The day of the Lord is not to come till the man of sin be revealed. The apostle's traditions are to be observed.
2:1. And we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and of our gathering together unto him:
2:2. That you be not easily moved from your sense nor be terrified, neither by spirit nor by word nor by epistle. as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand.
2:3. Let no man deceive you by any means: for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition
A revolt. . .This revolt, or falling off, is generally understood, by the ancient fathers, of a revolt from the Roman empire, which was first to be destroyed, before the coming of Antichrist. It may, perhaps, be understood also of a revolt of many nations from the Catholic Church; which has, in part, happened already, by means of Mahomet, Luther, &c., and it may be supposed, will be more general in the days of the Antichrist. The man of sin. . .Here must be meant some particular man, as is evident from the frequent repetition of the Greek article: o`, 'the' man of sin, 'the' son of perdition, 'the' adversary or opposer. It agrees to the wicked and great Antichrist, who will come before the end of the world.
2:4. Who opposeth and is lifted up above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God.
In the temple. . .Either that of Jerusalem which some think he will rebuild; or in some Christian church, which he will pervert to his own worship: as Mahomet has done by the churches of the east.
2:5. Remember you not that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2:6. And now you know what withholdeth, that he may be revealed in his time.
2:7. For the mystery of iniquity already worketh: only that he who now holdeth do hold, until he be taken out of the way.