2nd Thessalonians Chapter 2

2 Thes. chapter TWO.

Remember that in 1 Thes. 4, The believers had a concern with regard to believers who had died in Christ before He had returned. Paul tells them that they need not be unduly concerned, they need not sorrow has others who have no hope, because at Jesus' coming (PAROUSIA) the dead in Christ will rise first then we which are alive and remain will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord. That is to be a source of great comfort to those who have lost loved ones through death.

Then He moves on in 1 Thes. 5, and tells them that concerning the times and seasons you have no need that I write to you. For you know that the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. So what he is saying is, Not only is the Lord going to return, resurrect the dead and rapture the living, but these things will happen before the day of the Lord because we are not appointed unto the wrath of God. We will experience a time of difficulty, the difficulty of Satan through Antichrist, the difficulty that is associated with the fall of man, we are not exempted from that. So we will experience tribulation.

In 2 Thes. 2, Paul is going to deal with the concept of the day of the Lord again, because of a problem that had developed. After some commendations in the first chapter, he begins to deal with the problem.

2 Thes. 2:1,2, Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.

Something had happened concerning the coming of Jesus that had caused them to be shaken in composure and disturbed. Paul tells them not to be troubled, either by spirit (prophetic utterance) or by word (verbal message) or by letter (a forged document) that says you are already living in the day of the Lord. Some of the Thessalonian Christians were departing from their senses like a ship blown from her moorings because they thought they were in the Day of the Lord.

Thus they were disturbed (frightened, agitated) and filled with feverish anxieties. Paul began by establishing again the connection of the coming (PAROUSIA) of Christ "with our gathering together to Him," and the day of the Lord (God's judgment).

When will we be gathered together unto Him? At the Rapture. He unequivocally tells them, as well as the church today, exactly what must occur before the PAROUSIA of Christ, the time of this gathering unto Him, as we will see in vv.3-9.

Why would they believe they were in the day of the Lord? Because they were severely persecuted for their faith. They were going through tribulation, they were pressured with problems. While those things were going on, some teachers told them they were already living in the day of the Lord, which they understood to be the outpouring of God's wrath. They could not therefore be encouraged by the prospect of a literal rapture of believers.

This is not what Paul taught them, but because of what they were suffering they concluded that it might be true. W. J. Erdman identifies the expression, "the day of the Lord", with the "coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him" and says,The Apostle beseeches the saints in behalf of this very coming (PAROUSIA) of the Lord to gather them together into His presence, not to be troubled or shaken from the teaching they had received from him; and he beseeches them concerning this coming and gathering together as something that has not taken place and cannot take place until the "man of sin" be revealed.

The church throughout the world will be contemporary with the "man of sin" and in the "great tribulation". The man of sin is the author of the great tribulation. The day of the Lord in which the Antichrist meets His doom comes after the great tribulation. The church is delivered at the opening of that day from the wrath which overtakes Antichrist. Therefore the church must have been a contemporary with him and in the great tribulation.

Those who would have the Church raptured at the beginning of the seventieth week in order to exempt them from the wrath of Antichrist say that, verse one is referring to one event and verse two is referring to another entirely different event. This not only desecrates the Greek language, it also desecrates the English language.

2 Thes. 2:3,4, Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Verse 3, Paul tells them not to be deceived by any means, even if it is by prophesy, or by verbalization, or by an epistle. All prophesies are not from God, if it does not line up with the Word of God it is not from God. No matter how logical the false teachers may seem due to the circumstances you find yourself in, they are still wrong. If God's Word says something, but your circumstances say something else, you say what the Word of God says not what your circumstances say. That is not to deny the circumstances, but don't allow them to dictate how you react. React the way the Word of God says to act.

"For that day", what day? The day of the Lord, the day when Jesus comes and gathers us together to Him, the day of the resurrection of our loved ones, the day we are taken out so the wrath of God can begin. In 1 Thessalonians the concern was over what would happen to their loved ones who had died before the return of Christ. In 2 Thessalonians the concern was the day of the Lord had already begun and Jesus had not come, nor had their loved ones been raised. They knew that according to Paul's teaching, before the day of the Lord began the raising of the dead in Christ and the rapture was to take place. Now because of their tribulation they were told they were experiencing the day of the Lord's wrath. Don't worry, Paul says, for that day will NOT come unless the falling away comes first and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition.

