It Starts Small

 ⁶ And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.

2 Thessalonians 2:6

This verse passionately continues Paul’s profound statement in verse 5 about the Thessalonians’ keen awareness. It references the enigmatic man of lawlessness: the notorious false prophet of Revelation 13:11–18. Paul fervently declares that these devoted Christians deeply understand what is restraining the wickedness. They know what is preventing the lawless one from manifesting in all its terrifying glory. In the following verse, Paul elaborates with fervor. He describes the force or presence that is valiantly holding back the man of lawlessness. This prevents him from unleashing his malevolent deeds to their fullest and most sinister potential.

Without a doubt, evil is raging today. It manifests in heinous crimes. Profane and blasphemous speech is evident. There is sexual immorality and secularism. Greed and hatred are present, along with a growing disdain for God. And yet, wicked conditions will reach an unparalleled level when the man of lawlessness is revealed. He will personify evil and will lead an unprecedented rebellion against God. As in the days of Noah, the human condition even now grieves God and invites His judgment (Genesis 6:5–6). Just as God witnessed to that generation through Noah (2 Peter 2:5), He confronts evil today. He restrains it through His witnesses.

I wanted our hearts today, to focus on the character of evil. Let us look at Revelation 13. We find a true description of not only the character of evil, but it’s motive and how it works.

13 The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. ² The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. ³ One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. ⁴ People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”

⁵ The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. ⁶ It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. ⁷ It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. ⁸ All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hear.

¹⁰ “If anyone is to go into captivity,
    into captivity they will go.
If anyone is to be killed with the sword,
    with the sword they will be killed.”

This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.

¹¹ Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. ¹² It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. ¹³ And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. ¹⁴ Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. ¹⁵ The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. ¹⁶ It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, ¹⁷ so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.

¹⁸ This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.

Revelation 13:1-18

Questions to Ponder:

• What are the characteristics of evil?
• What is the motive of evil?
• How does evil imitate and counterfeit the character of God?
• How does evil lure people?
• How does understanding the character, motive and counterfeit actions of evil change your perception of evil?
• How do we are ourselves with this wisdom?

⁶ And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. ⁷ For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.

1 Thessalonians 2:6-7

Verses 6 and 7 also serve to remind us about the relationship between God and human suffering. When human beings wonder why God “does nothing” to stop evil, this passage should come to mind. As bad as it might seem, at times, the fact is that God is “restraining” evil from being even worse.

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In the free printable journal, at the back, there is a worksheet called, “Revelations 13.” Take time today to work through Revelations 13 and get to know your enemy. Nothing about evil has changed. It works the same way and is a counterfeit to God. Contrast and compare the characteristics of evil and God. How can you spot the difference between the two?

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