Paul, Silas and Timothy write in their letter to the church in Thessalonica that they need not worry about the end of times and that Jesus was already beginning to return. Maybe they thought, we are a long way from Jerusalem so maybe the end has come and we will be the last ones to hear about it way out here in Thessalonica. I can remember living in Phoenix. AZ back in the days before internet. Even though we were only 6 hours from Los Angeles, I can remember there was a 6 month gap between what was new in LA and what was new in Phoenix. Things in the 1980's seems to travel slowly we can only imagine how news traveled back in the first century.
Paul assures the church that there are some significant events that must happen before the coming of Jesus that had not happened yet. Then Paul, Silas and Timothy give us a little insight about one things that will be significant about the "man of lawlessness", who will come before the return of Jesus.
2:10-11 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies.
The picture is clear that the power of the "man of lawlessness" is deception and lies. I read a little book by Andy Andrews entitled, "How Do Your Kill 11 Million People?" and in the book Andrews spells out how Adolf Hitler and the Nazi leaders were able to kill 11,283,000 Jews in Europe. Why didn't the 11 million rise up and fight back before it was too late? The key to their plan was deception and lies. Andrew wrote:
Adolf Eichmann known as "the master" was directed by written orders in December 1941 to implement the Final Solution....An intricate web of lies, to be delivered in stages, was designed to ensure the cooperation of the condemned (but unknowing) Jews. (Page 22-23)
Stage 1 was to move the Jews into one neighborhood and put up barbed wire fences around the neighborhood. The lie given was this was temporary and that this was for their protection.
Stage 2 was to take bribes from the Jews for future living conditions. This gave the Jews the hope for a future and that the plans of the Nazi's was to give the Jews a future home.
Stage 3 was to have a town meeting and lie to the people that the Russian army was on the front and so they were moving the Jews to their own safe communities. The message was "Please get on the crowded trains for a short trip to a safe and protected future." But instead they got on trains that led to concentration camps and death.
Lies and deception are the tools of the enemy. Powerful tools that have destroyed millions of lives. We see lies and deception used in so many ways in our day and in our culture.
Vs 15 With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.
If we are going to stand firm in our faith we must hold on to the truth.
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