"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. 15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangels call and with the sound of Gods trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words." 1Thess. 4:13-18
"As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you? 6 And you know what is now restraining him, so that he may be revealed when his time comes. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains it is removed. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, 10 and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion, leading them to believe what is false, 12 so that all who have not believed the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned." 2Thess. 2:2-12
OK, so a few things here:
1) It appears Paul is quite certain that the Lord will return within his, and his contemporaries, lifetime. This is the second coming that will wrap up all things and bring about our eternal dwelling -- 1Thess. 4:17.
2) There seemed to be an incipient full/heretical preterism that was influencing the church of the Thessalonians. These heretics taught along the lines that the day of the Lord had already come; this would be a sort of spiritual return of Christ. Paul states that this cannot be due to the fact that: a) The "rebellion" must come first and b) the lawless one must first be revealed as well.
3) Jesus, when he returns, will destroy this lawless one with the manifestation of his coming.
So to paraphrase the situation thus far:
Paul: Guys, the Lord is at hand! And when he comes back with his angels, he'll blow that final trumpet and the dead will be raised, then we will be gathered together with them to meet our Lord and Savior in the air! And we shall all be with the Lord forever! But -- and this a big but -- the rebellion and man of lawlessness must first be revealed, as I've told you guys before when I was with you...so don't be deceived by these spiritualizing heretics saying that the the day of the Lord has already come -- that day will come, and it will come shortly, but not before these events first transpire.
OK, so:
1) Is this an example of Paul being flat out wrong about the coming of the Lord? If so, does this apocalyptic mindset underpin much of his ministry and the NT letters in general? If so, then how can we trust the Apostle's and NT authors if they were so wrong about something so significant?
2) Was the rebellion that was to take place before the return of Christ the apostasy spoken of in 1Tim. 4:1-3? What other rebellion could it be? I mean the church has experienced every possible rebellion throughout history by now. So if that was the rebellion spoken of, and therefore the MoL was a Roman Emperor or what have you, then why didn't Christ return to vanquish him and gather his elect, as stated by Paul?
3) Who is this "lawless one"? Does his description mesh well with a modern framework? Or is such a person relegated and relevant only within a first century context? "He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God". If this is indeed a first century individual, then how come the Lord didn't return to vanquish him? If this is a modern and yet to come individual, then how do you envision that scenario literally playing out in our modern context?
"As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you? 6 And you know what is now restraining him, so that he may be revealed when his time comes. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains it is removed. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, 10 and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion, leading them to believe what is false, 12 so that all who have not believed the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned." 2Thess. 2:2-12
OK, so a few things here:
1) It appears Paul is quite certain that the Lord will return within his, and his contemporaries, lifetime. This is the second coming that will wrap up all things and bring about our eternal dwelling -- 1Thess. 4:17.
2) There seemed to be an incipient full/heretical preterism that was influencing the church of the Thessalonians. These heretics taught along the lines that the day of the Lord had already come; this would be a sort of spiritual return of Christ. Paul states that this cannot be due to the fact that: a) The "rebellion" must come first and b) the lawless one must first be revealed as well.
3) Jesus, when he returns, will destroy this lawless one with the manifestation of his coming.
So to paraphrase the situation thus far:
Paul: Guys, the Lord is at hand! And when he comes back with his angels, he'll blow that final trumpet and the dead will be raised, then we will be gathered together with them to meet our Lord and Savior in the air! And we shall all be with the Lord forever! But -- and this a big but -- the rebellion and man of lawlessness must first be revealed, as I've told you guys before when I was with you...so don't be deceived by these spiritualizing heretics saying that the the day of the Lord has already come -- that day will come, and it will come shortly, but not before these events first transpire.
OK, so:
1) Is this an example of Paul being flat out wrong about the coming of the Lord? If so, does this apocalyptic mindset underpin much of his ministry and the NT letters in general? If so, then how can we trust the Apostle's and NT authors if they were so wrong about something so significant?
2) Was the rebellion that was to take place before the return of Christ the apostasy spoken of in 1Tim. 4:1-3? What other rebellion could it be? I mean the church has experienced every possible rebellion throughout history by now. So if that was the rebellion spoken of, and therefore the MoL was a Roman Emperor or what have you, then why didn't Christ return to vanquish him and gather his elect, as stated by Paul?
3) Who is this "lawless one"? Does his description mesh well with a modern framework? Or is such a person relegated and relevant only within a first century context? "He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God". If this is indeed a first century individual, then how come the Lord didn't return to vanquish him? If this is a modern and yet to come individual, then how do you envision that scenario literally playing out in our modern context?
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