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OCTOBER 21
above all that is called God or that is wor- 11 And for this reason God will send them strong
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shiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of delusion, that they should believe the lie, that
God, showing himself that he is God. they all may be condemned who did not believe
5 Do you not remember that when I was still the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
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with you I told you these things? And now you 13 But we are bound to give thanks to God
know what is restraining, that he may be always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord,
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revealed in his own time. For the mystery of because God from the beginning chose you for
lawlessness is already at work; only He who salvation through sanctification by the Spirit
now restrains will do so until He is taken out of and belief in the truth, to which He called you
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the way. And then the lawless one will be by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of
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revealed, whom the Lord will consume with our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren,
the breath of His mouth and destroy with the stand fast and hold the traditions which you
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brightness of His coming. The coming of the were taught, whether by word or our epistle.
lawless one is according to the working of Sa- 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself,
tan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and our God and Father, who has loved us and
10 and with all unrighteous deception among given us everlasting consolation and good
those who perish, because they did not receive hope by grace, comfort your hearts and es-
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the love of the truth, that they might be saved. tablish you in every good word and work.
DAY 20:What is the “falling away”that Paul speaks of in 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4?
The Day of the Lord cannot occur until a deliberate abandonment of a formerly professed
position, allegiance, or commitment occurs (the term was used to refer to military, political, or reli-
gious rebellion). Some have suggested, on questionable linguistic evidence, that this refers to a
“departure” in the sense of the Rapture. Context, however, points to a religious defection, which is
further described in v. 4.The language indicates a specific event, not general apostasy which exists
now and always will. Rather, Paul has in mind the apostasy. This is an event which is clearly and
specifically identifiable and unique, the consummate act of rebellion, an event of final magnitude.
The key to identifying the event is to identify the main person, which Paul does, calling him the
“man of sin.”Some texts have “man of lawlessness,”but there is no real difference in meaning since
sin equals lawlessness (1 John 3:4).This is the one who is called “the prince who is to come” (Dan.
9:26) and “the little horn” (Dan. 7:8), whom John calls “the beast” (Rev. 13:2–10,18) and most know
as the Antichrist.The context and language clearly identify a real person in future times who actu-
ally does the things prophesied of him in Scripture. He is also called “the son of perdition” or
destruction, a term used of Judas Iscariot (John 17:12).
“The falling away” is the abomination of desolation that takes place at the midpoint of the
Tribulation spoken of in Daniel 9:27; 11:31 and Matthew 24:15. This man is not Satan, although
Satan is the force behind him (v.9) and he has motives like the desires of the devil (Is.14:13,14).Paul
is referring to the very act of ultimate apostasy which reveals the final Antichrist and sets the course
for the events that usher in the Day of the Lord.Apparently,he will be seen as supportive of religion
so that God and Christ will not appear as his enemies until the apostasy. He exalts himself and
opposes God by moving into the temple,the place for worship of God,declaring himself to be God
and demanding the worship of the world.In this act of satanic self-deification,he commits the great
apostasy in defiance of God.

OCTOBER 21 Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of
Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who
come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.
4 And command them to say to their masters,
Jeremiah 27:1–28:17
“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Is-
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In the beginning of the reign of rael—thus you shall say to your masters: ‘I
27 Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Ju- have made the earth, the man and the beast that
dah, this word came to Jeremiah from the are on the ground, by My great power and by
LORD, saying, “Thus says the LORD to me: My outstretched arm, and have given it to
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‘Make for yourselves bonds and yokes, and put whom it seemed proper to Me. And now I have
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them on your neck, and send them to the king given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchad-
of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the nezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the
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