- Beware the Man of Lawlessness
- Has the Man of Lawlessness Fooled You?
- How to Protect Yourself from Being Fooled.
- How to Identify the Man of Lawlessness.
- Why Does Jehovah Allow a Man of Lawlessness?
It may surprise you to learn that the Apostle Paul was considered an apostate. Upon his return to Jerusalem, the brothers told him about “how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the Law. But they have heard it rumored about you that you have been teaching all the Jews among the nations an apostasy from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to follow the customary practices.” – Acts 21:20, 21
Remarkably, these thousands of believers were apparently Christianized Jews who were still clinging to traditions based in the Mosaic law code. Thus, they were scandalized by rumors that Paul was converting pagans without instructing them to follow Jewish customs.[i]
“Apostasy” means a standing away or abandonment of something. So in the generic sense of the word, it was entirely true that Paul was an apostate from the law of Moses for he no longer practiced it nor taught it. He had left it behind, abandoned for something far better: the law of the Christ. Nevertheless, in an ill-fated attempt to avoid stumbling, the older men of Jerusalem got Paul to engage in ceremonial cleansing.[ii]
Was Paul’s apostasy a sin?
Some actions are always sinful, such as murder and lying. Not so, apostasy. For it to constitute sin, it must be a standing away from Jehovah and Jesus. Paul was standing away from the Law of Moses because Jesus had replaced it with something better. Paul was being obedient to Christ and therefore, his apostasy from Moses was no sin. Likewise, an apostasy from the Organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses does not automatically constitute sin any more than Paul’s apostasy from the Law of Moses did.
This is not how the average JW would view things however. Apostasy carries a bad stench when used against a fellow Christian. Its use surpasses critical reasoning and creates a visceral reaction, instantly branding the accused as someone who is untouchable. We are taught to feel this way, because we are convinced through a flood of published articles and reinforcing platform rhetoric that we are the one true faith and everyone else will die the second death at Armageddon; which incidentally is just around the corner. Anyone who questions any of our teachings is like a cancer that must be removed before it infects the body of the congregation.
While worrying so much about individual apostates, are we ‘straining out the gnat while swallowing down the camel”? Have we ourselves become the blind guides Jesus warned about? – Mt 23:24
Beware of the Man of Lawlessness
In our theme text, Paul warns the Thessalonians of a great apostasy already in the making in his day, referring to a “man of lawlessness”. Would it make sense for us to presume that the man of lawlessness proclaims himself as such? Does he stand on a pedestal and cry out, “I am an apostate! Follow me and be saved!”? Or is he one of the ministers of righteousness Paul warned the Corinthians about at 2 Corinthians 11:13-15? Those men transformed themselves into apostles (sent ones) from Christ, but they were really ministers of Satan.
Like Satan, the man of lawlessness hides his true nature, assuming a deceptive façade. One of his favorite tactics is to point the finger at others, identifying them as the “man of lawlessness” so that we won’t look too closely at the one doing the pointing. Often, he will point at a counterpart—a confederate “man of lawlessness”—making the deception all the more potent.
There are those who believe the man of lawlessness is a literal man. [iii] This idea can be easily dismissed even after a casual reading of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12. Vs. 6 indicates that the man of lawlessness was to be revealed when the thing acting as a restraint in Paul’s day was gone. Vs. 7 shows that the lawlessness was already at work in Paul’s day. Vs. 8 indicates the lawless one will exist at the time of Christ’s presence. The events of those verses 7 and 8 span 2,000 years! Paul was warning the Thessalonians about a present danger that would manifest itself to a greater degree in their near future, but would continue to exist right down to the time of Christ’s return. Therefore, he saw a very real danger for them; a danger of being misled from their righteous course by this lawless one. We today are no more immune to these deceptions than were our first century counterparts.