Falling away is preceded by the definite article "the", and therefore refers to apostasy in a religious sense and not a political sense. This is made certain by the relation of Antichrist to it. This apostasy takes place during the seventieth week of Daniel. This is not referring to people leaving a denomination and going to another one, nor is it people leaving a denomination to become non-denominational or independent as I have heard some teach. Falling away is translated from the Greek word APOSTASIA (ap-os- tas-ee'-ah), it means defection from truth ["apostasy"], a total abandonment of what is true. Mr. Vine says it this way: "a defection, revolt, apostasy," is used in the NT of religious apostasy; in Acts 21:21, it is translated "to forsake," lit., "thou teachest apostasy from Moses." In 2 Thes. 2:3 "the falling away" signifies apostasy from the faith. This word occurs only in the above two places in the Bible. In Acts 21:21 there were those who were accusing Paul of telling Jews who had accepted Christ to apostatize, to totally abandon the Jewish law and custom for another religious system.

The falling away is a prelude to the day of the Lord, Paul tells them that they can't be living in the day of the Lord because this falling away has to take place first.

That day will not come until the "man of sin" is revealed (made known). Who is the man of sin? Antichrist. When will the man of sin be revealed as to his true identity? In the middle of the seventieth week. Jesus admonishes believers in the last days: "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand)..."For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. "And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened (Matt. 24:15,21,22).

The Holy Spirit reveals through the prophet Daniel that "in the middle of the week"--that is, three and a half years after he has signed his deceptive covenant with Israel--Antichrist "will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate" (Dan. 9:27). At that time Satan (the dragon) who is cast down from heaven, will give the Antichrist (the beast) his power, his throne and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" (Rev 13:2-4).

Paul is telling us here that two things must take place before the day of the Lord begins. The day of the Lord begins immediately after the Church is raptured which happens immediately after the dead in Christ are raised, which happens some time after the two events, the falling away, and the revealing of the man of sin.

If, as pretribulation rapturism maintains, the day of the Lord begins at the beginning of the seventieth week, then it must be concluded that these two events must occur before the rapture of the church, thus before the seventieth week begins. This is not scriptually sound (Dan. 9:27).

Let's divert for a minute and look at when the Antichrist will be revealed. Turn to Matt. 24:33, "So you also, when you see all these things, know that it (My return) is near--at the doors! What precedes this is the parable of the fig tree. When certain things happen to the fig tree you know that summer is getting near, now here is the spiritual application. So likewise when you shall see all of these things, my return is near. What did the Lord mean by the phrase "these things?" Was he referring back to verse 4 and following? And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. That is the white horse and rider of Revelation. But even today we have a lot of that going on. "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." We have a lot of wars being fought right now, at any one time there are upwards to seventy five wars in progress world wide. "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines (a lot of famines are taking place and have taken place over the years), pestilence's, and earthquakes in various places. "All these (now notice the phrase that follows) are the beginning of sorrows. Now drop down to verses 15-21, "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand),"then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. "Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. "And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! "And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Now go to verse 33, so likewise when you see all of these things, does all of these things refer to the false Christs, the wars, the famines, the pestilence's and the rest of what we just looked at? Or does, when you see all of these things, refer to what would properly be the nearest antecedent to all of these things. Meaning what immediately preceded the statement which was a discussion of the great tribulation which begins in the middle of the seventieth week.

So He says, when you see certain things happen to the fig tree you know that summer is getting near, now when you see all of these things, is He talking about false Christs, wars, famines, pestilence, cosmic disturbances or is he referring to verses 15-31, where the abomination of desolation is set up beginning the great tribulation.

The question is, will the church recognize who the Antichrist is at the beginning of the seventieth week or in the middle of the seventieth week? The argument that is usually made for the beginning of the seventieth week, is that he is going to make a covenant with Israel for seven years and this covenant signing will be conspicuous. The Bible tells us that the Antichrist will be revealed for who he is when he sets himself up as God in the temple demanding worship in the middle of the seventieth week.

The Hebrew text of Daniel 9, does not say that he is going to make a covenant, it says that he is going to confirm a covenant. There is a big difference between making and confirming. Other translations say that he will strengthen a covenant. The idea seems to be that he will confirm a covenant already in existence. So it may be no big deal as to the strengthening of this covenant.

I don't know if the Church will recognize the Antichrist at the beginning of the seventieth week or not, but she will definitely know who he is at the midpoint of the seventieth week when he breaks the covenant and puts an image of himself in the rebuilt temple.

