Mystery in 2 Thessalonians and Revelation

 

This is my final post on Mystery in the New Testament and I’m tackling two seemingly unrelated passages, 2 Thessalonians 2:7 and Revelation 17:5. What? Why? I believe they are very closely related, and they are both definitely speaking of the same period in time – antichrist and the great tribulation. Buckle up and away we go!!

 2 Thessalonians 2:7 Mystery of lawlessness

In 1 Thessalonians Paul put a lot of emphasis on the second coming, yet somehow some false teachers slipped in and confused the Thessalonians, teaching that the Day of Christ (His coming again) was about to burst upon them. In 2 Thessalonians 2 Paul is correcting this error. He says the coming of Christ and the resurrection (v 1) will not come until two things happen first: [1] the falling away and [2] the antichrist is revealed (v 3). The entire chapter is worth reading, but for my purpose here I’m only going to look at the verses that apply to the mystery.

³ Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin [the man utterly given up to sin] be revealed, the son of perdition; [a man doomed to eternal misery]

This is the antichrist, the man of sin and the son of perdition

⁴ Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 

This is the whole purpose of his life and why he is the man of sin.

⁷ For the mystery of iniquity [lawlessness] doth already work: only he who now letteth [hinders] will let, until he be taken out of the way. 

the mystery of iniquity – many versions have lawlessness; the Greek word is anomia, which is literally no law. I believe the idea is rebellion. The antichrist will be the arch-rebel and will lead a huge rebellion against God and His Christ. This rebellious attitude or lawlessness, anomia, is already at work in the world, been at work since the tower of Babel, and will burst forth full-throated when antichrist is revealed.

⁸ And then shall that Wicked [lawless one] be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

That Wicked – this is a play on the word lawlessness, he is that lawless one, the rebel who opposes God (see v 9-10)

Now let’s turn to

Revelation 17 Mystery Babylon

Revelation 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

There is so much in Revelation 17, but I have promised to be brief, so here goes…

This woman rises to power riding upon a scarlet colored beast, with seven heads and ten horns. The beast is the man of sin, the son of perdition, the rebel of 2 Thessalonians 2. Who then is this woman, the mother of harlots? Her name is our clue: “Mystery, Babylon”. This is the mystery of lawlessness or rebellion. This is the spirit behind all worldly religions, all idol worship. Babylon.

This began back to Genesis 10 and 11.

Genesis 10:8-10 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

According to rabbinic tradition, “Nimrod is the prototype of a rebellious people, his name being interpreted as "he who made all the people rebellious against God…he is generally considered to have been the one who suggested building the Tower of Babel." (https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11548-nimrod) 

“Nimrod is the prototype of a rebellious people” – the mystery of lawless begins here, and culminates in the lawless one, the rebel, the man of sin. So, who is this woman Mystery Babylon? Jeremiah calls her the queen of heaven (Jer 44:25). This is Babylon, the mother of harlots (idol worship; spiritual adultery). This rebellious woman is manifested in religion and politics. The religious expression of this spirit of Babylon opposes God and oppresses the people of God. Politically, it is embodied in cities such as Babylon and Rome.

The mystery of lawlessness or rebellion, the attitude that opposes and exalts itself against God, is the spirit of Babylon. It will be incarnated in the man of sin. This son of perdition and the mother of harlots will together rise to power during the great tribulation and all that dwell upon the earth will go after them. But God! Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. And as for that lawless rebel, the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. MARANATHA!

Thus endeth Mystery in the New Testament