Connected in The Word 11-5-25
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. 2 Thessalonians 2:8
If my memory serves me correctly (sometimes it doesn’t), in my 10 years of being an LCMS pastor, and my 27+ years of working fulltime in the church, I don’t think I’ve ever preached a sermon, led a Bible class, or written a devotion on the verse above. I think at the very least it qualifies as an interesting verse and could even be labeled a tough verse to understand. When you stumble upon a tough verse or teaching in the Bible, I suggest you read it in context, consider the wider teachings of the Scriptures, or talk to your pastor (they love talking to people about the Word).
I’ll be honest, when the Scriptures talk about the man of lawlessness, the son of perdition, or the antichrist I often don’t have definitive answers for people. It’s a little confusing even for the most brilliant theologians. So, when I come to “tough” sections of Scripture, I stick to focusing on the Truth that the Spirit is CLEARLY revealing in the verse and in all of Scripture. That Truth revealed above is simply this: The breath (think Holy Spirit) of Jesus (think Word of God) will bring to nothing, destroy, and kill anything that sets itself up against the One True God and Creator of all things on the final Resurrection Day. In the end, NOTHING can stand against the Word of God!
Stanza 3 of “A Mighty Fortress” says this beautifully. The stanza ends with these words: THIS WORLD’S PRINCE MAY STILL SCOWL FIERCE AS HE WILL, HE CAN HARM US NONE. HE’S JUDGED; THE DEED IS DONE; ONE LITTLE WORD CAN FELL HIM. Back in my St. John Wheaton days, one of our choir directors had our school kids sing an arrangement of this hymn that was amazing, but it was the ending that gave me goosebumps and made me want to stand up and cheer. The piece ended with the final words of the stanza above. The kids sang, “One little word can fell him”, there was a momentary silence, and then they whispered (as loudly as one can whisper) – JESUS! It was one of the most powerful and beautiful things I have ever heard!
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