Wednesday, September 2, 2009

The Man of Sin - Son of Perdition

“The man of sin” found in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 has been interpreted as "the antichrist".

2 Thessalonians 2: 2-12 “That you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
(3) Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
(4) who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
(5) Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
(6) And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.
(7) For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains (restrains will restrain, NASB and NIV) will do so until he is taken out of the way.
(8) Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;
(9) that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,
(10) and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
(11) For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,
(12) in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.” NASB


When we understand that the corporate body of Christ - believers - is the "temple of God" we can begin to understand the "man of sin" found in 2nd Thessalonians.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a departing first, and that man of sin be disclosed, even the son of perdition.
(4) Which is an adversary, and exalteth himself against all that is called God, or that is worshipped: so that he doth sit as God in the Temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”


The “man of sin” will “exalteth himself against all that is called God.”

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and that Word was with God, and that Word was God.”


Hence the “Temple of God” which exists in the Christian era - the corporate body of Christ - is composed of individuals. The "temple of God is in the human heart.

Consequently "he" that takes his seat in the human heart is not a human being but a spirit, the same "spirit of antichrist" mentioned in 1st and 2nd John.

It is much easier to detect Antichrists than “the son of perdition.”

Antichrist “denies that Jesus is the Christ;” he “denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father.” “…every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God…” “…those who do not acknowledge that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is THE deceiver and the antichrist.”

Judas Iscariot was described as “the son of perdition” and was among the most trusted disciples. “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first…”

Apparently, “that man of sin” is a spirit in persons within the church “which is an adversary, and exalteth himself against all that is called God, or that is worshipped: so that he doth sit as God in the Temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”

Who is the “man of sin” if it isn't Satan?

I Timothy 4: 1-2 “Now the Spirit speaketh evidently, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, and shall give heed unto spirits of error, and doctrines of devils. (2) Which speak lies through hypocrisy, and have their consciences burned with an hot iron."

2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time will come when they will not suffer wholesome doctrine: but having their ears itching, shall after their own lusts get them an heap of teachers. (4) And shall turn their ears from the truth, and shall be given unto fables.”


It is currently fashionable to suggest that the rebuilding a physical “temple of God” on the temple mount in Jerusalem is scriptural. To believe so would require Christians to believe that the finished work of redemption of Jesus Christ is incomplete and unfinished.

Jesus gave the Pharisees the following warning.

Mark 7:13 “Making the word of God of none authority, by your tradition which ye have ordained; and ye do many such things.”

Hebrews 8:13 “In that he saith a New Testament, he hath abrogated the old: now that which is disannulled and waxed old, is ready to vanish away.”

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Grecian.”

Location of the Temple in the "Last Days"

I Corinthians 3:16 “Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (Geneva Bible)

I Corinthians 6:19 “Know ye not, that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, whom ye have of God? And ye are not your own.”

II Corinthians 6:16 “And what agreement hath the Temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God: as God hath said, ‘I will dwell among them, and walk there; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Ephesians 2:21-22 “In whom all the building coupled together, growth unto an holy Temple in the Lord. (22) In whom ye also are built together to be the habitation of God the Spirit."

Consequently, the temple of which Paul speaks in Thessalonians is the human heart!

False church in the end time

I Timothy 4: 1-3 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, be means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.”

2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside from myths.”

The Temple of God

John 2:19-22 “Jesus answered, and said to them, “Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up again. (20) Then said the Jews, “Forty and six years was this Temple a building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?” (21) But he spake of the temple of his body.” (22) As soon therefore as he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he thus said unto them; and they believed the Scriptures, and the word which Jesus had said.”

Jesus Temple rose from the grave in three days as he prophesied. The Temple has been rebuilt through his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension which is the corporate body of Jesus Christ.

The following quote suggests that the Temple of God is the corporate body of Christ.

Ephesians 2:19-22 “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners: but citizens with the Saints, and of the household of God. (20) And are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, (21) In whom all the building coupled together, growth unto an holy Temple of the Lord. (22) In who ye also are built together to be the habitation of God by the Spirit.”

Through this clause: “ye also are built together to be the habitation of God by the Spirit” in Ephesians we understand I Corinthians 6:19

I Corinthians 6:19 “Know ye not, that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, whom ye have of God? And ye are nor your own.”
Hence, the “temple of God” of which the Scripture speaks is the corporate body of Christ. The corporate body of Christ is composed of the regenerate individual people redeemed through the Holy Spirit.

