3Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God
8And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
(2 Thessalonians 2:3–4; 8–12)
This passage is often cited in connection with the end times and the second coming of our Lord. Human history will culminate in the reign of the so-called “Antichrist,” referred to here in the quoted passage from the epistle to the Thessalonians as “the man of sin.” He is also referred to as the “son of perdition,” a term that appears only twice in the New Testament: here and in John 17, where Jesus utters his high priestly prayer:
12While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. (John 17:12)
This term refers to Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus. This Judas is said to have been the only one among the circle of disciples who was from Judea. Various sources draw a connection to Keriot or Kariot, a small town near Hebron; the other disciples were all from Galilee, the region where Jesus had also grown up. In addition to this statement by Jesus, the Bible gives us a few specific references to Judas:
6This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein
(John 12:6)
Judas was, therefore, greedy and corrupt. In Mark 14, Judas’s decision to betray Jesus seems to be linked to Mary’s anointing of Jesus in Bethany. The so-called waste of the very costly ointment of spikenard, as Judas described it, seems to have triggered something in Judas’s heart that led him to decide to betray Jesus.
26Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly
(John 13:26–27)
As a disciple of Jesus, Judas had been accepted into the inner circle and appointed as an apostle. Not only must he have witnessed the signs that Jesus performed, but he must also have been sent out, filled with the power to heal the sick and cast out demons (see Matthew 10:1-4, Mark 3:14-19, Luke 6:12-16). He thus experienced everything firsthand and yet chose to betray Him. The same is true of the culture of that time; Jesus’ contemporaries, too, came to know Him unmistakably through all the signs He performed, and yet the vast majority of them rejected Jesus and persecuted the early church in Jerusalem in no uncertain terms. The general expectation of the Messiah had become linked to the desire to finally be freed from Roman rule. All four Gospels describe the entry into Jerusalem; it must have brought with it immense euphoria—now the moment had come for the Messiah to drive the Romans out of the land and restore the kingdom of David. When it became clear immediately afterward that Jesus was not going to fulfill this expectation, the atmosphere shifted to the opposite; just a few days later, the cry of “Crucify Him!” rang out. This same dynamic must also have played a role in Judas’s heart when, instead of assuming his role as the great liberator, Jesus began to wash the disciples’ feet; it is, in fact, immediately after this event that the devil himself fills Judas’s heart (see John 13:1–30). The great pitfall was a misplaced expectation of the future based on Jewish tradition rather than on the Bible. Judaism at that time expected an earthly kingdom, whereas Jesus had a heavenly kingdom to offer. This is what Jesus declared to Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea at that time:
36Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. 37Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
(John 18:36–37)
Instead of a physical fulfillment of promises linked to Jerusalem and the temple, Jesus points to a heavenly kingdom.
And now back to the opening passage. Even today, we see once again that there is supposed to be a physical fulfillment of “biblical” promises; the establishment of the modern State of Israel in 1948 is said to constitute the basis for this. Especially within the evangelical segments of the church, particularly in the West, there is a renewed belief in a physical kingdom in an earthly Jerusalem with a restored temple as the centre of future worship and as the residence of the Son of David, from which the world will receive peace. The people of Israel would once again play a key role in this. Instead of a New Testament eschatology—based on the Bible as a whole and focused on a spiritual kingdom with the New Jerusalem at its centre—many have adopted an eschatology based on Jewish tradition and Talmudic interpretations of the Old Testament, without taking into account the New Covenant offered to us in Christ and the way Jesus and the apostles describe the future. The big question for me is whether this body of thought might turn out to be the lie that Paul warns against in the text. What if it turns out that even now, Jesus does not meet the false expectations arising from an eschatology based on Jewish tradition? The Jews in Jesus’ time rejected Him because of this deception; perhaps this also played a role in the case of Judas, the only disciple from Judea. Judaism today still does this; they refuse to believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah.
Characteristic of this line of thinking— which is widely held among many Christians—is the belief that, upon His return, Jesus will ultimately fulfill everything that people believe the Old Testament prophecies promise. He will establish the Kingdom of God on earth, with Jerusalem and a rebuilt temple at its centre, and thus with the people of Israel and the Levitical priesthood at its centre. This view assumes that all of God’s promises will be fulfilled because they are said to be unconditionally intended for Israel; the church, at most, will play a supporting role. When Jesus confronts the prevailing ideas about the Kingdom of God at that time, He speaks of the necessity of being born again—that is, born of God—which is a spiritual, not a physical, reality. If that was true for Nicodemus (see John 3:1–21), then it is still true today—even for present-day physical Israel—and the promised Kingdom of God is intended exclusively for those who are in Christ.
