The Man of Sin Revealed

2 Thessalonians 2:3-9 – The Man of Sin Revealed

The Antichrist is not a comic book character; nor is he a Hollywood actor. He is real, and I personally believe that he is alive today. He may be a child, a young adult, or a senior statesman, but I believe that he is alive and being prepared by the principalities and powers of this dark world to make his “grand” appearance and begin the end. At present, he is restrained – no doubt by the presence of the Church (our being the salt and light we have been called to be) and the power of the Holy Spirit, but once the Rapture takes place, look out!

Paul tells us a little about this man: He is:

·         The personification of sin (2:3)

·         The son of perdition/destruction (2:3)

·         Empowered by Satan (2:9; Revelation 13:4)

This man will be able to perform miracles by Satan’s power in order to draw people to himself.

Now look at v. 7. Paul says “the mystery of lawlessness” is at work but is restrained. If it were not so, things would be far worse in our world, but I believe that we can explain our worsening condition in the world by considering the weakening influence of the Church. We are not being the salt and the light as we should, and so our influence is fading. Once that salt and light is removed at the Rapture, the world will be plunged into lawlessness. The One who restrains will be gone. The convicting power of the Holy Spirit will be no more or at least operating in a different fashion. Don’t misunderstand. Joel 2:28-32 pictures an outpouring of God’s Spirit on the world, and while many believe this prophecy was totally fulfilled at Pentecost, I believe it will ultimately be fulfilled at the Rapture. Why do I believe this? Because some of the things that Joel described did not happen at Pentecost. He talks about wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke; sun turned to darkness and the moon to blood. And it all happens before the “coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.” All of this leads me to believe in a future fulfillment as described in the New Testament apocalyptic passages. The result of all of this happening? Multitudes will be saved. But lawlessness will abound. And the man of sin will be revealed.

I can remember through the years the different people who have attempted to identify this man. In fact, one night following revival services, my mother, my siblings, and I spent hours trying to make the letters in people’s names add up to 666 because that was how the evangelist said that we would know. We gave each letter of the alphabet a numerical equivalent and started guessing. When names wouldn’t work, we added titles. We pegged everyone from presidents to popes. But here is the issue: John was writing in Greek. He was probably thinking in Hebrew and Aramaic. English was not even part of the human vocabulary at the time while there were multiple languages in existence. My point is simply this. No one will know for sure until all these things have happened, but then his true identity will be revealed to those who know God’s Word. There will be no doubt. How will they know? He will be the one brokering peace treaties with Israel, leading the world government, and ultimately demanding that he be worshiped as a god.