1Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him. 2Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us. 3Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction. 4He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.
5Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you? 6And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. 7For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. 8Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.
9This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 11So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 12Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.
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As a vicious twist on beloved (lol) Obi-wan Kenobi's question,
"Who's more deceived, the Deceiver (Man of Lawlessness) or the deceived (the sheeple)."
We wrestle with the meaning of the sentence in verse 4, "He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God." Perhaps that sentence is there to confirm the identity of the Man of Lawlessness to [the Great] Tribulation Saints?
This is probably true because of the habit of the Bible to say a thing compactly, and then go back and unpack it. Verse eight succinctly points out both the beginning of the 70th week and the end in one sweep of the camera of time.
Verses 9 through 12, then, fill in the middle again.
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However, verse 7 is for us, as Angelenos well know.
Clearly, "the one holding it back" can only be the Holy Spirit.
The debris that is constantly being left in lanes by people who don't care enough for their fellow man to tie their stuff down is more and more being strewn upon the freeways of Los Angeles. I hear about it pretty nearly every single day on the KNX 1070 AM traffic reports.
Just this morning, an unlucky motorist got into an accident, trying to avoid puncturing his tire with large, jagged commercial or residential debris.
Worldwide [but especially in the USA], the increasing number of atrocities, plus deaths due to negligence and outright stupidity is astounding, to say the least.
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And yet, Paul encourages all believers:
Believers Should Stand Firm
13As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth. 14He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.
16Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, 17comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.
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~Blessings,
Mike
"Is Obama the Chamberlain of our time? He believed Hitler didn't want war, and now Iran is saying the same thing!!"
Incredibly......Ever since he was elected the first time, he thought he could "reason" with any Muslim country and teach them the error of their ways....We shall see................................... TICK TOCK.....................BOOMTHOSE WHO DON'T KNOW HISTORY.....ARE WHAT? DOOOOOOOOOMED TO REPEAT IT!!YFIC,Randy
