TUESDAY 12th
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
NIV (vv9-12) – ‘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, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. 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.’
ESV (vv9-12) – ‘The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.’
As we continue in these verses, we see that there will be certain things that will happen around the time of the return of the Lord, which my own view is that of a pre-tribulation rapture of the saints (those who are in Christ) and which will also include the resurrection of those who have died in Christ, following this there will be a period of around seven years which will be the time of the great tribulation in which the anti-Christ will be revealed and it will be a time of great suffering on the earth as the wrath of God is poured out. This will be followed by what is called the battle of Armageddon, the time when Christ will return to the earth with his saints and establish his millennial reign.
Deception will be a major player in the days prior to the coming of the Lord, we see this in the words of Jesus himself who says to those who claim to have done many things in his name, ‘Depart from me. I never knew you’ (Matthew 7:21-23) there will also be a falling away, as again Jesus says, ‘When the Son of man comes will he find faith on the earth’, (Luke 18:8) and that the love of many will grow cold, (Matthew 24:12) this to me goes so much against what many are teaching today that the Church will Christianize the world and will be the means of ushering in the reign of Christ. Sadly, this is far from what Scripture teaches, for before Christ comes to reign there is going to be the revelation of the lawless one, in our text Paul calls it the rebellion, where one will come who will oppose and exalt himself against every so-called god and will demand that he becomes the object and centre of worship. But thankfully, we who are in Christ will be taken away, as Paul says the rebellious one will be restrained until the one who holds him back is taken away. This I believe will be the moment of the rapture of the saints, where the Church, who are those who are filled with the one who is the restraining force, the Holy Spirit will be taken away.
Paul says that following this the deceiver will deceive, not believers, for they will be gone, they will be safe in the presence of Jesus, but those who are perishing, and why are they perishing? Because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. I personally believe that these verses (vv9-12) clearly show that believers will not be on earth during the great tribulation.
Finally, today, I know there may be those who will read what I have written today who hold a different view on the timing and events of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is okay, what is of vital importance is that we agree that he is coming again and the importance of our being ready, being right with God through a personal and living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have read this and do not know Jesus as your Saviour, you will not be ready, so take some time to consider the wonder of all that God has done through the Lord Jesus Christ for you so that you can also become a part of his incredible family, the Church a community of believers who have placed their faith and trust in Jesus. These are the ones who he is coming for a second time.