Hard Questions
A few weeks ago in the Sunday Afternoon Forum class, a class member asked a question about 2 Thessalonians 2:7. This verse says, “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.” When I first heard the reference mentioned, I knew we were on our way to a controversial scripture. The Forum Class often works this way, and it is one of the reasons it can be difficult. People ask questions about verses where they can get no certain answers from the commentaries they read, or if they do not read commentaries, it is just a strange sounding configuration of words and phrases that are difficult to decipher.
Reading this verse in the context of the subject matter in both the end of 1 Thessalonians 5 and the entire letter of 2 Thessalonians, it is obvious it is not talking about ordinary daily experiences of Christians. This looks forward to a future time and the way that God chooses to end the present economy and take us into the consummation of the ages and then to the eternity of heaven with Christ. For centuries, what this consummation will be and how it unfolds has been the subject of controversy. My purpose today is not to give an opinion of 2 Thessalonians 2:7, but to tell you the controversies live on and there are good, devoted Bible believing Christians on one or more sides of the explanations of the text.
Going back to a few hundred years after Christ, confusion reigned. Admittedly, there was not as much discussion of eschatology as we have today as this part of Systematic Theology has exploded with Bible conferences on prophecy that produce much more heat than light. There was a time when theologians thought these passages and especially Revelation were impossible to explain, and that the Revelation may not even be a part of the biblical canon. In the ensuing centuries, God opened understanding of the scriptures. He did not give us new revelation since God completed the canon before the end of the first century. The original authors of scripture knew what they were writing but as is typical with many Christians, the following generations of Christians did not dedicate as much to the study of them as heresies were bouncing around like many balls in a children’s playhouse.
What to do when these questions come, and the questioner already has a decided opinion borne out of many controversies? Often the solution is to stick to a favored system whether there are problems in other areas with that system. Quite frankly, I find this to be where we are. I do not find any of our systematic schemes to be perfect and without problems. This includes our precious premillennial pretribulational rapture. However, I am convinced of some aspects of this that I will not negotiate. The first is that Christ will return. This is the fuel for continued dedication to His work. Secondly, God is faithful to fulfill His promises to Old Testament Israel. These promises are not to the church. They are to the nation of ethnic Jews who will enter a kingdom headquartered in Jerusalem and governed by Jesus Christ the righteous king of all ages. Gentile believers in Christ will aid in the rule of this kingdom but it will be primarily Jewish in nature. Remember, Jehovah God of Israel is the same God of the Gentiles. He does not change.
Thirdly, and I must stop here for space, this kingdom will exist for one thousand years before God purges the creation by fire. At this time, God creates a new heaven and new earth that are perfect and will remain forever. There are many details within these major points to argue. While I am convinced of some and not of others, rabid dogmatism for or against centuries old differences do not alter the salvation of those whose faith is in Christ and Him alone. I will continue to answer questions, but it is doubtful on this subject I will die on anything other than these three hills.
Pastor V. Mark Smith