The Mystery of Lawlessness

The Mystery of Lawlessness prepares the way for the release of the Lawless Man and his attack on the Church - 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8.

The Mystery of Lawlessness is active in the world, and this is especially so in the Body of Christ. This force is preparing hearts and minds for the arrival of the Man of Lawlessness. It will continue to do so until the appointed time when the Son of Destruction is unveiled in the Sanctuary of God.

Paul’s point in 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8 is that a force or person is currently at work preparing the way for the Man of Lawlessness, and this will continue until the designated time for the unveiling of this end-time deceiver.

The Apostle Paul is not discussing whether this force is being restrained, or whether someone or something is preventing the Man of Lawlessness from appearing on the world scene. That is an interpretation that some traditions impose upon this verse, but it is not Paul’s concern.

[Photo by Darko Pribeg on Unsplash]

This process has been underway for a long time, and it will continue until the appropriate time. The arrival of this final deceiver in the Sanctuary of God will be the culmination of an age-long process.

The Greek phrase translated as “the Mystery of Lawlessness” is unique to Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians. The noun translated as “mystery” or ‘mystérion’ (μυστηριον) does not refer to something esoteric or mysterious, but to something or someone that is hidden. This force or person is at work, but these activities remain largely unnoticed.

• “And that which POSSESSES now you know, so that he may be revealed in HIS PROPER SEASON. For the mystery of lawlessness is energizing even now, only even until HE WHO POSSESSES comes to be OUT OF THE MIDST. And then the lawless man will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus WILL CONSUME WITH THE BREATH OF HIS MOUTH, and paralyze by the manifestation of his arrival” - (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8. Note the verbal allusions to Daniel 7:8, 7:18-25, and Isaiah 11:4 [“And with the breath of his lips he will destroy the ungodly one”]. Each allusion is from the Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament).

The Greek participle translated as “that which is possessing [‘to katechon’]” is in the neuter gender. It is paired with the phrase “the mystery of lawlessness.” The Greek noun translated as “mystery” is in the neuter gender, and this is not coincidental.

In a Greek sentence, the participle takes the grammatical gender of its associated noun. In other words, the Mystery of Lawlessness is the person or force that possesses. If Paul is following common Greek practice, then the neuter gender of the participle must point to a noun in the sentence that is neuter. “Mystery” or ‘mystérion’ is the only option, grammatically speaking.

This grammatical fact becomes problematic for English versions of the Bible that translate the participle as “restrain” (or “withhold, hinder, prevent”). If the participle does mean “restrain,” then the Mystery of Lawlessness is the force or person that is “restraining” lawlessness. Or to put it another way, the Mystery of Lawlessness is restraining itself!

The participle ‘katechon’ is from the verb ‘katechô’ (κατεχω), which combines the common Greek verb ‘echô’, “to have,” with the preposition ‘kata’. Adding the preposition ‘kata’ to the verb intensifies its meaning, so that “have” becomes “possess, occupy, seize; to own” – (Page 380, section 1690. Greek Grammar, by Herbert Weir Smyth, [Harvard University Press, 1984]).

For example, in the Parable of the Tenants, the antagonists conspire to “seize” (‘katechô’) the inheritance of the Son (Matthew 21:38). In Romans 1:18, the ungodly men of this age “possess” (‘katechô’) the truth in unrighteousness.

In the Parable of the Wedding Feast, one guest is commanded to make room for a more important wedding guest: “Give this man place, and then you will occupy [‘katechô’] the lowest place in shame” – (Luke 14:9).

Paul’s description of the Mystery of Lawlessness borrows language used for the Little Horn of the seventh chapter of the Book of Daniel and his war against the holy people of God. This is the Apostle’s source of the term ‘katechon’, which is based on the Greek Septuagint translation of the original Aramaic text of the passage in Daniel.

In Daniel 7:18-22, after the sufferings and victory of the “one like a son of man,” the Ancient of Days pronounces judgment for the saints. After the overthrow of the kingdoms of this age, the saints will “possess” or “occupy” (‘kateschon’) the kingdom forevermore.

The translators of the ancient Greek version of the Book of Daniel chose to translate the original Aramaic word ‘khasan' (חֲסַן), which means “to possess, to occupy” (Strong’s Concordance number, H2631), with the Greek verb ‘katechô’.

The Little Horn of the seventh chapter of Daniel represents a malevolent ruler who wages war on the saints “until” the Ancient of Days renders judgment for His people, and the Little Horn loses his dominion. Thereafter, the saints will possess the Kingdom of God forevermore, including the kingdoms of this world. This idea is fundamental to the theology of the Book of Daniel:

• “And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed. And his kingdom will not be left to another people”- (Daniel 2:44, Septuagint).

• “I beheld in the night vision, and behold! One coming with the clouds of heaven as the Son of Man. And he came to the Ancient of days, and was brought near to him. And to him was given the dominion, and the honour, and the kingdom. And all nations, tribes, and languages will serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom will not be destroyed”- (Daniel 7:13-14, Septuagint).

• “And the judgment has sat, and they will remove his dominion to abolish it, and to destroy it utterly. And the kingdom and the power and the greatness of the kings that are under the whole heaven were given to the saints of the Most High. And his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all powers will serve and obey him”- (Daniel 7:26-27, Septuagint).

ALREADY WORKING

The Mystery of Lawlessness is working even now to prepare the way for the Man of Lawlessness. This effort will continue “until his proper season” when this end-time deceiver “will come out of the midst” and be unveiled in the House of God - (2 Thessalonians 2:5-8).

Whether the Mystery of Lawlessness is an impersonal force or a personal being, perhaps one of the spiritual principalities described elsewhere by the Apostle, this question is not addressed in Paul’s passage – (Ephesians 2:2, 6:12).

However, the passage may provide a hint as to the identity of the Mystery of Lawlessness. Paul writes that the Mystery is “working,” which translates the Greek verb ‘energeô’ or ενεργεω (“to work, energize”). Paul uses the related Greek noun ‘energeia’ in 2 Thessalonians 2:9 to describe how the arrival of the Man without law will be “according to the energy [‘energeia’] of Satan.” Whether this mystery is an impersonal force or a personal entity, it is certainly satanic.

There are parallels between the Mystery of Lawlessness described by Paul and the Spirit of Antichrist described in John’s first and second letters. Like the Mystery of Lawlessness, the “Spirit of Antichrist is in the world already,” and this is evidenced by the presence of false teachers in the Church. They are forerunners of the final “Antichrist who is coming” – (1 John 2:18-22, 4:1-3).

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[Citations of Old Testament passages in this article are based on the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint. Text printed in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament. The Septuagint is represented by the Roman numeral for ‘seventy’ or LXX based on the Latin name of the translation, ‘Interpretatio septuaginta virorum’]

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SEE ALSO:

• The Son of Destruction - (Many Christians will abandon the faith when the Lawless One, the Son of Destruction, places himself in the Sanctuary of God)

• Seated in the Sanctuary - (The Man of Lawlessness, the Son of Destruction, will be unveiled when he takes his seat in the House of God - 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4)

• The Spirit of Antichrist - (The Spirit of Antichrist is working to destroy the church through deceptions spread by false teachers and charlatans)

• Le Mystère de l'Anarchie - (Le Mystère de l'Anarchie prépare la voie au déchaînement de l'Homme sans loi et à son attaque contre l'Église - 2 Thessaloniciens 2:5-7)