Nathan
Member
I looked to see if this has been discussed recently and I can't see that it has. So why not study it?
A few recent threads sparked my thoughts on it, the coming of Christ, how close we are to the end, mark of the beast, etc.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
What I found most interesting is the statement "because they refused to love the truth". You would think if this was your 'average' unbeliever the statement would be "because they refused to believe". That's quite often how its put for unbelievers.
But for some reason this is different, and is why God doesn't just leave them to their lovelessness, but actually sends a strong delusion. I think we pass over this all too often thinking its just a normal thing. However, when you look back through all the Bible you will notice that when God 'sends' something bad - its not a 'common' or 'normal' thing.
Its definitely most serious then. Whatever this strong delusion is, it can be rest assured its not 'normal' or 'unseen' or 'common'. Think back though, and one clue that can be known is that whenever God sent something(bad) the ones receiving it did not have a clue it was coming - or they laughed it off - did not give it a second thought. Which is no surprise really, after all, at least in this case its definitively called a "delusion".
On the flip side, the ones He told about it, knew it was coming, and knew it was going to be bad. Along those same lines, the people told about it were always quick to warn others.
So how do we go about studying this? Do you all think its something we can know? Any time God "sent" something in the past He foretold it before it happened.
I would say the best place to start is with what is already written. Why the strong delusion is sent. We know that. Even with that, you have to break it down into two sections. Why God sends it, and Why God sends it..... Ok, play on words - I admit.
Why God sends it(a) = Because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
Why God sends it(b) = So they believe what is false, in order that all might be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Your thoughts?
A few recent threads sparked my thoughts on it, the coming of Christ, how close we are to the end, mark of the beast, etc.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
What I found most interesting is the statement "because they refused to love the truth". You would think if this was your 'average' unbeliever the statement would be "because they refused to believe". That's quite often how its put for unbelievers.
But for some reason this is different, and is why God doesn't just leave them to their lovelessness, but actually sends a strong delusion. I think we pass over this all too often thinking its just a normal thing. However, when you look back through all the Bible you will notice that when God 'sends' something bad - its not a 'common' or 'normal' thing.
Its definitely most serious then. Whatever this strong delusion is, it can be rest assured its not 'normal' or 'unseen' or 'common'. Think back though, and one clue that can be known is that whenever God sent something(bad) the ones receiving it did not have a clue it was coming - or they laughed it off - did not give it a second thought. Which is no surprise really, after all, at least in this case its definitively called a "delusion".
On the flip side, the ones He told about it, knew it was coming, and knew it was going to be bad. Along those same lines, the people told about it were always quick to warn others.
So how do we go about studying this? Do you all think its something we can know? Any time God "sent" something in the past He foretold it before it happened.
I would say the best place to start is with what is already written. Why the strong delusion is sent. We know that. Even with that, you have to break it down into two sections. Why God sends it, and Why God sends it..... Ok, play on words - I admit.
Why God sends it(a) = Because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
Why God sends it(b) = So they believe what is false, in order that all might be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Your thoughts?