<p>2:3 <i>Let no one beguile you in any way- </i>Paul read the prophecy of deceivers arising in the last days as referring to deceivers arising within the ecclesia, i.e. people who were already baptized, consciously deceiving the majority of the ecclesia. He repeats this conviction at least three times (Mt. 24:4 = Eph. 5:6; Col. 2:8; 2 Thess. 2:3). The Olivet prophecy had incipient, possible fulfilment in the first century; and a major fulfilment is ahead in our last days. Paul's allusion to it suggests the &quot;man of sin&quot; prophecy is to be read likewise.</p><p>There are some connections between Mt. 24 and 2 Thess. 2&nbsp; which show that the &quot;man of sin&quot; has specific reference to the last days, as Mt. 24 does:</p><div align=center><table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=624>    <tbody>        <tr>            <td width=270 valign=top>            <p><b>Matthew   24</b></p>            </td>            <td width=354 valign=top>            <p><b>2   Thessalonians 2</b></p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=270 valign=top>            <p>Lawlessness   will abound (v.12)</p>            </td>            <td width=354 valign=top>            <p>The man   of lawlessness</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=270 valign=top>            <p>Men   saying &ldquo;Lo, here is Christ&rdquo; (v.23)</p>            </td>            <td width=354 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;Be not   soon shaken... by word... that the day of Christ is here&rdquo; (v.2 R.V.)</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=270 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;Believe   it not&rdquo; (v.23)</p>            </td>            <td width=354 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;Let no   man (of sin) deceive you&rdquo; (v.3).</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=270 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;For   there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great   signs and wonders&rdquo; (v.24).</p>            </td>            <td width=354 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;With   all power and signs and lying wonders&rdquo; (v.9)</p>            </td>        </tr>    </tbody></table><table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=624>    <tbody>        <tr>            <td width=270 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;Insomuch   that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect&rdquo; (v.24);   implying the non-elect <i>will</i> be deceived.</p>            </td>            <td width=354 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;All   deceivableness... they (shall) believe a lie... but you, brethren beloved of   the Lord, have from the beginning (been) chosen to salvation&rdquo; (v.10,13) &ndash;   i.e. it was impossible for <i>them</i> to be deceived.</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=270 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;Behold,   I have told you before&rdquo; (v.25), as Christ prophesied His sufferings.</p>            </td>            <td width=354 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;When I   was yet with you, I told you these things&rdquo; (v.5)</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=270 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;As the   lightning comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so shall also   the coming of the Son of man be&rdquo; (v.27)</p>            </td>            <td width=354 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;The   brightness of his coming&rdquo; (v.8)</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=270 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;The   Son of man coming in the clouds of Heaven (Angels) with power and great   glory&rdquo; (v.30)</p>            </td>            <td width=354 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;With   his mighty Angels... The glory of his power&rdquo; (2 Thess. 1:8,9 cp. 2:8)</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=270 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;Shall   gather together his elect&rdquo; (v.31)</p>            </td>            <td width=354 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;Our   gathering together unto him&rdquo; (v.1)</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=270 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;I am   Christ... shall deceive many&rdquo; (v.5)</p>            </td>            <td width=354 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;Strong   delusion, that they should believe a lie... all deceivableness of   unrighteousness in them that perish&rdquo; (v.11,10).</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=270 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;Iniquity   shall abound&rdquo; (Greek: &lsquo;multiply&rsquo;, i.e. convert more people to it)</p>            </td>            <td width=354 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;The   mystery of iniquity does... work&rdquo; (v.7)</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=270 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;The   love of many shall wax cold&rdquo; (v.12)</p>            </td>            <td width=354 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;They   received not the love of the truth&rdquo; (v.9)</p>            </td>        </tr>    </tbody></table></div><p><i>For first of all must come the falling away and the man of sin shall be revealed, the son of