Related page: The antichrist (Daniel 11:36) Related page: Who are the two witnesses? (Revelation 11) Related page: The ‘abomination’ (Daniel 11:31) Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.  Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. © Copyright 2010 - 2017   All rights reserved. Daniel 11 Explained (condensed ‘one page’ commentary) ‘Matthew 24’ Explained (must match Revelation) The ‘Seals’ Explained (Revelation timeline revealed) Seven Churches Explained (Past & Present Church Prophecy) Note: ‘Sitemap’ shows a complete list of all pages (by category). ‘Homepage’ gives 3 simple steps + timelines + summary. Current Events from Daniel 11 (matching the Middle East) The Abomination (Daniel 11:31) done Recent Events ISIS - Saudi - Turkey (Daniel 11: 24-27) Final Events to the Abomination (Daniel 11: 28-30) Shiites re-take Persia + America’s Role Begins (Daniel 11: 21-23) soon done done Man of Lawlessness Introduction     Several people have asked me about the ‘man of lawlessness –doomed to destruction’ (NIV), aka ‘man of sin - son of perdition’ (KJV), aka ‘man of lawlessness – son of destruction’ (NAS). (2 Thess. 2:3)  As you can see, different versions use different names, but they all basically mean the same.  In my experience, post-tribs try to use this passage to say that the antichrist comes before the rapture, and others try to use it to say that the 3rd Temple comes before the rapture, but both are wrong.  I can prove that the antichrist and Temple are both after the rapture by comparing Paul’s letter to scripture in Daniel, which Paul was obviously familiar with. 2nd Thessalonians 2   If a person starts at the beginning of 2nd Thessalonians, then they will see that Paul’s purpose wasn’t to give a definitive timeline of end times; he was just squashing a rumor that the ‘gathering’ (rapture) had already occurred.  2 Thessalonians 2: 1-2 “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.   As you can see, even as early as Paul’s time, there were false teachers spreading false rumors.  Paul decides to squash the rumor by naming some things that he knew would happen near the rapture.  It’s not surprising that Paul chooses the Book of Daniel because that’s where Jesus specifically said to look. (Matthew 24:15)  Jesus specifically pointed to the ‘abomination that causes desolation’ as the last sign before the rapture, which is mentioned four times in Daniel, but the most detailed list of events are located in Daniel 11.  2 Thessalonians 2:3 “Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.”    Since Jesus (or the Bible) never says exactly what the abomination is, Paul couldn’t very well use that as an example.  Therefore, he used the ‘uprising’ that precedes the abomination, in Daniel 11:31, which he called “the rebellion” because that’s the term that a “holy one” uses, in Daniel 8:13.  The holy one refers to the “rebellion that causes desolation”, which is obviously the uprising and abomination put together.  Yet, since the uprising and abomination happen in such close proximity to the ‘gathering’ (rapture), prompting Jews in Judea to flee immediately for the mountains (Matthew 24:16-18), Paul had to add some other things that happen soon after the abomination, to strengthen his point.  The “man of lawlessness” (or antichrist) is “revealed” soon after because he will be the one trying to suppress the truth by killing those who are telling people what really happened. (Daniel 11:32-35)  [illustrated below] 2 Thessalonians 2:4 “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”     Then, Paul turns to the characteristic of the antichrist that most people are familiar with: exalting himself above God. (Daniel 11:36)  As you can see, Paul is following Daniel 11:31-36, as shown below, which are the closest events to the rapture (and soon after), but that was the best Paul could do.  Daniel 11:31-36 31 “His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.” 32 “With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.  33 "Those who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered. 34 When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many who are not sincere will join them. 35 Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.” 36 “The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place.” What about the Temple?   The antichrist must “set himself up in God’s Temple” after the 6th Trumpet War, when he invades Israel and kills the two witnesses.  That’s 1260-days after the abomination and rapture, when the two witnesses will be finished prophesying.  Thus, the 3rd Temple must be built in the 1260-days after the rapture.  Everyone knows that Israel is ready, so the Temple could easily be built in 3.5 years.  Yet, it would take a shocking event, such as the rapture, for Israel to be bold enough to actually start construction.  The two witnesses will be in Jerusalem, during that time, so they could easily keep the Muslims at bay, during construction.  Otherwise, there would be non-stop riots.  