During the time of the apostles, the man of lawlessness was restrained. The apostles had been chosen by Christ himself and their gifts of the spirit were further evidence of their divine appointment. Under those circumstances, anyone who dared contradict would surely fail. However, with their passing, it was no longer clear whom Christ had appointed. If someone were to claim divine appointment, it would not be so easy to prove otherwise. The man of lawlessness does not come with a sign on his forehead declaring his true intentions. He comes dressed as a sheep, a true believer, a follower of Christ. He is a humble servant dressed in the garb of righteousness and light. (Mt 7:15; 2 Co 11:13-15) His actions and teachings are convincing because they are “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.” – 2 Thessalonians 2:9, 10 NIV
Has the Man of Lawlessness Fooled You?
The first person the man of lawlessness fools is himself. Like the angel that became Satan the Devil, he starts out believing in the righteousness of his cause. This self-delusion convinces him that he is doing something right. He has to truly believe his own delusions to be convincing to others. The best liars always end up believing their own lies and burying any awareness of the real truth deep in the basement of the mind.
If he can do such a good job of fooling himself, how are we to know whether he has fooled us? Are you even now following the teachings of the man of lawlessness? If you ask this question of a Christian in any of the hundreds of Christian denominations and sects on earth today, do you think you’ll ever get one who says, “Yes, but I’m okay with being deceived”? We all believe we have the truth.
So how are any of us to know?
Paul gave us the key in the final words of his revelation to the Thessalonians.
How to Protect Yourself from Being Fooled
“They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” Those that are taken in by the man of lawlessness perish not because they refuse the truth, but because they refuse to love it. What matters isn’t having the truth—for who has the whole truth anyway? What matters is whether we love truth. Love is never apathetic nor complacent. Love is the great motivator. So we can protect ourselves from the man of lawlessness not by employing some technique, but by adopting a state of both mind and heart. As easy as this may sound, it is unexpectedly hard.
“The truth shall set you free”, Jesus said. (John 8:32) We all want to be free, but the kind of freedom Jesus speaks of—the best kind of freedom—comes at a price. It is a price of no consequence if we sincerely love truth, but if we love other things more, the price may be more than we’re willing to pay. (Mt 13:45, 46)
The sad reality is that the great majority of us do not want to pay the price. We don’t really want this kind of freedom.
The Israelites were never so free as during the time of the judges, yet they threw it all away to have a human king rule over them.[iv] They wanted someone else to take responsibility for them. Nothing has changed. While rejecting God’s rule, humans are all too willing to embrace the rule of man. We quickly learn that self-rule is hard. Living by principles is hard. It takes too much work and all the onus is on the individual. If we get it wrong, we have no one to blame but ourselves. So we willingly give it up, surrendering our free will to another. This gives us an illusion—a disastrous one as it turns out—that we are going to be okay on Judgment Day, because we can tell Jesus that we were “just following orders”.
To be fair to all of us—myself included—we have all been born under a veil of indoctrination. The people we trusted most, our parents, misled us. They did this unwittingly, for they were likewise misled by their parents, and so on down the line. Nevertheless, that paternal bond of trust was utilized by the man of lawlessness to get us to accept falsehood as truth and place it in that part of the mind where beliefs become facts that are never scrutinized.
Jesus said there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. (Luke 12:2) Sooner or later, the man of lawlessness trips up. When he does, we will get a feeling of disquiet. If we have any love for truth at all, distant alarms deep in the brain will sound. However, such is the power of our life-long indoctrination that they will likely be stilled. We will fall back on one of the prefabricated excuses the man of lawlessness uses to explain away his failures. If we persist in our doubts and make them public, he has another effective tool to silence us: persecution. He will threaten something we hold dear, our good name for instance, or our relationship with family and friends.