destruction</i>- <i>The</i> falling away, or apostasy, speaks of a loss of faith and collapse within the church. Paul had warned them before that there would come this great collapse (:5). But it was not inevitable for any of them on a personal level. The word in common Greek referred to a revolt or defection; and is used in the LXX of a falling away from God (Jer. 29:32 e.g.); and in Heb. 3:12 of how the Jewish believers were tempted to fall away. Paul envisaged a collapse in faith amongst the believers in the last days, followed by the revelation of a particular individual who would be supported by and in league with the Jewish 'satan' (:9). This combination of Jewish and Roman power was exactly the problem which the Thessalonians were up against, according to Acts 17 and the various hints at it throughout the Thessalonian letters. This is why Paul chose to explain to them of all the churches what was going to happen. But what he envisaged didn't happen, even though Revelation likewise predicts the uniting of the Roman and Jewish forces of evil to persecute the fledgling church, to be destroyed by the Lord's return. I have elsewhere discussed and demonstrated at length the principle of conditional prophecy. Nineveh was to be destroyed in 40 days, with no mention of any conditions. But it was not, one possible path of fulfilment was replaced with another. Likewise with the prophecy of a grand temple to be built at the time of the restoration, with Messiah within it, in Ez. 40-48. This could have happened- but it didn't. This is not to say that these prophecies shall never come true- their fulfilment was rescheduled. The essence will be fulfilled later, in the last days. And so it is with the scenario envisaged here and in Revelation. The Lord could have come in AD70, and many of the signs such as famines, wars etc. began to come true; but the other human preconditions, such as the repentance of Israel and the taking of the Gospel to all the world, were not. And so His coming has been rescheduled, until our last days. The &quot;man of sin&quot; prophecy can therefore be seen to have the beginnings of a possible fulfilment in the first century; but we are to look for a final fulfilment in our last days. The 'destruction' AV &quot;perdition&quot; of the man of sin would be the destruction of the apostate within the church and of those who had refused the Gospel; a related word is used for the perishing or destruction of this category in :10.</p><p>We can be sure that the Jewish opposition which attended Paul&rsquo;s first visit to Thessalonica would have continued well after he left. They were under pressure from &ldquo;them that trouble you&rdquo; (2 Thess. 1:6), who are defined in Gal. 5:11&ndash;13 as the Judaizers (&ldquo;they... which trouble you&rdquo;). The Thessalonians are comforted that these troublers would be destroyed by the Lord&rsquo;s second coming in fire, &ldquo;taking vengeance on them... that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (preferring that of Moses): who shall be punished with everlasting destruction (cp. Gehenna) from the presence of the Lord&rdquo; (1:9). This sounds very much like the punishment of the responsible at judgment day (Jude 24) &ndash; and the Judaizers fit that category. Significantly, the only occurrences of the Greek idea of a &ldquo;man of sin&rdquo; in the LXX describe Jewish apostates (Prov. 24:22; Is. 57:4).</p><p>This prophecy speaks of a specific &ldquo;man of sin&rdquo; who would arise within the people of God be they Israel or the ecclesia. It seems that there may have been such an individual in the first century:<br />&ndash; &ldquo;You have heard that antichrist shall come&rdquo; (1 Jn. 2:18)<br />&ndash; &ldquo;Who singular did hinder you&hellip; a little leaven that leaveneth the whole lump&hellip; he that troubles you...&rdquo; (Gal. 5:8&ndash;10)<br />&ndash; &ldquo;He that is of the contrary part&rdquo; (Tit. 2:8)<br />&ndash; &ldquo;Who (which individual) hindered you?... (Paul&rsquo;s) letters, saith he, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible&rdquo; (2 Cor. 10:7,10 A.V. mg.).<br />&ndash; The world &ndash; the first century Jewish world, in John&rsquo;s usage of the term &ndash; was under the power of a &lsquo;Satan&rsquo;, a Prince or leader (Jn. 12:31; 14:30; 1 Jn. 5:19) &ndash; perhaps the High Priest?<br />&ndash; A &ldquo;stranger&rdquo; to the flock and a &ldquo;thief&rdquo; would come to harm the flock of the Lord Jesus (Jn. 10:5,10).<br />&ndash; The existence of such an individual would make special sense of the Lord&rsquo;s request for the Father to keep the disciples safe from &ldquo;the evil one&rdquo; (Jn. 17:15). 1 Jn. 2:13,14 alludes to this prayer and shows it to have been fulfilled in the first century &ndash; the true believers had been kept safe from &ldquo;the evil one&rdquo;. And there appears some connection with the promise of Rev. 3:10, given just prior to the cataclysm of AD70, to keep the brethren safe from &ldquo;the hour of trial&rdquo;.<br />&ndash; John seems to speak, at least in the Greek text, of one specific individual &ndash; e.g. &ldquo;The one singular saying he is in the light&rdquo; (1 Jn. 1:9). &ldquo;Who, then, is <i>the</i> liar?&rdquo; (1 Jn. 2:22) has evident connection with the lying antichrist figure of 2 Thess. 2:8,9; and &ldquo;the deceiver&rdquo; (2 Jn. 7) connects with that same figure who will follow &ldquo;deceit&rdquo; (2 Thess. 