2 Thessalonians

The epistle to the Thessalonians.

1. The Judgment

6: does he mean the judgment of hellfire or something more soon?

When can we expect these afflictions within time or at the end of time?

7-10: What all is within the scope of this apocalyptic language?

2. The Man of Lawlessness

1-4: I take this to be referring to a more specific prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

6: What is restraining him?

7: What is the mystery of lawlessness? Is it contrasted with the mystery of the incarnation in some way?

8: Christ kills with the breath of his mouth - see also Revelation 1:14.

Isaiah 30:28 -- his breath is like an overflowing stream that reaches up to the neck; to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction, and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads astray.

Unlike idols, breathless, Christ has breath that destroys them.

The word coming from his mouth is like a sword of judgment.

9-11: It's fake news! This a perpetual problem.

People form their beliefs around all kinds of false signs because they do not love the truth. If they are attached to their old dead religion, whether it is the marvelous falsehoods of our modern liberal world order, or some kind of brittle fundamentalism or tradition, they cannot see if Christ is coming to judge it and destroy it.

But if you are placing the truth above unrighteous pleasure, then you will be ready to be saved from the judgments that may be to come in this life, and Lord willing in the final judgment of your soul.

3. Warning the Idle and Disobedient

6-15:

Christianity actually is about working in love.