By Marv Rosenthal
A Recap
In my previous article, we looked at 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2. There we saw how the Thessalonians had been deeply shaken by forged letters attributed to the Apostle Paul saying that the Day of the Lord had already arrived. This greatly alarmed the Thessalonians as they had not been Raptured before its arrival. (See “The Great Apostasy” here.)
This, as Paul had taught the Thessalonians during his previous visit to them, was not the case. Adding to his previous teaching, Paul wrote that at least two events (among several others) must FIRST occur before the Rapture of the Church and the Day of the Lord.
The first was “the great falling away” – or the Apostasia (apostasy). The other was:
… the man of lawlessness [would be] revealed, the son of destruction, 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 2:3-4).
Let’s take a look at this “man of lawlessness.”
The Antichrist
This man of lawlessness – other Bible versions refer to him as “the man of sin” – is the Antichrist, the epitome of evil and the ultimate personification of Satan.
He is also identified as the “son of destruction” – which reflects the kind of “reign” he will have on Earth. This son of destruction, this seed of Satan, is one 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 2:4).
I am intrigued by those two words, “opposes” and “exalts.” Taken together, these two words can be translated into “against” and “in place of.” This connects to the definition of “antichrist.” “Anti” means “against.” However, the word “anti” also carries a more extensive meaning.
Besides “against” or “opposed,” the word “anti” – in the Greek – equally means “in place of.” Therefore, when we speak of the Antichrist, we are speaking of the one who not only seeks to be in opposition to Jesus, but also in place of Him.
The Antichrist will seek to control it all. Whatever has been proclaimed, whatever has been worshiped, whatever has been called “God,” he will claim ownership over all of it as the ultimate fulfillment of everything humanity puts its hope in, and then some.
He will claim to be something never before seen and, for that matter, something not ever even imagined. This will be the ultimate manifestation of humanism, the deification of man by man.
The goal of the Antichrist will be this: “… tak[ing] his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God” (v. 4). This is the abomination that causes desolation (Daniel 11:31; 12:11; Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14). This is the Antichrist going into the temple and demanding humanity to give him its allegiance.
This is the fulfillment of our Lord’s words when He said:
Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place – let the reader understand … (Matthew 24:15).
This is it. This is that very moment. It is at this point that Jesus urges those who are aware of what is happening and who this man really is to:
… flee to the mountains. Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get things out of his house. And whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak (Matthew 24:16-18).
This will occur in the middle of the 70th Week. This event will trigger the Great Tribulation.
It is interesting to note how Jesus gives the command to flee. This tells us clearly that there will be those who will not give their allegiance to the Antichrist. They are the ones who are going to flee into the wilderness.
The Temple
This verse also tells us clearly there must be a temple in Jerusalem for the Antichrist to desecrate. Another verse indicating the necessity for a temple in Jerusalem during the 70th Week is Daniel 9:27:
And he will confirm a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come the one who makes desolate, until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, gushes forth on the one who makes desolate.
In order for there to be a sacrifice, there must be a temple in which to make the sacrifice. In other words, there cannot be a cessation to the sacrifices if there are no sacrifices, and there cannot be sacrifices unless there is a temple. Therefore, we can only conclude that there must be a temple on Mount Moriah.
There is, of course, no temple in Jerusalem now; one has to be built. However, when I say this, I want you to rethink your picture of what a temple should be.
Most likely, when you hear the word “temple,” you are thinking in terms of Solomon’s splendid temple. The temple Solomon built was magnificent. Yet, because of Israel’s sin, God allowed this spectacular temple to be destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.
When Israel returned from its Babylonian captivity, it built another temple (see the Books Ezra, Haggai, and Zechariah), however, by size and scope, it paled in comparison to Solomon’s temple.
Regardless of its modest size, that temple continued for several centuries until the genius madman, Herod the Great, set out to ingratiate himself to the Jewish people.
To do so, he began a major rebuilding project on the temple, the result being the stupendous Herodian Temple that stood at the time of Christ. (The Jews referred to it as the “Second Temple.”) That massive edifice was destroyed by the Romans under General Titus in A.D. 70.
There will be one more temple, one sometimes referred to as the “Tribulation Temple,” which will be standing during the 70th Week. This will be the one the Antichrist will desecrate.
When Bible students conjure images of this temple, they think in terms of something along the lines of Herod’s Temple, or at least Solomon’s Temple. However, I don’t believe this is what the Scriptures teach.
The Greek word for “temple” used in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 does not necessarily describe the massive, elaborate temple most Bible students envision. More likely, the 70th-Week temple could well be a facility that can be built in weeks, not years.
Biblically speaking, there is no need to think there must be an extended period of time in which the Jews will rebuild a temple for the purpose of reinstituting the animal sacrifices, setting the stage for the abomination of desolation.
It is astounding to think that all of human history is moving toward 17 acres – the area of the current Temple Mount in Jerusalem. At one point, this is where the house of God stood. In the End Times, there will be another temple.
The Jewish people will consider it a house of God, though it won’t be a true one. However, it will be sufficient for the reinstitution of animal sacrifices. The Antichrist will desecrate this temple and set up his headquarters in Jerusalem (Daniel 11:45).
Even today, the world is being almost magically drawn to Jerusalem; it will be much more magnetically drawn as we continue to race toward the end of the age!
Marv Rosenthal, founder and President of Zion’s Hope, was an acclaimed international Bible teacher for almost 6 decades.
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