1Now brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of our gathering together to Him, we ask you 2not to be quickly disturbed in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the Day of Christ has come. 3Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is unveiled, the son of perdition, 4who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is honored, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, declaring of himself that he is God. 5Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6And now you know what is restraining, that he may be unveiled in his own time. 7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He is now restraining, until it is raised from out of the midst. 8And then the lawless one will be unveiled, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10and with all unrighteous deception among those who are perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 13But we owe thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14to which He called you through our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15Therefore, brethren, stand firm and hold on to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. 16Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting comfort and good hope by grace, 17encourage your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 CORRECTION OF THEIR ERROR AS TO CHRIST'S IMMEDIATE COMING. THE APOSTASY THAT MUST PRECEDE IT. EXHORTATION TO STEADFASTNESS, INTRODUCED WITH THANKSGIVING FOR THEIR ELECTION BY GOD. (2Th. 2:1-17)
Now--rather, "But"; marking the transition from his prayers for them to entreaties to them.
we beseech you--or "entreat you." He uses affectionate entreaty, rather than stern reproof, to win them over to the right view.
by--rather, "with respect to"; as the Greek for "of" (
2Κορ. 1:8).
our gathering together unto him--the consummating or final gathering together of the saints to Him at His coming, as announced,
Ματθ. 24:31;
1Θεσ. 4:17. The Greek noun is nowhere else found except in
Εβρ. 10:25, said of the assembling together of believers for congregational worship. Our instinctive fears of the judgment are dispelled by the thought of being gathered together UNTO HIM ("even as the hen gathereth her chickens under her wings"), which ensures our safety.
2 soon--on trifling grounds, without due consideration.
shaken--literally, "tossed" as ships tossed by an agitated sea. Compare for the same image,
Εφεσ. 4:14.
in mind--rather as the Greek, "from your mind," that is, from your mental steadfastness on the subject.
troubled--This verb applies to emotional agitation; as "shaken" to intellectual.
by spirit--by a person professing to have the spirit of prophecy (
1Κορ. 12:8-10;
1Ιωάν. 4:1-3). The Thessalonians had been warned (
1Θεσ. 5:20-21) to "prove" such professed prophesyings, and to "hold fast (only) that which is good."
by word--of mouth (compare
2Θεσ. 2:5,
2Θεσ. 2:15); some word or saying alleged to be that of Paul, orally communicated. If oral tradition was liable to such perversion in the apostolic age (compare a similar instance,
Ιωάν. 21:23), how much more in our age!
by letter as from us--purporting to be from us, whereas it is a forgery. Hence he gives a test by which to know his genuine letters (
2Θεσ. 3:17).
day of Christ--The oldest manuscripts read, "day of the Lord."
is at hand--rather, "is immediately imminent," literally, "is present"; "is instantly coming." Christ and His apostles always taught that the day of the Lord's coming is at hand; and it is not likely that Paul would imply anything contrary here; what he denies is, that it is so immediately imminent, instant, or present, as to justify the neglect of everyday worldly duties. CHRYSOSTOM, and after him ALFORD, translates, "is (already) present" (compare
2Τιμ. 2:18), a kindred error. But in
2Τιμ. 3:1, the same Greek verb is translated "come." WAHL supports this view. The Greek is usually used of actual presence; but is quite susceptible of the translation, "is all but present."
3 by any means--Greek, "in any manner." Christ, in
Ματθ. 24:4, gives the same warning in connection with the same event. He had indicated three ways (
2Θεσ. 2:2) in which they might be deceived (compare other ways,
2Θεσ. 2:9, and
Ματθ. 24:5,
Ματθ. 24:24).
a falling away--rather as the Greek, "the falling away," or "apostasy," namely, the one of which "I told you" before (
2Θεσ. 2:5), "when I was yet with you," and of which the Lord gave some intimation (
Ματθ. 24:10-
Ματθ. 24:12;
Ιωάν. 5:43).
that man of sin be revealed--The Greek order is, "And there have been revealed the man of sin." As Christ was first in mystery, and afterwards revealed (
1Τιμ. 3:16), so Antichrist (the term used
1Ιωάν. 2:18;
1Ιωάν. 4:3) is first in mystery, and afterwards shall be developed and revealed (
2Θεσ. 2:7-9). As righteousness found its embodiment in Christ, "the Lord our righteousness," so "sin" shall have its embodiment in "the man of sin." The hindering power meanwhile restrains its manifestation; when that shall be removed, then this manifestation shall take place. The articles, "the apostasy," and "the man of sin," may also refer to their being well known as foretold in
Δαν. 7:8,
Δαν. 7:25, "the little horn speaking great words against the Most High, and thinking to change times and laws"; and
Δαν. 11:36, the wilful king who "shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods; neither shall he regard any god."
