2 Thessalonians 2:4

_ _ Daniel 11:36, Daniel 11:37 is here referred to. The words used there as to Antiochus Epiphanes, Paul implies, shall even be more applicable to the man of sin, who is the New Testament actual Antichrist, as Antiochus was the Old Testament typical Antichrist. The previous world kingdoms had each one extraordinary person as its representative head and embodiment (thus Babylon had Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 2:38, end; Medo-Persia had Cyrus; Greece had Alexander, and Antiochus Epiphanes, the forerunner of Antichrist); so the fourth and last world kingdom, under which we now live, shall have one final head, the concentrated embodiment of all the sin and lawless iniquity which have been in pagan and papal Rome. Rome’s final phase will probably be an unholy alliance between idolatrous superstition and godless infidelity.

_ _ Who opposeth and exalteth himself — There is but one Greek article to both participles, implying that the reason why he opposeth himself is in order that he may exalt himself above, etc. Alford takes the former clause absolutely, “He that withstands (Christ),” that is, Antichrist (1 John 2:18). As at the conclusion of the Old Testament period, Israel apostate allied itself with the heathen world power against Jesus and His apostles (Luke 23:12; and at Thessalonica, Acts 17:5-9), and was in righteous retribution punished by the instrumentality of the world power itself (Jerusalem being destroyed by Rome), Daniel 9:26, Daniel 9:27; so the degenerate Church (become an “harlot”), allying itself with the godless world power (the “beast” of Revelation) against vital religion (that is, the harlot sitting on the beast), shall be judged by that world power which shall be finally embodied in Antichrist (Zechariah 13:8, Zechariah 13:9; Zechariah 14:2; Revelation 17:16, Revelation 17:17). In this early Epistle, the apostate Jewish Church as the harlot, and pagan Rome as the beast, form the historical background on which Paul draws his prophetic sketch of the apostasy. In the Pastoral Epistles, which were later, this prophecy appears in connection with Gnosticism, which had at that time infected the Church. The harlot (the apostate Church) is first to be judged by the beast (the world power) and its kings (Revelation 17:16); and afterwards the beasts and their allies (with the personal Antichrist at their head, who seems to rise after the judgment on the harlot, or apostate Church) shall be judged by the coming of Jesus Himself (Revelation 19:20). Anti-Christian tendencies produce different Antichrists: these separate Antichrists shall hereafter find their consummation in an individual exceeding them all in the intensity of his evil character [Auberlen]. But judgment soon overtakes him. He is necessarily a child of death, immediately after his ascent as the beast out of the bottomless pit going into perdition (Revelation 17:8, Revelation 17:11). Idolatry of self, spiritual pride, and rebellion against God, are his characteristics; as Christ-worship, humility, and dependence on God, characterize Christianity. He not merely assumes Christ’s character (as the “false Christs,” Matthew 24:24), but “opposes" Christ. The Greek implies one situated on an opposite side (compare 1 John 2:22; 2 John 1:7). One who, on the destruction of every religion, shall seek to establish his own throne, and for God’s great truth, “God is man,” to substitute his own lie, “Man is God” [Trench].

_ _ above all that is called God — (1 Corinthians 8:5). The Pope (for instance, Clement VI) has even commanded the angels to admit into Paradise, without the alleged pains of purgatory, certain souls. But still this is only a foreshadowing of the Antichrist, who will not, as the Pope, act in God’s name, but against God.

_ _ or that is worshipped — Rome here again gives a presage of Antichrist. The Greek is Sebasma; and Sebastus is the Greek for Augustus, who was worshipped as the secular ruler and divine vicegerent. The papacy has risen on the overthrow of Caesar’s power. Antichrist shall exalt himself above every object of worship, whether on earth as the Caesar, or in heaven as God. The various prefigurations of Antichrist, Mohammed, Rome, Napoleon, and modern infidel secularism, contain only some, not all, his characteristics. It is the union of all in some one person that shall form the full Antichrist, as the union in one Person, Jesus, of all the types and prophecies constituted the full Christ [Olshausen].