Love is like a living thing. It is never static. It can and should grow; but it can also wither away. When we first come to see that things we believed were true and from God are in fact falsehoods of human origin, we will likely enter into a state of self-denial. We will make excuses for our leaders, remarking that they are only human and humans make mistakes. We may also be reluctant to investigate further for fear (albeit unconscious in nature) of what we might learn. Depending on the intensity of our love for truth, these tactics will do for a while, but there will come a day when the errors have piled too high and the inconsistencies accumulated are just too many. Knowing that honest men making mistakes are prone to correct them when others point them out, we will realize that something darker and more deliberate is at work. For the man of lawlessness does not respond well to criticism nor correction. He lashes out and punishes those who would presume to set him straight. (Luke 6:10, 11) In that moment, he shows his true colors. The pride motivating him shows through the cloak of righteousness he wears. He is revealed as one loving the lie, a child of the Devil. (John 8:44)
On that day, if we truly love truth, we will reach a crossroads. We will be confronted with possibly the hardest choice we have ever faced. Let us make no mistake: This is a life-and-death choice. Those who refuse to love the truth are those who perish. (2 Th 2:10)
How to Identify the Man of Lawlessness
You can’t very well ask the leadership of your religion if they are the man of lawlessness. Will they answer, “Yes, I am he!”? Unlikely. What they are far more likely to do is to point to “powerful works” such as the worldwide growth of your religion, its sheer number of members, or the zeal and good works that its followers are known for—all to convince you that you are in the one true faith. When a chronic liar gets caught in the lie, he often weaves a more complex lie to cover it up, piling excuse upon excuse in an ever more desperate effort to exonerate himself. Likewise, the man of lawlessness uses “lying signs” to convince his followers that he deserves their devotion, and when the signs are shown to be false, he weaves still more elaborate signs and uses excuses to minimize his past failures. If you expose an inveterate liar, he will use anger and threats to get you to shut up. Failing that, he will attempt to shift focus away from himself by discrediting you; attacking your own character. Likewise, the man of lawlessness uses “every unrighteous deception” to support his claim to power.
The man of lawlessness does not slink around in dark alleys. He is a public figure. In fact, he loves the limelight. “He sits down in the temple of God, publicly showing himself to be a god.” (2 Thess. 2:4) What does that mean? The temple of God is the Christian congregation. (1 Co 3:16, 17) The man of lawlessness claims to be Christian. More, he sits in the temple. When you come before the king, you never sit. Those who sit are those who preside, those who judge, those given authority by the king to sit in his presence. The man of lawlessness is presumptuous in that he takes for himself a position of authority. By sitting in the temple, he ‘publicly shows himself to be a god’.
Who rules over the Christian congregation, the temple of God? Who presumes to judge? Who demands absolute obedience to his instructions, to the point that questioning his teachings is taken as questioning God?
The Greek word for worship is proskuneó. It means, “to go down on one’s knees, to do obeisance, to worship.” These all describe the act of submission. If you obey someone’s commands, are you not submitting to him? The man of lawlessness tells us to do things. What he wants, indeed, what he demands is our obedience; our submission. He will tell us we are really obeying God by obeying him, but if God’s commands differ from his, he will demand us to disregard God’s commands in favor of his. Oh, sure, he’ll use excuses. He’ll tell us to be patient, waiting for God to make the needed adjustments. He’ll accuse us of “running ahead” if we want to obey God now instead of waiting for the go-ahead from the man of lawlessness, but in the end, we will end up worshipping (submitting to and obeying) the false god who is the man of man of lawlessness sitting in God’s temple, the Christian congregation.
It is not for any man to point out the man of lawlessness to you. In fact, if someone comes to you and points to another as the man of lawlessness, look to the one pointing. Paul was not inspired to reveal who the man of lawlessness was. It is for each of us to make that determination for ourselves. We have all we need. We start by loving truth more than life itself. We look for someone who puts his own law above God’s, for disregarding God’s law is the type of lawlessness Paul was referring to. We look for someone acting as a god, seated in self-assumed authority in God’s temple, the Christian congregation. The rest is up to us.
Why Does Jehovah Allow a Man of Lawlessness?
Why would Jehovah tolerate such a man in his temple? What purpose does he serve? Why has he been permitted to exist for so many centuries? The answer to all these questions is most encouraging and will be explored in a future article.
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[i] The belief that the first century Christian congregation was closer to the truth of Christianity than we are is refuted by this incident in Paul’s life. They were as hampered by their traditions as we are.