the son of perdition--a title applied besides to Judas (the traitor,
Ιωάν. 17:12), and to none else. Antichrist (the second "beast" coming up out of the earth); therefore he shall at first be "like a lamb, while he speaks as a dragon" (
Αποκ. 13:11); "coming in peaceably and by flatteries," "working deceitfully," but "his heart shall be against the holy covenant" (
Δαν. 11:21,
Δαν. 11:23,
Δαν. 11:28,
Δαν. 11:30). Seeds of "the falling away" soon appear (
1Τιμ. 4:1-3), but the full development and concentration of these anti-Christian elements in one person are still to appear. Contrast the King of Zion's coming as JESUS: (1) righteous or just; (2) having salvation; (3) lowly; whereas Antichrist is: (1) "the man of (the embodiment of) sin; (2) the son of perdition; (3) exalting himself above all that is worshipped. He is the son of perdition, as consigning many to it, and finally doomed to it himself (
Αποκ. 17:8,
Αποκ. 17:11). "He whose essence and inheritance is perdition" [ALFORD]. As "the kingdom of heaven" is first brought before us in the abstract, then in the concrete, the King, the Lord Jesus; so here, first we have (
2Θεσ. 2:7) "the mystery of iniquity," then "the iniquitous one" (
2Θεσ. 2:8). Doubtless "the apostasy" of Romanism (the abstract) is one of the greatest instances of the working of the mystery of iniquity, and its blasphemous claims for the Pope (the concrete) are forerunners of the final concentration of blasphemy in the man of sin, who shall not merely, as the Pope, usurp God's honor as vicegerent of God, but oppose God openly at last.
4 Δαν. 11:36-
Δαν. 11:37 is here referred to. The words used there as to Antiochus Epiphanes, Paul implies, shall even be more applicable to the man of sin, who is the New Testament actual Antichrist, as Antiochus was the Old Testament typical Antichrist. The previous world kingdoms had each one extraordinary person as its representative head and embodiment (thus Babylon had Nebuchadnezzar,
Δαν. 2:38, end; Medo-Persia had Cyrus; Greece had Alexander, and Antiochus Epiphanes, the forerunner of Antichrist); so the fourth and last world kingdom, under which we now live, shall have one final head, the concentrated embodiment of all the sin and lawless iniquity which have been in pagan and papal Rome. Rome's final phase will probably be an unholy alliance between idolatrous superstition and godless infidelity.
Who opposeth and exalteth himself--There is but one Greek article to both participles, implying that the reason why he opposeth himself is in order that he may exalt himself above, &c. ALFORD takes the former clause absolutely, "He that withstands (CHRIST)," that is, Antichrist (
1Ιωάν. 2:18). As at the conclusion of the Old Testament period, Israel apostate allied itself with the heathen world power against Jesus and His apostles (
Λουκ. 23:12; and at Thessalonica,
Πράξ. 17:5-
Πράξ. 17:9), and was in righteous retribution punished by the instrumentality of the world power itself (Jerusalem being destroyed by Rome),
Δαν. 9:26-
Δαν. 9:27; so the degenerate Church (become an "harlot"), allying itself with the godless world power (the "beast" of Revelation) against vital religion (that is, the harlot sitting on the beast), shall be judged by that world power which shall be finally embodied in Antichrist (
Ζαχ. 13:8-
Ζαχ. 13:9;
Ζαχ. 14:2;
Αποκ. 17:16-
Αποκ. 17:17). In this early Epistle, the apostate Jewish Church as the harlot, and pagan Rome as the beast, form the historical background on which Paul draws his prophetic sketch of the apostasy. In the Pastoral Epistles, which were later, this prophecy appears in connection with Gnosticism, which had at that time infected the Church. The harlot (the apostate Church) is first to be judged by the beast (the world power) and its kings (
Αποκ. 17:16); and afterwards the beasts and their allies (with the personal Antichrist at their head, who seems to rise after the judgment on the harlot, or apostate Church) shall be judged by the coming of Jesus Himself (
Αποκ. 19:20). Anti-Christian tendencies produce different Antichrists: these separate Antichrists shall hereafter find their consummation in an individual exceeding them all in the intensity of his evil character [AUBERLEN]. But judgment soon overtakes him. He is necessarily a child of death, immediately after his ascent as the beast out of the bottomless pit going into perdition (
Αποκ. 17:8,
Αποκ. 17:11). Idolatry of self, spiritual pride, and rebellion against God, are his characteristics; as Christ-worship, humility, and dependence on God, characterize Christianity. He not merely assumes Christ's character (as the "false Christs,"
Ματθ. 24:24), but "opposes" Christ. The Greek implies one situated on an opposite side (compare
1Ιωάν. 2:22;
2Ιωάν. 1:7). One who, on the destruction of every religion, shall seek to establish his own throne, and for God's great truth, "God is man," to substitute his own lie, "Man is God" [TRENCH].
