Who is the antichrist? - part 4

Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for (that day will not come) until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. -- 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4

So how is the "man of lawlessness" different than the antichrist?

It's riddle time -- how does a man transcend the weaknesses that we've previously seen in the antichrists? How does he convince people that he is both willing and able to be their savior and somehow continue on in this fiction without ever exposing himself as an impostor on both counts? Why doesn't the public get tired of him after the proverbial fifteen minutes? On top of that, how does this man avoid the informational control trap we saw in the last post?

To understand the answer to this riddle we need to back up all the way to Genesis and a fellow by the name of Lamech.

Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times." -- Genesis 4: 23-24

In Genesis 4 Cain commits murder and legions of Bible students ever since have wrongly concluded that this is what the chapter is about. What chapter 4 is really about is the punishment Cain receives. You see, this is the first instance of social law (ie: the code of conduct that tells people how to treat each other and what the punishments are if they violate that code). God shows us that He determines the content of the law and that we are subject to it because He (the lawgiver) is greater than us. Cain commits the crime of murder and receives the punishment of exile. Then we get Lamech.

Lamech defies the law, then replaced it with his own. He claims the right to kill and injure who he pleases for whatever reason he should choose. Lamech essentially claims the position of God -- the one who rightfully determines the code of conduct between human beings. Notice two things here: first, he is rejecting God's right to place any sort of restraints on his own conduct. Second, in claiming this he is claiming to be the master of his own circumstances. In other words he is claiming that he is actually capable of imposing this law on those around him, "I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me."

As Jesus teaches us in Matthew 12 with his explanation of the phrase, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." the law is meant to be a blessing to men, not a curse. It provides protection for the needy, and in truth, we are all needy. In the archaeological digs from the time before the first civilizations we see just how true this is. Over forty percent of the human skeletons unearthed from pre-civilization times died violently. They were killed -- with clubs, with spears, with arrows, etc.

I want you to notice not just what Lamech was saying, but the fact that it just a boast. It's not reality. He couldn't really impose his own "law" upon everyone else. He just wanted to believe that he could. If we could unearth his skeleton it would probably tell us of the time that he tried to impose his self-made law and it didn't work out so well.

The first piece of the riddle -- in order to be a "man of lawlessness" you must be someone who defies any law but your own. Also, you must be a master of circumstance, a man who controls everything around him without being controlled by anything but his own desires.

Impossible, you say? The first part is easy, but the second is out of the question. No one can do that.

Exactly.

That's why Lamech wasn't the man of lawlessness. Just a wannabe. Let's go back to 2 Thessalonians 2,

verse 5-6 -- Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.

Notice that he is 'revealed'. It's as if Satan is the master of ceremonies and he pulls back the curtain to reveal his perfect creation.

verse 7 -- For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.

This sort of 'floodgate' imagery sounds almost identical to Daniel 12:7 (When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.)

Verse 8 -- And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.

Notice here that this man of lawlessness is not actually killed, he is destroyed by Jesus' "breath" (usually a metaphor for the Holy Spirit) and the splendor of His coming. Jesus' coming is associated with death, that being the judgement on all the nonbelievers, but that's not the only thing that it is associated with, and none of the usual imagery (blood, grapes, wrath, reaping) for human death is used here. Jesus' breath isn't associated with physical human death at all.

Verse 9 -- The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders,

Notice that these are not real miracle. They're counterfeit ones. At first this almost seems like another riddle -- how does a culture as skeptical as ours fall for counterfeit miracles -- but it's another part of the answer. These are not real miracles. These are simulated miracles. The man of lawlessness does not control the real circumstances, he only controls simulated "counterfeit" circumstances.

Verse 10 -- and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

This is what sickens me about ridiculous takes on the antichrist like Carpethia. It isn't demonic possession that makes man fall. Knock off all that "the devil made me do it" silliness! We are told plainly that the man of lawlessness is successful because we want to buy the slop that he is selling. The devil may give him his polish, but we give him his power.

Verses 11-12 -- For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

A powerful delusion? God-sent?

And at this point we have everything we need to answer the riddle. How can the man of lawlessness do impossible things? How can he avoid the fifteen minutes of fame and informational control traps? The answer is that he can do all these things because he is not a human being.

He's an advertising campaign.

Next: the perfectly corrupt ad campaign and the fraternity of people who believe in it.