Schoenherr Archives - AMILLENNIAL.org

Who is the Man of Lawlessness? (Man of Sin)

Who is the Man of Lawlessness (Son of Perdition)?
The only place we see the “man of lawlessness” title in Scripture is in 2 Thessalonians 2. Writing in the early 50’s AD, Paul shifts from discussing Christ’s return on the last day (sometimes called Judgment Day, 2 Thessalonians 1:5-12) and now addresses a more immediate concern for the young church in Thessalonica. Time is running out: 20 years have passed since Jesus sat upon the Mount of Olives and predicted a time of terrible tribulation.

In this lesson, Matthew Schoenherr takes a closer look at the man of sin and identifies a few candidates.
Session notes: https://prophecycourse.org/session/more/man-of-sin/

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
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 be revealed, 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.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Daniel’s 70-Week Prophecy

Daniel’s 70 Weeks Prophecy

(Daniel 9:24-27, Leviticus 28:5)

Imagine being visited by an angel and receiving a promise foretelling a future king who would liberate your people and usher in an entirely new kingdom—a new way of life—free from the crushing burden of sin, shame and guilt. Amazing! But then this promise turns dark, tainted by war, desolation and the end of all you’ve ever known.

Oh, and did I mention this prophecy is wrapped in an exact timeframe so your people can know when all this is going to go down?

Welcome to Daniel’s 70-Week Prophecy.

TAKE-AWAYS FROM THIS LESSON

This prophecy gives a precise timeline
Announces the arrival of Israel’s Messiah
Predicts the Messiah’s death
Predicts the destruction of temple and Jerusalem by an army
Jesus reminds His first-century followers of this prophecy to warn them of the impending 70 AD judgment (Matthew 24:15)

Complete notes for this lesson can be found at prophecycourse.org.

John Alley’s message begins with an overview of Daniel Chapter 9:24-27, before focusing on verse 24 in particular. John observes that many people, preoccupied with their own view of end times, have unfortunately imported difficulty into these verses that was not intended by the Lord when speaking with the prophet Daniel. It was given to Daniel, the angel said, so that he would “understand.”

24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

John points out several items of great interest, including the amazing prophecies regarding Cyrus recorded centuries before he came to power as the world ruler and issued the decree to rebuild Jerusalem–which decree was the starting point for the 70 heptads (70 “sevens”), a period of 490 years. At the end of 69 heptads, the Messiah was to appear to Israel, and in the middle of the 70th week, he will be “cut off.” These events were fulfilled exactly–in the precise timeframe foretold–including the six things prophesied in verse 24 of Daniel 9. John presents both New and Old Testament Scripture to demonstrate all of these things have complete Gospel fulfilment.

John points out the judgements in the prophecy that were to come, and did come, upon Israel, who rejected and put to death their Messiah. One of these was the sealing up of vision and prophecy (as foretold by other prophets as well) so that from that time, no one in Judaism had any further access to seeing or hearing (for only in Christ is the veil taken away), but at the same time the Body of Christ became the newly anointed Most Holy Place (the temple of God), the anointing of which took place at Pentecost–again, precisely in the middle of the 70th heptad. John concludes with this devotional application: We believers in our Lord Jesus cannot take God, nor the grace we have, for granted. We must be humble before God, so that we will not by default suffer the same judgement as in this passage, but rather by the grace of God have ears that hear and eyes that see. This message is filled with Scriptural and historical truths and will bring light to the passage discussed.

Gary DeMar

A discussion of Bible prophecy with an emphasis on Daniel’s 70 weeks of years.