above all that is called God-- (
1Κορ. 8:5). The Pope (for instance, Clement VI) has even commanded the angels to admit into Paradise, without the alleged pains of purgatory, certain souls. But still this is only a foreshadowing of the Antichrist, who will not, as the Pope, act in God's name, but against God.
or that is worshipped--Rome here again gives a presage of Antichrist. The Greek is Sebasma; and Sebastus is the Greek for Augustus, who was worshipped as the secular ruler and divine vicegerent. The papacy has risen on the overthrow of Cćsar's power. Antichrist shall exalt himself above every object of worship, whether on earth as the Cćsar, or in heaven as God. The various prefigurations of Antichrist, Mohammed, Rome, Napoleon, and modern infidel secularism, contain only some, not all, his characteristics. It is the union of all in some one person that shall form the full Antichrist, as the union in one Person, Jesus, of all the types and prophecies constituted the full Christ [OLSHAUSEN].
in the temple of God . . . that he is God--"He will reign a time, times, and half a time" (
Δαν. 7:25), that is, three and a half years, and will sit in the temple at Jerusalem: then the Lord shall come from heaven and cast him into the take of fire and shall bring to the saints the times of their reigning, the seventh day of hallowed rest, and give to Abraham the promised inheritance" [IRENĆUS, Against Heresies, 30.4].
showing himself--with blasphemous and arrogant DISPLAY (compare a type,
Πράξ. 12:21-
Πράξ. 12:23). The earliest Fathers unanimously looked for a personal Antichrist. Two objections exist to Romanism being regarded the Antichrist, though probably Romanism will leave its culmination in him: (1) So far is Romanism from opposing all that is called God, that adoration of gods and lords many (the Virgin Mary and saints) is a leading feature in it; (2) the papacy has existed for more than twelve centuries, and yet Christ is not come, whereas the prophecy regards the final Antichrist as short-lived, and soon going to perdition through the coming of Christ (
Αποκ. 17:8,
Αποκ. 17:11). Gregory the Great declared against the patriarch of Constantinople, that whosoever should assume the title of "universal bishop" would be "the forerunner of Antichrist." The papacy fulfilled this his undesigned prophecy. The Pope has been called by his followers, "Our Lord God the Pope"; and at his inauguration in St. Peter's, seated in his chair upon the high altar, which is treated as his footstool, he has vividly foreshadowed him who "exalteth himself above all that is called God." An objection fatal to interpreting the temple of God here as the Church (
1Κορ. 3:16-17;
1Κορ. 6:19) is, the apostle would never designate the apostate anti-Christian Church "the temple of God." It is likely that, as Messiah was revealed among the Jews at Jerusalem, so Antimessiah shall appear among them when restored to their own land, and after they have rebuilt their temple at Jerusalem. Thus
Δαν. 11:41,
Δαν. 11:45 (see on
Δαν. 11:41;
Δαν. 11:45), corresponds, "He shall enter the glorious land (Judea), and he shall plant the tabernacles of his palaces between the seas in the glorious holy mountain"; and then (
Δαν. 12:1) "Michael, the great prince, shall stand up" to deliver God's people. Compare Note, see on
Δαν. 9:26-
Δαν. 9:27. Also the king of Assyria, type of Antichrist (
Ησ. 14:12-
Ησ. 14:14). "Lucifer" (a title of Messiah, assumed by Antichrist,
Αποκ. 22:16); "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God." "I will sit upon the mount of the congregation (that is, God's place of meeting His people of old, the temple), in the sides of the north (
Ψαλ. 48:2); I will be like the Most High."
