And Boy is He Mad! II Thess 2

"As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, 2not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you? .....13 But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter. 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, 17 comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word."

Introduction*

[*Other introductory comments for II Thessalonians are here.]

The New Testament gives us a variety of apocalyptic or "end times" pictures. To try to make them consistent is a fairly fruitless undertaking--like trying to explain the consistency of all music because it is music. We have, for example, Jesus' words about the setting up of a "desolating sacrilege" in the Temple just before the end times (Mt. 24:15); we have the end of the world in fire in II Peter; there are the fourfold plagues of Revelation; there is the trumpet sound that calls forth the dead to meet the living in the air of I Thess 4; and, here, the appearance of a "man of lawlessness" who sets himself up as God in the Temple and who will be slain by the Lord. Early Christian apocalyptic thinking is really a kaleidoscopic vision of rather fantastic proportions that was generated by white-hot heat of persecution, separation from Judaism, and the hope for personal and communal vindication in the face of opposition.

But now, 2000 years later, the apocalyptic fires are, in most parts of the Christian world, "contained," to use the current fire-fighting jargon. While some still hope for or count on Christ's coming "soon," they are hard-pressed to explain why Christ's coming should happen now rather than at any other time. In fact, most Christians I know have quietly discarded a belief in any of the apocalyptic scenarios described in the NT. How do you preach/teach, then, to a congregation which either has lost faith in the truth of the vision or, if it still maintains it, does so in an unrealistic manner? Well, you begin by describing the world then, before asking the question of now.

I. The World of II Thess 2: A Strange World

II Thessalonians has but one purpose--to disabuse the hearers/readers of the notion that the Day of the Lord has already come (2:2). In the process of correcting this misunderstanding, the author tells the people what really is going to happen. Instead of the Day's immediate coming, there must first appear a "man of lawlessness" in the Temple who will show off in a number of ways before the Lord Jesus will destroy him with "the breath of his mouth." One has the feeling that the author is "making it up as he is going along." This is confirmed for me in v. 5, when he says, "don't you remember we told you this?" This is not the kind of thing that people forget; thus I read v. 5 as the author's attempt to do some intellectual back-filling--a sort of "we wish we had told you this when we were with you." In my judgment it points to the fact I mentioned last week, that early Christian apocalyptic thought was evolving as time went along.

This world assumed the author is strange because of the particularity of the vision, the "us/them" language of it and the heavily destructive imagery that appears. The lectionary makers try to "shield" you from most of this by excising the middle verses (6-12) from the reading, but their attempt can't remove all the strangeness of the passage. Let's just mention the specificity or particularity of the vision. Particularity should sound the death knell for apocalyptic. That is, when you draw a detailed scenario for the "last days," it can easily be controverted or shown to be untrue as history unfolds. We have had no "man of lawlessness" show up in the Temple or, conversely, we have had tons of these guys appear without the promised destruction. We become confused and gradually the man of lawlessness drops from our consciousness--much to the chagrin of the author, no doubt.

I can understand the apocalyptic language in the context of the first century. But, what about now?

II. II Thess. 2: A True World?

Even though I have just spent a lot of time explaining and seemingly debunking the early Christian apocalypic world, I think there are elements of it that are useful for us today. The two concepts from the passage that won't let me go are the notions of deception and destruction. Even though I am not a fan of the idea of a "man of lawlessness" in the Temple, I am struck by the role of deception in the unfolding apocalyptic drama. The Thessalonians are in danger of being deceived by conflicting reports; the man of lawlessness will inaugurate the "mystery of lawlessness" which will, no doubt, draw people to it.

These things emphasize the power of deception and the chances of our being not simply confused but actually misled by the rapid unfolding of bewildering things in life. What do you do to guard against deceptions? against frauds? against the work of those who want to undo the work of God? There is a very practical dimension to this question--many churches are full of older people, people who are subject to being preyed upon by unscrupulous people who want to part them from their money. What role can the Church, or your congregation, play in protecting people against these deceptions? Of course, this is a far cry from the "man of lawlessness," but it helps me "hear the passage" to suggest something like this.

Conclusion

Apocalyptic language and scenarios aren't confined to the first century. Discussions of global warming or of loads of other issues today take on that complexion. It is hard to know, sometimes, whose apocalyptic language ought to be heeded. The best response to the language is to educate yourself deeply about the phenomenon that someone is describing in that language. Then, you can see if you want to use it too. I, for one, am not looking for a man of lawlessness. But I am very concerned with issues of deception, in my own life and the lives of those with whom I deal.

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