THE COMING WORLD DICTATOR

“Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For [that day] will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.  He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god so that he sits in God’s sanctuary, publicizing that he himself is God.” (2 Thess.2:3-4 HCSB)

Yesterday afternoon, I stopped to fill my gas tank.  I whipped out a plastic card, pumped my gas and was on my way.  No money was exchanged.  Gradually, the world is being conditioned to a cashless society.  The technology is in place.  Because identity fraud, as well as people stealing card and PIN numbers, is becoming rampant, the card might soon be replaced with a computer chip implanted in the forehead or hand where a scanner will carry out the transaction.  The book of Revelation calls this the mark of the Beast.

Paul is discussing that very person here—a coming world dictator.  The world is poised on the threshold of welcoming such a leader.  One of the driving forces behind the European Union is the “fiscal cliff” that not only the United States, but nations around the world are about to drive off.  Combine this with the global implications of World War III breaking out in the Middle East—and we are on the brink of that—the world will enthusiastically accept the solution of a charismatic leader with his promises to solve these staggering problems. 

The first president of the United Nations General Assembly, Paul-Henri Spaak, who was also a prime minister of Belgium and one of the early planners of the European Common Market, as well as a secretary-general of NATO, said years ago, "We do not want another committee, we have too many already.  What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all the people and to lift us up out of the economic morass into which we are sinking.  Send us such a man, and whether he be God or devil, we will receive him."  Many voices have since joined that chorus.  Global events may soon make this desire reach the tipping point.

So, what does the Word of God say to this?  To help us understand, let us look to what Paul is saying here.  It would be helpful for us to consider first THE REASON FOR THE EPISTLE.  Paul sets the context for this teaching in the first two verses of 2 Thessalonians 2. 

“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him: We ask you, brothers, not to be easily upset in mind or troubled, either by a spirit or by a message or by a letter as if from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has come.”

He states two primary reasons for the letter: correction and comfort.

He writes for CORRECTION.  The saints at Thessalonica had come under persecution. This led them to believe they had entered the Great Tribulation.  So, Paul speaks of “our being gathered to Him”—that is, the Rapture of the Church (see 1 Thess.4:13-18).  Although we may face the wrath of man, we will not face the wrath of God.

So these words of correction will also bring them COMFORT (v.2).  They were upset and fearful.  No wonder!  If you read the awesome judgments described in prophetic Scripture and think that you will experience them that would be a terrifying proposition!  If I thought we’d go through the seven year Tribulation Period as portrayed in Revelation, I’d be upset too!  Paul comforts them in telling them that such a judgment is meant for the wicked and not His children.  Christ would not treat His Bride as He would His enemies.  Even Lot, a backslider, yet a believer, was taken out of Sodom before the fire fell (read Gen.19).

The Apostle wants them to know that the Day of the Lord—the Old Testament term for the end-times when God pours out His wrath and establishes His kingdom on earth—cannot be present yet for certain conditions must first occur.  So, Paul moves on to reveal THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE END.

“Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For [that day] will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.”

 (v.3).

The Apostle provides an explanation as to why they could not be in the Tribulation Period as they feared. That would require apostasy and Antichrist to arise.

There will be a final APOSTASY. The falling away is the great departure from the faith which produces a final, world religious system—the apostate church described in Revelation as Mystery Babylon, the Great Harlot.  It will be led by one called the False Prophet who directs the world in the worship of the Beast.  The leaven of apostasy was placed in the dough of Christendom in the first century, and has been working its way throughout ever since.  

Paul would later write these sobering words, “Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons” (1 Tim.4:1). The seven churches in Revelation represent the course of the church age and it ends with Laodecia—the church that God vomits up.

The day of the Lord not only commences with the ultimate apostasy, but the ultimate ANTICHRIST.  The spirit of Antichrist was already at work in Apostolic times—a spirit that at some point will become incarnate in the Antichrist.  Weigh John’s words, “But every spirit who does not confess Jesus has come in the flesh is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist; you have heard that he is coming, and he is already in the world now.” (I Jn.4:3). 

The Christian, however, is never exhorted to look for the Antichrist, but for the Lord. That is the Blessed Hope.   

Still, Paul tells us some day the man of lawlessness will be “revealed.”   That word indicates that his spirit is lurking behind the scenes, biding his time when he will be manifested to the world.  Satan has always had a man:  Charlemagne, Napoleon, Hitler—all these having their hearts set on conquering the world. Yet none did.

This is because of THE RESTRAINT UPON THE EVIL.

“And you know what currently restrains [him], so that he will be revealed in his time.  For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one now restraining will do so until he is out of the way.” (v.6-7).

The special ministry of the Holy Spirit through the church is to restrain evil as Christians function as salt and light.  The Restrainer must be taken out of the way before the Antichrist can be revealed. When the Rapture takes place and the church is removed, then the final barrier to the complete demonization of earth has been taken away.

Then will follow THE REVELATION OF THE ANTICHRIST. The apostle paints for us a portrait of the coming world dictator.   