Αποκ. 11:1-
Αποκ. 11:2, "The temple of God . . . the holy city" (namely, Jerusalem,
Ματθ. 4:5), compare
Ψαλ. 68:18,
Ψαλ. 68:29, referring to a period since Christ's ascension, therefore not yet fulfilled (
Ησ. 2:1-
Ησ. 2:3; Eze. 40:1-44:31;
Ζαχ. 14:16-
Ζαχ. 14:20;
Μαλ. 3:1). "In the temple of God," implies that it an internal, not an external, enemy which shall assail the Church. Antichrist shall, the first three and a half years of the prophetical week, keep the covenant, then break it and usurp divine honors in the midst of the week. Some think Antichrist will be a Jew. At all events he will, "by flatteries," bring many, not only of the Gentiles, but also of "the tribes" of Israel (so the Greek for "kindreds,"
Αποκ. 11:8-
Αποκ. 11:9), to own him as their long-looked-for Messiah, in the same "city where our Lord was crucified." "Sitteth" here implies his occupying the place of power and majesty in opposition to Him who "sitteth on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (
Εβρ. 1:3), and who shall come to "sit" there where the usurper had sat (
Ματθ. 26:64). See on
Δαν. 9:27;
Αποκ. 11:2-
Αποκ. 11:3,
Αποκ. 11:9,
Αποκ. 11:11. Compare
Ιεζ. 38:2-
Ιεζ. 38:3,
Ιεζ. 38:6,
Ιεζ. 38:9-
Ιεζ. 38:10,
Ιεζ. 38:13-
Ιεζ. 38:14,
Ιεζ. 38:16, as to Tyre, the type of Antichrist, characterized by similar blasphemous arrogance.
5 Remember, &c.--confuting those who represent Paul as having labored under error as to Christ's immediate coming when writing his first Epistle, and as now correcting that error.
I told you--more than once, literally, "I was telling," or "used to tell."
6 now ye know--by my having told you. The power must have been one "known" to the Thessalonians.
what withholdeth--that which holds him back; "keeps him in check": the power that has restrained the man of sin from his full and final development, is the moral and conservative influence of political states [OLSHAUSEN]: the fabric of human polity as a coercive power; as "he who now letteth" refers to those who rule that polity by which the great upbursting of godlessness is kept down [ALFORD]. The "what withholdeth" refers to the general hindrance; "he who now letteth," to the person in whom that hindrance is summed up. Romanism, as a forerunner of Antichrist, was thus kept in check by the Romanemperor (the then representative of the coercive power) until Constantine, having removed the seat of empire to Constantinople, the Roman bishop by degrees first raised himself to precedency, then to primacy, and then to sole empire above the secular power. The historical fact from which Paul starts in his prediction was probably the emperor Claudius' expulsion of the Jews, the representative of the anti-Christian adversary in Paul's day, from Rome, thus "withholding" them in some degree in their attacks on Christianity; this suggested the principle holding good to the end of time, and about to find its final fulfilment in the removal of the withholding person or authority, whereupon Antichrist in his worst shape shall start up.
that he might be--Greek, "in order that": ye know that which keeps him back, in God's purposes, from being sooner manifested, "in order that he may be revealed in his own time" (that is, the time appointed by God to him as his proper time for being manifested), not sooner (compare
Δαν. 11:35). The removal of the withholding power will be when the civil polity, derived from the Roman empire, which is to be, in its last form, divided into ten kingdoms (
Αποκ. 17:3,
Αποκ. 17:11-
Αποκ. 17:13), shall, with its leading representative head for the time being ("he who now letteth," Greek, "withholdeth," as in
2Θεσ. 2:6), yield to the prevalent godless "lawlessness" with "the lawless one" as its embodiment. The elect Church and the Spirit cannot well be, as DE BURGH suggests, the withholding power meant; for both shall never be wholly "taken out of the way" (
Ματθ. 28:20). However, the testimony of the elect Church, and the Spirit in her, are the great hindrance to the rise of the apostasy; and it is possible that, though the Lord shall have a faithful few even then, yet the full energy of the Spirit in the visible Church, counteracting the energy or "working" of "the mystery of lawlessness" by the testimony of the elect, shall have been so far "taken out of the way," or set aside, as to admit the manifestation of "the lawless one"; and so DE BURGH'S'S view may be right (
Λουκ. 18:8;
Αποκ. 11:3-
Αποκ. 11:12). This was a power of which the Thessalonians might easily "know" through Paul's instruction.