It seems to me, that is what Paul is teaching. You can't be in the day of the Lord because two things have to precede it, the apostasy, and Antichrist is revealed. If we will know who the Antichrist is at the beginning, all the better, if we don't we will definitely know who he is at the midpoint of the seventieth week.

Verse 4, The word opposeth means against, and exalteth means in place of. So whenever an antichrist is referred to, the dominant idea is opposition to and substitution of God.

Paul makes it abundantly clear that in the middle of the week the man of sin will be revealed. After stating that the man of sin must be revealed, he does not relate that revelation to the time of the signing of the covenant, but on the occasion of the setting up of the Antichrist's image. This event (the setting of himself up in the temple) which occurs in the middle of the seventieth week, cannot be divorced from the time the Antichrist is revealed. Paul was not talking about the time when Antichrist appears on the scene; clearly that was three and one half years earlier, when the covenant was confirmed. That is not the issue. Paul was speaking of the time when the Antichrist will be recognized for who he truly is. That recognition will occur in the middle of the seventieth week when he sets himself up as God in the temple (Dan. 9:27; cf, Matt. 24:15). These verses are the reasons why it is said that a temple is to be built prior to the middle of the seventieth week.

It seems that a tribulation temple is to be built, but we have to be careful here. We are told by Daniel that the sacrifice will be brought to an end in the middle of the seventieth week. To say that the sacrifice is going to cease, what does that presuppose? It presupposes that it has been reinstated. If the Antichrist is going to stop it when he sets himself up in the temple, then it must be in place before then.

It seems clear that the Jews reinstate their animal sacrifices. Did you know that there is a small group in Israel today, who have already built, after meticulous research, more the fifty of the implements used by the priests of the temple. They are training young Israelis to be priests if they qualify and one of the qualifications is that they must trace their genealogy back five generations to ensure that they come from such names as Levie, Levin or Cohin, because these are the descendants of the Livitical priest line of the Old Testament. So there is an active movement to reestablish the Livitical sacrificial system.

But now listen carefully, whenever it speaks about that temple it does not use the word that is sometimes used to describe the massive temple that existed in the days of Solomon. It does not describe the temple that existed in the time when Christ walked the earth, the Herodian temple. The word that is used is the word that could refer to the temple proper, not all the surrounding facilities that made the temple massive. So when it speaks about a temple in the tribulation, that could be a very small affair, which could be erected in a matter of days not years. So you do not have to think of an elaborate temple that would take many years to build. The kind of thing that the bible requires that could be put up very quickly that would allow the reinstatement of animal sacrifices.

2 Thes. 2:5, Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?

Paul had explained these things in his teaching at Thessalonica. The question is then, why are you confused now, thinking that you are in the day of the Lord, when I kept telling you when I was with you that the apostasy and the revealing of the man of sin had to precede the coming of the day of the Lord?

There seems to be a slight accent of surprise with a tone of reproach in Paul's question, that they should make so much of this false teaching of them being in the day of the Lord. He was telling them nothing new, The indication is that he had repeatedly talked to them of the advent and the things about which he was now writing.

2 Thes. 2:6, And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.

This verse tells us that something or someone is restraining the Antichrist until it is time for him to be revealed. A restrainer is brought forth because the Antichrist, in the middle of the seventieth week is going to be revealed. He could not be revealed before that because of the restrainer.

To those who say that the restrainer is going to be gone from the earth at the rapture of the church prior to the seventieth week, I say to you, you have no scriptural foundation for that belief. When the restrainer is no longer restraining, the Antichrist will be revealed. He is not revealed until the middle of the seventieth week, therefore the restrainer is doing his work until that time.

2 Thes. 2:7, For the mystery (that is the concealed principle) of lawlessness (that is a deliberate, sinful, rebellion and disobedience to God) is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.

The age old question here is, who is he who restrains and will do so until he is taken out of the way. During the first half of the seventieth week there is someone in the way of Antichrist that hinders his activity with regards to Israel and the Church. Who is this restrainer that is in the way of Antichrist, hindering him until he is taken out of the way in the middle of the seventieth week?

One of the views as to who he his is human government by the laws that it initiates. The ones that hold to this view say that human government is putting a restraint on sin. This was the predominate view up to the twentieth century. But governments are one of the agents that Satan uses to come against the Church and to promote sin. The government stopped prayers in schools, it promoted the teaching of evolution, it implemented the passing out of condoms in schools, it is passing laws that prohibit a preacher from saying anything against homosexuals or face a jail term, it is an advocate of murder in passing laws to support abortion. The only way a human government will restrain sin is if godly men were the ones in office applying biblical principles.

