CONNECTING THE DOTS: Man of Lawlessness Revealed?

If you have not read UNDERSTANDING SCRIPTURE: the Man of Lawlessness, please do so before reading this post.

What does the fulfillment of prophecy look like in the material world?  How do you recognize it when you see it?  Well, you start by actually reading Scripture for yourself.  God cannot open His word to you unless you first read it.  Then you have to read it with the right heart: the right frame of mind and intentions.  Even then, if you do not accept what God tells you, He may still keep His word closed to you.  If we try to impose our own agenda onto God’s word, we should not expect God to open His word to us.  It is only when we humble ourselves and sincerely seek Him and His understanding that God will open His word to us, but once He does, we will see things in an entirely different light.  For example: if God has shown you what Scripture means by ‘the man of lawlessness,’ then you are probably seeing that man everywhere today.A perfect example of lawlessness is the latest Muslim attack on an innocent that is being classified as ‘workplace violence:’

Critics blast authorities for treating beheading as case of workplace violence

Our leaders made this same proclamation about the Fort Hood shootings.  Well, that was a lie about Fort Hood and this is a lie now about this latest beheading.  However, it is also a lie to call this terrorism.  While true, this beheading is terrifying, it does not meet the fullest definition of terrorism.  The man who committed this act was not advancing a political goal, and neither was the Fort Hood shooter.  They were both advancing their religion!  To call either of these incidents either ‘workplace violence’ or ‘acts of terrorism’ is to advance a lie, and that is the spirit of lawlessness.

You have to see the things that happen in this world through the lens of Scripture.  You have to look at the spiritual connections that lie beneath the even.  In this case, we may blame the label of ‘workplace violence’ on ‘political correctness,’ but then, we have to blame the label of ‘terrorism’ on the same thing.  We call it ‘radical Islam,’ and thus, ‘terrorism’ because we are afraid to call it by its real name: a religious war!  But that is what we are dealing with in Islam: a religious war being primarily waged against Jews and Christians.

Now, if we were aligned with God and God’s law, we would recognize this as a religious war and we would call it by this name.  But, if we are opposed to God’s law; if we have substituted our own ideas of how things should be and imposed our own notion of right and wrong based on this idea of what should be, then we become ‘the man of lawlessness.’  It does not matter what we claim our intentions to be: if we oppose God’s law, we are ‘the man of lawlessness.’  And when we change the plain meaning of words — especially with an intent to deceive — we defy God’s law and align ourselves with the spiritual forces who wish to destroy God’s law and His creation.

Isaiah also addressed the subject of lawlessness, but he used different words.  Maybe the words Isiah used will make the point better than Paul’s — especially in our modern world of political correctness:

Isaiah 5:20-21  New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Now, let’s think about how this applies to our modern world (I will leave you to mentally fill in the specific story that may apply here; I’ll just give you a broad-based example of the principle in play).:

When we equate all religions or all cultures, we exchange evil for good.

(When we call Islam a religion of peace, or claim that their is nothing better about the Western culture, we are exchanging good for evil)

When we exchange God’s laws for our own, we exchange darkness for light.

(When we say that what is right for you might not be right for me, or that we cannot judge the actions of others, or we claim all faith is equal, or that all lifestyles are equal, we exchange God’s laws for our own).

When we switch the importance of service to others with service to self, we exchange bitter for sweet.

(When we support laws the make it illegal for churches and individuals to feed the poor, then demand that government force others to pay for the things we want but do not want to work or pay for, we exchange bitter for sweet)

When we support — or worse — advance the politically correct agenda of secular humanism, we are showing that we have become wise in our own eyes.

(When we argue that ‘science’ has proven God does not exist, or that all things can be explained, or we claim that all faith gets to heaven, or we force our beliefs on children through the use of law and public school system ‘for their own good,’ we demonstrate we are wise in our own eyes)

And when we twist the laws or the meaning of words to achieve our goals, we are being clever in our own sight.

(When we say an act of religious war is ‘workplace,’ or we twist the plain meaning of words in the Constitution so as to get around the law; or for monetary gain, or to gain political power, we show that we are clever in our own eyes)

Those who do not have spiritual sight will not understand any of this. In fact, they will most likely be inclined to vigorously object to my claims. But those who do have spiritual sight, further examples that illustrate the point I am making are probably already coming to mind.  Still, I feel a need to tie this post with my previous post about the man of lawlessness.  For those who have read both, I cannot think of a better illustration of the points I have tried to make than to quote John Dewey, the father of the modern public education system in America.  Just keep this in mind when you read this quote: Dewey was a secular humanist.  He did not believe in God.  He believed man was his own god and that man could ‘re-create’ himself in whatever image he desired. Now, knowing this, read his words and ask yourself whether or  they sound like the man of lawlessness and of the spirit of antichrist Paul, John and even Isaiah are describing:

“The teacher is engaged not simply in the training of individuals, but in the formation of the proper social life…. In this way, the teacher always is the prophet of the true God and the usherer-in of the true Kingdom of God.”