Here is a list of verses in which the phrase “Temple of God” is found.

Matthew 21:12 refers to the literal material temple that Jesus prophesied would be torn down.

Matthew 21:12 “And Jesus went into the Temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the Temple, and overthrew the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves.”

Matthew 26:61 “And said, “This man said, ‘I can destroy the Temple of God, and build it in three days.”

The following verses declare and confirm that the Temple of God is corporate body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 “Know he not that ye are the Temple of God. (17) If any man destroy the Temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the Temple of God is holy, which ye are.”

2 Corinthians 6:16 “And what agreement hath the Temple of God with idols? For ye are the Temple of the living God: as God hath said, ‘I dwell among them, and walk there; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

The Scriptures which I have quoted above clearly indicate that the corporate body of Christ is the Temple of God. Hence, it is apparent and not open to interpretation that the corporate body of Christ is the Temple of God.

The Revelation in which John records his vision is in figurative language. We find two verses speaking of the “temple of God” in Revelation.

Revelation 11:1 “Then was given me a reed like unto a rod, and the Angel stood by, saying, ‘Rise and mete the Temple of God, and the Altar, and them that worship therein.”

Revelation 11:19 “Then the Temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in the Temple the Ark of his covenant; and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and earthquake, and much hail.”

The verses I have quoted are ALL of the verses using the phrase “temple of God.”

The accounts in Revelation locate the temple of God in the heavenlies and corresponds to Ezekiel’s description.

Ezekiel 43:7 “Which said unto me, ‘Son of man this place is my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, whereas I will dwell among the children of Israel forever, and the house of Israel shall no more defile mine holy Name, neither they, nor their kings in their high places.”

The Scriptures clearly indicate that God does not dwell in buildings made with hands.

Acts 17:24 “God that hath made the world, and all things that are therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands.”

Any future literal physical temple built with hands would be desolate before its creation.

Hebrews 8:1 “Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum, that we have such an High Priest, that sitteth at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heavens. (2) And is a minister of the Sanctuary, and of the true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man.”


Now we can begin to understand the “man of sin” found in 2 Thessalonians.

"I give you a day for a year."

The daily sacrifices were suspended three times during the history of the Jewish people. Once before Daniel’s time, during the Babylonian captivity, and when the Greek king Antiochus Epiphanies desecrated the temple.

The Davidic kingdom fell to the Babylonians in 606 B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar. Under his reign Judah became a vassal state until Babylon was conquered by the Medo-Persians in 536 B.C. Jeremiah prophesied that the Jews would be captives for 70 years.

Jeremiah 25:12 “And when the seventy years are accomplished, I will visit the king of Babel and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquities, even the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it a perpetual desolation.”

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts, that I have thought towards you, saith the Lord, even the thoughts of peace, and not of trouble, to give you and end, and your hope.”

The Persian king Cyrus would permit the Jewish people to return to the Holy Land after the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon. Daniel understood that the captivity would last 70 years from reading the prophesies of Jeremiah.

Daniel 9:2 “Even in the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by the books the number of years, whereof the Lord had spoken unto Jeremiah the Prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolation of Jerusalem.


The temple of Solomon was destroyed in 586 B.C. but we understand that temple sacrifices continued for at least 8 months after the destruction of the temple.

Jeremiah records: “There came men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even forescore men having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent and cut, with offerings and incense in their hands to offer in the house of the Lord.” Jeremiah 41:5

Jeremiah 52:30 reveals to us that a final deportation of captives occurred three years after the temple was burned. Scripture tells us the final deportation took place in the 23rd year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign in 583 B.C.

“In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzarradan the chief steward carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four hundred thousand and six hundred.” Jeremiah 52:30


Consequently, 583 B.C. is the date for the abolition of sacrifices which is supported by Scripture.

Jewish authorities believe the captivity of the Jews by the Babylonians began in 586 BC when the temple was destroyed. The captivity ended in 516 BC during the restoration under Ezra. The first deportation of captives happened in 606-605 B.C. Consequently, the generally accepted date (GAD) of 606 B.C-536 B.C. for the captivity is most likely correct.

Daniel’s prophesy of 1290 days was received 50 years after the abolition of the daily sacrifice.

Daniel 12:11 “And from the time that the daily sacrifices shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.”


