テサロニケの信徒への手紙二2:3-5 2 Thessalonians 2:3-5,

この者は、すべて神と呼ばれたり拝まれたりするものに反抗して、傲慢にふるまい、ついには、神殿に座り込み、自分こそは神であると宣言するのです。（二テサロニケ2:4）

パウロがこの箇所を記すに際して参考にしたと思われる重要な聖書の箇所は、旧約聖書のダニエル書11章36節です。そこでは、ダニエルに終わりの時についての啓示が与えられ、終わりの時までにどのようなことが起こるかということが示されています。すなわち、ダニエル書11章36節には「あの王はほしいままにふるまい、いよいよ驕り高ぶって、どのような神よりも自分を高い者と考える。すべての神にまさる神に向かって恐るべきことを口にし、怒りの時が終わるまで栄え続ける」とあります。「あの王」とは、直接には具体的な一人の歴史上の人物を指していると考えられます。それは、紀元前175年から164年まで王の位にあったセレウコス朝シリアの第8代目の王である。アンティオコス4世エピファネスのことでありましょう。セレウコス朝シリアとはアレクサンドロス大王の帝国が分裂してできた王国のうちの一つです。このアンティオコス4世エピファネスは、エジプトを征服しようとして失敗すると、その帰りにエルサレムに侵入して占領し、旧約聖書に基づくユダヤ教の儀式を禁止し、エルサレムの神殿でギリシャ神話のゼウスの神を礼拝させようとした暴君でした。ダニエル書の預言は、部分的にはこのアンティオコス4世エピファネスによって実現したと言うことができます。

しかし、旧約聖書の預言は、最終的にはキリストの再臨によって完成されると理解するべきです。ですから、キリストも、先ほど引用しましたマタイによる福音書の24章15節で「預言者ダニエルの言った憎むべき破壊者が、聖なる場所に立つのを見たら」と言っておられます。つまり、終わりの日が来る前に、ダニエルの預言が成就して「憎むべき破壊者が、聖なる場所に立つ」というのです。そこで、パウロは、ダニエル書の預言やキリストの御言葉に基づいて、終わりの日の前に「不法の者」が「すべて神と呼ばれたり拝まれたりするものに反抗して、傲慢にふるまい、ついには、神殿に座り込み、自分こそは神であると宣言する」のだと教えているのです。　　　　　　　　　　　　　（12月10日の説教より）

“If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” is a line from a poem by the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. When we read these words, we imagine the poet quietly waiting for spring. However, this passage is the last line of a poem called “Ode to the West Wind,” which sings of the raging west wind, and it does not seem to be a poem about quietly waiting for spring. Someone once commented that the phrase, “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” suggests an active, intense force that is not simply enduring winter, but is using the energy of winter to renew itself and prepare for the arrival of spring. It goes without saying that when we encounter suffering, it is important to endure it. But the Bible also teaches us a more positive way forward: not only to bear suffering patiently, but also to let the energy of it renew us and strengthen our hope for the peace to come. The words in Romans 5:3-4, “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,” may indicate such a positive way forward through suffering.

The Bible teaches about the various tribulations experienced by Christians. In particular, the New Testament Gospels also tell us in considerable detail what tribulation will be like before the completion of salvation in the Last Day. For a rather lengthy quote, I would like to read chapter 24 of Matthew’s Gospel to see how Jesus Christ himself taught about the tribulation before the Last Day. First of all, Christ told the first portents of the Last Day. I will read Matthew’s Gospel 24:3-14.

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.”

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

We are then told what will happen as the final portents of the Last Day. I will read Matthew 24:15-28.

“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

 

And after these great tribulations, Christ will come again in the Last Day. I will read Matthew 24:29-31.

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

It goes without saying that this “Son of Man” is Jesus Christ. The reason why I have quoted from the Gospel at such length today is to help you understand that Paul’s teaching in today’s passage, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-5, is consistent with the teaching of Christ in the Gospel.

Verse 3 of today’s passage says: “Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.” As I mentioned last week, the Christian church in Thessalonica was a church eagerly awaiting Christ’s Second Coming, that is, Christ’s return in the Last Day for the Last Judgement. However, in their eagerness, some began to preach the false teaching that Christ had already returned and that the Last Day had already arrived. The objective fact was that the Second Coming of Christ had not happened, but some subjective, inner experience had led to a self-serving interpretation of his Second Coming.

Therefore, Paul warns not be misled by those who preach such a false teaching, saying in the verse 2 before today’s passage, “not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.” In verse 3, he follows this up with an even stronger warning: “Let no one deceive you in any way.” Christ also warned his disciples about the Last Day, “See that no one leads you astray.” The question of when the Last Day will come is something we must be very careful not to be deceived by rumour and speculation. As an indispensable portent of Christ’s Second Coming, Paul writes in the second half of verse 3 of today’s passage: “For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.” And this “man of lawlessness” is further explained in verse 4: “who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.” So let us consider carefully what these verses mean.