2:11). John saw the singular antichrist as being heralded by many antichrists who had, he felt, already arisen in the first century. They belonged to the Jewish world (1 Jn. 4:5) &ndash; an indication that the antichrist is somehow Semitic, at least in its first century application. John&rsquo;s reference to &ldquo;many false prophets&rdquo; (1 Jn. 4:1) connects with Mt. 24:11, which in an AD70 context predicts that &ldquo;many false prophets shall arise&rdquo;. This indicates to me that the singular antichrist had some fulfilment in the first century. And the same will be is? true in our last days. The likes of Saddam Hussein and Hitler are perhaps such antichrists who presage the coming of the specific person who will be the latter day antichrist. They had some similarities to him, but were not the actual person. Significantly, John seems to have understood this person as someone who would nominally accept Jesus, but deny that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed Messiah (1 Jn. 2:22). This would fit a Muslim position far better than it would a Catholic &ndash; for Catholics believe that Jesus is the Christ. Likewise in the first century, the Jewish antichrists believed Jesus had existed, but denied He was the Christ.</p><p>It is noteworthy that this individual is not named. Martin Hengel comments, correctly: &ldquo;One of the riddles of Jewish and early Christian polemic is that it hardly ever really names its opponents, but tends to use derogatory paraphrases. This is also true of Essene polemic, which conceals its opponents in ciphers&rdquo; (Martin Hengel, <i>The Johannine Question</i> (London: S.C.M., 1996 ed.), p. 41). In this context we recall the references to Babylon and Egypt in the Old Testament as, e.g., &ldquo;Rahab&rdquo;. Paul likewise doesn&rsquo;t seem to refer to his enemies by their names but rather hides behind almost taunt phrases (2 Cor. 11:5,13; 12:11; Gal. 5:12; Phil. 3:2; and see too Gal. 1:7; 3:1,10; 4:17; 2 Cor. 2:17; 4:2; Rom. 3:8; 15:31). The references to the prophetess &ldquo;Jezebel&rdquo; in Rev. 2:20 and &ldquo;the teaching of Balaam&rdquo; (Rev. 2:14) don&rsquo;t actually name the individuals concerned, but rather give them a kind of code name. I would suggest however that the individual is not named because the prophecy did not come to full term in the first century, because of the delay of the Lord's return until our last days.</p><p>The Jewish nature of the man of sin which Paul warns the Thessalonians of is also suggested by a careful reflection upon 1 Jn. 2:11,19: &ldquo;He that hateth his brother... walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth... they went out from us, but they were not of us&rdquo;. This is all alluding back to the example of Cain going out from God&rsquo;s presence and wandering in the land of Nod with no direction to his life. Cain is a type of the Judaizers and the Jewish system (Jn. 8:44); the primary reference of John&rsquo;s letters was probably to the Judaizers. I note on 2 Thess. 3:14 that the Judaizers within the Thessalonian church were to be 'marked' just as Cain was. These people are described in 1 Jn. 2:18 as &ldquo;antichrists&rdquo; whose presence heralded the full manifestation of &ldquo;<i>the</i> antichrist&rdquo;. This is why the New Testament repeatedly stresses that the appearance of false teachers and fake Christs will be a sign of the end. If these antichrists of the first century were Jewish, then &ldquo;the antichrist&rdquo; probably also was. There is ample evidence that John&rsquo;s letters were primarily intended for ecclesias facing this Judaizer problem. The copious links with his Jewish&ndash;based Gospel should make this evident. Note too that the Qumran Essenes described the apostate High Priest as &ldquo;the man of lies&rdquo;. Tertullian&rsquo;s interpretations of John&rsquo;s letters clearly understood the &ldquo;antichrists&rdquo; to be referring to contemporary false teachers.</p><p>Paul warns that the Lord&rsquo;s coming will not be until there has come a marked further apostasy, and the full public revelation of the man of sin, whose &ldquo;mystery of iniquity&rdquo; was already quietly at work. It would be fully revealed once God&rsquo;s withholding patience had ended. At this stage the man of sin would show &ldquo;lying wonders&rdquo; which would deceive many; but he would soon be destroyed by &ldquo;the brightness of (the Lord&rsquo;s) coming&rdquo;. This &ldquo;mystery of iniquity&rdquo; was the Judaist false doctrine undermining the ecclesia, resulting in many believers being influenced by them, until in the immediate prelude to Christ&rsquo;s &lsquo;coming&rsquo; in AD70 the Jewish system seemed to have the upper hand over the true believers. We know from Heb. 6 and elsewhere that the Judaist elders were able to do miracles. Such a bout of impressive miracles to be done by false teachers in the last days is predicted in the Olivet prophecy and parts of Revelation. The events of AD70 then totally destroyed the Jewish system.</p><p>Our commentary seeks to interpret 2 Thess. 2 from these two perspectives &ndash; the possibility in the first century, and the major fulfilment in the last days.</p><p><b>Who Will He Be?</b></p><p>We have seen that the latter day man of sin will have some association with the people of God, after the pattern of Judas. He may be partly Jewish. He may even have Christian connections. Or it may be that he is an Arab, a half Jew, who will enthrone himself as the head of the Islamic beast and make his capital and temple in Jerusalem. Nah. 1:15 RV describes the leader of the Assyrian invasion as &ldquo;the wicked one&rdquo;, the &ldquo;wicked counsellor&rdquo; (1:11), &ldquo;<i>he</i> that dashes Israel in pieces&rdquo; (Nah. 2:1). Further evidence for a charismatic Islamic antichrist is provided in my study of the revival of latter day Babylon in <i>The Last Days</i>. Of particular significance is the way that the man of sin exalts himself &ldquo;against all that is called God or that is an object of worship&rdquo; (2 Thess. 