On the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians. Chapter 2
Venerable Ephrem the Syrian
An unsettling topic from the epistle of St. Paul, through the reading of Venerable Ephrem the Syrian,—the details are absolutely fascinating here. Ven. Ephrem, in his interpretations is at times as cryptic as St. Paul is, weaving between speaking in the present tense from the temporal standpoint of St. Paul, and the present tense of the established Church of Christ. St. Ephrem’s commentaries are always simple in prose. Through the simplicity of the words here, one can take them much further… For any of our readers fluent in Russian, the two footnotes (which give the untranslated words) in the article are my own, and to comment on them would be to give my own interpretation, which I won’t do here, but they are certainly important.
"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." v.1-2 (All KJV, unless noted)
Regarding the coming of our Lord, about which you have been concerned, and about our gathering of believers, when we shall be gathered unto Him—(we ask you) not to be quickly shaken in mind by false reports that have been eagerly spread to you—and in no way to be troubled in spirit, that is, by false visions shown to you, or by cunning and deceptive words spoken to you, or even by false letters, supposedly sent from us, but not truly written by us.
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." v.2-3
So let no one deceive you by any such means, and do not think that the day of our Lord has already arrived, for it will not come until the apostasy happens first, or one of his prophets or many of his apostles will appear before that deceiver. But until the end of the prophets and apostles who are to be sent before him, the deceiver himself will come and be revealed, the man of sin, the son of perdition—and then will be the coming of the Lord.
He called him a deceiver to show that he has rebelled and fallen away by his own will, desiring rebellion. He named him the man of sin to indicate that he will come as a man, not just in the appearance of a man, for he imitates the coming of our Lord. He will come as a man, not from the Gentiles, but from the very people of Israel, from the tribe of Judah, not uncircumcised, but circumcised, so that under the guise of his descent and circumcision, he might deceive the people of Israel who are awaiting him to come in this manner. Furthermore, he called him the son of perdition, naming the man himself the son of perdition, that is, the son of the devil, the destroyer.
"Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." v.2-4
This one is the adversary of both heavenly and earthly things and the (adversary of the) Lord of all things. He exalts himself not only over those things, but above everything that is called God or is worshiped. He himself honors the true God in order to win over those who crucified Him, but he blasphemes and despises everything else that is called godly or is worshiped, so that he might deceive the minds of the true worshipers. Thus, he will appear and ascend into the temple of God to "sit" within, specifically within the Church of God. He does not turn to any other group or heretical sect, so that he is not recognized, but with disdain rejects all false cults, so that he might deceive the Church. Therefore, he will enter into the very temple of God to sit and reign, Shewing himself that he is God.
How then will he show that he is truly God? Beyond the glory and honor with which he will be clothed, he will demonstrate it even more through his opposition to the heretical sects. Since he will not lead anyone into heresy, he will, by his feigned love for the children of the Church, make them think that he loves them as true (children of the Church), and he will come into their temple and sit there as if in the temple of truth, to show himself that he is God. He condemns hypocrisy outwardly (falsely) while secretly wearing the mask of truth through deception. He will pretend so skillfully that he will captivate the people through material things and will govern the Church under the guise of truth.
"Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?" v.5
Here you can see that even long before, the Thessalonians had been taught what was spoken of in these words.
"And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time." v.6
Now, he says, you yourselves know what is holding him back so that he will be revealed in his time. For the apostleship has prevailed, and after it, the teaching will spread until the day when the Son will be revealed in His time.
"For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. v.7
For the mistery of the iniquitie doeth all readye worcke: tyll he which nowe onlye letteth, be taken out of the waye. v.7(1539 Great Bible)
For the mystery of iniquity has already begun to work—teaching has not yet entered fully into all, and the apostleship, even though it has not yet ceased, has already flourished and gained strength.
