Unmasking the Man of Lawlessness – A 2 Thessalonians Deep Dive on the Anti-Christ

There are millions of theories about who or what the anti-Christ is. Some think he will be one individual man. Others think he is an organization of people. Still others believe he is a computer or AI. Not to mention the different beliefs about end times prophecies and whether or not the church will be raptured before or after or during the tribulation. It gets confusing! With all these conflicting ideas swirling around the church, how can Christians truly be prepared for the anti-Christ if we don’t even know what he (or it) is?!

True, there’s no real way to tell who the anti-Christ is going to be. We kind of have to wait to find out... but there’s no reason to panic. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12 gives plenty of clear signs to watch out for.

Let’s start with 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4:

Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction. He opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple [holy place] of God, setting himself up as God. 

Ø  The anti-Christ will hate Christ

The Greek word “anti” means “against.” It’s clear from his title alone that this man or entity will hate Christ and anyone that worships Christ. Granted, he may pretend to be on the side of Christians initially to gain power, but will soon turn on them and anyone else who worships God. According to 2 Thessalonians 2:4, he will also hate little “g” gods, too. Basically, the anti-Christ will be against any god, whether the true God, or a false god.

What to do:

Keep an eye out for anyone or anything gaining power that opposes all religion.

Ø  The anti-Christ will claim to be Christ

2 Thessalonians 2:4 says the anti-Christ will “set himself up as God” in the “temple” of God. There’s some debate as to what the "temple" is. Some people think that the temple could be a holy place, like a famous church or the Vatican. Some think the temple is a future one in Israel that hasn’t been built yet. Regardless, this anti-Christ is going to oppose all religion so that he can be worshipped alone. He will set himself up in some holy place (where he clearly doesn’t belong) and claim to be God. He will get away with this by masquerading as the Messiah. Many will fall for this including Jews all over the world (who believe the Messiah hasn’t come yet). Non-Jews may believe that the anti-Christ is actually Jesus who returned to earth his second coming. Others will worship him to gain some sort of bonus.

What to do:

Remember that Jesus is the Messiah. When Jesus returns, He will do it with vengeance and glory. Every person on earth will know when Jesus comes back. It won’t be hidden or secret. (Matthew 24) Essentially, Jesus won’t come back as a creepy man in a temple demanding to be worshipped while persecuting Christians.

Now let's delve into 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12:

Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the manifestation of his coming; even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Because of this, God sends them a powerful delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be judged who didn’t believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Ø  The anti-Christ will perform lying signs and wonders

To feed the illusion that the anti-Christ is actually God, he will perform lying miracles. (2 Thessalonians 2:9) These “miracles” will look very real and will deceive many people. Revelation 19:20 says the anti-Christ will have a false prophet with him that performs signs - “The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.”

Whenever signs or miracles are done in the Bible, it’s always to give glory to God the Father, not to individual people. (Matthew 9:8, John 11) When the anti-Christ or his false prophet perform signs or miracles, they will give glory to themselves. All of this is done to take glory away from God and make the anti-Christ look more like God.

What to do:

Watch out for anyone that performs a miracle for their own glory.

Ø  The anti-Christ will be a liar

The anti-Christ, who is possessed by Satan, will not be able to offer truth to anyone. He will be a liar, because Satan himself is the father of lies. The anti-Christ will oppose anything truthful, beautiful, and good. He will feed into delusions and lies. (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12)

What to do:

Stay grounded in truth, so you recognize when someone tells you a lie. (Here’s a recent article on why Christianity is the truth.)

We only covered 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12 here, yet there is plenty it tells us about the anti-Christ. He hates religion, he thinks he’s God, he pretends to be the Messiah, he lies to people, and only does things for his own glory. Even if we knew nothing else about him, we could figure out that a man who does these things shouldn’t be worshipped or followed.

There are other passages that warn us about the anti-Christ. Matthew 24, Daniel 7, 9, 11, and Revelation 13 talk about him and some depth. Perhaps we will do a part two and cover some of those passages as well. But for now, be grounded in truth by reading your Bible and maintaining a personal relationship with God. Then you won’t be fooled by the anti-Christ, false prophets, or anyone else that lies about God.