2:4 RV mg.). This is exactly relevant to Islam, whose insistent belief in one God leads them to be aggressively against any icon, idol or object of worship. This is the very opposite to the Catholic way of venerating objects of worship.</p><p>The following table shows the evident links between the personal &ldquo;man of sin&rdquo; spoken of in 2 Thess. 2, and the beast systems of Revelation:</p><div align=center><table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=96%>    <tbody>        <tr>            <td width=52% valign=top>            <p><b>2   Thessalonians 1&amp; 2</b></p>            </td>            <td width=47% valign=top>            <p><b>Revelation</b></p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=52% valign=top>            <p>2:3 &ndash;   son of perdition (see also Jn. 17:12)</p>            </td>            <td width=47% valign=top>            <p>17:8 &ndash;   Beast goes into perdition</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=52% valign=top>            <p>2:7 &ndash;   mystery of iniquity (Gk. <i>anomia</i>) <i>(a reference to the son of   perdition)</i></p>            </td>            <td width=47% valign=top>            <p>17:7 &ndash;   Babylon associated with mystery</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=52% valign=top>            <p>2:8 &ndash;   wicked (lit. &lsquo;lawless&rsquo; &ndash; Gk. <i>anomos</i>) one revealed (see also v. 7 where   &ldquo;iniquity&rdquo; = Gk. <i>anomia</i>)</p>            </td>            <td width=47% valign=top>            <p>1:1 &ndash;   The revelation of Jesus Christ</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=52% valign=top>            <p>2:8 &ndash;   Lord consumes him the wicked one with the spirit of his mouth (cp. Is.   11:4)</p>            </td>            <td width=47% valign=top>            <p>19:11,   15 &ndash; Christ destroys the beast <i>(ref. To Isaiah 11:4)</i></p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=52% valign=top>            <p>1:8 &ndash;   Lord Jesus in flaming fire</p>            </td>            <td width=47% valign=top>            <p>19:12 &ndash;   Christ&rsquo;s eyes &ldquo;as a flame of fire&rdquo;</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=52% valign=top>            <p>2:11 &ndash;   those who perish believe a lie <i>(</i>a reference to the wicked one of 2:8)</p>            </td>            <td width=47% valign=top>            <p>19:20 &ndash;   &ldquo;false (or lying) prophet&rdquo;</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=52% valign=top>            <p>2:11 &ndash;   strong delusion (or working of deceit) (a reference to the wicked one of 2:8)</p>            </td>            <td width=47% valign=top>            <p>13:14 &ndash;   deceive</p>            <p>19:20 &ndash;   deceive</p>            <p><i>(references   to the second beast and the false prophet)</i></p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=52% valign=top>            <p>2:9 &ndash;   signs (Gk. <i>semeion</i>) (a reference to the wicked one of 2:8)</p>            </td>            <td width=47% valign=top>            <p>13:13 &ndash;   wonders (Gk. <i>semeion</i>)</p>            <p>19:20   miracles</p>            <p>(Gk. <i>semeion</i>)   <i>(references to the second beast and the false prophet)</i></p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=52% valign=top>            <p>2:4 &ndash;   temple</p>            </td>            <td width=47% valign=top>            <p>11:2 &ndash;   temple</p>            </td>        </tr>    </tbody></table></div><p>It seems reasonable to equate this &ldquo;man&rdquo; with the specific &ldquo;antiChrist&rdquo; of 1 Jn. 2:18. The beast / horn system is also an imitation of Christ. It breaks in pieces the whole earth (Dan. 7:23) &ndash; the same word used in Dan. 2:40,44 to describe Christ&rsquo;s breaking in pieces of the nations at his return. The little horn will &ldquo;think to change times and laws&rdquo;. This is clearly alluding to Dan. 2:21, where God alone is described as changing the times and seasons. The little horn thus makes himself as God &ndash; the man of sin &ldquo;as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God&rdquo; (2 Thess. 2:4). This man of sin will be destroyed by the brightness of the Lord&rsquo;s second coming (2 Thess. 2:8). He will therefore be actively in existence in the last days. This man of sin will be revealed during a falling away from the Truth just prior to the return of Christ (2 Thess. 2:2,3). Thus whatever fulfilments of this power there may have been over history, it has to be accepted that it will have a particular manifestation in the last days.</p><p>The man of sin is &ldquo;the son of perdition&rdquo;, clearly alluding to Judas (Jn. 17:12). This associates this power with the apostate element within the ecclesia, who in the first century were Jewish. Through infiltrating the ecclesia, he will sit &ldquo;in the temple of God&rdquo; (2 Thess. 2:4), i.e. the ecclesia. Judas was a betrayer; we have seen from the Olivet prophecy that there will be betrayers within the ecclesia in the tribulation period. The link with Judas surely teaches that there will be a &lsquo;Fifth column&rsquo; within the latter day church, who are connected with the latter day Babylon / beast / man of sin.