Nov 08 2008
Notes on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5
In chapter 1 Paul had mentioned the sufferings that the Thessalonians were enduring as being something he-along with other Christians- gloried in, for it was “an example of the just judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God” for which they were suffering. He then added: “…it is a just thing with God to repay tribulation to them that trouble you: And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with the angels of his power.” When this occurs, those who are inflicting suffering on the Thessalonians will suffer eternal punishment “when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at in all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.” Because of this hoped for and expected end St Paul prayed for the Thessalonians “that our God would make you (them) worthy of his vocation and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith in power: that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Because he wants them to be made worthy of the vocation (call) God has given them, which will manifest the fulfillment of His good pleasure and goodness towards them on the day of judgment, he urges them in chapter 2 to take heed of what he had previously taught them.
2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and of our gathering together unto him: This verse is exhortatory (beseech, urge). The exhortation is made on the basis of the Lord’s coming as judge which was the subject matter of 1:5-10. St Paul wants the Thessalonians to be a part of the gathering together of believers to the Lord, rather than find them among “those who do not obey the Gospel” and as a consequence, “shall suffer eternal punishment in destruction, from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his power.”
2:2 That you be not easily moved (shaken) from your sense (mind) nor be terrified, neither by spirit nor by word nor by epistle. as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand. St Paul is concerned that false teaching attributed to him and being manifested as prophecy (spirit), oral instruction (word), or writing (epistle), is jeopardizing the faith of the Thessalonians. This should not be happening, for the Thessalonians have already received the true teaching which the new and novel false teaching is trying to circumvent (see verses 5-6, 13-15). Certain signs and events must take place before the Lord returns.
This verse and the ones that follow are often invoked by modern scholars as “proof” that this letter was written by someone other than St Paul. It is argued by them that in First Thessalonians Paul clearly believed that the second coming was near at hand, and they invoke 1 Thess 4:15-”For this we say unto you in the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them who have slept”. But this understanding of the use of the word “we” here is highly presumptive, it could be taken as nothing more than an expression of Paul’s hope that the Lord would come in his lifetime. The use of “we” in 1 Thess 5:10 must also be taken into consideration: “whether we watch or sleep, we may live together with him.” Here the word “we” is used in conjunction with both the living and the dead, negating the alleged certainty which scholars see in 4:15.
Shaken. The Greek word could mean either “seized” or “shaken”, a fact that becomes very interesting in light of verse 15-”Stand fast and hold to the traditions you were taught whether by word or by our epistle.” Stand fast is in opposition to being shaken, and holding to tradition is opposed to being seized by a false teaching.
The word “shaken” is used in Luke 6:47-48 in opposition to Jesus, his teaching and the firmness they give: “Every one that cometh to me and heareth my words and doth them, I will shew you to whom he is like. He is like to a man building a house, who digged deep and laid the foundation upon a rock. And when a flood came, the stream beat vehemently upon that house: and it could not shake it: for it was founded on a rock.” (See also Hebrews 12:26-27).
The fact that Paul warns them not to be so speedily (easily, suddenly) shaken calls to
mind Galatians 1:6
I wonder that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ, unto another gospel.
Gal 1:7 Which is not another: only there are some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema.
Gal 1:9 As we said before, so now I say again: If any one preach to you a gospel, besides that which you have received, let him be anathema.
2:3-4 Let no man deceive you by any means: for unless there come a revolt
first (apostasy, falling away) and the man of sin be revealed, the son of
perdition Who opposeth and is lifted up above all that is called God or that
is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if
he were God.
Paul is here concerned with intentional false teachings (let no man deceive), a fact reflected in his use of the Greek exapatao, a word he uses in 2 Cor 11:3 to denote what Satan did to Eve. In Romans 16:17-18 he uses it in reference to those who “make dissensions and offences contrary to the doctrine which you have learned.”
A revolt, or better, an apostasy must come first. The Greek word apostasis means literally “not standing.” In verse 15 Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to “stand fast and hold to the traditions.” Tradition in Greek is paradosis, and it refers to something handed on and/or received. To deceive (vs. 3; see also vss. 9-11) means to take away, not hand on, and is therefore opposed to the tradition which the Thessalonians have received.
Man of sin…son of perdition. The term “son of perdition” is used of Judas in John 17:12. Perdition is a translation of the Greek word apolia, meaning ruin, loss, destruction, ect. The base of this word is olethros, a word used in 1:8-9 to denote the eternal ruin which those who do not obey the Gospel will suffer. This man will glorify himself as God while at the same time opposing God and all that is worshipped.
He sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God. Some have used this statement as proof that the Old Covenant temple which was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70 would be rebuilt. The problem with this view is that St Paul uses the word naos here. While this word is sometimes used in the New Testament to refer to the temple in Jerusalem, it is never so used by Paul. When he speaks of that temple he employs the word hieron (1 Cor 9:130). He uses the word naos to describe either the Church (Eph 2:21), or Christians (1 Cor 6:19). Since the term “son of perdition” is used to describe the apostate Apostle Judas, some think that Paul is referring to an apostate Christian who will use his position as a leader in the Church to deceive many (see Acts 20:28-30).
2:5 Remember you not that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? An appeal to tradition (see 2:15. See also 1 Thess 3:4; 4:2, 6, 9; 5:1-2)