Only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed. v.9
As though our Lord is hastening His coming to judge all nations, yet the Gospel has not yet been preached to all people. Even the first covenant is not yet finished, as the temple still stands, sacrifices are still offered, and circumcision is still practiced, while the Church has not yet been fully established. For even the Apostles themselves went to the temple to pray (Acts 2:46, 3:1, 5:20, 21:26, 22:17), though they would gather for the breaking of bread (Acts 2:46, 20:7). Thus, while the temple with its services stood in all its glory, the Church was yet to be fully built, though it had been founded. For when that house is abolished, and its sacrifices come to an end, only then will the beginning of the preaching of the Gospel occur. Therefore, since the Gospel has not yet been fully proclaimed, because the old service1 is still being maintained, how can He be revealed to judge those who have not obeyed the Gospel, when it has not yet been preached to them?
And what then will the words mean: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations" (Matt. 28:19–20)? Or: "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world" (Matt. 24:14)? Therefore, until the ancient divine-service2 is abolished, which now restrains, through the already-prepared destruction of the city (Jerusalem), and until the apostleship, which now preaches, is completed, and after it the teaching spreads—until then, the day of the Lord will not come, contrary to what those false deceivers preach to you, that it is now already at hand. Just as the time of the Old (Covenant) existed, and prophecy did not cease, nor the fire, nor the sacrifices, nor the anointing horn, until Christ came, so nothing can prevent the time of the New (Covenant) from being fulfilled, until the apostleship accomplishes its calling: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations" (Matt. 28:19), and the teaching of Christ is spread, and its time fulfilled, and the people are perfected through the preaching of the Apostles and the teaching of the priests—only then will it be permitted for the Deceiver to come, to test the worthiness of the people.
But his trials will not last long, for immediately after him our Lord will be revealed, so that, by reason of his wonders, signs, and deceptive craftiness, the earth will not lose its elect and righteous ones. For the Lord Himself will
“destroy him with the brightness of His coming." v.8
And indeed, of the Deceiver,
"whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders." v.9
When the Apostle says that he will come with all power and signs, no one should think that these signs are mere illusions or deceptions that he could not accomplish, like the magicians of Egypt (Exodus 7:11). On the contrary, he will show even greater signs than they.
"And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." v.10
He will come with every deceit of unrighteousness to destroy—not the believers, for they will be warned by the Benefactor who will come to them—but those who did not receive the word of truth, that is, the crucifiers, because they refused to accept the Gospel, which saves the lost.
"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie." v.11
Therefore, he says, God will send them a delusion, so that they believe a lie, that is, God will permit the one whom they expect to come. Because they did not believe the truth to be saved, they will believe the lie and perish. The crucifiers do not perish at His coming in order to prevent it or stop Him from coming, for they perished before His coming because they reviled and mocked Him who came for the salvation of the world. Thus, they will be condemned and cursed for crucifying one and accepting the other. The lawless one is sent to them, not to force them to believe in him, but so that they may perish if they willingly sympathize with him and believe in him.
“That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” v.12
They will be condemned for abandoning the true power (true miracles) and becoming followers of false signs: they forsook Him, of whose coming all the prophets testified, and quickly turned to him of whom neither Moses nor any prophet ever wrote.
"But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." v.13
We ought always to give thanks to God for you, because He has chosen you for the salvation of life, as is witnessed by the holiness of the Spirit, in which you have been clothed in the waters of baptism, and the true faith which you possess.
"Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." v.14
This refers to the final gathering, in which the righteous will be gathered from all parts of the world on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
"Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle." v.15
Therefore, stand firm and hold to the commandments of the teaching which you were taught by us, whether through the word we spoke to you while we were with you, or through our letter when we wrote to you in our absence.
"Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace," v.16
That is, instead of the temporary sacrifices which were given to the previous generations and have passed, He gives us consolation in eternal service. For though the first coming abolished the former sacrifices, our sacrifice, which is also our consolation, will not cease even at the second coming, but this coming will make it abound even more than it does now.
"Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work." v.17
To comfort our hearts in the afflictions from our persecutors.
“ветхое служение”
“древнее богослужение”