2nd Thessalonians Chapter 2 verse 4 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 4. - Who opposeth; or, the opposer, taken substantively. The object of opposition is not so much believers, as Christ; he is antichrist, the opponent of Christ. And yet antichrist is not Satan, the great adversary (1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:10), for he is expressly distinguished from him (2 Thessalonians 2:9), but the instrument of Satan. As Satan entered into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of perdition, so does he take possession of the man of sin. And exalteth himself above; or rather, against, in a hostile manner. All that is called God; not only against all the false gods of the heathen, but also against the true God (comp. Daniel 7:25; Daniel 11:36). Or that is worshipped; that is an object of worship. The same word that is used in Acts 17:23, "As I passed by and beheld your devotions" - the objects of your worship. So that he as God. The words "as God" are to be omitted, as not found in the best manuscripts. Sitteth in the temple of God. According to some, the temple of Jerusalem (De Wette, Lunemann, Eadie), either as it then existed or as restored according to the prophecy of Ezekiel But it appears more correct to refer the expression metaphorically to the Christian Church. It is a favourite metaphor of Paul to compare believers in particular, or the Church in general, to the temple of God (comp. 1 Corinthians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 6:19; Ephesians 2:20-22). Showing - exhibiting - himself that he is God. His sitting in the temple of God was an assertion of his divinity; he claimed to be regarded and worshipped as God. This was the crowning act of his impiety; not only, like the Roman emperors, he demanded to be worshipped as one of many gods, but he claimed to himself the prerogative of the Godhead, not only to the exclusion of the false gods of heathenism, but even of the tree God.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(4) Who opposeth and exalteth himself.--The original continues a quasi-substantival form:--"the opposer and exalter of himself"--well-known descriptions (doubtless) of the Antichrist; several of the details are drawn directly from the description of Antiochus in Daniel 11. Being merely descriptive epithets, we are not at liberty to press the present tense, and say that the Man of Sin was already thus acting at the time St. Paul wrote. The word for "the opposer," or "adversary," is a pretty close rendering of the name "Satan," and passed, in ecclesiastical Greek into a synonym for it. The acts here attributed to the Man of Sin are peculiarly Satanic. (Comp. Isaiah 14:12-14; 2Timothy 3:6.) Of course, however, we must not confound Satan himself with his human minister.Above all that is called God.--The translation here is not quite exact. The word "above" in the original is compounded with "exalteth"; it should be, and super-exalteth, or exhalteth himself above measure (2Corinthians 12:7, where the same compound is used) against every God so called. Probably the clause "against every God" is to be taken only with "super-exalteth "; the description "who opposeth" stands absolutely: it is one characteristic of the Man of Sin to be always in opposition, and to have concord with no one. "Every God so called" includes the false gods with the true God (comp. 1Corinthians 8:5): true or false, it matters not to jealous Antichrist, who would have nothing worshipped but himself. This explains the addition of the little clause, "or that is worshipped." Many things received religious homage from men without being called gods; and the original word (sebasma) may perhaps be designed to hint at one such worship, viz., the worship of the Augustus (Sebastos). It would be far-fetched, however, to see in this a direct prophecy of conflict between Antichrist and the Civil Power; although it must be admitted that even the word "gods" is sometimes used of secular rulers (e.g., Psalm 82:1-6; John 10:34), in which sense some take it here. . . .