_ _ in the temple of God ... that he is God — “He will reign a time, times, and half a time” (Daniel 7:25), that is, three and a half years, and will sit in the temple at Jerusalem: then the Lord shall come from heaven and cast him into the take of fire and shall bring to the saints the times of their reigning, the seventh day of hallowed rest, and give to Abraham the promised inheritance” [Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 30.4].

_ _ showing himself — with blasphemous and arrogant DISPLAY (compare a type, Acts 12:21-23). The earliest Fathers unanimously looked for a personal Antichrist. Two objections exist to Romanism being regarded the Antichrist, though probably Romanism will leave its culmination in him: (1) So far is Romanism from opposing all that is called God, that adoration of gods and lords many (the Virgin Mary and saints) is a leading feature in it; (2) the papacy has existed for more than twelve centuries, and yet Christ is not come, whereas the prophecy regards the final Antichrist as short-lived, and soon going to perdition through the coming of Christ (Revelation 17:8, Revelation 17:11). Gregory the Great declared against the patriarch of Constantinople, that whosoever should assume the title of “universal bishop” would be “the forerunner of Antichrist.” The papacy fulfilled this his undesigned prophecy. The Pope has been called by his followers, “Our Lord God the Pope”; and at his inauguration in St. Peter’s, seated in his chair upon the high altar, which is treated as his footstool, he has vividly foreshadowed him who “exalteth himself above all that is called God.” An objection fatal to interpreting the temple of God here as the Church (1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 6:19) is, the apostle would never designate the apostate anti-Christian Church “the temple of God.” It is likely that, as Messiah was revealed among the Jews at Jerusalem, so Antimessiah shall appear among them when restored to their own land, and after they have rebuilt their temple at Jerusalem. Thus Daniel 11:41, Daniel 11:45 (see on Daniel 11:41; see on Daniel 11:45), corresponds, “He shall enter the glorious land (Judea), and he shall plant the tabernacles of his palaces between the seas in the glorious holy mountain”; and then (Daniel 12:1) “Michael, the great prince, shall stand up” to deliver God’s people. Compare Note, see on Daniel 9:26, Daniel 9:27. Also the king of Assyria, type of Antichrist (Isaiah 14:12-14). “Lucifer” (a title of Messiah, assumed by Antichrist, Revelation 22:16); “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.” “I will sit upon the mount of the congregation (that is, God’s place of meeting His people of old, the temple), in the sides of the north (Psalms 48:2); I will be like the Most High.” Revelation 11:1, Revelation 11:2, “The temple of God ... the holy city” (namely, Jerusalem, Matthew 4:5), compare Psalms 68:18, Psalms 68:29, referring to a period since Christ’s ascension, therefore not yet fulfilled (Isaiah 2:1-3; Ezekiel 40:1-44:31; Zechariah 14:16-20; Malachi 3:1). “In the temple of God,” implies that it an internal, not an external, enemy which shall assail the Church. Antichrist shall, the first three and a half years of the prophetical week, keep the covenant, then break it and usurp divine honors in the midst of the week. Some think Antichrist will be a Jew. At all events he will, “by flatteries,” bring many, not only of the Gentiles, but also of “the tribes” of Israel (so the Greek for “kindreds,” Revelation 11:8, Revelation 11:9), to own him as their long-looked-for Messiah, in the same “city where our Lord was crucified.” “Sitteth” here implies his occupying the place of power and majesty in opposition to Him who “sitteth on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3), and who shall come to “sit” there where the usurper had sat (Matthew 26:64). See on Daniel 9:27; Revelation 11:2, Revelation 11:3, Revelation 11:9, Revelation 11:11. Compare Ezekiel 38:2, Ezekiel 38:3, Ezekiel 38:6, Ezekiel 38:9, Ezekiel 38:10, Ezekiel 38:13, Ezekiel 38:14, Ezekiel 38:16, as to Tyre, the type of Antichrist, characterized by similar blasphemous arrogance.