Pretribulational rapturism which had its start in England in about 1830 was unheard of before that time. It came to America beginning in the 1880's, it was popularized by the second edition of the C.I. Scofield Bible which came out, I believe in 1917. These notes of Schofield in his study bible were viewed as authoritative as the text itself by many people, there was nothing in his first edition on the subject, it was his second edition which prompted the pretrib view. Many of the bible colleges bought into this view and taught it strongly.

But I submit to you on the authority of God's word that Satan is the father of lies. I believe, within a solid core of bible believers in the western world, Satan has got a lie in that has been propounded, and has become a part of a doctrinal position of so many institutions that people are convinced that it is true. They say that that the bible is their final authority but, when conversing with them it is evident that traditions of men are put above what the bible says because they have no scriptural support for their belief. When you are taught that you are out of here before the bad days are going to hit and someone comes along and biblical shows them that they will be around for the great tribulation, you will encounter the Antichrist, you are going to be here to have an occasion to stand true for your Lord in the midst of a false christ saying no he is not the Christ, he is not my Savior, he is not the one who died for me, they get very upset and accuse you of being a false teacher destined for hell.

Pretribulation rapturism agrees that the restraining power that will be taken out of the way is the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit indwells believers, his restraining power is operative through the presence of believers. At the rapture, the church is removed from the earth, and with it, the Holy Spirit of God.

According to pretribulationism, four facts are considered to be clear:

(1) the Holy Spirit is the one who hinders the Antichrist;

(2) the Holy Spirit is removed before the day of the Lord begins;

(3) the day of the Lord begins with the tribulation period;

(4) when the church is removed the Holy Spirit is removed.

Therefore, it is argued the rapture is pretribulational.

Dwight Pentecost spoke of the restrainer in his book "Things to Come" this way: "Explanations as to the person of this Restrainer such as human government, law, the visible church will not suffice, for they will all continue in a measure after the manifestation of this lawless one. While this is essentially an exegetical problem, it would seem that the only One who could do such a restraining ministry would be the Holy Spirit."

In answer to this argument raised by pretribulationists consider the following points.

First, the day of the Lord does not begin with the seventieth week of Daniel. Its approach is said to be announced by cosmic disturbances (the sixth seal, Rev. 6:12-13), and it begins with the opening of the seventh seal.

Second, the hinder is not removed at the beginning of the seventieth week or as the pretribbers would say, before the tribulation begins. He is removed in the middle of the seventieth week with the occurrence of the abomination that makes the temple desolate. Paul makes that plainly clear when writing of the Antichrist in 2 Thes. 2:4- 5. It is in connection with that event which occurs in the middle of the seventieth week, not at its beginning, that Paul teaches concerning the one who hinders (2 Thes. 2:6-9). The hindering is associated with the great tribulation, not with the entire seven-year period.

Third, the identification of the one who restrains until he is taken out of the way is important. The restrainer is not human government or the Holy Spirit. This text does not say that the restrainer is raptured or caught up as the believers will be. It simply says that he is taken out of the way, people have to add a lot to this verse to make it say that the restrainer is the Holy Spirit.

The pretribbers say that there is going to be a great in gathering of souls during the tribulation, if that is so the Holy Spirit must be here because the Word says, "No man can come to the father except the Spirit draws him." There is not one shred of evidence to indicate that the Holy Spirit is the restrainer.

If the restrainer is the Holy Spirit, don't be guilty of saying that the He will be raptured with the Church before the tribulation begins. If you believe it is the Holy Spirit, when He is taken out of the way he will not be taken out of the world, but that only His restraining influence against Antichrist will cease. The Holy Spirit will still remain on earth during the satanic inspired rebellion to convict people of their sins (Rev.7:9,14; 11:1; 14:6-7).

There is also evidence to support that the archangel Michael may be the restrainer. Consider the following in support of that statement:

1. The archangel Michael has long been recognized by both Jewish and Christian scholars as having a special guardian relationship to Israel: Then he said to me, "Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty- one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia" (Dan. 10:12-13). Now look at verse 21, "But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these, except Michael your prince. You know what upholds means here? Restraint. No one restrains with me against the prince of the kingdom of Persia, so I could get the answer to your prayer to you, but Michael your prince, your protector. Daniel is told that Michael is "the great prince who standeth [present continuous tense; that is' he continues to stand] for the children of thy people (Dan. 12:1).

