Commentary in Simple English on 2 Thessalonians

Chapter 2

Verses 1-12 Christ's coming

When Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians, some of the Christians were worried. Some of their Christian friends had died. Jesus had not come soon enough. Now it was rather the other way round. Some of the Christians thought that Jesus had come already. This was too soon.

In these verses Paul speaks about certain things which will happen before Jesus comes again. These things have not happened yet. And they are not really the signs that point to the coming of Jesus. We think that the Christians at Salonika understood these verses better than we do. They had heard Paul teach about these things. So be very careful if anyone tells you that he knows just what Paul means here. Anyone like that is fairly sure to be wrong! Anyone who can tell you just when Jesus will come is quite wrong (Matt. 24:36).

So in these verses Paul speaks about these things.

a) There is a force that is at work in the world which is really bad. It is not yet seen clearly (verse 7).

b) Then there is another force which is at work. This checks the bad force (verses 6 and 7).

c) This other force will be 'taken out of the way' (verse 7).

d) Then the bad force will be seen clearly (verse 8).

e) In verse 3 we read about 'the rebellion'. This probably means that there are people in the churches who are not real Christians. They will turn against the Good News. They will do more than leave the churches. They will oppose Christ and his work. We call this 'apostasy'.

f) Then verses 3 and 4 speak of 'the man of lawlessness', that is, the man who will not obey any law. [2.1].

Now, we must remember that Paul says that these things will all happen before Jesus comes again. We will now explain what Paul says in these verses. Then after that we will look at some of the ways in which these verses can help us today.

So in verse 1 Paul speaks about the coming of Jesus. That is when we shall be gathered to meet him (Matt.24: 31; 1 The. 4:16 and 17). The 'day of the Lord' (verse 2) does not just mean one day. It is a time; we cannot say how long it is. But some of the Christians at Salonika said: 'The day of the Lord is here with us now! It is present already!' Paul does not know quite how this idea has started. Some of the Christians had been shaken in their minds. They had become too excited. Perhaps a prophet had spoken a message which started the idea. Perhaps it was only a story passed from one person to another. Or it may have been a letter that someone wrote as though it came from Paul. In verse 3 Paul tells them not to get this wrong. They are not to be led into wrong thinking and ideas.

There are certain other things which will happen before Jesus comes again. One of these is the 'apostasy' when many people will leave the church and turn against the truth. Then a man who will not be ruled by any law will appear. This 'man of lawlessness' is also the 'man that God will destroy'. He is the man who is lost, and more lost than any other man. He is the enemy of God and men. He is the 'Climber'. He tries to lift himself above men and God [2.1].

Verse 4 tells us more about this man. Some of the Roman emperors thought that they were 'gods'. Other men too have thought that they were 'gods'. But such people thought only that they were one 'god' amongst many other 'gods'. This man goes much further than that. He is against all 'gods'. He wants to be higher than all the 'gods'. He wants to be higher than the only true God as well. And if there are bad spirits which men worship, he is against them too. Then he seats himself in God's temple, and tells everyone that he is god. He sits down as though the temple belongs to him.

We should not take this verse to mean that the temple of God in Jerusalem will be built again. God's temple here is more likely to mean the whole church of God in the world.

Verse 5 tells us that this was all part of Paul's teaching when he was in Salonika.

Then in verses 6 and 7 Paul speaks about the force which holds back the 'man of lawlessness' [2.2]. Many different people have guessed what this 'force' is. We do not know. But as it is 'lawlessness' which it holds back, it could be the rule of law among men. So this 'secret power of lawlessness' is already at work, and the other force holds it back. There is a right time for things to happen in the world. It is the time that God has chosen. When the right time comes (verse 8), this secret force or power of lawlessness will come out into the open. We shall see in verses 9-12 how this bad power works. But first Paul says that Jesus will destroy this bad power. Jesus will do this when he comes again.

First the bad power will appear. Then after that, Jesus will appear. Paul does not tell us at all how long there will be in between. Jesus will not have to fight against this enemy. 'The breath of his mouth' is the word, which is spoken by Jesus. That will be enough. The enemy will be brought to nothing by Christ's glory when he comes again.

