The Man of Sin of II Thessalonians 2: 3
The topic of Revelation 12 and the woman fleeing into the wilderness, as brought up here by veteran, is interesting. I haven't studied this chapter in detail so far, but I understand the significance
of the woman being given the wings of a great eagle to fly into the wilderness. The woman has left the Church and its false doctrines. The woman is outside the Churches in the wilderness where she metaphorically gives birth to the man-child. What is that? Some groups have read about this man-child and said, "Thats Us." The Man-Child is not the entire Church. Its a smaller group not in false doctrines. The Serpent in Revelation 12: 15 is especially interested in going after the woman and the man-child to destroy them. He would not be as interested in going after those in false doctrines. But the woman and the man-child are given protection from Satan, and it says in verse 16 that the earth helped the woman and swallowed up the flood sent out by the Dragon. It may not be necessary to define exactly what that flood is that comes from the mouth of the Dragon. Its an attack on the woman and the man-child. But because they are given protection by God, Satan is not successful in destroying them and their mission. They may be too tough for Satan to get, and he may soon go after those who show signs of coming out of false doctrines. and are not quite as tough because they don't have as much of God's protection., at least not from physical harm A couple of scriptures come to mind. Luke 21: 36 says " Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.." Luke 10: 19 says " Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." Serpents and scorpions are metaphors for certain kinds of people. See Matthew 23:::33 for who the serpents are, and Ezekiel 2: 3-6 for scorpions, The reason we know the scorpions in Ezekiel 2 are metaphoric is because they are said to speak words.
But I want to focus on another Scripture and a couple of Bible threads related to it.
II Thessalonians 2: 3 says "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;"
Paul does not tell us who the man of sin is. But the man of sin is said to be revealed when or after the falling away begins. The falling away is the falling of Christians from the truth of the gospel of Christ. The truth is in part replaced by man-made doctrines, so that the gospel is leavened.
Christ says in John 17: 12 that "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. " The son of perdition here is
Judas Iscariot. Perdition is Strong's number 684, "ruin or loss, physical, spiritual or eternal, damnable, destruction, die, perdition, perish, pernicious ways, waste." Revelation 17: 8, 11 say "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...And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition."
Judas was a servant of Satan, but he was of the twelve disciples of Christ. The beast in Revelation 17: 8 is also a Servant of Satan and will go into perdition, or eternal ruin. The beast in Revelation 17: 7 carries the woman of Revelation 17: 1-7 called the great wh*re, and mystery, Babylon the great, mother of harlots and abominations of the earth, who represents false religion, or man's religion.
It is interesting that Revelation 17: 8, 11 mentions a three step sequence the beast goes through. The beast was, and is not and yet shall come up out of the bottomless pit. He or it was and is not, and is of the seven. In Genesis 2 God finished his work of creation and rested on the Seventh Day. He sanctified the Seventh Day. Man was created on the sixth day. Remember that in Revelation 13: 18 the number of the Second Beast of Revelation 13 is 666, or the number six repeated three times. It s the number of man. Before the Cross the main kingdoms of the ancient world were the Egyptian and Assyrian kingdoms, and we add the four kingdoms of Daniel 2 - the Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman empires - and we get six kingdoms of man's rule.
Christ began the kingdom of God during the Roman Empire, so that the kingdom of God on earth is the seventh kingdom. Number Seven is the rule of God. But we don't want to get so far into Biblical numerology as to go where Harold Camping of Family Radio went with his Old Testament time lines and numerology he used to claim to predict the end of the world in 1994.
This three step sequence, or six, seven and eight sequence, can be applied to the beasts of Revelation 13. I am not saying that the
text says either beast once existed as the rule of man, then entered into the kingdom of God, but went on into the eighth phase which goes back to man's religion and man's rule. while mixing in part of the rule of God. But we can use the principle stated in Revelation 17: 8, 11 to look at the beasts in this way.
Following the Cross there were six main kingdoms which in some way mixed the kingdom of God with the kingdom and rule of man.
The Holy Roman Empire and the Spanish Empire were both Catholic kingdoms which mixed in a little of Christianity with man's rule. and then came some kingdoms which were at least in part Protestant nations - England, Russia, or the Soviet Empire, Nazi Germany and then the United States.
But it is the Second Beast of Revelation 13 that I want to deal with here. The Second Beast is said in Revelation 13: 11 to look like a lamb, but he speaks like a dragon. He or it is deceptive. This beast has been called the False Prophet. I know that Revelation 19: 20 says the False Prophet is said to be thrown into the lake of fire. Yet the Second Beast is still a collective, a group of those who believe they are God's people. It is those who stay in false doctrines. They that remain in a mix of man's religion with the Gospel of Christ are deceived and led by False Prophets, who can be called The False Prophet, But those who remain in man's religion also try to keep others in the same false doctrines.