7 the mystery of iniquity--the counterwork to "the mystery of godliness" (
1Τιμ. 3:16). Anti-Christianity latently working, as distinguished from its final open manifestation. "Mystery" in Scripture means, not what remains always a secret, but that which is for a while hidden, but in due time manifested (compare
Εφεσ. 3:4-
Εφεσ. 3:5). Satan will resort to a mode of opposition more conformed to the then imminent "appearing" and "presence" of the Saviour, and will anticipate Him with a last effort to maintain the dominion of the world [DE BURGH], just as at His first advent he rushed into open opposition, by taking possession of the bodies of men. "Iniquity," Greek, "lawlessness"; defiant rejection of God's law (compare Note, see on
Ζαχ. 5:9,
Ζαχ. 5:10). "Wickedness" (translated by the Septuagint by the same Greek, meaning "lawlessness," which Paul employs here), embodied there as a woman, answers to "the mystery of iniquity," here embodied finally in "the man of sin": as the former was ultimately banished for ever from the Holy Land to her own congenial soil, Babylon, so iniquity and the man of sin shall fall before Michael and the Lord Himself, who shall appear as the Deliverer of His people (
Δαν. 12:1-
Δαν. 12:3;
Ζαχ. 14:3-
Ζαχ. 14:9). Compare
Ματθ. 12:43. The Jewish nation dispossessed of the evil spirit, the demon of idolatry being cast out through the Babylonian captivity, receives ultimately a worse form of the evil spirit, Christ-opposing self-righteousness. Also, the Christian Church in course of time taken possession of by the demon of Romish idolatry, then dispossessed of it by the Reformation, then its house "garnished" by hypocrisy, secularity, and rationalism, but "swept empty" of living faith, then finally apostatizing and repossessed by "the man of sin," and outwardly destroyed for a brief time (though even then Christ shall have witnesses for Him among both the Jews,
Ζαχ. 13:9, and Gentiles,
Ματθ. 28:20), when Christ shall suddenly come (
Δαν. 11:32-
Δαν. 11:45;
Λουκ. 18:7-
Λουκ. 18:8).
already-- (
2Ιωάν. 1:9-10;
Κολ. 2:18-
Κολ. 2:23;
1Τιμ. 4:1); compare "even now already" (
1Ιωάν. 2:18;
1Ιωάν. 4:3) as distinguished from "in his own time" of being revealed hereafter. Antiquity, it appears from hence, is not a justification for unscriptural usages or dogmas, since these were "already," even in Paul's time, beginning to spring up: the written word is the only sure test. "Judaism infecting Christianity is the fuel; the mystery of iniquity is the spark." "It is one and the same impurity diffusing itself over many ages" [BENGEL].
only he who now letteth will let--The italicized words are not in the Greek. Therefore, translate rather, "only (that is, the continuance of the MYSTERY of iniquity-working will be only) until he who now withholdeth (the same Greek as in
2Θεσ. 2:6) be taken out of the way." "Only (waiting,
Εβρ. 10:13) until he," &c. Then it will work no longer in mystery, but in open manifestation.
8 Translate, "the lawless one"; the embodiment of all the godless "lawlessness" which has been working in "mystery" for ages (
2Θεσ. 2:7) : "the man of sin" (
2Θεσ. 2:3).
whom the Lord--Some of the oldest manuscripts read, "the Lord Jesus." How awful that He whose very name means God-Saviour, should appear as the Destroyer; but the salvation of the Church requires the destruction of her foe. As the reign of Israel in Canaan was ushered in by judgments on the nations for apostasy (for the Canaanites were originally worshippers of the true God: thus Melchisedek, king of Salem, was the "priest of the most high God,"
Γέν. 14:18 : Ammon and Moab came from righteous Lot), so the Son of David's reign in Zion and over the whole earth, is to be ushered in by judgments on the apostate Christian world.
consume . . . and . . . destroy--So
Δαν. 7:26, "consume and destroy";
Δαν. 11:45. He shall "consume" him by His mere breath (
Ησ. 11:4;
Ησ. 30:33) : the sentence of judgment being the sharp sword that goeth out of His mouth (
Αποκ. 19:15,
Αποκ. 19:21). Antichrist's manifestation and destruction are declared in the same breath; at his greatest height he is nearest his fall, like Herod his type (
Ησ. 1:24-
Ησ. 1:27;
Πράξ. 12:20-
Πράξ. 12:23). As the advancing fire, while still at a distance consumes little insects [CHRYSOSTOM] by its mere heat, so Christ's mere approach is enough to consume Antichrist. The mere "appearance of the coming" of the Lord of glory is sufficient to show to Antichrist his perfect nothingness. He is seized and "cast alive into the take of fire" (
Αποκ. 19:20). So the world kingdoms, and the kingdom of the beast, give place to that of the Son of man and His saints. The Greek for "destroy" means "abolish" (the same Greek is so translated,
2Τιμ. 1:10); that is, cause every vestige of him to disappear. Compare as to Gog attacking Israel and destroyed by Jehovah (Eze. 38:1-39:29), so as not to leave a vestige of him.
