IDENTIFYING THE MAN OF SIN—THE ANTICHRIST

In the previous post we established that the “day of Christ,” the time of His wrath, would not start until the man of sin is revealed.

2Thessalonians 2:3-4 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

The rest of verses 3 and 4 go to great lengths to identify “the man of sin.”

• The son of perdition. – This phrase is only used twice in scripture—one in reference to Judas Iscariot and the other in this verse referencing the man of sin, the Antichrist.

John 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

We know that Satan entered into Judas…

Luke 22:3 Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.

…and I believe this phrase indicates that this man of sin is the other person whom Satan has chosen to personally “possess” because of his significance in the war against the Son of God. Revelation 17 tells us that “the beast,” whom we call Antichrist, the title by which we know this “man of sin,” will go into perdition.

Revelation 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Revelation 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

The word "perdition" is a reference to eternal damnation.

• The one who opposes and exalts himself above any being called “God.” – The Hebrew for the word "God" makes special reference to “the supreme divinity.” It’s interesting that the Spirit inspires Paul to word this truth to include any person’s or group’s identification of God. (To point: Many people are confused into thinking that Islam’s “Allah” and the Jewish/Christian “God” are one and the same.) The “man of sin” will be a puppet of and eventually possessed by Satan, whose purpose is to present himself as “God.”

Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Revelation 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Revelation 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

• The one who opposes and exalts himself above any being that is worshipped. – To be doubly clear, this “man of sin” controlled by Satan will seek to position himself as the only being worthy of worship (adoration, devotion).

• One who will sit in the temple of God and claim to be God. – The temple of God being referenced in this phrase is the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. It is the only “temple of God” that would carry any significance to those who are the children of God through faith in His Son. This phrase in verse 4 is a reference to “the abomination of desolation” referenced in Daniel and in the Olivet Discourse by Jesus.

In the Olivet Discourse Jesus is referencing a specific prophecy made by Daniel--Daniel 12:11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

“abomination” = a detestation, i.e. (specially) idolatry:—abomination.

Even though we know that Antiochus Epiphanes seemed to fulfill this prophecy in history when he offered a pig on the altar in the temple to Zeus, Jesus is making the point that this prophecy was yet to be fulfilled (as was the case with many prophecies—foreshadowing and fulfillment); it was future to the time that Jesus was speaking. This would be a desecration of the temple, which means that there will be a functioning temple prior to the occurrence of the event being referenced. This abomination would be a thing or person standing where it ought not—that would seem to reference something like an idol. “The holy place” and “where it ought not” could reference any part of the temple, the whole of which is considered holy, but more likely refers to the inner sanctum of the temple and possibly even the holy of holies.

This phrase in verse 4 would certainly qualify as fulfilling the prophecy of that coming “abomination of desolation.”

In the next post we will discover what is preventing the Antichrist from revealing himself.