[ii] Jehovah’s Witnesses are erroneously taught that these older men comprised a first century governing body which acted as God’s appointed channel of communication for all congregations at that time. The ill-fated outcome of their appeasement strategy indicates anything but guidance by holy spirit. True, it was prophesied that Paul would preach before kings, and the outcome of this plan was to take him all the way to Caesar, yet God does not test by evil things (Ja 1:13) so it is more likely that Christ knew that the disinclination of the many Christianized Jews to fully abandon the Law would lead to this outcome. For a detailed discussion showing from Scripture that there was no governing body in the first century, see A First Century Governing Body—Examining the Basis.
[iii] The Apostle John warns of the antichrist at 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7. Whether this is the same as the man of lawlessness that Paul speaks of is a question for another article.
[iv] 1 Samuel 8:19; see also “They Asked for a King”.
You’re right that the Man of Lawlessness could NEVER be one man. It’s a FORCE. The man represents the many who have been used by Satan throughout the centuries to delude God’s followers with apostate ideas–chiefly that a man or group of men are God’s “sole channel” and must be followed with unquestioned obedience. We saw this with the Papacy and its tyrannical control which was minimized by the Reformation. Now, there are thousands of Christian denominations and there is greater freedom to interpret the Bible’s message, but that hasn’t stopped groups like LDS and JWs to become mini-Papacies by… Read more »
I don’t think you fully understand the Man of Lawlessness. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but you seem to have an ax to grind with the Watchtower, and this is keeping you from admitting the man of Lawlessness is literal, because it would prove Jehovah’s Witnesses do have the truth. And if you claim there is no “true religion” today and we are all Christ’s Disciples, that is also a false point, as Jehovah has always had a people, and they have always fell to corruption and apostasy, such is the pattern in the Bible. If you are mixing… Read more »
First of all my understanding of all things is developing as my study and research continues. This article was written in 2014. That being said, I believe the man of lawlessness is identified by the principles laid out in the Bible does fit with the governing body and its supporting ecclesiastical hierarchy. However, looking at all the organized religions making up Christendom, one can see that the principles that identify the man of lawlessness apply throughout. Of course the final judgment is that of Jesus Christ.
Hi Meleti, Nice to find someone who has a clear understanding that the MOL is at work now and inside the org of JWs. I’m just starting to read your work so I don’t have a clear picture of your thought process yet. I understand that you believe that the MOL will become stronger when the “restraint” is removed. I get the opposite. The scripture seems to indicate that the MOL is “revealed” when the “restraint” is removed. As in exposed for what he is. This is the last step as regards the MOL before tge “presence”of Christ begins. Then,… Read more »
Yes, the Man of Lawlessness is a literal man, a composite man, the Governing Body. How can something that is figurative teach a doctrine about the presence of Jesus or something to the effect that day of Jehovah is here. How is a letter figurative? This all literal.
The Man of Lawlessness is composite.
[…] conclusion reached in the last post was that he is not an individual, but a type or class of men which has existed down through the […]
“There are those who believe the man of lawlessness is a literal man. This idea can be easily dismissed even after a casual reading of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12.” As I’m sure you know, I really appreciate the work you have done and respect your articles, opinion and ideas immensely, but I think it is a mistake to use phrases like “This idea can easily be dismissed”, unless you have a solid case. Wanting to dismiss an idea and actual cause to dismiss an idea are two different things. “Vs. 6 indicates that the man of lawlessness was to be revealed… Read more »
I agree we shouldn’t dismiss an idea out of hand. I was merely stating my conclusion up front, then proceeding with the reasoning leading to it. >>“Vs. 6 indicates that the man of lawlessness was to be revealed when the thing acting as a restraint in Paul’s day was gone.” If we see an escaped prisoner, we know that whatever methods had been used to restrain him had failed. We don’t even need to know what those precise methods were—jail cell, chains, 24-hour guard watch—because his manifestation is all the proof we need. There are Bible translations that render this… Read more »
I do believe that a discussion of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 and the prophecies you refer to in Daniel and Revelation is a worthwhile exercise. Perhaps if you were to open a topic in discussthetruth.com and explain the whole line of reasoning, we could get the community to analyze it in depth.