with the brightness of his coming--Greek, "the manifestation, (or appearance) of His presence": the first outburst of His advent--the first gleam of His presence--is enough to abolish utterly all traces of Antichrist, as darkness disappears before the dawning day. Next, his adherents are "slain with the sword out of His mouth" (
Αποκ. 19:21). BENGEL'S distinction between "the appearance of His coming" and the "coming" itself is not justified by
1Τιμ. 6:14;
2Τιμ. 1:10;
2Τιμ. 4:1,
2Τιμ. 4:8;
Τίτ 2:13, where the same Greek for "appearing" (English Version, here "the brightness") plainly refers to the coming itself. The expression, "manifestation (appearing) of His presence," is used in awful contrast to the revelation of the wicked one in the beginning of the verse.
9 whose coming--The same Greek as was used for the Lord's coming (
2Θεσ. 2:8) or personal "presence."
is--in its essential character.
after--according to the working ("energy") of Satan, as opposed to the energy or working of the Holy Spirit in the Church (see on
Εφεσ. 1:19). As Christ is related to God, so is Antichrist to Satan, his visible embodiment and manifestation: Satan works through him.
Αποκ. 13:2, "The dragon gave him (the beast) his power . . . seat . . . great authority."
lying wonders--literally, "wonders" or "prodigies of falsehood." His "power, signs, and wonders," all have falsehood for their base, essence, and aim (
Ιωάν. 8:44), [ALFORD]. In
Ματθ. 24:24 Jesus implies that the miracles shall be real, though demoniac, such mysterious effects of the powers of darkness as we read of in the case of the Egyptian sorcerers, not such as Jesus performed in their character, power, or aim; for they are against the revealed Word, and therefore not to be accepted as evidences of truth; nay, on the authority of that sure Word of prophecy (here, and
Ματθ. 24:24), to be known and rejected as wrought in support of falsehood (
Δευτ. 13:1-
Δευτ. 13:3,
Δευτ. 13:5;
Γαλ. 1:8-
Γαλ. 1:9;
Αποκ. 13:11-
Αποκ. 13:15;
Αποκ. 19:20). The same three Greek words occur for miracles of Jesus (
Πράξ. 2:22;
Εβρ. 2:4); showing that as the Egyptian magicians imitated Moses (
2Τιμ. 3:1-8), so Antichrist will try to imitate Christ's works as a "sign," or proof of divinity.
10 deceivableness--rather as Greek, "deceit of (to promote) unrighteousness" (
2Θεσ. 2:12).
in--The oldest manuscripts and versions omit "in." Translate, "unto them that are perishing" (
2Κορ. 2:15-16;
2Κορ. 4:3): the victims of him whose very name describes his perishing nature, "the son of perdition"; in contrast to you whom (
2Θεσ. 2:13) "God hath from the beginning chosen to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth."
because--literally, "in requital for"; in just retribution for their having no love for the truth which was within their reach (on account of its putting a check on their bad passions), and for their having "pleasure in unrighteousness" (
2Θεσ. 2:12;
Ρωμ. 1:18); they are lost because they loved not, but rejected, the truth which would have saved them.
received not--Greek, "welcomed not"; admitted it not cordially.
love of the truth--not merely love of truth, but love of THE truth (and of, Jesus who is the Truth, in opposition to Satan's "lie,"
2Θεσ. 2:9,
2Θεσ. 2:11;
Ιωάν. 8:42-
Ιωάν. 8:44), can save (
Εφεσ. 4:21). We are required not merely to assent to, but to love the truth (
Ψαλ. 119:97). The Jews rejected Him who came in His divine Father's name; they will receive Antichrist coming in his own name (
Ιωάν. 5:43). Their pleasant sin shall prove their terrible scourge.