The Second Beast of Revelation 13, who is dealt with from verses 11 to 18, appears as he is number eight or the six, seven eight cycle. We can say it is implied that this beast came out of a Christianity that once was in number seven, in God's rest.
In Revelation 13: 12 the Second Beast causes people, or Christians, to worship the First Beast, described in verses 1 to 10, whose deadly wound was healed. This indicates that the First Beast is some kind of a composite, because verses 1-2 describe the four beasts of Daniel 7, which are the British Empire, the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and the United States as the diverse dreadful fourth beast. The nation whose deadly would was healed and who the Second Beast causes people to worship sounds like the nation of Israel, the Little Horn of Daniel 7: 8 and 8: 9.
This all is quite different from the end time scenario of Separation Theology, or Scofieldism, which cannot see the nation of Israel as any kind of beast, even if we admit that America is the fourth beast of Daniel 7: 7. The beast whose deadly wound was healed in 1948 uses the Fourth beast of Daniel 7: 8 to increase its power as the Little Horn.
Some who want an end time single person Anti-Christ will say that Paul's man of sin in II Thessalonians 2; 3 is the one man Anti-Christ. But the gist of what John tells us about the Anti-Christ in I John 2: 18-19 and I John 4: 2-3 is that there is not one single Anti-Christ to appear during the dispensationalist seven year tribulation, but that the spirit of Anti-Christ manifests as many Anti-Christs and we can believe that these Anti-Christs will become more threatening in the tribulation. There will be a tribulation but I am not at all sure it will last seven years.
Since Paul associated the revealing of the man of sin with the falling away in II Thessalonians 2: 3 it is more likely that the man of sin is the Second Beast of Revelation 13: 1-18,. To cause the falling away of Christians
from the truth of Christ's gospel into false doctrines is the .mission of the Second Beast of revelation 13. And that falling away has been going on since the late 19th century.
My King James Version Reference Bible lists I Timothy 4: 1, Daniel 7: 25 and Revelation 13: 5 for II Thessalonians 2: 3. I Timothy 4: 1 is the most relevant of these three, which says ". Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;"
The man of sin is not a one man Anti-Christ, but the context fits the Second Beast of Revelation 13: 11-18, the False Prophet, which again, is not one man, though the False Prophet can include the office of False Prophet (John Hagee at present?). The Second Beast is the Church in apostasy, or in the falling away from the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son (II John 1: 9)."
The topic of Revelation 12 and the woman fleeing into the wilderness, as brought up here by veteran, is interesting. I haven't studied this chapter in detail so far, but I understand the significance
of the woman being given the wings of a great eagle to fly into the wilderness. The woman has left the Church and its false doctrines. The woman is outside the Churches in the wilderness where she metaphorically gives birth to the man-child. What is that? Some groups have read about this man-child and said, "Thats Us." The Man-Child is not the entire Church. Its a smaller group not in false doctrines. The Serpent in Revelation 12: 15 is especially interested in going after the woman and the man-child to destroy them. He would not be as interested in going after those in false doctrines. But the woman and the man-child are given protection from Satan, and it says in verse 16 that the earth helped the woman and swallowed up the flood sent out by the Dragon. It may not be necessary to define exactly what that flood is that comes from the mouth of the Dragon. Its an attack on the woman and the man-child. But because they are given protection by God, Satan is not successful in destroying them and their mission. They may be too tough for Satan to get, and he may soon go after those who show signs of coming out of false doctrines. and are not quite as tough because they don't have as much of God's protection., at least not from physical harm A couple of scriptures come to mind. Luke 21: 36 says " Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.." Luke 10: 19 says " Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." Serpents and scorpions are metaphors for certain kinds of people. See Matthew 23:::33 for who the serpents are, and Ezekiel 2: 3-6 for scorpions, The reason we know the scorpions in Ezekiel 2 are metaphoric is because they are said to speak words.
But I want to focus on another Scripture and a couple of Bible threads related to it.
II Thessalonians 2: 3 says "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;"
Paul does not tell us who the man of sin is. But the man of sin is said to be revealed when or after the falling away begins. The falling away is the falling of Christians from the truth of the gospel of Christ. The truth is in part replaced by man-made doctrines, so that the gospel is leavened.
Christ says in John 17: 12 that "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. " The son of perdition here is
Judas Iscariot. Perdition is Strong's number 684, "ruin or loss, physical, spiritual or eternal, damnable, destruction, die, perdition, perish, pernicious ways, waste." Revelation 17: 8, 11 say "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...And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition."
Judas was a servant of Satan, but he was of the twelve disciples of Christ. The beast in Revelation 17: 8 is also a Servant of Satan and will go into perdition, or eternal ruin. The beast in Revelation 17: 7 carries the woman of Revelation 17: 1-7 called the great wh*re, and mystery, Babylon the great, mother of harlots and abominations of the earth, who represents false religion, or man's religion.
