2 Thessalonians Chapter 2
A word of Warning, continued
VERSE 9 continued, “Whose presence [shall be] according to an in working of Satan, with all manner of mighty work ad signs and wonders of falsehood.” (Rotherham Version)
Comment: Gal 1:8 warns of a possible deception: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”
The hypothesis is that the Adversary will materialize, that he will visibly manifest himself. Since most of nominal Christendom is expecting Jesus to return visually, Satan’s literally appearing as an angel of light would be a strong deception.
Reply: Yes, the Evangelical Protestant view is that a visual manifestation of Christ will be seen in the heavens. Most people today are cultured by television to think that the spirit world is friendly and that such manifestations are for beneficial purposes. People reason, “Since an angel is supernatural and his wisdom is beyond our comprehension, he must be more intelligent than we are.” But there are evil supernatural beings as well as good ones.
We must distinguish between that which is right and that which is harmful. If an angel comes from heaven, as Gal 1:8 warns, the Lord’s people are not to be deceived. That is a very valuable Scripture, but materializing as an angel of light is only one arrow out of Satan’s quiver or arsenal. Notice that the signs and lying wonders are plural.
Comment: The distinction is that a “sign” is visual and a “lying wonder” is both audible and visual.
Reply: An example of a lying wonder would be an angel.
Comment: At the end of the Kingdom, when there is a full measure of light and understanding, Satan will be loosed for the Little Season. If the number who follow him at that time—after receiving full light and being in perfect condition—can be described as the “sand of the sea” (Rev. 20:8), how many more will succumb at this end of the age before even that light has been given?
Reply: Yes, in spite of the education or enlightenment that is now available to the common man, that type of information will not be a safeguard against the deceptions the Adversary will use. He has already cultured much of Christendom to be expecting as bona fide the very things he plans to use as deceptions. (We will elaborate on this as we proceed). Unfortunately the minority who point out these deceptions are even now and will be in the near future severely tried.
Comment: If Satan will use “ALL power and signs and lying wonders” in the near future, then in no way is he being bound or has his power been curtailed.
Reply: That is true. If Satan is being bound by light, then so are all of the other fallen angels. If light binds Satan, the chief of the fallen angels, it certainly binds his cohorts as well. Therefore, that type of reasoning falls flat. At the end of the Kingdom, when mankind is fully instructed in righteousness and there is no need for one to say to his neighbor, “Know the LORD,” for all shall know Him from the least unto the greatest, Satan will be loosed to test mankind one last time (Jer. 31:34).
Comment: Another line of reasoning is in connection with the binding of the fallen angels in chains of darkness. Jude 6 tells us, “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto (or until) the judgment of the great day.”
The implication is that the fallen angels will be loosed during the “judgment of the great day,” which is our day and the near future. In terms of deceptions, it would not be unreasonable to expect the fallen angels to impersonate the dead and/or some of the living consecrated and to do all sorts of spectacular things to mislead the world, such as getting them to think the resurrection has taken place.
Reply: The deceptions will be very great, for Satan will use ALL POWER. However, while Satan may visibly appear as an angel of light, for example, the great inundation of fallen angels will occur still later during Armageddon the final phase of the great time of trouble, and at the time of Jacob’s Trouble.
We will elaborate a bit more upon some of the possible deceptions coming as we continue in this study.
Next post.
A word of Warning, continued
VERSE 9 continued, “Whose presence [shall be] according to an in working of Satan, with all manner of mighty work ad signs and wonders of falsehood.” (Rotherham Version)
Comment: Gal 1:8 warns of a possible deception: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”
The hypothesis is that the Adversary will materialize, that he will visibly manifest himself. Since most of nominal Christendom is expecting Jesus to return visually, Satan’s literally appearing as an angel of light would be a strong deception.
Reply: Yes, the Evangelical Protestant view is that a visual manifestation of Christ will be seen in the heavens. Most people today are cultured by television to think that the spirit world is friendly and that such manifestations are for beneficial purposes. People reason, “Since an angel is supernatural and his wisdom is beyond our comprehension, he must be more intelligent than we are.” But there are evil supernatural beings as well as good ones.
We must distinguish between that which is right and that which is harmful. If an angel comes from heaven, as Gal 1:8 warns, the Lord’s people are not to be deceived. That is a very valuable Scripture, but materializing as an angel of light is only one arrow out of Satan’s quiver or arsenal. Notice that the signs and lying wonders are plural.
Comment: The distinction is that a “sign” is visual and a “lying wonder” is both audible and visual.
Reply: An example of a lying wonder would be an angel.
Comment: At the end of the Kingdom, when there is a full measure of light and understanding, Satan will be loosed for the Little Season. If the number who follow him at that time—after receiving full light and being in perfect condition—can be described as the “sand of the sea” (Rev. 20:8), how many more will succumb at this end of the age before even that light has been given?
Reply: Yes, in spite of the education or enlightenment that is now available to the common man, that type of information will not be a safeguard against the deceptions the Adversary will use. He has already cultured much of Christendom to be expecting as bona fide the very things he plans to use as deceptions. (We will elaborate on this as we proceed). Unfortunately the minority who point out these deceptions are even now and will be in the near future severely tried.
Comment: If Satan will use “ALL power and signs and lying wonders” in the near future, then in no way is he being bound or has his power been curtailed.
Reply: That is true. If Satan is being bound by light, then so are all of the other fallen angels. If light binds Satan, the chief of the fallen angels, it certainly binds his cohorts as well. Therefore, that type of reasoning falls flat. At the end of the Kingdom, when mankind is fully instructed in righteousness and there is no need for one to say to his neighbor, “Know the LORD,” for all shall know Him from the least unto the greatest, Satan will be loosed to test mankind one last time (Jer. 31:34).
Comment: Another line of reasoning is in connection with the binding of the fallen angels in chains of darkness. Jude 6 tells us, “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto (or until) the judgment of the great day.”
The implication is that the fallen angels will be loosed during the “judgment of the great day,” which is our day and the near future. In terms of deceptions, it would not be unreasonable to expect the fallen angels to impersonate the dead and/or some of the living consecrated and to do all sorts of spectacular things to mislead the world, such as getting them to think the resurrection has taken place.
Reply: The deceptions will be very great, for Satan will use ALL POWER. However, while Satan may visibly appear as an angel of light, for example, the great inundation of fallen angels will occur still later during Armageddon the final phase of the great time of trouble, and at the time of Jacob’s Trouble.
We will elaborate a bit more upon some of the possible deceptions coming as we continue in this study.
Next post.
