Comments on 2 Thessalonians 2 Paul is commenting on matters concerning what we think of as the Second Coming. Paul and his contemporaries would think of it more as the Day of the Lord. The people at this time saw Jesus' Second Coming as imminent (cf. Acts 1:6) and did not seem to grasp that it was not. As such, Paul draws on various OT Prophets to remind the people that prophecies concerning a terrible apostasy and some principal evil character are yet to be fulfilled and must be fulfilled prior to Jesus' return. This evil character, "that man of sin...the son of perdition" is commonly equated with Daniel's king of the North (cf. Dan. 11). Paul, in v. 4, draws on language from Isa. 10 and Isa. 14:13-14 to compare this eschatological character with the king of Assyria. In the book of Revelation, John does likewise, cf. Rev. 13:6. v2-3 The IV/JST differs from the KJV, as follows: KJV IV --- -- That ye be not That ye be not soon shaken in mind, soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, or be troubled by letter, except ye receive it from us; neither by spirit, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ as that the day of Christ is at hand. is at hand. Let no man deceive you Let no man deceive you by any means: by any means: for that day shall not come, for there shall come except there come a falling away first, a falling away first, and that man of sin and that man of sin be revealed, be revealed, the son of perdition; the son of perdition; The IV/JST clarifies the obscurities of the KJV regarding the receiving of letters from the apostles. It also eliminates a double negative, "shall not...except" simply to clarify the text. v7-9 The IV/JST differs from the KJV, as follows: KJV IV --- -- For the mystery of iniquity For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: doth already work: only he who and he it is who now worketh, now letteth will let, and Christ suffereth him to work, until until the time is fulfilled he be taken that he shall be taken out of the way. out of the way. And then shall And then shall that Wicked be revealed, that wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy and shall destroy with the brightness with the brightness of his coming: of his coming. Even him, Yea, the Lord, even Jesus, whose coming is after whose coming is not until after there cometh a falling away, the working of Satan by the working of Satan with all power with all power, and signs and signs and lying wonders, and lying wonders, The IV/JST on these verses identifies who in specific various ambiguous pronouns make reference to. It also explicitly identifies one wicked character. Verse 7 portrays the Lord as very much in control of the situation and as using this evil character as a tool in His hands to dispose of as He sees fit. This is ever the case among the OT Prophets as the kings of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia are all used by the Lord to achieve His ends regarding Israel, cf. Isa. 10:15, Isa. 45:1-5, Jer. 27:4-7, John 19:9-11. Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.