11He came unto his own(his people, and his own(his countrymen) received him not. 12But as many as received him(both Jews and Gentiles), to them gave he power to become(or to be) the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
(John 1:11–13)
God’s people, therefore, consist of those who believe in Jesus and are born of God and are thus His children. In John’s account—both in the Gospel of John and in the epistles he wrote—there is no reference whatsoever to a physical fulfillment of promises; everything is centred on Jesus. Seven times Jesus explains that He is the one who matters, not a physical Israel. The Gospel of John contains seven “I am” statements:
– the bread of life (John 6:35) (without Jesus, there is no satisfaction)
– the light of the world (John 8:12) (without Jesus, only darkness)
– the door (John 10:9) (without Jesus, no access)
– the good shepherd (John 10:11) (without Jesus, no guidance or leadership)
– the resurrection and the life (John 11:25-26) (without Jesus, only death)
– the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6) (without Jesus, no access to the Father)
– the true vine (John 15:1-2) (Jesus is the true Israel)
All eyes seem to be focused once again on Israel and the Middle East and what is set to happen there in the near future. In this process, we are slowly but surely losing our clear perspective on Jesus—and by that I mean Jesus alone. In our eschatology, Jesus and the present reality of the Kingdom of God should take centre stage. Jesus is seated today at the right hand of the Father; He therefore reigns today from the heavenly Jerusalem. Focusing on Israel slowly but surely robs us of our perspective on the all-surpassing new covenant in Christ. Here are a few more scriptural references from the Epistle to the Hebrews, addressed to Paul’s Jewish contemporaries, which should speak for themselves:
6But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. 7For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
13In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old (obsolete). Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
(Hebrews 8:6–7; 13)
2looking unto Jesus (alone)the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
(Hebrews 12:2)
22but ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. 25See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 26whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29for our God is a consuming fire.
(Hebrews 12:22–29)
If I then return to the passage at the beginning of this discourse, to Paul’s assertion that deception is linked to receiving a love for the truth, and that it is God Himself who offers us not only the truth but also seems to offer us the lie—then this is a kind of test for our hearts. God does not force us; He leaves the choice up to us. The choice to place Israel back at the centre of our faith is a choice for the Law and the desire to fulfill it in our own strength, and it is equivalent to clinging to the inferior old covenant, no matter how good the intention may be. This was the dilemma that the Jews who had come to faith—that is, the Hebrews—had to deal with. In their day, the temple still stood, and all the activities surrounding the temple service were still part of daily life. The vast majority of Jews held fast to these practices, and this was also true of the Jews in Jerusalem who had come to faith in Christ.
5But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
(Acts 15:5)
20And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:
(Acts 21:20)
The Jewish believers lived at a time when everything related to the old covenant was still in existence, even though they had already become part of the new covenant in Christ. One could say that during this phase, God tolerated the continuation of these practices as long as the remainder of the old covenant had not yet been destroyed. As we have read, Paul indicates that what has become old or obsolete is about to disappear; the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in the year 70 AD definitively put an end to this dichotomy. From that moment on, the old covenant was definitively gone. To believe today that we must return to a physical temple in an earthly Jerusalem and a physical people of Israel is tantamount to wanting to reverse the judgment that God brought upon the small remnant of Israel at that time. In doing so, we are effectively saying that God did not act correctly at that time and must now retrace His steps, restore the (inferior) old covenant to its former glory, and that the (superior) new covenant is insufficient for us humans—and certainly not for Israel and the Jews. I hear it very often: “God has a plan for Israel.” What does Jesus say about this?
16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
(John 3:16-17)
From the very beginning, God had a plan for the world; Israel was only allowed to play a temporary role in it, but with the coming of Jesus, the specific role of ancient Israel—linked to the Old Covenant—came to an end. The mission has changed; this is what Jesus commanded the newly formed church:
19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
(Matthew 28:19–20)
Jesus Christ alone, and God’s plan for this world, is central point; it is all about Him.