</p><p>However, it is possible that these prophecies refer to a specific individual who claims that he is Christ &ndash; a real &lsquo;antiChrist&rsquo;, possibly associated with a renegade Christian (after the pattern of Judas being one of the twelve). It may even be that he builds a literal temple, which would then be the abomination which makes desolate standing in the holy place. Remember that the horn / beast blasphemes the temple (Rev. 13:6), and in their manifestation as the King of the North, &ldquo;he shall plant the tabernacle of his palace... In the glorious holy mountain&rdquo; of Zion (Dan. 11:45). 2 Thess. 2:8,9 point the contrast between the Lord&rsquo;s coming and that of the man of sin &ndash; as if the latter is a replica of the former. This new power will break in pieces opposing nations just like Christ will (Dan. 7:23 cp. 2:44); he will institute a new set of laws world&ndash;wide as if he has God&rsquo;s authority (Dan. 7:25 cp.2:21).</p><p>Some may be duped into thinking that Christ has come back, when actually it is the &lsquo;antiChrist&rsquo; of the beast. The beast may have its adherents within the ecclesia who will promulgate this view. The beast has a mouthpiece in another beast that speaks like a dragon &ndash; i.e. like the beast &ndash; but has horns like a lamb, i.e. a fake Christ. This beast &ldquo;does great wonders, so that he makes fire come down from heaven on earth in the sight of men (i.e. this is conscious exhibitionism), and deceives... by the means of these miracles which he had power to do&rdquo; (Rev. 13:11&ndash;14). Bringing fire from Heaven means that this is a conscious imitation of Elijah, implying that the Elijah ministry is active during the tribulation. It will be opposed by the publicity stunts of the beast system.</p><p>The idea of an anti&ndash;Christ as a replica of the real Christ also occurs in Proverbs, where there is a designed contrast between the woman of wisdom (representing Christ, the seed of the woman, 1 Cor. 1:24), and the &ldquo;foolish woman&rdquo; who does the same external things as &ldquo;wisdom&rdquo; (e.g. Prov. 9:1&ndash;5 cp. 9:14&ndash;17). This prototype antiChrist is a whore, which is a symbol associated with the dragon / Babylon / beast of Revelation. Thus the antiChrist and the beast are closely linked. Because of the false miracles, the weak believer will worship the image of the beast and join the 666 system (Rev. 13:14&ndash;18). This is based on the image in the plain of Dura, which many of God&rsquo;s people were duped into worshipping. Only the three friends seem to have refused to do so. Perhaps the furnaces which were the means of punishment for those who refused to worship the image are related to the furnaces of the concentration camps, which we may well see repeated in the future.<br clear=all /><br /><b>&ldquo;A time of trouble&rdquo;</b></p><p>We have suggested that the blasphemous power building his palace on the temple mount in Dan. 11:45 is the man of sin of 2 Thess. 2, and thus also the little horn power. This is immediately before the second coming of Christ and resurrection described in Dan. 12:2. It is during this period that &ldquo;there shall be a time of trouble such as never was&rdquo; for God&rsquo;s people, natural and spiritual &ndash; the time of Jacob&rsquo;s trouble that occurs after Israel&rsquo;s present regathering to the land. &ldquo;That day is great, so that none is like it&rdquo; (Jer. 30:7). Those who are written in the book experience it, but are saved from it. This group must surely be true believers. Seeing that this will be a time of trouble for God&rsquo;s people such as never was, the previous sufferings of the Jews and the tribulation of the second world war will be nothing compared to this. It will be so bad that it will seem that every one of us will perish &ndash; &ldquo;there should no flesh be saved&rdquo; (Mt. 24:22). But for those who doggedly hold on to the patience and faith of the saints, the glorious, miraculous deliverance will come. Even an Angel was so amazed by the extraordinary nature of this time of trouble that he asked: &ldquo;How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?&rdquo;. The answer was &ldquo;For a time, time and an half (i.e. three and a half years); and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished&rdquo; (Dan. 12:7,8). The Hebrew for &ldquo;the holy people&rdquo; is literally &lsquo;the people of the holy ones&rsquo; &ndash; i.e. all those among natural and spiritual Israel who belong to their holy guardian Angels. &ldquo;All things&rdquo; being fulfilled in Dan. 12:8 is probably alluded to in the fig tree parable &ndash; the generation that see the revival of Israel (fruit instead of leaves on the tree, as a result of Christian preaching) during that three and a half year tribulation will live to see the end of all things. The holy people are to be scattered (Dan. 12:7). The Hebrew means &lsquo;to break in pieces&rsquo;, and is also used regarding the beast / horn breaking in pieces the whole earth / land (Dan. 7:23). As it treats God&rsquo;s people, so it will be judged, seeing that the little stone breaks in pieces the beast / image.</p><p>The horn who scatters God&rsquo;s people in the last days, the &ldquo;he&rdquo; of Dan. 12:7 is the &ldquo;King of the North&rdquo; of Dan. 11:45 &ndash; suggesting that the beast / horn has something to do with latter day Assyria and Babylon, the historical / Biblical &ldquo;King of the North&rdquo;. The faithful will be &ldquo;tried&rdquo; (Dan. 12:10) by this invader, as Israel were by the Babylonian invasion of the past (Jer. 9:7). The same word is used in Zech. 13:9 and Mal. 3:2 concerning the faithful remnant in Jerusalem enduring their future sufferings.