11 for this cause--because "they received not the love of the truth." The best safeguard against error is "the love of the truth."
shall send--Greek, "sends," or "is sending"; the "delusion" is already beginning. God judicially sends hardness of heart on those who have rejected the truth, and gives them up in righteous judgment to Satan's delusions (
Ησ. 6:9-
Ησ. 6:10;
Ρωμ. 1:24-
Ρωμ. 1:26,
Ρωμ. 1:28). They first cast off the love of the truth, then God gives them up to Satan's delusions, then they settle down into "believing the lie": an awful climax (
1Βασ. 22:22-23;
Ιεζ. 14:9;
Ιώβ 12:16;
Ματθ. 24:5,
Ματθ. 24:11;
1Τιμ. 4:1).
strong delusion--Greek, "the powerful working of error," answering to the energizing "working of Satan" (
2Θεσ. 2:9); the same expression as is applied to the Holy Ghost's operation in believers: "powerful" or "effectual (energizing) working" (
Εφεσ. 1:19).
believe a lie--rather, "the lie" which Antichrist tells them, appealing to his miracles as proofs of it . . . (
2Θεσ. 2:9).
12 they all . . . damned--rather as Greek, "that all," &c. He here states the general proposition which applies specially to Antichrist's adherents. Not all in the Church of Rome, or other anti-Christian systems, shall be damned, but only "all who believed not the truth," when offered to them, "but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (
Ρωμ. 1:32;
Ρωμ. 2:8). Love of unrighteousness being the great obstacle to believing the truth.
13 But--In delightful contrast to the damnation of the lost (
2Θεσ. 2:12) stands the "salvation" of Paul's converts.
are bound--in duty (
2Θεσ. 1:3).
thanks . . . to God--not to ourselves, your ministers, nor to you, our converts.
beloved of the Lord--Jesus (
Ρωμ. 8:37;
Γαλ. 2:20;
Εφεσ. 5:2,
Εφεσ. 5:25). Elsewhere God the Father is said to love us (
2Θεσ. 2:16;
Ιωάν. 3:16;
Εφεσ. 2:4;
Κολ. 3:12). Therefore Jesus and the Father are one.
from the beginning--"before the foundation of the world" (
Εφεσ. 1:4; compare
1Κορ. 2:7;
2Τιμ. 1:9); in contrast to those that shall "worship the beast, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (
Αποκ. 13:8). Some of the oldest manuscripts read as English Version, but other oldest manuscripts and Vulgate read, "as first-fruits." The Thessalonians were among the first converts in Europe (compare
Ρωμ. 16:5;
1Κορ. 16:15). In a more general sense, it occurs in
Ιακ. 1:18;
Αποκ. 14:4; so I understand it here including the more restricted sense.
chosen you--The Greek, is not the ordinary word for "elected," implying His eternal selection; but taken for Himself, implying His having adopted them in His eternal purpose. It is found in the Septuagint (
Δευτ. 7:7;
Δευτ. 10:15).
through--rather as Greek, "in sanctification" as the element in which the choice to salvation had place (compare
1Πέτ. 1:2), standing in contrast to the "unrighteousness," the element in which Antichrist's followers are given over by God to damnation (
2Θεσ. 2:12).
of the Spirit--wrought by the Spirit who sanctifies all the elect people of God, first by eternally consecrating them to perfect holiness in Christ, once for all, next by progressively imparting it.
belief of the truth--contrasted with "believed not the truth" (
2Θεσ. 2:12).
14 you--The oldest manuscripts read, "us."
by our gospel--"through" the Gospel which we preach.
to . . . glory--In
2Θεσ. 2:13 it was "salvation," that is, deliverance from all evil, of body and soul (
1Θεσ. 5:9); here it is positive good, even "glory," and that "the glory of our Lord Jesus" Himself, which believers are privileged to share with Him (
Ιωάν. 17:22,
Ιωάν. 17:24;
Ρωμ. 8:17,
Ρωμ. 8:29;
2Τιμ. 2:10).
