The Mystery of Iniquity, A Satanic Conspiracy in the NT Era?

[JD731]

The following words from the KJV will be my foundation for my thoughts on this topic.

2 Thess 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 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;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

I have learned over the years that one must ask questions of the texts of scriptures and then listen to the words of scripture for ones answers. There are several questions that are raised by this text.

It interests me when we see the mystery of iniquity is mentioned in verse 7, after something is completed. The words that begin the next era is "And then." These word divide separate events and suggests that one event follows the previous one. The word "then" is an adverb describing the when of the action of the verb "revealed."

Let me just say what I believe the iniquity is. It is Satan's attempt to Usurp religion and government in this age to defeat the coming kingdom of Jesus Christ by binding these two entities together as one over which he will rule over the physical through this man of sin, called in the text, "the Wicked." and finally get what he desired from the beginning, to be like God and above his throne. He wants worship. The Wicked is capitalized. He is the man of sin who will come.

It is a mystery and a concocting by Satan because he, like all other spiritual entities of the heavens, did not know about the New Testament church of Jesus Christ in OT times. None of this was revealed until after Jesus died and rose again and ascended to heaven.

God has always kept his priesthood separate from the Kings domain. Saul lost his dynasty over Israel because he as the King of Israel entered into the priesthood and offered sacrifices that he was forbidden by God to do. This is how serious it is. One can read about this in 1 Sam 13:1-14 and see that I am telling the truth.

Wow, there are so many questions that one could ask of this text. What are some you would ask and would you be willing to except the Bibles answers that it gives?

 

[JD731]

Here are some questions I have asked the text in the past and I have found answers. What do you mean by:

1. The coming of the Lord and our gathering together unto him? V1
2. The day of Christ and that it is not yet at hand V 2
3. Falling away first before the coming of the day of Christ, man of sin, son of perdition is revealed V3
4. This man of sin who opposes God and exalts himself and sits down in the temple proclaiming that he is God V4
5. That this had been a topic of Paul's preaching to them while he was with them. V5

Something is hindering this mystery of iniquity from blooming in full force and this is true until it is taken out of the way, the text says. Does the text tell us what it is?



The Thessalonian church was in Europe. Paul wrote this letter to them in 51 AD. He wrote two letters to this church. In his 1st letter he wrote about the hope of being delivered from the wrath to come. It is about him coming for his church, his bride, and taking her to the Father's house where there are many mansions. But this is the "day" that has been prophesied in the OT prophets for centuries. It is a time of judgement and purging of Israel on the earth as well as the nations and it is likewise a time of judgement of the church in heaven during this same time period. For those on earth it is a time of the wrath of God and vengeance and death. For the church in heaven it is a judgement of their works and motives and it is for rewards or lack thereof. All this is preparation for the coming King of Israel and the world, Jesus Christ, who will reign for 1000 years over a 100% converted kingdom initially. Remember Jesus said in Jn 3, except a man be born again he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Paul says this conspiracy had already begun to work when he wrote these letters to the Thessalonian church. Satan's plan requires that he controls both religion and politics on a global scale. The church of Jesus Christ has always separated herself from government and this has hindered Satan's plan. However, when Jesus comes and gathers his church together and translates her to heaven, that which hinders now will hinder him no longer and he will initiate his full blown plan through his man whom he indwells, the anti Christ. The third member of his satanic trinity will be the false prophet.

 

[JD731]

The workings of the conspirators are under a cloak of darkness. It is very deceptive and even Christians are tricked into supporting it and thinking all the while they are doing the will of God. Now the passages in the NT that deals with this subject are three, putting the trinitarian signature on this doctrine. Second Thessalonians is one out of the three. I will deal with the other two later, but it is interesting what Paul says to this church when the theme of the letter is Jesus Christ coming for the church before the events of 2 Thessalonians.

I will just quote it without commentary for now; This statement is just after he said the Lord was coming to resurrect the church and take them where he is.

1 Thess 5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. (2 Thess 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation (salvation as in deliverance from the wrath to come).

9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation (salvation as in deliverance from the wrath to come) by our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

I will say that the "day of the Lord" in it's initial context is always a day of darkness and wrath and vengeance and judgement and fire. It is always "coming." The phrase is in the KJV 30 times in 29 verses and it is mentioned by this exact designation in 15 books of the OT and in two books of the NT and all totaled it is mentioned by 17 Bible authors.

John said about this day in his Revelation this;


Revelation 6:17
For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

This is the only time it is in the present tense.

 

[Van]

Potential Answers to the "What did you mean" questions.

1)
2 Thessalonians 2:1 (NLT)
Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him.

2)
2 Thessalonians 2:2 (NLT)
Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us.

3)
2 Thessalonians 2:3 (NET)
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes and the man of lawlessness* is revealed, the son of destruction.*
_________________
Footnotes:
Man of Lawlessness reads Man of Sin in some manuscripts. Either reading may be right.
Son of Destruction might refer to the one destined for destruction.

4)
2 Thessalonians 2:4 (NET
He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat in God’s temple, displaying himself as God.

5)
Exactly what Paul had taught before, such as 1 Thessalonians 3:4 is not clear, but certainly was part of the milk of the gospel, the things that the Thessalonians should have understood and not been misled.