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2 Thessalonians 2:3 |
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Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Note 6 at 2 Th. 2:3: The Day of the Lord will be preceded by a "falling away." The phrase "falling away" came from the Greek noun APOSTASIA from which we get our English word "apostasy." This Greek word means "a defection, revolt, apostasy, and is used in the New Testament for religious apostasy...In 2 Th. 2:3 `the falling away' signifies apostasy from the faith" (W.E. Vine, p.73). This apostasy must precede the Day of the Lord.
This same point is made by Paul in 1 Timothy 4:1-3 and 2 Timothy 3:1-4 (see Parallel Scriptures for this verse).
Note 7 at 2 Th. 2:3: This "man of sin" is commonly believed by most Bible scholars to be the beast spoken of in Revelation 13:1-8 and the little horn of the fourth beast spoken of in Daniel's vision (Dan. 7:7-8; 23-25). He is also called "the son of perdition" in this verse and "Wicked" in verse 8. In verse 9 it is revealed that he will be empowered by Satan with "power and signs and lying wonders" through deception. This is also probably the "vile person" Daniel spoke of in Daniel 11:21-45.
John said in 1 John 2:18 that many antichrists were already at work in the world. Anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ is antichrist (1 Jn. 2:22) but apparently there is coming an individual who will typify all that is evil and he is commonly referred to as the Antichrist.
Many assume this "man of sin" is this antichrist specifically because in verse 4 it speaks of him "sitting in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." This is supposed by many to correspond with the king Daniel described in Daniel 11:21-45 and Jesus' own teaching about the end times in Matthew 24:15. In Revelation 13:4; 13-15 the image of the beast which all the world worships may be this abomination Daniel and Jesus spoke of.
Note 8 at 2 Th. 2:3: The Greek word that was translated "perdition" is APOLEIA, and literally means "ruin or loss (spiritual or eternal)." This same term was applied to Judas Iscariot in John 17:12. This word was also translated "destruction" in Philippians 3:19, which says, "Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things."
The use of this word "perdition" in describing "the man of sin" is characterizing him as an absolute reprobate (see note 6 at Rom. 1:28, p. 746). He will be void of any conscience and beyond conviction.