Meleti, After reading the article I did get the impression that this was referring to the Organisation.
Meleti, there went my theory, all shot to pieces! I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I learned about the helium, though I was saddened that you fell short of Bethel, as I know that is the goal of many.
In your comment to yobec, you did say that you will expand in the next post. I am awaiting your expansion with eager anticipation!
I agree with you Meleti as far as the “love” of the truth is what will save us. When someone loves truth, they cannot help but to “moan and groan” over detestable teachings. These ones earn recognition from on high and are symbolically marked for survival in their forehead. It is my opinion that necessity requires the existence of this “man of lawlessness” for the purpose of identifying the ” moaners and groaners”
I concur fully. It’s a theme I hope to expand upon in the next post.
And indeed I did “moan and grown” within during our regional convention where we received our 100 year stamp of approval given to us by the ‘eight dukes.’
(Mark 8:12) . . .So he groaned deeply with his spirit, and said: “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly I say, No sign will be given to this generation.”
Good quote. Fitting! 🙂
Hi Meleti, and thanks for balancing our vision to the horizon. An excellent, psychologically researched, non-confrontational report. I also notice we have the attention of some of the other internet pockets in the universe. Being familiar with Robert King’s earlier beginnings and what he grew to stands for, there is a problem when we confine our arguments to the preexisting beliefs we grew up with or converted into. I call it the platform of our particular truth. Since Judaism was the only channel of the true writings of Moses in the first century, my questions to those who would confine… Read more »
You’re spot on, SW
Hear, hear!
This practice of mixing scriptures with no direct connection is a vanity of sorts, as if you are mixing drinks to achieve the taste that meets your palate.
<< I’m sorry, but it isn’t clear to me what point you are trying to make. Are you suggesting that the man of lawlessness has not yet made his appearance? 2 Thessalonians 2:6 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV) 6 And you know what is stopping that Man of Evil now. He is being stopped now so that he will appear at the right time. 2 Thessalonians 2:6 The Message (MSG) 6-8 You’ll also remember that I told you the Anarchist is being held back until just the right time. That doesn’t mean that the spirit of anarchy is not now at work.… Read more »
So is that a Yes?
<< So is that a Yes? Yes that it exist, that it is on the world scene awaiting for the time it will be given its said authority. << Actually, the e-watchman.com article you reference differs from mine. It claims the man of lawlessness is limited to our organization. That is not the point I am making. Well if that is the case and you are not limiting it to the WTS as Robert does then since he says that the “operation of error/lie” (the deluding influence that misleads them to believe the lie) is 1914, then what do you… Read more »
>>Yes that it exist, that it is on the world scene awaiting for the time it will be given its said authority. Then we disagree on this, for I feel he is here now and has been all along. >>Well if that is the case and you are not limiting it to the WTS as Robert does then since he says that the “operation of error/lie” (the deluding influence that misleads them to believe the lie) is 1914, then what do you say the “operation of error/lie” is since you don’t limit it to the WTS??? I explained that in… Read more »
Since true christianity is called “the Truth”, it is possible that the phrase “The Lie” is similarly used to refer to false christianity and not any single particular false concept or teaching.
Thanks meleti for another fine well thought out article .I do agree with your interpretation up to a point . I do think there have been many lawless and sinful men since the first century that have sat themselves in the seat of the christ or even god and this has continued till our day jesus even said there would be many at his presence whom he called workers of lawlessness who also performed powerful works in his name . However i personally dont think this rules out an individual wicked entity appearing on the world scene at the end… Read more »
<< Well that is certainly one interpretation. However, I’m not so sure that we can link the passages from Daniel, Revelation and Thessalonians into one harmonious whole. << We are on the same page in this. The actual men making up the MOL that appeared at the start of the twentieth century are long gone, but the MOL they were part of continues to this day. I know you want/need to believe that, I did to as well for a time. What you ‘wrote’ in regards to the MOL is nothing new. http://e-watchman.com/chapter-10-man-of-lawlessness/ But believing something doesn’t make it true… Read more »
Actually, the e-watchman.com article you reference differs from mine. It claims the man of lawlessness is limited to our organization. That is not the point I am making.
