Posted on 02/28/2022 2:39:28 PM PST by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
Was reading my e-Sword computer Bible and saw this:
The Man of Lawlessness
2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,
2 Thessalonians 2:2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
2 Thessalonians 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
2 Thessalonians 2:5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
2 Thessalonians 2:6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.
2 Thessalonians 2:7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.
2 Thessalonians 2:8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;
2 Thessalonians 2:9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,
2 Thessalonians 2:10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
2 Thessalonians 2:11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,
2 Thessalonians 2:12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
~ Mark Twain and, essentially, God too.
So Qanon basically. Pretty much Q in a nutshell right there.
Thanks for sharing.
Yw
Interesting connection!
However, I do believe many taken in by that very well could be born again, so it cannot fit.
The comments about “deceiving even the elect, if that were possible” are found in Matthew 24 and Mark 13, and stand in reference to persons being taken in (or not) by the false miracles of last days fake messiahs.
This whole business of falling into a delusion, or not, is a more all-encompassing thing, I think; it’s more an overriding “cult of personality” than just being fooled by sleights of hand. Nonetheless, the key to it all is, I think right there in verse 10: those who get sucked in will fall prey to the delusion “...because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.”
So, the antidote is to LOVE Truth; to positively identify it by the Holy Spirit, and cling to it EVEN WHEN (not if) it doesn’t align with what we thought we had figured out. This is a point I have touched on more than once, because it sits squarely in context to eschatological timelines and events, and because there are various interpretive camps each having their own timelines as to what’s happening to who and when.
So, this Thessalonian Warning can be framed thus, “Ascertain the Truth by The Holy Spirit, not according to your own understanding, and cling to it for dear eternal life, whether or not it affirms your chosen eschatology.”
God is going to do things HIS WAY, and I think we all have ideas as to how He’s going to do things; and if His way is different than what we think, we’ll find Him going one way, when we thought He’d be going another; and in that moment The Saving Question is this, “Will we let go of our ideas, and cling with love to the Truth being revealed in God’s present-moment acts, or not?”
While that part will eventually come to pass, IMHO, we're at this stage:
2 Thessalonians 2:7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.
IOW, the man who stands against the lawlessness will continue to do so until he is out of the way.
IMHO, we've seen the man who could, and did stand against lawlessness. And, we've seen him taken out of the way. Since then, we've also seen the lawlessness rear its ugly head.
2 Thessalonians 2:10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
2 Thessalonians 2:11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,
IMHO, the strong delusion is the widespread belief in a flat Earth. Its adherents believe that the concept comes from the Bible.
He was a figure in the first century:
>>> This whole business of falling into a delusion, or not, is a more all-encompassing thing, I think; it’s more an overriding “cult of personality” than just being fooled by sleights of hand. Nonetheless, the key to it all is, I think right there in verse 10: those who get sucked in will fall prey to the delusion “...because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.”
The scripture being referenced is speaking specifically about those who have heard the gospel during the age of grace and outright rejected it because they loved their sin more than the Truth... for that specific group, they will be sent a strong delusion from God so that they will believe the lie. (i.e. they won’t get a second chance to change their mind after the rapture occurs)
Some, including born again people who are already saved are certainly not invulnerable to deception... including the deceptions of Q. Therefore, the connection between Q and the “strong delusion” cannot fit because some of those decieved ARE saved... and ALL of those referenced who will recieve the delusion FROM GOD after the rapture will NOT be saved.
It’s still an interesting connection though.
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