What we read in verses 9-12 is rather like Revelation 13: 1-8. People often call this great enemy of the truth ' the Antichrist'. That just means the great enemy of Christ. If we do use this name, we should remember that this letter does not use it here. Nor does John use this name in Revelation. We only find it in John's letters. So we must be careful. Paul then tells us how the bad power or 'Antichrist' gains his power among men.

1. Satan is hard at work. He uses his 'energy'. He is the bad spirit, the devil. He is the great enemy of God. (verse 9) He uses the Antichrist.

2. Then there will be the false 'miracles'. There will be signs which will be 'lie signs'. They will point people to the lies, which the devil wants men to believe. They will be signs that point people away from God and his truth. These lie signs will try to say that the Devil's lie is real and true when it is not. Wonderful things will happen, but they will not be for God's glory.

3. (verse 10). People who do not love God's truth, the Good News, will not be saved. They will be lost. And such people will be quite ready to take in the devil's lie. Men either 'believe the truth' or they find great pleasure in all that is wrong.

4. Paul goes even further than this (in verse 11). He says that God sends to such people a working in their minds of wrong ideas. This helps people to believe the great lie that the devil wants them to believe.

5. Then in verse 12 we see that the people who believe the devil's lie are the very same people who find pleasure in doing what is wrong.

Now in amongst the teaching in these verses, there are several important things that will help us and other Christians.

1. There are times when the church suffers much from its enemies. They may be violent, and kill Christians and destroy churches and homes. This had happened at Salonika. It sometimes happens at such times that some people become prophets and teach things which do not agree with God's Word. This is a danger. A wise Christian leader will watch for this to happen. He will work to stop it. This is just what the writers do in this chapter.

2. God gives to a Christian a rest and a peace of mind. This is one of the good things which the Christian enjoys. So we should not be easily or quickly shaken in mind (verse 2).

3. Christians should not listen to strange teaching. Most of all, this is true if we do not know where the teaching comes from. If we do listen to such teaching we may be 'shaken' in our minds (verse 2). And then we may be 'deceived'. We may receive false teaching and wrong ideas.

4. We hope to be saved and to enjoy God's glory. So we must be faithful. When we see that some people leave the church, we must not go with them. When we hear people speak against the Good News, we must not join in. To join in would be 'apostasy' (verse 3). We must still be faithful to the truth. We must not join crowds who do what is wrong. Quite often many people are wrong and only a few do what is right. A Christian must do what is right even though he is alone. (Exod 23:2).

5. God rules this world. It is at the time God chooses (verse 6) that the Antichrist will appear. God even sends into man's minds the working of wrong ideas (verse 11). God is still in control, so we do not need to fear.

6. Let us love the truth (verse 10). Let us spend less time thinking about the devil's lie. Let us love God's written Word more. Let us ask: 'What do I love most? Is it really God's truth that I love more than anything else?'

7. There are 'lie-signs' and false wonders, which do not point to the truth. So we must be careful. (See Acts 8:9-11, for example.) We must ask ourselves: 'Does this sign point people to God and to his truth?'

Verses 13-15 Why we should be strong

There is a real danger when we think about the devil and what he does. The devil is busy. Some people think too much about the Antichrist and they forget the great things that God does already. Now Paul turns away from prophecy and says: 'God is busy too. And what he does will last for ever.'

So Paul says (verse 13) that he has a duty to give thanks to God for the Christians at Salonika. It is like a debt to God, which he can pay back by his thanks to God. He says that the Lord Jesus loved the Christians in Salonika. Remember that this love is not just a feeling. Love thinks of ways to help people. God thought about lost sinners. He knew the very worst about us. He found a way to save us. And Jesus came into the world so that God's purpose could be made to work. This is the love which God has to us (John 3:16). God is free. He is free to choose. He has more freedom than we have. So he chose us right at the beginning. This means in eternity past. [2.3] God’s purpose for us was:

a) That His Holy Spirit should live and work in us and that we should become holy; and
b) that we should not just love the truth of the Good News (verse 10). We should trust it and put our faith in it.