2. Rev. 12 describes a war that occurs in heaven. The time for that conflict can be pinpointed precisely in the middle of the seventieth week (Rev. 12:6, 13-14). It is described this way: And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. (Rev. 12:7-8, 13). The woman represents Israel, who gave Christ (the male child) to the world (Rev. 12:5) and who will be severely persecuted during the great tribulation (Rev. 12:13-17).

3. Speaking of the one who hinders the Antichrist here in verse 7 Paul said, "only he who now restrains will continue to restrain until he be taken out of the way". The word "restrains" means to hold down, and the phrase taken out of the way means to step aside. Therefore, the one who had the job of restraining the Antichrist will step aside; that is he will no longer be a restraint between the Antichrist and those the Antichrist is persecuting.

4. The Bible is explicit that the archangel Michael is the personage who will step aside. Daniel records the event this way: "At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time..." (Dan 12:1). When does Michael stand up? Daniel says that Michael will stand up during a time of trouble, such as there never was since there was a nation. That unprecedented time of trouble can only refer to the great tribulation. Since Daniel is told that this period of time is related to his people, this can only be the "time of Jacob's trouble" (Jer, 30:7), which is a synonym for the great tribulation. It is at that time that Michael will stand up.

The Hebrew word for "stand up" is AMAD, what does it mean? Rashi, one of Israel's greatest scholars and who had no concern regarding the issue of the rapture said that it means to stand still. The meaning is to stand aside or be inactive. Michael the guardian of Israel, had earlier fought for her (Dan. 10:13,21), but now the one who standeth as the protector of Israel will stand aside or stand still. He will not help, he will not restrain, he will not hold down. The Midrash commenting on this verse, according to Ruth Rabbah 1 says, "The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Michael, "You are silent? You do not defend my children." Other biblical instances of stand up (AMAD) meaning to be still or desist are "they... stood still [desisted], and answered no more" (Job 32:16); and again, "And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people (for he was above all the people); and when he had opened it, all the people stood up" (Neh. 8:5). Commenting on this verse, Rashi indicates that the people kept quiet (stood still) while Ezra read the Torah.

5. That special guardian relationship which Michael has with Israel is again underscored in a sometimes obscure comment made by Jude. "Yet Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses" (Jude 9). Further, Moses is thought to be one of the two witnesses of Revelation 11. Concerning these two witnesses, God said, "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days [three and a half years, based on the Jewish calendar], clothed in sackcloth" (Rev. 11:3). In that light, Michael's conflict with Satan over the body of Moses, as guardian of Israel, once again impacts the precise time of the great tribulation and the occasion where the restrainer will step aside.

2 Thes. 2:8, And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.

Then, after the restrainer is taken out of the way, will the lawless one be revealed made manifest. The restrainer will step aside, he will desist from lending a helping hand as Daniel recorded he would do, and that is what Paul confirmed in v.7. When that occurs, then we will have the fulfillment of v.8.

At His coming (PAROUSIA) the Antichrist's activities will be brought to a halt he will be rendered helpless because at His coming the day of the Lord commences. It is no longer the wrath of Satan through Antichrist against the Church and Israel, it is now the wrath of God on all that is ungodly. The Antichrist does not reign during the day of the Lord, he will not be looked upon as the one to be worshipped, the Lord and the Lord alone will be exalted in His day.

Ultimately Christ will destroy Antichrist at the final battle of Armageddon (the last event of the day of the Lord), but first, by the appearance of His coming (PAROUSIA), Christ will render him helpless, as the first event of the day of the Lord. Christ will in effect "handcuff" Antichrist and his forces and as Rotherham's Bible says, paralyze him. This restriction of Antichrist's power will happen "at the appearance of His coming"--in other words, when every eye will see Him", when the church is gathered to Christ in the clouds and the wrath of God begins. This interpretation gives greater understanding to Jesus' statement that "unless those days were cut short, no flesh (believing) would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short (Mat. 24:22). "Those days" is frequently referred to as the second half of the seventieth week. But the context makes it clear that Jesus was talking specifically about the great tribulation by Antichrist (v.21), not about his allotted time of authority upon the earth (Rev. 13:5).

