SON OF PERDITION -- FULFILLED!
I trust you all acknowledge the contemporary 1st-century fulfillment spoken of by the text itself. The "man of lawlessness/the son of perdition" was being restrained from seizing control of Herod's Temple in Jerusalem at the time Paul was writing to the Thessalonians (2 Thess 2:6-7). This man's lawlessness was already at work in the nation of Israel in Paul's day (2 Thess 2:7); only he who then restrained this anarchy continued to do so until he was taken out of the way. And then the lawless one was revealed (2 Thess 2:7-8). This, of course, took place at the Jerusalem Temple within about 10 years of Paul's writing. The Thessalonian congregation actually knew personally who was at that time restraining the son of perdition from taking control of the Temple -- "And you know what restrains him now" (2 Thess 2:6).
So the passage has a clear fulfillment contemporary with Paul and the 1st century Thessalonians as Paul stated. I trust you acknowledge this because it is Paul who gives us this information and its contextual fulfillment in their times. We all trust Paul on this one, right?
Remember, the Thessalonians believed the Day of Christ was already present when they wrote to Paul with their questions (2 Thess 2:1-3)! That was in the late 50sAD. They believed the Day had come and was then present. So their understanding of the NATURE of that event matches up with what preterists claim instead of the Hollywood-styled second coming depicted in Left Behind movies -- Jesus indeed came as a Thief in the Night. Paul's reply to their belief that the Day of Christ was already present is even more telling -- instead of laughing out loud, he tells them they had only lacked two more SIGNS that were left which he had told them about but they had forgotten (2 Thess 2:5):
(1) they had not yet experienced the falling away among their congregation
(2) the son of perdition, while already working his rebellion in Israel and being restrained from his takeover of the temple, had not made his final move to seize the temple.
Both of these signs took place in the 60s. Our bible THOROUGHLY documents the falling away (read Jude for one example, or about St. John's antichrists), and history records the son of perdition's sign in the Temple. But their reckoning of signs in the 50s told them that the Day of Christ was already present! Does that sound like the Left Behind concept of the second coming? Remember, Paul promised that the endtimes persecution that the 1st century Thessalonian Church was then experiencing was going to be ended VIA the second coming (2 Thess 1:5-7). Was Paul a false teacher? Did he give them a bum prediction? If Christ did not come then Paul's words to them were meaningless lies told to suffering people.
In fact, we could go through each of the Churches in Revelation 2-3 and see how they were going to PERSONALLY be affected by the second coming (Rev 2:5-7, 9-10, 15-16, 20-25; 3:1-3, etc). If it could be preached by anyone that Christ did not honor his promises to them, then Christianity is a falsehood built upon the foundations of hucksters and swindlers. They were given specific promises unique to THEIR congregations. If the futurist postponement theory is correct then the first followers of Jesus were lied to, intentionally or otherwise.
I trust you all acknowledge the contemporary 1st-century fulfillment spoken of by the text itself. The "man of lawlessness/the son of perdition" was being restrained from seizing control of Herod's Temple in Jerusalem at the time Paul was writing to the Thessalonians (2 Thess 2:6-7). This man's lawlessness was already at work in the nation of Israel in Paul's day (2 Thess 2:7); only he who then restrained this anarchy continued to do so until he was taken out of the way. And then the lawless one was revealed (2 Thess 2:7-8). This, of course, took place at the Jerusalem Temple within about 10 years of Paul's writing. The Thessalonian congregation actually knew personally who was at that time restraining the son of perdition from taking control of the Temple -- "And you know what restrains him now" (2 Thess 2:6).
So the passage has a clear fulfillment contemporary with Paul and the 1st century Thessalonians as Paul stated. I trust you acknowledge this because it is Paul who gives us this information and its contextual fulfillment in their times. We all trust Paul on this one, right?
Remember, the Thessalonians believed the Day of Christ was already present when they wrote to Paul with their questions (2 Thess 2:1-3)! That was in the late 50sAD. They believed the Day had come and was then present. So their understanding of the NATURE of that event matches up with what preterists claim instead of the Hollywood-styled second coming depicted in Left Behind movies -- Jesus indeed came as a Thief in the Night. Paul's reply to their belief that the Day of Christ was already present is even more telling -- instead of laughing out loud, he tells them they had only lacked two more SIGNS that were left which he had told them about but they had forgotten (2 Thess 2:5):
(1) they had not yet experienced the falling away among their congregation
(2) the son of perdition, while already working his rebellion in Israel and being restrained from his takeover of the temple, had not made his final move to seize the temple.
Both of these signs took place in the 60s. Our bible THOROUGHLY documents the falling away (read Jude for one example, or about St. John's antichrists), and history records the son of perdition's sign in the Temple. But their reckoning of signs in the 50s told them that the Day of Christ was already present! Does that sound like the Left Behind concept of the second coming? Remember, Paul promised that the endtimes persecution that the 1st century Thessalonian Church was then experiencing was going to be ended VIA the second coming (2 Thess 1:5-7). Was Paul a false teacher? Did he give them a bum prediction? If Christ did not come then Paul's words to them were meaningless lies told to suffering people.
In fact, we could go through each of the Churches in Revelation 2-3 and see how they were going to PERSONALLY be affected by the second coming (Rev 2:5-7, 9-10, 15-16, 20-25; 3:1-3, etc). If it could be preached by anyone that Christ did not honor his promises to them, then Christianity is a falsehood built upon the foundations of hucksters and swindlers. They were given specific promises unique to THEIR congregations. If the futurist postponement theory is correct then the first followers of Jesus were lied to, intentionally or otherwise.
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