15 Therefore--God's sovereign choice of believers, so far from being a ground for inaction on their part, is the strongest incentive to action and perseverance in it. Compare the argument,
Φιλ. 2:12-
Φιλ. 2:13, "Work out your own salvation, FOR it is God which worketh in you," &c. We cannot fully explain this in theory; but to the sincere and humble, the practical acting on the principle is plain. "Privilege first, duty afterwards" [EDMUNDS].
stand fast--so as not to be "shaken or troubled" (
2Θεσ. 2:2).
hold--so as not to let go. Adding nothing, subtracting nothing [BENGEL]. The Thessalonians had not held fast his oral instructions but had suffered themselves to be imposed upon by pretended spirit-revelations, and words and letters pretending to be from Paul (
2Θεσ. 2:2), to the effect that "the day of the Lord was instantly imminent."
traditions--truths delivered and transmitted orally, or in writing (
2Θεσ. 3:6;
1Κορ. 11:2; Greek, "traditions"). The Greek verb from which the noun comes, is used by Paul in
1Κορ. 11:23;
1Κορ. 15:3. From the three passages in which "tradition" is used in a good sense, Rome has argued for her accumulation of uninspired traditions, virtually overriding God's Word, while put forward as of co-ordinate authority with it. She forgets the ten passages (
Ματθ. 15:2-
Ματθ. 15:3,
Ματθ. 15:6;
Μάρκ. 7:3,
Μάρκ. 7:5,
Μάρκ. 7:8-
Μάρκ. 7:9,
Μάρκ. 7:13;
Γαλ. 1:14;
Κολ. 2:8) stigmatizing man's uninspired traditions. Not even the apostles' sayings were all inspired (for example, Peter's dissimulation,
Γαλ. 2:11-
Γαλ. 2:14), but only when they claimed to be so, as in their words afterwards embodied in their canonical writings. Oral inspiration was necessary in their case, until the canon of the written Word should be complete; they proved their possession of inspiration by miracles wrought in support of the new revelation, which revelation, moreover, accorded with the existing Old Testament revelation; an additional test needed besides miracles (compare
Δευτ. 13:1-
Δευτ. 13:6;
Πράξ. 17:11). When the canon was complete, the infallibility of the living men was transferred to the written Word, now the sole unerring guide, interpreted by the Holy Spirit. Little else has come down to us by the most ancient and universal tradition save this, the all-sufficiency of Scripture for salvation. Therefore, by tradition, we are constrained to cast off all tradition not contained in, or not provable by, Scripture. The Fathers are valuable witnesses to historical facts, which give force to the intimations of Scripture: such as the Christian Lord's day, the baptism of infants, and the genuineness of the canon of Scripture. Tradition (in the sense of human testimony) cannot establish a doctrine, but can authenticate a fact, such as the facts just mentioned. Inspired tradition, in Paul's sense, is not a supplementary oral tradition completing our written Word, but it is identical with the written Word now complete; then the latter not being complete, the tradition was necessarily in part oral, in part written, and continued so until, the latter being complete before the death of St. John, the last apostle, the former was no longer needed. Scripture is, according to Paul, the complete and sufficient rule in all that appertains to making "the man of God perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" (
2Τιμ. 3:16-17). It is by leaving Paul's God-inspired tradition for human traditions that Rome has become the forerunner and parent of the Antichrist. It is striking that, from this very chapter denouncing Antichrist, she should draw an argument for her "traditions" by which she fosters anti-Christianity. Because the apostles' oral word was as trustworthy as their written word, it by no means follows that the oral word of those not apostles is as trustworthy as the written word of those who were apostles or inspired evangelists. No tradition of the apostles except their written word can be proved genuine on satisfactory evidence. We are no more bound to accept implicitly the Fathers' interpretations of Scripture, because we accept the Scripture canon on their testimony, than we are bound to accept the Jews' interpretation of the Old Testament, because we accept the Old Testament canon on their testimony.
our epistle--as distinguished from a "letter AS from us,"
2Θεσ. 2:2, namely, that purports to be from us, but is not. He refers to his first Epistle to the Thessalonians.
16 himself--by His own might, as contrasted with our feebleness; ensuring the efficacy of our prayer. Here our Lord Jesus stands first; in
1Θεσ. 3:11, "God our Father."
which . . . loved us--in the work of our redemption. Referring both to our Lord Jesus (
Ρωμ. 8:37;
Γαλ. 2:20) and God our Father (
Ιωάν. 3:16).
everlasting consolation--not transitory, as worldly consolations in trials (
Ρωμ. 8:38-
Ρωμ. 8:39). This for all time present, and then "good hope" for the future [ALFORD].
through grace--rather as Greek "IN grace"; to be joined to "hath given." Grace is the element in which the gift was made.
17 Comfort your hearts--unsettled as you have been through those who announced the immediate coming of the Lord.
good word and work--The oldest manuscripts invert the order, "work and word." Establishment in these were what the young converts at Thessalonica needed, not fanatical teaching (compare
1Κορ. 15:58).