It is interesting that Revelation 17: 8, 11 mentions a three step sequence the beast goes through. The beast was, and is not and yet shall come up out of the bottomless pit. He or it was and is not, and is of the seven. In Genesis 2 God finished his work of creation and rested on the Seventh Day. He sanctified the Seventh Day. Man was created on the sixth day. Remember that in Revelation 13: 18 the number of the Second Beast of Revelation 13 is 666, or the number six repeated three times. It s the number of man. Before the Cross the main kingdoms of the ancient world were the Egyptian and Assyrian kingdoms, and we add the four kingdoms of Daniel 2 - the Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman empires - and we get six kingdoms of man's rule.
Christ began the kingdom of God during the Roman Empire, so that the kingdom of God on earth is the seventh kingdom. Number Seven is the rule of God. But we don't want to get so far into Biblical numerology as to go where Harold Camping of Family Radio went with his Old Testament time lines and numerology he used to claim to predict the end of the world in 1994.
This three step sequence, or six, seven and eight sequence, can be applied to the beasts of Revelation 13. I am not saying that the
text says either beast once existed as the rule of man, then entered into the kingdom of God, but went on into the eighth phase which goes back to man's religion and man's rule. while mixing in part of the rule of God. But we can use the principle stated in Revelation 17: 8, 11 to look at the beasts in this way.
Following the Cross there were six main kingdoms which in some way mixed the kingdom of God with the kingdom and rule of man.
The Holy Roman Empire and the Spanish Empire were both Catholic kingdoms which mixed in a little of Christianity with man's rule. and then came some kingdoms which were at least in part Protestant nations - England, Russia, or the Soviet Empire, Nazi Germany and then the United States.
But it is the Second Beast of Revelation 13 that I want to deal with here. The Second Beast is said in Revelation 13: 11 to look like a lamb, but he speaks like a dragon. He or it is deceptive. This beast has been called the False Prophet. I know that Revelation 19: 20 says the False Prophet is said to be thrown into the lake of fire. Yet the Second Beast is still a collective, a group of those who believe they are God's people. It is those who stay in false doctrines. They that remain in a mix of man's religion with the Gospel of Christ are deceived and led by False Prophets, who can be called The False Prophet, But those who remain in man's religion also try to keep others in the same false doctrines.
The Second Beast of Revelation 13, who is dealt with from verses 11 to 18, appears as he is number eight or the six, seven eight cycle. We can say it is implied that this beast came out of a Christianity that once was in number seven, in God's rest.
In Revelation 13: 12 the Second Beast causes people, or Christians, to worship the First Beast, described in verses 1 to 10, whose deadly wound was healed. This indicates that the First Beast is some kind of a composite, because verses 1-2 describe the four beasts of Daniel 7, which are the British Empire, the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and the United States as the diverse dreadful fourth beast. The nation whose deadly would was healed and who the Second Beast causes people to worship sounds like the nation of Israel, the Little Horn of Daniel 7: 8 and 8: 9.
This all is quite different from the end time scenario of Separation Theology, or Scofieldism, which cannot see the nation of Israel as any kind of beast, even if we admit that America is the fourth beast of Daniel 7: 7. The beast whose deadly wound was healed in 1948 uses the Fourth beast of Daniel 7: 8 to increase its power as the Little Horn.
Some who want an end time single person Anti-Christ will say that Paul's man of sin in II Thessalonians 2; 3 is the one man Anti-Christ. But the gist of what John tells us about the Anti-Christ in I John 2: 18-19 and I John 4: 2-3 is that there is not one single Anti-Christ to appear during the dispensationalist seven year tribulation, but that the spirit of Anti-Christ manifests as many Anti-Christs and we can believe that these Anti-Christs will become more threatening in the tribulation. There will be a tribulation but I am not at all sure it will last seven years.
Since Paul associated the revealing of the man of sin with the falling away in II Thessalonians 2: 3 it is more likely that the man of sin is the Second Beast of Revelation 13: 1-18,. To cause the falling away of Christians
from the truth of Christ's gospel into false doctrines is the .mission of the Second Beast of revelation 13. And that falling away has been going on since the late 19th century.
My King James Version Reference Bible lists I Timothy 4: 1, Daniel 7: 25 and Revelation 13: 5 for II Thessalonians 2: 3. I Timothy 4: 1 is the most relevant of these three, which says ". Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;"
The man of sin is not a one man Anti-Christ, but the context fits the Second Beast of Revelation 13: 11-18, the False Prophet, which again, is not one man, though the False Prophet can include the office of False Prophet (John Hagee at present?). The Second Beast is the Church in apostasy, or in the falling away from the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son (II John 1: 9)."
