“the man of sin … the son of perdition, who opposes …” (2 Thess. 2:3-4, NKJV)
We are currently examining the origins of that which grants the spirit of perversity access to man. Isa. 19:16 makes it very clear that it is GOD who sends out this spirit. As starting point to this discussion we quoted a large section from 2 Thess. 2:6-12 in our previous teaching, which speaks of “he” who will be “revealed”. There is a mysterious reference to the “mystery of lawlessness” which is “already at work”, which “only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way”, and then “the lawless one will be revealed”.
In the foreword to Gary DeMar’s book End Times Fiction R.C. Sproul writes about how as a Bible student he read a commentary by Harry Ironside about the book of Thessalonians, and briefly explains his understanding of the endtime writer’s argument: “Ironside reasoned as follows: Premise A: The Holy Spirit is the restrainer mentioned by Paul. Premise B: The Restrainer must be removed before the man of lawlessness is revealed. Premise C: Since the Holy Spirit indwells every Christian, the only way for the Restrainer to be removed from this world is for Christians to be removed. Premise D: Since the Bible teaches that Christians will be raptured, this text must refer to the Rapture.” Conclusion: The rapture will occur before the unleashing of the man of lawlessness and the great tribulation.” (p. vii). This is the standard argument on the matter, but Ironside’s argument obviously falls flat if the Holy Spirit is not the one who “restrains” – there is no first name use which points to a Godly Person in any translation (except, inaccurately, in the Message).
2 Thess. 2:3-4 speaks of three terms: “the man of sin”, “the son of perdition” and he who “opposes”, who exalts himself above that which is called God, or is an object of worship, so that he can sit in the temple and pretend to be God.
These three loaded terms need to be unpacked before we can look at this often misinterpreted passage. Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible says the following about this passage: “There is scarcely any passage of the New Testament which has given occasion to greater diversity of opinion than this.”
But firstly we should ask – are these three concepts the names of three different “people”, or are they three names for the same “person”?
Over the years these concepts have grown to almost mythic proportions due to all the mythologies that are woven around them. In his book, The Antichrist, J Preston Elby writes the following: “Tales of fiction and the most absurd imaginations of childhood furnish no parallel to the extreme notions of some of God’s dear children who have naively swallowed the carnal interpretations of natural minded theologians of the religious systems. Untold millions of Christians have lived in great fear of the arising of the dreadful MAN OF SIN. He is supposed to be a world political leader, sinister and tyrannical, the incarnation of Evil, the very offspring of the Devil, and the ruthless enemy of the Jews. He is to be revealed after what they call the ‘rapture’, and will make his headquarters in Jerusalem. His manifestation marks the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week, according to their teaching. The Scofield Reference Bible, Blackstone and other authorities(?) in general, subscribe to this view although there is almost unlimited speculation on the details.” This spiritual hype about the apocalyptic enemies at the end of times has gained massive momentum with Tim LaHay’s Left Behind-series.
The syntactic way in which the sentence in which these three terms are used, is set out, clearly shows in the original Greek that it does not refer to three different “people”, but to three terms for the same “person”. This is a critical hermeneutic point. Thus: “The man of sin” = “the son of perdition” = he who “opposes”. The question is thus: WHO is this collective “person”?
Let’s first look at the simplest of the three terms: “the son of perdition”. This term is only found twice in the Word, of which 2 Thess. 2:3 is one instance. The other is found in John 17:12, where Jesus prays for his twelve disciples, and says the following in his prayer: “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” This “son of perdition” is here clearly Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus, as John 6:70-71 states: “Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?’ He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.”
But the Scripture in 2 Thess. 2:3 clearly does not only point to Judas Iscariot, but to him as a type of “son of perdition”. And what do we know of him? That he had been a chosen one, with a high calling in Christ, who eventually lost his calling because of disobedience and following his own way.
This then also explains the expression “man of sin”. Remember – the word sin points to missing your mark, in other words not functioning within your calling and purpose. And in this light he who “opposes” is also clearly understandable – it is the old man, the first Adam within us who opposes our calling in Christ. Rom. 6:6 (ASV) makes it clear: “knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin”. The “old man of sin” is thus also thus the one who opposes us, this “old man … who is corrupt according to the desires of deceitfulness” (Eph. 4:22, ACV).
About the last term, he who “opposes” – it is very important to understand that Satan is also known as our adversary, one who opposes us. In 1 Pet. 5:8 he is explicitly called “your adversary the devil”. The Complete Jewish Bible describes him in Rev. 12:9: “The great dragon was thrown out, that ancient serpent, also known as the Devil and Satan [the Adversary], the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him.” But the Adversary’s seed within you brings forth the old man, the first Adam within you (1 Cor. 15:45), who is your greatest adversary, he who opposes you.
To summarise: WITHIN you there is a collective being which presents itself under a host of names: the man of sin, the son of perdition, he who opposes, the old Adam, the old nature, and then, of course, the Antichrist.
Think back to the beginning of the verse that speaks of this unholy trinity within us: “for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes …” (2 Thess. 2:2-3). The term “the falling away” is apostasia in Greek. This is however not a complete loss of the faith, but rather a blinding, a secularising of the faith. It is in truth the unregenerated self of the old man, the first Adam, which is still living within us and countering our calling in Christ.
What does however bring a change of perspective to the whole matter is that the apostasy must first take place before the man of sin, the son of perdition and he who opposes can be brought to light! BEFORE this happens, they hide in the corporate “many-membered man” WITHIN US– and his name is legio (Mark 5:9)!
- Selah: Ensure that you now correctly understand this Scripture. Read and re-read!
- Read: 8-13
- Memorise: 10:34