I’m sorry, but it isn’t clear to me what point you are trying to make. Are you suggesting that the man of lawlessness has not yet made his appearance?
The lawlessness that was already starting in Paul’s day as a precursor to the man of Lawlessness may have been the “superfine apostles” who were starting to lord it over the congregations.
Very interesting thought Anonymous!
Meleti, thank you for this thought provoking and courageous article.You did an awesome job with this subject matter.
It’s easy to forget that more important is to have love for the truth rather then having the truth, or any version of it as presented by some religious leaders. Love for the truth is indeed great motivator for following the truth wherever it leads us despite difficulties. I personally think I reached the crossroad. It’s very painfull not being able to reach people I love and being viewed as a threat by them because they were indoctrinated to respond like a robots, not able to use own thinking abilities just repeating the words that their master programmed in them.… Read more »
I am simply blown away by this article . It was very organized , scripturally based and a pretty life changing article for me . As always …. thank you Meleti
Agape
Thank you.
Not to offend anyone..But shouldn’t the thanks go to our God Jehovah? as his servants and followers of his son, if we are given any insight or clarity to his words shouldn’t the credit go to him? and not to us or any servants he may use? as I see it any gratitude given to men is a trap from the adversary….Just a thought brothers we must keep in mind….shalom
No offense taken. Your point is valid. Glory and thanks go to God. However, that doesn’t mean we should restrain ourselves from expressing appreciation or giving thanks to someone who has done us a kindness or who has labored in our behalf. Not only Paul but all the congregations gave thanks to Prisca and Aquila. (Ro 16:4) This was not a trap set by God in his inspired word for them. There is, of course, the danger that such expressions of appreciation will go to our head and make us think more of ourselves than is our due. Therefore, I… Read more »
A very well written article! Thank you for your hard work researching the topic. It’s clear that the MOL is not anyone specific, but everyone who fits the shoe. So the lesson is to love truth above all. About Paul’s comment, here’s a little semi humorous thought I entertained: Thanking Jehovah and Jesus for Meletis interpretation carries the co-notation that they endorse his interpretation. Repeat it long enough and you start believing he is their endorsed faithful slave “mouthpiece”, which is exactly what happened to the early bible students wanting Russel to be their loadicean messenger. On the other hand,… Read more »
I just hope I’m there when they dig up his fossilized remains a few million years from now. What will they call him? Meletisaurus Rex? Megacephaleti? Vivloniraptor?
Alex, and the rest of us, not to fear! I have this theory that once a person’s head expands to the point that it will no longer fit through their door frame, they are in effect trapped within the confines of their homes. Hence their head cannot get any bigger than their house. I am 99.9% certain that head distortions are formed within the privacy of our own homes. Based on my theory, because big-headed people are in existence equally around the earth, the gravity of the earth is stabilized. As far as the fate of our dear brother Meleti,… Read more »
Have no fear, all of you. The fact is that when my head swells, it is due to hot air—mostly helium, the second lightest of the gases—so there is little effect on the earth’s gravitational equilibrium. However, I do tend to float. My voice also gets all squeaky, but that’s another issue. The swelling can be dangerous, however. One day while visiting New York, I was on the subway and to while away the time, I read and reread many encouraging comments on the site. I was unaware of the effect all this unsolicited appreciation was having on me until… Read more »
Thanks Meleti!! Excellent post about the “Man of Lawlessness”. I look forward to the next post about: “Why Does Jehovah Allow a Man of Lawlessness?” ——————————————————————————————————- I think the right hand of the Governing Body does not know what the left hand is doing!! How can the GB say this in 1990? “As Christians, we face up to similar challenges today. We cannot take part in any modern version of idolatry—be it worshipful gestures toward an image or symbol or the imputing of salvation to a person or an organization.” – (w90 11/1, p. 26, par. 16, Our Relative Subjection… Read more »
BeenMislead
Thank you for the references. This is a clear example of the doublespeak by the GB IMO
Doublespeak indeed! You also quoted from the new book God’s Kingdom Rules where it says that ‘the second generation of anointed ones of the overlapping generation of Matt. 24:34 are getting up in years now, that means that “very soon” the great tribulation is going to start.’ (Thank you for that.) So we are again using “this generation” to calculate how close the end is. We did this before in 1973: (tp73 chap. 7 p. 88 par. 28 When Will the Foretold World Destruction Come?) All what things? All the various features of “the sign” about which he was speaking,… Read more »
Yes that is so true!