<br clear=all /><br />There are a number of similarities between Daniel 11 and the prophecies concerning the persecution of the saints by the horn / beast / man of sin:</p><div align=center><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0>    <tbody>        <tr>            <td width=298 valign=top>            <p><b>Daniel   11 </b></p>            </td>            <td width=326 valign=top>            <p><b>The   Latter Day Tribulation</b></p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=298 valign=top>            <p>v.31   &ldquo;Shall pollute the sanctuary&rdquo;</p>            </td>            <td width=326 valign=top>            <p>The   beast&rsquo;s blasphemy against the temple</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=298 valign=top>            <p>v.32   &ldquo;Such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries&rdquo;</p>            </td>            <td width=326 valign=top>            <p>Some of   those in the covenant will be deceived by the flatteries of the beast (cp.   Dan. 8:25)</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=298 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;Such   as do wickedly&rdquo;</p>            </td>            <td width=326 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;The   wicked shall do wickedly&rdquo; (Dan. 12:10)</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=298 valign=top>            <p>v.32,33   &ldquo;The people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits...   instruct many&rdquo;</p>            </td>            <td width=326 valign=top>            <p>Zealous   preaching by the faithful during persecution.</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=298 valign=top>            <p>v.33   &ldquo;They shall fall by the sword&rdquo;</p>            </td>            <td width=326 valign=top>            <p>The   beast kills the saints with the sword and leads them into captivity in the   tribulation (Rev.13:10). &ldquo;They shall fall by the sword&rdquo; is quoted in Lk.   21:24 concerning the tribulation.</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=298 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;Many   days&rdquo;</p>            </td>            <td width=326 valign=top>            <p>1260 days</p>            </td>        </tr>    </tbody></table><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0>    <tbody>        <tr>            <td width=298 valign=top>            <p>v.35   &ldquo;Some of them of understanding shall fall&rdquo; (in death)</p>                        <p>&ldquo;To try   them, and to purge, and to make them white&rdquo;</p>            <p>&ldquo;Even   to the time of the end; because it is yet for a time appointed&rdquo;</p>            </td>            <td width=326 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;Some   of you shall they cause to be put to death&rdquo; (Lk. 21:16) &ndash; the faithful   remnant are characterized by their &ldquo;understanding&rdquo; &ndash; of the prophecies?</p>            <p>&ldquo; Many   shall be purified, and made white, and tried&rdquo; (Dan. 12:10)</p>            <p>The   tribulation continues right up to the end &ndash; the Lord&rsquo;s coming. The time   appointed &ndash; 3.5 years of Dan. 12:7?</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=298 valign=top>            <p>v.36   &ldquo;The King...shall exalt himself&rdquo;</p>            </td>            <td width=326 valign=top>            <p>As the   horn did over the other horns. If this verse is a continuing description of   Antiochus Epiphanes, then it just isn&rsquo;t all true. Rather it seems do we have   another gap / jump in chronological fulfilment, as happens elsewhere in   Daniel, until the latter day antichrist.</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=298 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;And   magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against   the God of gods&rdquo;</p>            </td>            <td width=326 valign=top>            <p>The man   of sin exalts himself above all that is called God (2 Thess. 2:4); the horn   speaks blasphemy against God.</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=298 valign=top>            <p>v.38   &ldquo;He shall sit in the seat of the Almighty God&rdquo; (A.V. mg.)</p>            </td>            <td width=326 valign=top>            <p>Sitting   as God in God&rsquo;s temple (2 Thess. 2:4)</p>            </td>        </tr>    </tbody></table></div><p>There are too many similarities here for this to all be coincidental. The primary fulfilment of Dan. 11 appears to be in the persecution of the Maccabees. The effective tribulation which they went through then, preparing as it did a faithful remnant who accepted Jesus as Messiah at His first coming, must be a dim shadow of what the church and natural Israel are to undergo in the last days. Note that Dan. 11:33 and 12:10 emphasize that only those who understand will spiritually survive the persecution. This should serve as the ultimate inspiration to zealously apply ourselves to the study of prophecy, rather than give up because it seems too difficult. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.