2 Thessalonians 2:7: For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
They set their eyes on world domination. They committed themselves to using their own religion to expand their kingdom through violence, to recruit through propaganda, and to intimidate through gruesome public executions – primarily beheadings but also public crucifixions. They are synonymous with viciousness – massacres, rapes, and torture.They are brutally ruthless. They specifically target Christians when they are in their area. It sounds like ISIS but it was actually … the Roman Empire. It is within that context that Jesus of Nazareth came and the New Testament was written. Jesus and the disciples modeled what it was to serve God in an oppressive and violent state. So, what is that model? We turn to the Bible for answers by examining:
- Historical Context: Written in AD 51-52, 2 Thessalonians 1:1 indicates that the book was written by the apostle Paul, probably along with Silas and Timothy. The church in Thessalonica still had some misconceptions about the Day of the Lord. They thought it had come already so they stopped with their work. They were being persecuted badly. Paul wrote to clear up misconceptions and to comfort them. The Book of 2 Thessalonians is filled with information that explains the end times. It also exhorts us not to be idle but to work.
- Grammatical Usage: “Hidden” or “Musterion” in the Greek means, “secret or mystery” which isn’t to imply unknowable but not yet revealed; “letteth” or “Katecho” means to “restrain.”
- Literal Application: For the secret of lawlessness is already at work. But the restrainer will also be at work until such time as He is taken out of the way.
- Contextual Interpretation: Who or what is restraining the satanically empowered movement against God’ law? Some say the Roman Empire, but the Empire has long vanished. Another suggests Satan himself, but why would he withhold any degree of evil if he has such a reign? Others suggest human government for which there is Biblical evidence, but some governments actually promote evil. The Holy Spirit is the only Person with sufficient power to do restraining. In fact the Greek phrase, “the one who…holds it back” is in the masculine, signifying a person – the Person of the Holy Spirit.
When the Holy Spirit’s restraint is no longer applied, time and again through history (fall of the Roman Empire, Nazi Germany, killing fields of Cambodia, ISIS in Iraq and Syria) we witness evil unrestrained against the common good and specifically against the Christian faithful. Paul’s instruction is to not stop working for the Kingdom – holding up in cloisters under some misimpression, but continue the work of the Kingdom – advancing Christ’s church knowing the gates of Hell cannot prevail against us (Matthew 16:18).
So, Satan works his mystery according to Eph. 2:2 & Rom. 7:5 in his slaves, just as God works His will in the saints. Thus we have two programs, running parallel in time, which reveal the following features:
1. God’s program is eternal hence it antedates Satan;
2. Being eternal, God’s program also survives that of Satan;
3. Both programs are in a mystery (as defined in our verse);
4. Each energizes within its own subjects;
5. God’s is more powerful, and thus:
a. He is able to restrain the operation of Satan’s program
b. Rescue His elect from the grip of the devil
6. God’s program is one of godliness while Satan’s program is lawlessness (rebellion);
7. At the close of the current age, our Lord will totally withdraw the restraint of His Spirt to allow lawlessness to have its fullest expression.
The Holy Spirit is seen here holding the forces of lawlessness in restraint, thus to secure the full fruition of God’s program. The text does NOT say the Holy Spirit is taken from the earth. THAT is not possible given the Holy Spirit is God and God is omnipresent. The text does say the work of the Spirit is taken from the midst of the situation only in terms of His restraining influence – an example we have in present-day Iraq and Syria.
- Scriptural Comparison: The Bible says a lot about warfare in general. The words “war” and “battle” are found over 350 times in the Old Testament. We find God commanding war many times. In 2 Samuel 22:35, David says the Lord taught him to fight. In Joshua 3:9-10, God commands Joshua to conquer the Canaanites. In Exodus 15:3, God is called “a warrior” after defeating the Egyptian army. In many places in Scripture, the Lord uses warfare as an instrument of judgment against sinful nations (e.g., Numbers 31:1-24).
What we learn from such passages is that war is necessary at times. When the Philistines took up arms against Israel in 1 Samuel 17:1, Israel had to either fight a necessary war or capitulate to the enemy. The same was true in 1938 when the Germans marched into Austria. In a fallen world, war is inevitable (Luke 21:9-10).
However, the Bible does not condone war indiscriminately. Most of the scriptures cited so far have dealt with Israel in the Old Testament. To establish Israel in the Promised Land, war was necessary. At the same time, God used Israel militarily to judge the idolatrous nations of Canaan (Deuteronomy 18:12). These are two significant distinctions in that we need to make a clear difference between a holy war and a just war. A true holy war is one specifically commanded by God to Old Testament Israel. The commands to do battle in the Old Testament were for a particular group of people for a particular time, for a particular purpose. That purpose has been accomplished, therefore no one can claim a “holy war” today.
