etc. (Walvoord Prophecy Commentary) “The restraining ministry of the Spirit through the church will return to heaven at the rapture.
The most natural explanation of the removal of the restrainer is to identify this particular action with the time when Christ will come to take out His church. If the Holy Spirit indwells the church and the church is taken out of the world, then the Spirit will also be taken out of the world. This does not mean that He will not continue working in the world in some way; but it will mean a reversal of Pentecost. Just as the Spirit came on Pentecost suddenly and unexpectedly, so He will leave suddenly and unexpectedly when Christ takes the church out of the world. The Holy Spirit must be present on earth during the future tribulation to convict sinners of their need for salvation and bring them to faith in Christ, just as He does today.”
V7 “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.” Mystery is not a puzzle to solve but a truth not clearly revealed in the Scriptures. This lawlessness is now working but not at full strength, for God will not allow it. So, He (God) restrains until it is time. Everyone sins. Sinning is lawlessness (1 John 3:4), those who engage in lawlessness will be cursed by God (Matthew 7:23), some people appear holy and pure but inside them they are full of lawlessness, for God knows the heart (Matthew 23:28), as time advances lawlessness increases, as we see today (Matthew 24:12), the more there is lawlessness, the less there is love (Matthew 24:12), all of us are born as slaves to lawlessness, but after placing faith into the Lord Jesus for salvation, we are to be servants committed to holiness (Romans 6:19 and Titus 2:14), we are not to be in partnership with those practicing lawlessness (2 Corinthians 6:14), and the Lord Jesus never did lawlessness; He hated it (Hebrews 1:9).
V8 “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. “ The lawlessness one is the ultimate practitioner of lawlessness–the antiChrist. After the church has been removed, then the lawless one will be revealed. The antiChrist, the lawlessness one, the man of sin, is doomed. The breath of His mouth is the words Jesus the Messiah will speak to him (Zechariah 14:3, Zechariah 14:12-15, and Revelation 19:11-21). The Greek word for “destroy” is (G2673) καταργέω katargéō, which means has no effect, useless. Thus, the antiChrist is not annihilated but totally made helpless and unable to have any effect. The Greek word for brightness/appearance is (G2015) ἐπιφάνεια epipháneia, which means a sudden manifestation. The Lord Jesus is omnipotent.
V9 “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders…” The lawless one is indwelt by satan, himself, who gives the antiChrist power (authority), signs (deceptive authenticating miracles, and other lying miracles, as in Exodus 7:11, Exodus 7:22, Exodus 8:7, and Exodus 8:18-19. The great effects the antiChrist accomplishes will be do to the strengthening and help of the devil who indwells him. It is, essentially, the devil’s working. The antiChrist is just a willing human. The antiChrist inspired by the devil will do miracles (Revelation 13:13), fulfill signs, and do things that amaze but are for one purpose–to deceive people that he is the messiah.
V10 “…and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” His main tool is lies of all types, words and deeds. People, who do not fear God, will be amazed and follow him. God allows this deception because they refused and suppressed the truths about God and His ways. They did not love the truth. They will perish (physical death and eternal punishment). They had opportunities to believe but refused and rejected. Compare Matthew 23:37, Acts 7:51, and John 3:18-21.
V11 “And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie…” God’s principle of punishment is to give them what they desire. These evil people desire to believe lies, then God will allow them to believe the most outrageous lie–that the antiChrist is the messiah. Since they love lies and reject truth, God punishes them by allowing them to believe outrageous lies. Compare Romans 1:18-32.
V12 “…that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” Condemned = God’s verdict which is guilty. Their sentence is eternal torment and destruction. They refused truth and had pleasure in sinning. People reject God for two reasons: 1) pride (I’m a good person; I’m good enough; I’m all I need: I decide my own way) and 2) love of sinful pleasures.
Compare these two poems:
Invictus
By William Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
*****
My Captain
Dorothea Day
Out of the night that dazzles me,
Bright as the sun from pole to pole,
I thank the God I know to be
For Christ the conqueror of my soul.
Since His the sway of circumstance,
I would not wince nor cry aloud.
Under that rule which men call chance
My head with joy is humbly bowed.
Beyond this place of sin and tears
That life with Him! And His the aid,
Despite the menace of the years,
Keeps, and shall keep me, unafraid.
I have no fear, though strait the gate,
He cleared from punishment the scroll.
Christ is the Master of my fate,
Christ is the Captain of my soul.