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The Man of Lawlessness - Part 3
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Jewish Apostasy
The Greek word apostasia has two meanings in biblical literature: political revolt and relifious defection. The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, uses apostasia to describe both a political revolt (Ezra 4:12, 15, 19; Neh. 2:19; 6:6) and a religious defection (Joshua 22:22; Jer. 2:19; 2Chron. 29:19; 33:19).
If the "apostasy" arose from the midst of Judaism, isn't it possible that the man of lawlessness is also a Jewish figure of the first century? A number of indicators in the text give us reason to believe that a paticular man is in view. First, as we have already observed, Paul's language is pulled directly from Jesus' prophetic pronouncements, biblical vocabulary, and theological themes from the Old Testament. All of these suggest a covenantal interpretation. Jesus had dealt with the "mystery of lawlessness" during His ministry:
"Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men" (Mark 7:8).
"You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition" (7:9).
"invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that" (7:13).
"Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, in order that they might put Him to death" (Matt. 26:59).
While the Jews puported to be keepers of the law, these texts and many more like them show that their deeds were contrary to the law, the very essence of lawlessness, for "sin is lawlessness" (1John 3:4).
Next, The Restrainer
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