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will cause the rebellion because he not only disobeys the law of God but he opposes it. It is not
passive disobedience but active opposition.
Self-exaltation
Paul uses another attributive adjectival participle to describe the man of lawlessness. He
is ὑπεραιρόμενος, “who exalts himself.” He places himself above everything that is called God,
over every σέβασμα, “object of worship.” The noun σέβασμα is only found once outside of this
verse, and that is in Acts 17:23 when Paul tells the Athenians he noticed all their “places/objects
of worship” including the altar to the UNKNOWN GOD. The word signifies not merely an idol
or a sanctuary but anything to which one shows reverence or worship. The “man of lawlessness”
will not only exalt himself over the God of Christians but over every divinity or deity, whether it
is true or not. This language is similar to that of Daniel 11:36a: “The king will do as he pleases.
He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the
God of gods.” In this passages from Daniel the prophecies were fulfilled in the person of
Antiochus IV. Antiochus IV was a Seleucid ruler who desecrated the temple in Jerusalem and
persecuted the Jews during the intertestamental period. He outlawed the Jewish religion and
destroyed Jewish places of worship. It was his oppressive rule that led to the Maccabean wars,
giving the Israelites a brief period of freedom. Because of Antiochus’ fulfillment of Daniel’s
prophecy, we can say that Antiochus was the immediate fulfillment of the prophecy. Yet we can
apply Daniel’s prophecy further in the sense that it also describes the Antichrist. This is clearly
seen when comparing Daniel 8 and 11 with 2 Thessalonians 2. It is fair to say that Antiochus IV
is a type of the Antichrist. Lange writes, “Thus we believe that Antiochus IV served as a type of
the great Antichrist to come and that Daniel 11:36-38 gives us the same description of the
Antichrist which Paul gave us: ‘he will exalt and magnify himself above every god.’” 44
How he accomplishes such a feat is recorded for us in the following clause of actual
result introduced by ὥστε: “so that he sits in the house of God proclaiming that he himself is
God”. This man in his arrogance sits himself down in the house of God, that holy place, God’s
dwelling here on earth, and he demands honor and praise in place of God. He is not appointed to
this position but takes it for himself.
44 Lange, Lyle. For God So Loved the World. (Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 2005), p. 589.
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