Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope: Episode 3
On this third episode of Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope, Gary continues his study of 2 Thessalonians 2 and the “man of lawlessness.”
II. The temple
A. The temple was still standing when Paul wrote his letters to the Thessalonians. “[T]he hearer would naturally think of the Jerusalem temple, which would stand for two decades more.”
B. The NT does not say anything about a rebuilt temple.
C. There is no indication that Paul was describing a rebuilt temple.
D. Some have argued that Paul’s use of “temple” is a metaphor for the church: “For we are the temple of the living God” (2 Cor. 6:16).
- It’s this understanding of “temple” that leads some commentators to argue that Paul is describing apostasy in the church.
- Paul warned that “savage wolves will come in among you [the church at Ephesus], not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:29-30).
a. If this is the right interpretation, Paul was describing what was taking place in his day; it’s not necessarily an end-time occurrence. Even so, what was happening at Ephesus has happened at other times. John mentions similar events in Revelation 2-3, even mentioning Ephesus (2:1-7).
b. Second Thessalonians 2 has been used as an attack on the Papacy and the Roman Catholic Church.
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