Paul puts a holy life here before faith. We may feel that it ought to be the other way round. We have faith first. Then we seek to live a holy life. But here the letter speaks of God's purpose when he chose us. To God, it is most important that we lead a holy life. So in this sense we go back from a holy life to faith.

Then in verse 14 we take another step back. We have faith because God has called us. He called us when we heard the Good News preached. He called us to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. But even more than this, God called us to share the glory and the great honour of Jesus. We shall not share that glory in this life.

In verse 15 Paul tells the Christians that they must not move away at all from the teaching which he gave them. This is because God has shown such great goodness to them. Paul and the others had spoken God's Word to them. Then they had written to the Salonika Christians as well. What they taught had the authority that came from God. They must be strong (1The 3:8). They are to stand firm on their feet so that they do not move. But in a storm this is easier if we hold on to something with our hands as well. They are to hold on to good Christian teaching.

Your Bible may use the word 'Traditions' here. Traditions are teachings and ideas that are handed down from one person to another. They were very important in the first years of the church because the New Testament had not yet been written. Now that we have the New Testament, we do need to check our traditions with Scripture to make sure that our traditions are right.

Before we leave these verses, we should see two more things in them.

1. God saves us. He is one. But he is also Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All are at work to save sinners.
a). God the Father chose us (verse 13) and called us (verse14).

b). The Lord Jesus Christ. We shall share his glory. But also the Good News, or the gospel, is all about Jesus (verse 14).

c) Then the Holy Spirit makes us holy. This is what his 'sanctifying work' means.

There are other verses which bring together Father, Son and Holy Spirit like this. (See Matt 28:19; 1 Cor 12: 4-6; 2 Cor 13:14; Eph 4: 4-6; Heb 9: 14; 1 Pet 1:2; Jude 20: 21.)

2. a) God chose us to be saved 'from the beginning' (verse 13).
b) Now, God calls us. We have faith (verse 14).
c) In the future, we shall share the glory of Jesus (verse 14).

So we have here the past, present and future of the way God saves us.

Verses 16 and 17 Praise and prayer

The Christians needed help from God. If they did not have it, they could not do what the writers have just asked them to do. So they pray for them again.

Paul uses much the same word for comfort or 'encourage' twice in these verses. It is an important word in the New Testament. A word like this Greek word, 'Paraclete', is also used as a name for the Holy Spirit. The idea in the word is that we call some one to stand beside us to help us. The word was used in more than one way. But this one may help you.

A man stands in a law court in front of the judge. This man is on trial. All round him stand his 'accusers'. They are the people who tell the judge that the man has done something wrong. They tell the judge that they saw him do it: they are 'witnesses' as well. Then the man who is on trial sees a friend in the court. This friend is a man who has more honour than the 'accusers'. The friend is a man that the judge will listen to. So the man who is on trial calls his friend to stand by his side. The judge will tell the 'accusers' to be quiet. The friend will speak for the man who is on trial. He will tell the judge how good the man who is on trial is. The friend will say that the judge should not listen any more to the 'accusers'. It is a 'comfort' to have a friend like that.

We use the word 'advocate' which means the same thing as 'Paraclete'. Advocate is a word that comes to us from the Latin language.

So God our Father loved us. He is our friend. He planned to rescue us from sin, death and hell. And by his grace our Lord Jesus Christ gave us two things. He gave us comfort that is eternal. He gave us a hope that cannot fail. That is the only kind of hope that is really any good at all. So the writers pray that the God who has given us ‘eternal comfort’ will also give us comfort now in this life. But those who have 'a good hope' must be seen to lead good lives. So the writers pray that God will make them strong both to do good actions and also to speak what is good.

Many Christians do not understand what the word 'hope' means in the Bible. This is because we use the word 'hope' in a weak way. It often means no more that 'wish'. But the Bible word 'hope' is a strong word. Faith and love are not weak words: and the New Testament quite often joins hope with faith and love (1 Cor 13:13). Men are weak. So if we put our hope in men, our hope will be weak. God is strong. So we put our hope in God (Psa 42:11; Psa 130:5). Then we have a strong hope. Hope holds on to the promises of God. (Heb 6:18 and 19)