It seems that “the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,” is a prophecy of one event. “The man of lawlessness” or “the son of destruction” will arise, take power, mislead the people and stir them up to “the rebellion” against God. By “the man of lawlessness” we do not mean merely one who transgresses the laws of the world, but one who transgresses God’s law to love God and one’s neighbour. Christ also says in Matthew 24:12, which I have just quoted, that “lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” It is this “man of lawlessness” who is the source of the infestation of lawlessness, characterised, as in verse 4 of today’s passage, by he “who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”

The key biblical passage to which Paul seems to have been referring when writing this passage is Daniel 11:36 in the Old Testament. There, Daniel is given a revelation about the Last Day and what will happen before the Last Day. Namely, Daniel 11:36 says: “And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done.” “The king” is thought to refer directly to one specific historical figure. That would be Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the eighth king of Seleucid Syria, who was on the throne from 175 to 164 BC. Seleucid Syria was one of the kingdoms formed by the division of the empire of Alexander the Great. This Antiochus IV Epiphanes was a tyrant who, on his return from a failed attempt to conquer Egypt, invaded and occupied Jerusalem, banned Old Testament Jewish rituals and tried to have the Greek god Zeus worshiped in the temple in Jerusalem. The prophecy of Daniel can be said to have been partly fulfilled by this Antiochus IV Epiphanes. However, the Old Testament prophecies should be understood as ultimately being completed by the second coming of Christ. Therefore, Christ also said in Matthew 24:15, which I have just quoted, “When you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place.” In other words, before the Last Day comes, Daniel’s prophecy will be fulfilled and “the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel,” will “stand in the holy place.” So, based on Daniel’s prophecy and Christ’s words, Paul tells us that before the Last Day “the man of lawlessness” “opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”

There are two things to note about these words of Paul. First, that “the man of lawlessness” “opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship.” This does not just mean rebelling against the true God as taught in the Bible, but against “every so-called god or object of worship” as believed by the people of this world. This would mean suppressing and persecuting all beliefs other than worshipping this “man of lawlessness.” Secondly, “he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God,” does not necessarily refer to a specific temple building, such as the temple in Jerusalem. Rather, it means that the figurative phrase “he takes his seat in the temple of God,” describes the way of “the man of lawlessness” who rebels against God, who declares that he is God, forces people to believe in him and suppresses any other faith. This is also the expression in Christ’s word that “the abomination of desolation … standing in the holy place.” Literally, it does not mean that “the abomination of desolation” stands in a particular place, such as a Christian church, but that the expression “standing in the holy place” refers to “the abomination of desolation” trying to elevate himself to the status of God and reign as God.

What exactly does this Pauline teaching refer to? If we look at human history, we can think of several examples of people who have had themselves worshipped as gods, such as Roman emperors in ancient times and, in modern times, Japanese emperors before the Second World War. Even if he did not call himself a god, someone like Hitler in Germany, who tried to dominate the Christian church and the nations by distorting and interpreting the Bible to the advantage of the German people, would come close. However, these rulers did their work of lawlessness in certain areas of the earth, such as Europe and East Asia. Just before the Last Day, however, such lawlessness will probably be carried out temporarily on a global scale. Namely, such a thorough tribulation that there will no longer be any refuge on earth from “the man of lawlessness” who proclaims himself to be God, will strike those who believe in Christ. When we imagine such a day coming, we tremble with fear and our eyes seem to go dark. The time will come when “the man of lawlessness” will rule on earth as if he were god, even if only temporarily. But it is also, according to biblical teaching, a sure sign of Christ’s Second Coming and of the Last Judgement. That is, as verse 8, a little later in today’s passage, says: “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.”

We Christians are walking towards the completion of salvation. And the history of the world is also moving towards the Last Day when salvation will be completed. But that progress is not as simple as the world gradually getting better and better, people coming to love one another and a world of peace coming. Rather, the completion of salvation of the world, as described in the Gospels and in today’s passage, will come on the Last Day after unprecedented tribulation. Therefore, Christians must be prepared for great tribulation and look forward to the completion of salvation in the Last Day. To use a seasonal analogy, we have to go through a winter of great tribulation in order for the spring of the Kingdom of God, or the Spring of heaven, to arrive. And to prepare us for the great tribulation, we are given suffering day by day. This is because God wants us to learn endurance by giving us daily suffering, so that we can become people of character and hope. The phrase “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” can be paraphrased in Christian terms as “If suffering comes, can hope be far behind?” We want to walk firmly believing that the present time of various hardships is also a stage on the way to the completion of salvation.