The Christian’s battle is spiritual (Ephesians 6:12; 2 Corinthians 10:4). This means, among other things, that God’s people do not use physical means to coerce people into God’s Kingdom (whether at the point of a gun or a law). However, does the Christian emphasis on a spiritual war mean that physical warfare between nations is always avoidable? Do we allow aggression to go unchecked? Should we ignore hostility and injustice? No, there is a place today for a just war.
A justified war is one that is waged on behalf of justice. The goal of a just war is peace. Romans 13:1-5 gives us the God-ordained role of government in society:
1) to govern with authority from God (v1-2)
2) to praise the good in society (v4)
3) to punish the evildoer in society (v4)
4) to bear the sword and execute wrath against wrongdoers (v4)
Christian responses to ISIS:
1. Responding with force: the just cause.
Jesus is the Prince of Peace but He was not a pacifist. On the night Jesus was betrayed, He asked His followers to bring swords. They had two, which Jesus claimed was enough (Luke 22:37-39). As Jesus was being arrested, Peter sliced off the ear of one of the servants of the high priest (John 18:10). Jesus healed the man instantly (Luke 22:51) and commanded Peter to put away his weapon (John 18:11). Peter’s ownership of a sword was not condemned, only his wrongful use.
Of Jesus Himself we read, “Out of His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.” (Revelation 19:15).
To let someone murder when it is in your power to stop them is completely contrary to Christian conviction. With ISIS on the move and seeking to destroy entire ethnic groups, it is clearly wrong not to oppose ISIS with force, hence we support the application of Romans 13:4.
2. Responding with perseverance: fear of God over man
❝Proverbs 29:25 “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.” King Saul once disobeyed God and told Samuel the prophet that “I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them” (1 Sam 15:24). Sadly, the fear of man over the fear of God causes many to needlessly be afraid and often causes us to disobey. When we fear what man can do, we are showing God that we do not trust Him. I love what Christian missionary Jim Elliot once said that “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”
There have been Christians in Iraq since the 1st century when two disciples of Jesus brought the gospel there. As recently as 2003 Iraq had 1.5 million Christians. There are now less than 100,000 Christians in Iraq. Father Rian, Chaldean Catholic priest in Turkey said, “What we are living is the last chapter of an ancient story,” prompting Christianity Today to soberly ask, “Is this the end of Christianity in the Middle East?”
Christians have endured persecution century through century. They maintained their faithful witness while recognizing their severe limits. And they have rightly relied upon brothers and sisters to support prayerfully and tangibly in the perseverance of the Gospel, hence…
3. Responding with compassion and hope: tangible help
“Ministry” is from the Greek word diakoneo, meaning “to serve” or douleuo, meaning “to serve as a slave.” In the New Testament, ministry is seen as service to God and to other people in His name. Jesus provided the pattern for Christian ministry—He came, not to receive service, but to give it (see Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45; John 13:1-17). Ministry should certainly place emphasis on sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others so they can come to know Him and receive Him as personal Savior, go on to experience Him as Lord of their life, and go even further to know Christ as the essence of their Life (see John 1:12; Colossians 2:6-7; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 3:8-10). Ministry can, and should, include ministering to the physical, emotional, mental, vocational, and financial needs of others. Jesus did, and so should we!
4. Responding prayerfully: voice and support against persecution
Persecution is nothing new to the Church of Jesus Christ. She has endured persecution through the centuries and ironically, the Church actually thrived under persecution. However, the intensity and widespread recent persecutions signal a possible new era in the life of the Church. The international Catholic charity, “Aid to the Church in Need,” termed the rising tide of anti-Christian persecution in several parts of the world “catastrophic”, pointing out that Christians remain the most persecuted religious minority.
We are not powerless in the face of evil: we pray for our enemies. Matthew 5:44-45 “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
The difference between Christianity and other false religions and beliefs, like ISIS, is that instead of hating and killing our enemies, we pray for our enemies. When we do this we show that we are the sons and daughters of God. Remember, Jesus died for us while we were still His enemies and wicked sinners (Rom 5:8, 10). There is nothing in all the world like Christianity. As hard as it is, we should be praying that these terrorists repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ because we know it’s not God’s will that anyone, even terrorists, die in their sins (2 Pet 3:9).
Jesus said, “…but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:33). How can we not speak up in the face of evil? How can we not support our brethren caught in this horrific evil? How can we not support with tangible Christ-like relief for the purpose of spreading the Gospel?
Paul often thanked the churches who tangibly supported his ministry (Philippians 4:13-20) and, given opportunity, we too should be counted among those who lend tangible support to our brothers and sisters in need.
Conclusion: Here at Grace EV Free Church, one of our five core values is that every believer needs to be rightly related to the World. This involves a ‘beyond’ focus through a life of penetrating witness, characterized by an ever-increasing movement from being impacted by the world to impacting the world for Christ. As churches supported Paul, so we need to support those who are ministering Christ even in the most troubled parts of the world. It is to this end we should commit support of just action, perseverance, compassion and prayer.