2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 – Bible Study & Exploration
How Does Satan Work?
(Verses 9-10) Paul makes the association that the man of lawlessness, or Antichrist, will come in accordance with the works of Satan. Anti means “against” or “in place of” Christ.
Satan will try to take the place of Christ. He will attempt to divide people from their belief in Christ and turn them toward himself. He will use the Antichrist to do this with the people of earth.
The Antichrist will have powers of Satan to perform false signs and wonders to mimic Christ. It’ll be these counterfeit miracles that he’ll use during the Tribulation period to turn all people to worship him.
He’s Also Known as the Sower of Doubt
In the meantime, Satan and the power of lawlessness that we already see in the world will use one of his favorite and most powerful weapons to try and turn you and I away from Christ.
Satan will attempt to carefully and unnoticeably drive the wedge of doubt between us and the believers in Jesus. He has mastered the use of this weapon throughout the ages. In fact, let’s go back to the very beginning to see how crafty he is in sowing seeds of doubt.
The scene is the Garden of Eden and the serpent is Satan. He’s gently planting his seeds of doubt in the mind of Eve so she’ll believe something other than what she’s been told by God.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
Genesis 3:1
Now the first seed of doubt has been planted and is doing its evil work in Eve’s mind. She begins questioning what God said and meant. Satan isn’t finished. He will plant another seed that will get Eve to do exactly what he intended.
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:4-5
Satan works is accomplished. The wedge of doubt has been placed between Eve and God and sin committed. Without fanfare and even a notice of what Satan was trying to do, Eve and Adam have been deceived.
This is why Jesus and all the prophets through the ages have warned, “watch not to be deceived!”
What is the Lie?
(Verses 11-12) The lie is any doctrine that opposes the truth of God’s Word and His word alone. It’s not something that opposes the words of men, such as organized religions.
The world is filled with lies and deceptions. Jesus spoke to the unbelieving Pharisee’s of His day saying,
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
John 8:44
The most dangerous lies are the ones that oppose God and have you turn your attention to things other than Christ. The pulpits of today are filled with lies. Pastor’s leading their people unknowingly in a false direction thinking all the time that they’re being led to Christ.
“Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”
1 John 2:21-22
“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.”
1 John 4:20
God sends powerful delusions to those who delight in wickedness so that they will believe the lie before anything else. These people become prisoners to their own sins because they purposely chose to oppose God and flaunt their sins in His sight.
We see these people everywhere today more and more, unabashedly shameless of their sexual immorality and sins of idolatry. This rising tide of evil will continue to increase as we approach the final hour and watch all of prophecy come together like never before.
It’s happening just as God perfectly spoke through all the prophets and His Son Jesus Christ. Don’t let anyone deceive you!