John Calvin Commentary 2 Thessalonians 2:3

"let no man beguile you in any wise: for [it will not be,] except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition," — 2 Thessalonians 2:3 (ASV)

Let no man deceive you. So that they may not groundlessly promise themselves the arrival of the joyful day of redemption in such a short time, he presents to them a melancholy prediction regarding the future scattering of the Church. This discourse entirely corresponds with what Christ said to His disciples when they asked Him about the end of the world. For He exhorts them to prepare themselves to endure hard conflicts (Matthew 24:6), and after He has spoken of the most grievous and previously unheard-of calamities, by which the earth was to be reduced almost to a desert, He adds that the end is not yet, but that these things are the beginnings of sorrows. In the same way, Paul declares that believers must wage spiritual warfare for a long time before gaining a triumph.

This is, however, a remarkable passage and one highly worthy of observation. This was a grievous and dangerous temptation that might shake even the most steadfast believers and cause them to lose their footing: to see the Church, established with such labor and difficulty to a considerable standing, suddenly collapse as if torn down by a tempest. Paul, therefore, fortifies in advance the minds not only of the Thessalonians but of all the godly, so that when the Church would be in a scattered condition, they might not be alarmed, as if it were something new and unexpected.

However, since interpreters have twisted this passage in various ways, we must first endeavor to ascertain Paul’s true meaning. He says that the day of Christ will not come until the world has fallen into apostasy and the reign of Antichrist has gained a foothold in the Church. For the interpretation that some have given of this passage, referring it to the downfall of the Roman Empire, is too foolish to require a lengthy refutation.

I am also surprised that so many writers, otherwise learned and perceptive, have blundered in such an easy matter—except that when one person makes a mistake, others often follow in droves without thinking. Paul, therefore, uses the term apostasy to mean—a treacherous departure from God, not by one or a few individuals, but one that would spread far and wide among many people.

For when apostasy is mentioned without qualification, it cannot be restricted to a few people. Now, no one can be called an apostate except those who have previously professed Christ and the gospel. Paul, therefore, predicts a general revolt of the visible Church. “The Church must be reduced to an unsightly and dreadful state of ruin before its full restoration is achieved.”

From this we can readily gather how useful Paul's prediction is. It might have seemed that something so suddenly overthrown and lying so long in ruins could not be God's building, if Paul had not long before indicated that this would happen.

Furthermore, many today, when they consider the long-continued dispersion of the Church, begin to waver, as if this were not ordained by God's purpose. The Romanists also, to justify the tyranny of their idol, use this pretext: that it was not possible for Christ to forsake His spouse.

The weak, however, find something here to rest on when they learn that the deplorable state of affairs they see in the Church was foretold long ago. Meanwhile, the impudence of the Romanists is openly exposed, since Paul declares that a revolt will come after the world has been brought under Christ’s authority.

Now, we shall soon see why the Lord has permitted the Church—or at least what appeared to be the Church—to fall away so shamefully.

Has been revealed. The idea contrived about Nero—that he was taken from the world, destined to return and harass the Church with his tyranny—was no better than an old wives' tale. And yet, the minds of the ancients were so captivated that they imagined Nero would be Antichrist.

Paul, however, does not speak of one individual but of a kingdom to be seized by Satan, so that he might set up a seat of abomination in the midst of God’s temple—which we see accomplished in Popery.

The revolt, it is true, has spread more widely. For Muhammad, an apostate, turned away his followers, the Turks, from Christ. All heretics have broken the unity of the Church with their sects, and thus there have been corresponding revolts from Christ.

However, after warning that there would be such a scattering that most people would revolt from Christ, Paul adds something more serious: there would be such confusion that Satan's vicar would hold supreme power in the Church and preside there in God's place. He describes that reign of abomination under the name of a single person because it is only one reign, though one ruler succeeds another.

My readers now understand that all the sects that have diminished the Church from the beginning have been like streams of revolt, diverting water from the right course. But the sect of Muhammad was like a violent flood that swept away about half of the Church by its force. It also remained for Antichrist to infect the remaining part with his poison. Thus, we see with our own eyes that this memorable prediction of Paul has been confirmed by events.

In the interpretation I am presenting, there is nothing forced. Believers in that age dreamed they would be taken to heaven after enduring troubles for a short time.

Paul, however, on the other hand, foretells that after foreign enemies have troubled them for some time, they will have more evils to endure from domestic enemies. This is because many who professed attachment to Christ would be swept into base treachery, and because the temple of God itself would be polluted by sacrilegious tyranny, so that Christ’s greatest enemy would exercise dominion there.

The term revelation is used here to mean the manifest possession of tyranny, as if Paul had said that the day of Christ would not come until this tyrant had openly revealed himself and had, as it were, intentionally overturned the entire order of the Church.