Those of us old timers who were around before and during 1975 can defiantly see history repeating itself.
I find it interesting and unsettling both, how so many JW’s who were around then are just putting their heads in the sand and trying to ignore it.
My wife observed one brother, when asked by a non-witness about 1975, deny that we ever made a prediction that the end would come in that year. The brother is a nice, sincere guy who lived through the 1975 fiasco, and my wife didn’t ask him why he denied it, so I’ll never know what was on his mind. But it was like something out of Orwell’s 1984.
Being a 1975 defender and survivor I can attest to the fact that we regarded any who DIDN’T accept 1975 as lawless. How strange that the roles of a liar can be so succinctly yet completely reversed only to be repeated again, leaving a more truthful history conveniently forgotten. But then this is how the corporate church survives. No confession of guilt is needed since it is not human and has no sin. After all, is it not merely an extension of heaven? maybe a much different heaven? one that men created for their convenience? Which is why the honest… Read more »
Hello Meleti Thank you for such a thought provoking article. I have pondered on the man of lawlessness myself, particularly when I read (albeit for the first time in my life) Paul’s letter, but also when such a person has been referred to during conversation. I often thought – how do you identify this man of lawlessness. I moreorless came to the same conclusion as you do – it is for us to make the effort, look at the characteristics and try to work it out. The problem, as you indicate, is how intricate the man of lawlessness is likely… Read more »
Before you retain the notion that the MOL is the GB, mull on the following for a while. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one seduce YOU in any manner, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed, the son of destruction. 4 He is set in opposition and lifts himself up over everyone who is called “god” or an object of reverence, so that he sits down in the temple of The God, publicly showing himself to be a god…9 But the lawless one’s presence is according to the operation of… Read more »
Yes. I used to think that MOL might be the GB but nowadays I think this is the more likely option.
You have quoted many scriptures, but given no application. So I’m going out on a limb here and inferring that you mean to tie them all together into a single fulfillment that involves the man of lawlessness and the antichrist. Since, Paul’s words make it clear that the man of lawlessness existed in his day, I think there is a danger in trying to tie end-of-times prophecies in with his warning as it may dull our senses by causing us to believe the MOL is not with us yet. In fact, he has been at work deceiving Christians since the… Read more »
Quote- Since, Paul’s words make it clear that the man of lawlessness existed in his day, I think there is a danger in trying to tie end-of-times prophecies- End quote 1 John 2:18 “even now there have come to be many antichrists” There were antichrists as well back then, surely those antichrists won’t be the one on scene in the end, likewise any MOL from Paul’s day will not be the one on scene in the end. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one seduce YOU in any manner, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first Daniel 11:32… Read more »
Well that is certainly one interpretation. However, I’m not so sure that we can link the passages from Daniel, Revelation and Thessalonians into one harmonious whole. >>There were antichrists as well back then, surely those antichrists won’t be the one on scene in the end, likewise any MOL from Paul’s day will not be the one on scene in the end. We are on the same page in this. The actual men making up the MOL that appeared at the start of the twentieth century are long gone, but the MOL they were part of continues to this day. >>2… Read more »
I don’t know about the other scriptures, but I certainly think the one in Daniel 11 could be referring to the same man of lawlessness mentioned in 2 Thessalonians. There are too many similarities for it to be just coincidence. Note too that the one in Daniel 11 comes just before the end – just as Paul mentioned the coming apostasy preceding the end. Paul may very well have had that scripture in Daniel in mind when he wrote 2 Thessalonians 2.