Prophetic Days = years
Numbers 14:34 “After the number of days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.”

Ezekiel 4:5 “For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.”

Ezekiel 4:6 “And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee a day for a year.”

In the 17th Century Matthew Henry in the Commentary on the Whole Bible” wrote:

“Par II …time of their (the two witnesses) prophesying, or bearing witness for Christ. A thousand two hundred and three score days …and if the beginning of that interval could be ascertained, this number of prophetic days, taking a day for a year, would give us a prospect of when the end should be.” Vol VI, p1157, col 1, par II.

When “days” are spoken of in a prophetic sense they are Hebrew lunar years or New Testament solar years. This is valid unless the context of the Scriptures clearly indicates otherwise.

The Old Testament prophesies utilize a lunar year of 360 days.

The New Testament prophecies utilize solar years of 365.24 solar days. This is used for interpreting New Testament prophesies only. The Roman Empire which existed while John was in exile utilized a 365.24 day solar calendar.

The conversion factor is obtained by dividing 360 by 365.24 days.

360 / 365.24 = 0.9857

Hence, a Hebrew lunar year = 360 days or .9857 solar years.

How did Daniel understand?
I want to address the first two segments of weeks in the vision. Babylon was conquered in 536 B.C. by the Medo-Persians.

Seven 7s of years = seven shavuim
62 sevens of years = sixty-two shavuim
One unique multiple of seven (the seventieth seven)

7 x 7 = 49; 62 x 7 = 434; 434 + 49 = 483


Daniel 10:1 “In the third year of Cyrus King of Persia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel (whose name was called Belteshazzar) and the word was true, but the time appointed was long, and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.”


1.Daniel received the vision of 70 weeks in 536 B.C. In the vision of 70 weeks, if the 483 “days” (the first two segments of sevens in the vision) were literal days (beginning from his time) they would be fulfilled 1 ½ years after he declares he understood the vision. Consequently, Daniel understood they would be fulfilled in the future.

2.The daily sacrifices at Solomon’s temple had been abolished 50 years earlier. They ended in 586 B.C. Daniel received the vision of 1290 days in 533 B.C. three years after receiving the 70 weeks prophesy. If they had been literal days fulfilled after the cessation of the daily sacrifice; they would have been fulfilled 46 1/2 years before God gave the prophecy. Hence, Daniel could see that they were not fulfilled.


“And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” Daniel 12:11


Hence, Daniel could historically look back in time at the visions that should have been fulfilled if the “days” had been literal days. He saw they were unfulfilled within literal days. So he understood the visions were utilizing the Biblical measure of prophetic time – a day = a year. Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:5-6; 1 day = 1 year.

The Abomination of Desolation

Daniel 12:11 “And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination of desolation set up, there shall be a thousand, two hundred and ninety days.”

Matthew 24:15 “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, set in the holy place (let him that readeth consider it.)"


Mark 13:14 “Moreover, when ye shall see the abomination of desolation (spoken of by Daniel the Prophet) set where it ought not, (let him that readeth, consider it) then let them that be in Judea, flee into the mountains.”

We have established that a prophetic day is equal to a year. The Hebrews in Babylon utilized a 360 day lunar year.

A Hebrew lunar year = 360 days or .9857 solar years. 360 / 365.24 = 0.9857 (rounded off)

Hence, 1290 prophetic days (years) = 1271.49 solar years.

1290 x .98565326 = 1271.49

Temple sacrifices were abolished in 583 B.C. so 1290 day = years brings us to 688 A.D.

In 688 A.D. the Dome of the Rock was constructed between 685 A.D. and 705 A.D.

Consequently, the Dome of the Rock is the abomination of desolation!

Hence, Mohammed is the false prophet of whom Revelation speaks.
Revelation 19:20 “But the beast was taken, and with him that false prophet that wrought miracles before him, whereby he deceived them that received the beast’s mark, and them that worshipped his image. These both were alive cast into a lake of fire burning with brimstone."

Revelation 11:2 “”But the Court which is without the Temple cast out, and mete it not, for it is given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city shall they tread under foot, two and forty Months.”

Revelation 12:6 “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand, two hundred, and threescore days.”


“…let the reader understand.” In this generation the two passages of Revelation 11:2; 12:6 were fulfilled. Consequently, the verses surrounding those passages are to the church of the 21st century.