If God were to cut short the last three and a half years, the seventieth week would no longer be a "week," since the last half would be less than three and a half years. Thus, it is the persecution of the great tribulation that will be cut short when Christ renders Antichrist (the perpetrator of the tribulation) helpless or paralyzed.

One pre-trib proponent (Jack Van Impe) stated that the cutting short means that God will cut short a twenty -four hour day to something less than twenty-four hours. If that were the case, no matter how you look at it, the seventieth week would not be seven years long which is in contradiction to what the scriptures say. Who are you going to believe man or God?

2 Thes. 2:9, The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,

The coming of the Antichrist is in conformity with Satan who will be working in and through him. You must understand the phrase "with all power" does not mean that Satan or the Antichrist is omnipotent. Omnipotence is an attribute of God, therefore, one which Satan does not possess. This is not authentic power or genuine signs and wonders. These are power, signs, and wonders of falsehood because "lying" applies to all three.

They are miracles of falsehood because people who regard them as signs of proofs of the divinity of Antichrist are deceived. This is why he performs great miracles, so as to deceive people into believing that he is the Christ and he will deceive many. This will not be merely slight of the hand magicians tricks, they will be performed by dark, gloomy powers, manifestations of the demonic, monstrosities without any saving power. But they will get the attention of he world.

2 Thes. 2:10, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. These miraculous signs and wonders will convince those who perish (the ones who don't believe) that Antichrist is the messiah. Satan's false signs will also deceive those who did not welcome the love of the truth that they might be saved. That is they did not become disciples of Christ but continued to follow their own ways, and man made traditions.

"Saved" here does not refer to conversion, but to the salvation and inheritance which will be believers' when they are changed into Christ's likeness. From the very beginning of creation the central issue in man's relationship with God has been either his disregard of the Word and truth of God or his love for them. This is also a pivotal issue in the end times. Salvation will be realized by those who by faith in Christ maintain a fervent and sincere "love and truth," who believe with unwavering conviction what God has said, and who reject all new "revelation" or teaching that conflicts with the truth of God's word.

Professing believers will accept "new revelation" even though it conflicts with the revealed Word of God. This will lead to opposition to Biblical truth within churches. Already there are preachers who have preached a distorted gospel and have gained strategic leadership positions in denominations and theological training centers, enabling to deceive and mislead many within the church.

Protection against being deceived is found in an enduring faith and love for Christ, and a commitment to the absolute authority of His Word and a thorough knowledge of and obedience to His Word.

2 Thes. 2:11,12, And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Because of their moral rejection of the truth God will send them (the unbelieving) strong delusion, that they should believe the lie. A power is set in operation within them that makes them prone to embrace error. This will lead them the lie, not any lie that happens to come along, but the big lie, the false claims and pretensions of the Antichrist including the deity of man. The result will be that all who have not welcomed the love of the truth will "be damned" (judged, called to account, and condemned.

God's purpose in sending the "strong delusion" is so they will be damned because they did not accept the truth. These people approved, considered good, took delight in, and sought satisfaction in wrong doing, injustice wickedness and evil. In other words they kept going along with sin, considered it normal and promoted it as desirable. This delusion has already begun to some degree within the body of Christ, leading many to believe that those who practice the works of the flesh can still be acceptable to God.

2 Thes. 2:13-14, But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here as Paul typically does, he goes into a prayer of thanks to God for the brethren who are loved by the Lord. These people are saved and sanctified by the Spirit and their belief in and obedience to the truth. The end purpose of the gospel is that they may obtain the glory of Jesus Christ at His coming.

2 Thes. 2:15, Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.

In view of the glory to come, Paul challenged them and us to stand fast and keep holding on to the traditions (teachings) taught them by the Word (in his preaching) and in his epistles. The traditions here are not man made traditions, or denominational traditions, or even constitutional traditions, no, they are the traditions handed down to Paul by Jesus. Paul was emphasizing that his teaching was not a product of his own mind, he was simply passing on the message that was handed down to him by the Lord. Paul was not free to change the message or mix in any of his own ideas or assumptions. Let me add, neither are people free to do so today.

2 Thes. 2:16-17, Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

To his exhortation to stand firm, Paul added a prayer. In the final analysis, Christians cannot stand in their own strength or hold to the scriptures through their own understanding. Believers need the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ Himself to help them. As Christians stand firm, holding on to the teachings of God's Word, they can expect God and Christ to comfort (encourage) their hearts and to strengthen and confirm or firmly fix them, not merely in their minds, but in every good word and work.