Yet, after the antichrist kills the two witnesses, there would be nothing stopping him from setting himself up in Israel’s brand-new Temple, proclaiming himself to be a god.  The rest of 2nd Thessalonians   Paul continues to talk about end times, but he’s obviously not trying to document a complete timeline; he’s just trying to write enough to remind them of things that he said before, in person.  In a way, it shows the humility of Paul because he had no idea that his letters would be used to instruct Christians, throughout the ages.  Personally, I wish he wrote more. 2 Thessalonians 2: 5-7 “Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.”   The “secret power of lawlessness” is the same as the “spirit of the antichrist” that John talks about already being in the world. (below)  The “one who holds it back” is the Holy Spirit, who will continue to do so, until God takes Him out of the way, so the antichrist can be revealed at the proper time (after the rapture).  1 John 4: 2-3 “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.  This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.”   Just think: As bad as things are now, they could be far worse if the Holy Spirit wasn’t holding back the spirit of the antichrist, which is actually the spirit of Satan.  After the rapture, things will get horrendously wicked because Satan will be cast to earth for good (Rev 12:9).  He will be furious because he knows his time is short (Rev 12:12), and the holy Spirit will no longer restrain him.  That will be the ‘tribulation’ period, which is the Trumpet and Bowl plagues in Revelation (not the Seals).  If you think things are bad now, Satan will wreak havoc on earth, during the Trumpet and Bowl plagues, until Jesus returns at Armageddon (7th Bowl), to defeat Satan and the beast, which includes the antichrist and false prophet. (Rev 19:20 & 20:2)  2 Thessalonians 2:8  [after the Holy Spirit is removed and rapture occurs] “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.”    One amazing thing about Paul’s writing is that his account of Jesus’ victory over the ‘lawless one’ matches Revelation’s account of Armageddon, which hadn’t been written yet.  I mean, the “splendor of His coming” is perfectly described in Revelation 19:11-16, and the only weapon Jesus needs is the “breath of His mouth”, which matches Revelation’s more symbolic reference: “Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.” (Rev 19:15)    Paul then backtracks, from the defeat of the lawless one, back to his “coming.”  Yet, the following actually describes the coming of the false prophet, who is distinguishable by his “miracles, signs, and wonders”, which “deceives” those who remain on the earth.  Paul calls both the antichrist and false prophet “lawless one”, but notice the similarity with Revelation 13. 2 Thessalonians 2: 9-12 “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”  Revelation 13: 12-14  [false prophet is clearly different from ‘first beast’] “He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. 14 Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth.”   Simply put, Revelation 13 is clearly after the rapture because it’s well after the arrival of the multitude in heaven, in Revelation 7, which are the raptured Christians.  Thus, this account of the lawless one, which matches Revelation 13, is also after the rapture, just as the previous lawless one, which matched Daniel 11, was shown to be after the abomination.    One important thing to note, in Paul’s account, is that God will send a powerful delusion, so people will believe the lie, and all will be condemned.  What lie?  Probably the lie from the false prophet to make everyone receive the mark of the beast (Rev 13:16-17), which automatically condemns a person.  God’s delusion could have something to do with the miraculous signs, especially “fire from heaven”, which makes the false prophet look as powerful as the two witnesses, who were previously killed by the antichrist.  In any event, the delusion will cause ‘all’ to be condemned because only the wicked will be left on the earth, at that time.    For more details, see: “Will people be saved after the rapture?”  Conclusion   It’s important to examine scripture in the context that it was intended, and Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians was intended to dispel a rumor that the “gathering” (or rapture) had already occurred.  It was never meant to be a definitive timeline of end times.  Daniel and Revelation are much better suited for determining the order of things.  Therefore, by comparing Paul’s account to Daniel and Revelation, it’s plain to see that the “man of lawlessness” (antichrist) is revealed after the abomination and rapture.  Related page: Initial Events (Daniel 11:32-35) Related page: Daniel 11 condensed commentary Related page: The antichrist (Daniel 11:36) Related video: Post-Rapture Timeline (No 3rd Temple before Rapture) (51 min.)  New: 5-22-2018 
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