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The Man of Lawlessness - Part 1
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While a Roman political figure is a plausible solution, I believe it fails to account for Paul's methodology: He always wrote against the backdrop of the Old Testament. What seems to mystery and enigma is actually a restatement of Old Testament themes often missed by readers who are unfamiliar with Old Testament. Since Paul, "a Hebrew of Hebrews" (Phil 3:5), was living in the "last days" of the Old Covenant (1Cor. 10:11), we should expect him to use Old Covenant terminology when speaking of its dissolution. When 2 Thess. 2 is compared with the Old Testament a number of literary similarities can be found: "presence of our Lord" (Lev. 10:2; 16:1; Deut. 29:15), "coming" (Isa. 13:9), "gather" (Isa. 40:11; Jer. 31:8; Micah 2:12; Zeph. 3:20; Zech. 10:8), "day of the Lord" (Jer. 2:19; 5:6; 8:5; 14:7), "breath of his mouth" (Isa. 11:14), "deluding influence" (1Kings 22:19-22), etc. In addition we should expect Paul's perspective to fall in line with the prophecies outlined by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24; Mark 13; Luke 21). Moreover, the theological setting suggests a Jewish "falling away" that was already in operation in the first century (Heb. 3:12-15; 4:11; 6:4-8; 10:26-31, 37-39; 12:25-29).
The Jewish converts and "God-fearing Greeks" of Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-4) would have immediately picked up these Old Covenant allusions and their application to the present Jewish apostasy. The apostasy here described is plainly not of civil, but of a religious nature; not a revolt from the government, but a defection from the true religion and worship, "a departing from the faith," (1Tim. 4:1) a departing from the living God (Heb 3:12) as the word is used by the apostle in other places.
Next, Jewish Opposition to the Gospel
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