</p><p><b>The Old Testament Basis</b></p><p>In searching for an Old Testament basis for &ldquo;that wicked one&rdquo;, we find that very phrase used in the Septuagint of Esther 7:4 to describe Haman. He too was &lsquo;revealed&rsquo; for who he was &ndash; the Persian leader plotting the total destruction of Jewry, from which they were saved by grace. The entire story of Esther can be read as a detailed type of Israel&rsquo;s latter day weakness, persecution and deliverance by grace. The idea of a &ldquo;man of sin&rdquo; within the temple of God surely has its source in the Ezekiel passages (e.g. Ez. 8:8&ndash;16) which describe the idolatry (&ldquo;abomination&rdquo;) which occurred within the temple in the days just prior to the invasion of Israel by the Babylonians. These passages lead up to the vision of the purged, perfected temple of the Messianic Kingdom in Ez. 40 &ndash; 48. The &lsquo;men of sin&rsquo; which Ezekiel saw within the temple were the &ldquo;elders of the house of Israel&rdquo;, the corrupted priesthood. The connection with 2 Thess. 2 suggests that in the last days, before the final neo&ndash;Babylonian holocaust, the elders of both natural and spiritual Israel will practice corruption in the temple / ecclesia of God.</p><p>There is an incident in the experience of Nehemiah, Governor of Jerusalem (a type of Christ, Mt. 2:6) which points forward to all this. Nehemiah (cp. Jesus) returned to the Emperor to have his authority over Jerusalem confirmed (cp. Christ to God, Mt. 25:19; Lk. 19:12,13). He then returned to the holy land, to find Israel indifferent to the state of God&rsquo;s house, taken up with the petty materialism of daily life, with the result that the Arab Tobiah had been permitted by the elders of Israel to live in the chambers of the house of God (Neh. 13:6&ndash;9). Nehemiah in fury expels him and &ldquo;cleansed the chambers&rdquo;, throwing out all his things, after the pattern of Christ cleansing the temple (Mt. 21:12). Along with the type of Moses returning from the mount to a corrupted Israel, this points forward to the state of affairs at Christ&rsquo;s return. Is. 8:5 speaks of an &ldquo;image of jealousy&rdquo; being placed in the temple by the Jews just prior to the Babylonian invasion. This was the original image behind the Lord&rsquo;s prophecy of the abomination of desolation being placed in the temple by the Romans. And yet His prophecy has a distinct latter day reference. All this points to a similar literal fulfilment in some way, in a literal latter day temple.</p><p>&ldquo;The son of perdition&rdquo; was Judas (Jn. 17:12), the epitome of sin and the Jewish Devil (Jn. 6:70,71 cp. 8:44). We will see that throughout 2 Thess. 2 there is frequent reference to the events surrounding our Lord&rsquo;s suffering and death; as we also note in the Revelation passages concerning the saints&rsquo; final sufferings. Judas was concealed among the disciples until he finally flew his true colours at his betrayal of Christ, which marked the beginning of His passion. The Judaizers were only revealed for what they really were in the traumas of AD69/70. And if the man of sin has a latter day equivalent, this group of false teachers will only show their hand immediately prior to the second coming, at the beginning of the tribulation, which matches the beginning of Christ&rsquo;s final sufferings which began after Judas&rsquo; betrayal. This indicates that any witch hunt for this group is doomed to failure. The disciples tried to expose Judas, &ldquo;the man of sin&rdquo;, before his proper time to be manifested; and ended up accusing each other of fitting the role. Such is the inability of human nature to make accurate judgment in this respect. There were three and a half days from the time of Judas being openly revealed for what he was to the end of Christ&rsquo;s sufferings, marked by the resurrection. It may be that there will be a three and a half year tribulation period for the latter day believers, beginning with the open revealing of the &ldquo;man of sin&rdquo;.</p><p>The N.I.V. (correctly) translated &ldquo;man of sin&rdquo; as &ldquo;man of lawlessness&rdquo;, highlighting the contradiction in the fact that the law&ndash;crazy Judaists were actually law<i>less</i>. Because lawlessness abounds in the last days, the majority of the ecclesia will lose their love (Mt. 24:12). The beast is epitomized by a man &ndash; &ldquo;the number of the beast... is the number of a man&rdquo; (Rev. 13:18), in the same way as the system described in 2 Thess. 2 is personified as a man of sin. The figure of Rev. 13:5,6 is clearly based around an Old Testament &lsquo;man of sin&rsquo;, Goliath &ndash; a real, historical person. Rev. 11:4,13 draw a contrast between a god of the earth / land of Israel, and the true God of Heaven. The &ldquo;god of the earth&rdquo; has two olive trees and two candlesticks standing before him, with evident allusion back to Zech. 4:14; 6:5, where the Lord / King of the earth / land appears to refer to the King of Babylon.</p><p>These passages all imply that there may well be one specific &ldquo;man of sin&rdquo; in the last days. Judas, the prototype &ldquo;son of perdition&rdquo;, influenced the other disciples, as shown by the complaint concerning Mary&rsquo;s &lsquo;waste&rsquo; of ointment being described as made by Judas in Jn. 12:4, but by the whole group in Mt. 26:8. Jude&rsquo;s letter is a warning against the Jewish&ndash;influenced apostasy of the first century. He cites &ldquo;the gainsaying of Korah&rdquo; as typical of the false teaching that was infiltrating the ecclesias. He could have spoken of &ldquo;Korah, Dathan and Abiram&rdquo;, but instead he focuses on Korah, as if he was the outstanding influence. By doing so, was Jude suggesting that there was one specific individual in the &ldquo;last days&rdquo; who was to be resisted?