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The Man of Lawlessness (v. 1-12)
This section is a bit confusing, but I will do my best to summarize. Paul tells the Thessalonians not to jump to the conclusion that the second coming has happened too quickly if they receive such word. Before that can happen, Satan will first have to send the lawless one who will oppose all God and object of worship and then declare himself God. This man will be sent by Satan and destroyed by the breath of Jesus. The lawless one will have all power, wonders and false signs, some people will follow him refusing to accept the truth of Jesus, they will be punished. God sent them this delusion so that they would be condemned.
These last couple items are what really bother me about this section, it says that the lawless one will have powers, I assume powers similar to those exhibited by Jesus. Yet people who follow him are punished for refusing to believe the truth. It doesn't sound to me like they are refusing the truth, but instead they have been tricked. This does not seem fair. But then the next verse says that God sent them a delusion to make them believe what it false for the purpose of condemning them later. This is absolutely unfair. This reminds me of the exodus story where God hardened the Pharaoh's heart and then punished him for it. Are these the actions of an infinitely just God?
Stand Firm (v. 13-16)
Not much here, Paul basically just tells them that they have been chosen by God.
For the overview post (If you think I should add or remove stuff from this list please let me know, I think it would make good conversation)
Bad:
2:9-10 being tricked = refusing the truth
"The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved."
2:11-12 God tricked people in order to condemn them
"Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
Two things worthy to note, the first you already did, god is clearly placing unrealistic and unfair expectations on people. Second, do Christians still need to take Paul seriously about not rushing to conclusions about the second coming happening too quickly...it has been 2k years after all...
ReplyDeleteThat's a good question, I wonder if someone put on a big hoax claiming that the rapture already happened, how many people would fall for it. A modern day war of the worlds broadcast. It would be a lot harder to pull off now, I imagine twitter would have to be included.
DeleteReminds me a lot of Deuteronomy 13:1-5. You wouldn't think that a just God would do such a thing, but there it is.
ReplyDeleteyou're right, in those Deuteronomy verses God is testing people in a very unfair way similar to what is going on here. What a jerk.
DeleteIs it really possible for God to lie? The other messed up thing I think from this chapter is verse 13; "13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth." It sounds like he already knows whether or not you are going to heaven or hell from the "beginning."
DeleteThat's a good point, if God is sending them a delusion, it is tantamount to a lie is it not?
DeleteAnd yeah, v13 is pretty messed up. We have seen this before as well, I guess the more times you see the same message the less chance there is that we are misinterpreting it.