Font Size
2 Thessalonians 2:6-8
New Catholic Bible
2 Thessalonians 2:6-8
New Catholic Bible
6 And you also know what is now restraining him,[a] so that he may not be revealed before his time comes. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one who restrains it will continue to do so until he is removed.
The Two Comings.[b] 8 Then the lawless one will be revealed, and the Lord Jesus will slay him by the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Thessalonians 2:6 What is now restraining him: some suggestions about the identity of this obstacle (in addition to the one mentioned in note 2:3b-12 above) are: the Roman State and its emperor; the principle of law embodied in the state; the Holy Spirit through the Church; and the preaching of the Gospel (possibly by Paul himself), for the end could not come until the Gospel was preached to all nations (see Mk 13:10).
- 2 Thessalonians 2:8 Paul describes what will precede the Lord’s coming. He glimpses, toward the end of human history, a spectacular offensive launched by the forces of evil under the instigation of Satan. A great apostasy will follow (see Mt 24:10-12; Lk 18:8; 21:12-19; 1 Tim 4:1). The lawless one is both anti-God and anti-Christ, but he will not have the last word. On the day, when he thinks he has conquered, he will be confronted with the dazzling manifestation of Christ and completely overcome.