</p><p>The connection with Judas would suggest that the man of sin being in the temple may refer to the presence of this individual or system within the ecclesia. But there is a clear link with Mt. 24:15, concerning the abomination of desolation standing in the temple as a clear sign that Christ&rsquo;s return is imminent, just as Paul says the man of sin in the temple is the clear sign of the second coming (2 Thess. 2:3). The Lord&rsquo;s words are looking back to Daniel&rsquo;s prophecy that a desolator (RV) is to appear in the temple, and also to Jeremiah&rsquo;s description of Nebuchadnezzar as a &lsquo;desolator&rsquo; of God&rsquo;s people and His cities, who achieves his &lsquo;desolation&rsquo; by a fake theophany, coming with clouds and chariots just as the Lord Jesus will (Jer. 4:7,13). The language used by Jeremiah in that section is very similar to that used in Ezekiel 38 about the individual named as &lsquo;Gog&rsquo;. The abomination that desolates is at the hands of an individual desolator &ndash; the man of sin of 2 Thess. 2. The likely application to an abomination within the ecclesia notwithstanding, one is tempted to look for a physical temple to be built in Jerusalem in order to ease the fulfilment of this prophecy. It cannot be insignificant that the right wing Rabbis are enthusiastic for this, <i>and have already drawn up the plans for one</i> It could be that Rev. 13:14,15 predict that the man of sin will set up a literal image of himself there in the temple. And as has been pointed out, Caligula had ordered a statue of himself to be erected in the temple, and although this never actually happened, this would&rsquo;ve been an enduring memory amongst the New Testament readership. This background again points to the personality cult of a specific individual being developed in the temple.</p><p>Paul was an enthusiast for living as if we know the Lord's return is imminent; but he told the Thessalonians that that blessed day wouldn't come immediately, because some prophecy still had to be fulfilled (2 Thess. 2:3). This, I suspect, is the situation we are in now: living <i>as if</i> we expect the Lord imminently, but recognizing that we don't <i>know</i> whether his return is imminent, and&nbsp;still looking for some prophecy to be fulfilled. <br />2 Thess. 2:3 RV speaks of &quot;<i>the</i> falling away&quot; which must come as the final, crystal clear sign that the Lord's return is imminent. It sounds as if Paul treated this as an obvious, well known thing amongst the believers. In the context, he's saying: 'How ever can you believe this idea that the day of Christ is here now (RV)? As you know thoroughly well, the great apostasy from the truth in the ecclesia must come, and only <i>then</i> will the Lord come, to save the elect within his corrupted ecclesia'. The idea of latter day weakness in the ecclesia is taught explicitly and implicitly throughout the Scriptures. Both natural and spiritual Israel have to be almost pleaded with to come out from among the beast system of the last days (Rev. 18:4), implying that somehow they become part of it- although ideally they should never have become involved with it. Israel being tempted by Balaam and the Moabite women at the very end of the wilderness journey looks forward to the tendency of latter day spiritual Israel to mess up on the eve of the Kingdom. A fair case can be made for thinking that Adam sinned at the end of the sixth day, on the eve of the Sabbath of rest (cp. the Millennium). See on 1 Tim. 4:1.</p><p>The accounts of the latter day invasion of Israel all feature a single charismatic individual, who will be destroyed personally by the Lord Jesus at His coming. This is Paul&rsquo;s &ldquo;man of sin&rdquo;, Daniel&rsquo;s aggressive king of fierce countenance, Ezekiel&rsquo;s Gog, the chief prince. It is also the person referred to by Micah: &ldquo;And this man Messiah shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land&rdquo; (Mic. 5:1,2). The Lord Jesus will save His people in the latter days from an &ldquo;Assyrian&rdquo;. It has been shown that Assyria and Babylon are used almost interchangeably in Scripture. Gog was a Jew who apostatized and went to live in Assyria / Babylonia, according to 1 Chron. 5. This is why he has the appearance of spirituality; and he may even be a middle Eastern Christian. I say this because 2 Thess. 2 describes him as &ldquo;the son of perdition&rdquo;, exactly the phrase used about Judas, the false disciple of Jesus.</p><p>2 Thess. 2:3 is clear enough that the &ldquo;man of sin&rdquo; will arise in the last days immediately before the Lord&rsquo;s return. We need not think that Christ is about to return until we see this person gloriously enthroned &ldquo;as God&rdquo;. This is what Paul seems to be saying. And when the Lord was asked for the signs of His coming, he started off by warning that false Christs would come (Mt. 24:4,5). 1 Jn. 2:18 says just the same: &ldquo;It is the last time RV &ldquo;hour&rdquo;: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time&rdquo;. This was true in the run up to AD70, and it will be true in the ultimate last hour too. Ezekiel 38 likewise speaks of a man called &lsquo;Gog&rsquo;, a &ldquo;chief prince&rdquo;, who would come against God&rsquo;s people at the time of the end. This is the man of whom Dan. 8:25 speaks- &ldquo;he will destroy many and will stand up against the Prince of princes&rdquo;, the Lord Jesus.</p>