He is revealed as THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS.   The populace will acclaim him to be the evolutionary pinnacle of man.  But, the Bible pictures him as the bottom of human depravity.  His number we are told in Revelation is 666—meaning man to the nth degree.   7 is the number of God.  6 is the number of man.  666 is the number of a man seeking to be God, yet always falling short of that.  With moral restraint gone on earth, all hell will break loose. You think world’s bad now—imagine what it will be then!  There will be utter lawlessness, for the standard-bearer of rebellion will be the “man of lawlessness.”

The Antichrist is also described as THE SON OF DESTRUCTION.  He is the vice-regent of Hell—the place of destruction.  As such, he is a judgment from God on a Christ-rejecting world.  The rebellious heart of man rejects deliverance, so God sends destruction.  Judas Iscariot is called by this same title. He is a type of the Antichrist to come.

This Beast of a man is THE SPIRIT OF PRIDE.  This shows kinship with the Devil, for pride was his downfall, as Lucifer sought to be as God.  Antichrist will demand worship.  That he enters the Temple when this occurs, demands that it be rebuilt at some point.  The Jews are making preparations.  At first Israel will hail him as their Messiah, and enter a covenant with the Beast. 

Jesus predicted, “I have come in My Father’s name, yet you don’t accept Me.  If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.” (John 5:43)   That is what Israel will do in bowing to the Beast.

At the midpoint of the Tribulation, the Antichrist will break the covenant, and set himself up as god.  Jesus warned this would mark the beginning of another Jewish holocaust (read Matt.24:15-22).

The Antichrist is seen to be THE WORK OF SATAN.  “The coming [of the lawless one] is based on Satan’s working, with all kinds of false miracles, signs, and wonders,” (v.9).  He is a counterfeit Christ.  See the word, “coming,” as in the coming of Christ.  He will appear accompanied by the miraculous as Christ did.  He is supernaturally empowered, energized by Satan.  He will charm and overwhelm the world.  It is important to remember that everything supernatural isn’t necessarily from God; that all that purports to be spiritual isn’t of the Holy Spirit; and that all that is miraculous isn’t proof it is God’s work.

That brings me to the next focus of our portrait of the Antichrist.  He is THE EMBODIMENT OF DECEIT, “and with every unrighteous deception among those who are perishing.  [They perish] because they did not accept the love of the truth in order to be saved.  For this reason God sends them a strong delusion so that they will believe what is false” (v.10-11)

Satan is “father of lies.”  This man is his spawn.  He is a “chip off the old block.”  God will judge a world that rejects the witness of the Spirit of Truth by giving them the spirit of delusion.  God is sovereign in judgment.  This man is a judgment from God on sinful humanity.  It is another reason for believing the church will not be present for Antichrist’s reign of terror—as we are no longer under condemnation (Rom.8:1) and have been taught by the Spirit of Truth.

Furthermore, this fact is why I do not think those who have heard the Gospel and rejected Christ will suddenly “see the light” after the Rapture and turn to Christ.  While there will be a multitude of those who receive Christ during the Tribulation Period, it is clear to me these will be a multitude of Jews and also Gentiles who have never heard the Gospel.

This leads to a concluding piece of the puzzle that when put together reveals the Antichrist—he is THE OBJECT OF WRATH.  We are told in verse eight; “and then the lawless one will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of His mouth and will bring him to nothing with the brightness of His coming.”  Then of the followers of the Beast it is said, “so that all will be condemned — those who did not believe the truth but enjoyed unrighteousness.” (v.12).  They found great pleasure in the experience of unrighteousness, but will know great punishment in the execution of righteous judgment for it.  The Beast rides in to great fanfare, he will go out with a fizzle. 

Here is how it all winds up:

“Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse.  Its rider is called Faithful and True, and He judges and makes war in righteousness.  His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on His head.  He had a name written that no one knows except Himself.  He wore a robe stained with blood, and His name is the Word of God.  The armies that were in heaven followed Him on white horses, wearing pure white linen.  A sharp sword came from His mouth, so that He might strike the nations with it.  He will shepherd them with an iron scepter.  He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty.  And He has a name written on His robe and on His thigh:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Then I saw an angel standing on the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice, saying to all the birds flying high overhead, ‘Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of commanders, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of their riders, and the flesh of everyone, both free and slave, small and great.’ Then I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and against His army.  But the beast was taken prisoner, and along with him the false prophet, who had performed the signs in his presence.  He deceived those who accepted the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image with these signs.  Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.  The rest were killed with the sword that came from the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.” (Rev.19:11-21)

Any day now it seems the Rapture of the church will occur.  As never before, events are unfolding at breakneck speed.  The end-time drama has the stage set, the actors are in place, awaiting God to raise the curtain for the final act.  My conviction is that the Antichrist is alive today, maybe even in a position of government authority, and soon to be manifested to the world when the church is removed.

Of course, the timing is known only to God.  Is it possible I might be wrong about how near it is?  Maybe—but I doubt it.  But, whether it be today, tomorrow or a thousand years from now, the fact that Christ is coming should lead us to stay watchful and keep working.  When He comes, that is the way we want Him to find us!