God’S Sovereign Control
GOD’S SOVEREIGN CONTROL
2 THESSALONIANS 2:3-12
When you are confronted by lawlessness and rebellion everywhere it is time to make certain that God is enthroned at the center of your life.
In this letter there is a vivid reference to the final judgment (1:6-10), a brief sketch of the events which precede the consummation (2:3-8), and a characterization of “the lawless one,” whose coming counterfeits the coming of the Lord (2:9-12). But precisely in these passages Paul emerges as a pastor who offers these descriptions not for their own sake but for the practical encouragement of his converts. So nothing is said about the events surrounding the manifestation of “the lawless one” (2:9-12) until Paul has spoken of his destruction (2:8). The intention is not to introduce new truths but to remind the Thessalonians of the oral instruction the apostle had given while still with them (2:5).
There is a theology of history and judgment implied in the letter, but it is subordinated to a distinctly pastoral concern. It is therefore a mistake to turn to 2 Thessalonians for a blueprint by which to read the “signs of the times” and to plot the course of the unveiling of the Antichrist. Much that Paul wrote in this section—for example, the identity of the power or person who restrains the lawless one (2:6-7)—remains obscure to modern readers. Nevertheless, the affirmation that all things take place by God’s sovereign will is transparent. This truth, together with the consequence that God has destined believers to life and fellowship with himself (1:5ff.,11f.; 2:1,13ff.; 3:1-5), was the message that the fainthearted needed to hear.
The pattern of truth envisaged by Paul is sufficiently clear. He had instructed the believers to look for a general rebellion against God before the end arrived. There is no reason to suppose that he had in his mind a clear picture regarding the form that the rebellion would assume. He now reminds his readers that it has not yet occurred. A divine restraint of lawlessness still provides time for rescuing people who are perishing (2:3-7).
The lawless one is the embodiment of wickedness in human form. The description of his coming, power and self-deification amounts to a blasphemous caricature of Christ. He is swept into prominence on the crest of a wave of rebellion prompted by the activity of Satan. Yet he too is subject to the sovereign control of God who will destroy him and introduce the consummation of history through Jesus Christ (2:3,8-10).
Paul’s thought is related to a practical situation: the end has not yet arrived. The Thessalonians must carry on in a sober and disciplined fashion in spite of deception and persecution. Positively, they must love the truth and find their delight in righteousness, confident that God alone is sovereign.