2 Thessalonians 2:8Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Yet if anyone perishes, he himself is the cause of his own destruction. Light also, as I said before, blinds those with weak sight. Such is the nature of good things. They not only perfect what is akin to them, but also destroy what is opposed to them. In this latter case their power is especially revealed. Fire is shown to be fire, and reveals its proper power, not only when it gives light or purifies gold. It does so still more when it burns thorns. So Christ will reveal His majesty when He slays Antichrist with the spirit of His mouth and destroys him by the appearing of His coming.

There will be a river in fearful roaring, full of fire. The Cherubim will have their eyes cast down, and the Seraphim will fly, covering their faces and feet with fiery wings. With trembling they will cry, “Arise, you who sleep; behold, the Bridegroom has come!” The graves will be opened, and in the twinkling of an eye all tribes will awaken and behold the holy beauty of the Bridegroom. Myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands of angels and archangels, innumerable hosts, will rejoice with great joy. The saints, the righteous, and all who did not receive the mark of the serpent and the impious one will be glad. The tormentor, bound by the angels with all the demons, will be brought before the judgment seat. So will all who received his mark, all the impious and sinners, bound together. And the King will pronounce upon them the sentence of eternal condemnation in the unquenchable fire. But all who did not receive the mark of Antichrist, and all who hid in caves, will rejoice with the Bridegroom in the eternal and heavenly bridal chamber. They will rejoice with all the saints unto the boundless ages of ages. Amen.

When Antichrist comes, those whom the people formerly honored as gods at his command will acknowledge him as God. He is first or chief among them, and he will prove this by signs and powers. By “false signs,” Paul means, of course, that Satan-Antichrist will try to inspire belief through signs in something that does not exist. He does this in order to deceive those to whom he comes. The saints, that is, the Apostles and prophets, also speak of this, so that what must be guarded against may be known. That is, idols. Antichrist is the “god of idols.”

Thus he will surpass all unrighteous and impious men who came before him. Against all, and especially against us Christians, he will harbor murderous, cruel, and merciless thoughts, revealed in many forms. He will act in this way for three years and six months. Afterward he will be destroyed at the second and glorious coming from heaven of the Only-begotten Son of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus, the true Christ. Having slain Antichrist with the spirit of His mouth, He will deliver him to the fire of Gehenna.

Therefore the diverse forms, that is, the elements of this world, were created by the one almighty God. He placed in their hidden recesses certain seeds of things, concealed from us but revealed to the angels. According to what a fitting occasion for their work, or a fitting time, requires, God either commanded some of these to be raised up through good angels, or permitted them to be disclosed through evil angels. By permitting this, God shows how great a power He has imparted to the holy angels. For He even gave evil angels the ability to perform certain wonders from the very creation of bodily things. The blessed Apostle also says of Antichrist, “And then the lawless one will be revealed.”

“And He will abolish,” that is, the Lord will abolish Antichrist, “by the appearing of His coming.” According to the interpreters, these words contain a separate thought. They speak not only of the abolition or destruction of Antichrist himself, but also of all the evil works arranged on earth by him and by his father Satan. The Apostle hints in passing at what is stated clearly in other passages of Scripture. When the Lord comes to judgment and appears “in flaming fire” (2 Thess 1:8), then all the tares of the human race, everything evil and sinful, will be separated into a distinct and gloomy realm. On the new heaven and renewed earth, righteousness and holiness alone will reign and dwell (2 Pet 3:13).

"Whom the Lord Jesus will slay," depriving him of life, striking him dead as a mortal man worthy of every punishment. "With the spirit of His mouth," that is, either by word or by breath. He will speak a word, or merely breathe, and that one's life will be cut short.

According to Oecumenius, the spirit of the mouth is a command and order, and as it were a breath. Isaiah had already foreseen that "the rod from the root of Jesse... will slay the wicked one with the spirit of His lips" (Is 11:1, 4).

In the Apocalypse, Christ the Lord, named the Word of God, is depicted in such a way that a sharp weapon comes forth from His mouth. This is evidently a sign of the decisiveness, swiftness, and unsparing character of God's righteous judgment and the wrath accompanying it.

As a result, He will cast both the beast and his false prophet, who deceived many by his signs, into the lake of fire burning with brimstone (Rev 19:15, 20).

Therefore one may suppose that in the Apostle also, slaying with the spirit of His mouth is the final decision of the lawless one's fate by his overthrow into Hades.

"And will destroy him," making his place empty and excluding him from the number of the living. This is the same as "will slay." The Greek word also hints that, by destroying the lawless one, the Lord will ruin and undo his works.

All his pomp and all his deceptive illusions will disappear. Everyone will see his nothingness and the falsehood of his display.

"By the manifestation of His coming," that is, by the act of His coming, by the coming itself, or by the manner of His coming, by the form in which it takes place. Both meanings indicate this.

As wax melts before fire, and smoke vanishes before the face of the wind, so the lawless one and all his work will not stand before the Lord coming to judgment. Everything will be scattered like dust.

So majestic, almighty, and fearful for the man of lawlessness and all sinners will be the coming of the Lord.

Blessed Theodoret writes: "The Apostle showed, as far as possible, the greatness of the Master's power. For he says that, having come from heaven, He will only speak and will deliver the destroyer to final perdition.

"The Prophet Isaiah also foretold this. Having said, 'A rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse,' and having described what this rod is, he added, 'and with the spirit of His lips He shall slay the wicked one'" (Is 11:1, 4).

It seems, however, that in this depiction one may also see the all-purifying power of the Lord's second coming "in flaming fire," as was mentioned above (2 Thess 1:8).

Now every sin and lawlessness walk through the streets of the world with head raised, mixed with virtue and righteousness, and even prevailing over them. Then the righteous will be separated from sinners, and the latter will be enclosed in one place from which there is no departure.

Only purity, holiness, and righteousness will remain on the world's stage. The Apostle depicts this coming purification of all that exists under the image of the destruction of the lawless one and his work by the manifestation of the Lord's coming.

The Lord will come. As light drives away darkness, and wind drives away mist, so He will drive away and confine every unrighteousness and sin to the place appointed for them.

Then the all-radiant kingdom of truth and goodness will come.

The Apostle speaks of the nothingness of the lawless one and all his illusory pomp before the majesty and power of the Lord before depicting his flattering and dangerous snares against our weakness. He does this to keep hope and trust in the Lord watchful and firm.

He also does this so that his later depiction of the antichrist's snares will not bring despondency and terror upon the Thessalonians. He impresses this upon them: the son of perdition will come, but do not fear. See what kind of Lord you believe in.

Saint Chrysostom writes: "The lawless one will appear. What then? Immediately after this the Apostle gives consolation, for he adds, 'whom the Lord will slay.'

"Just as fire, when it merely approaches, even before it comes near, paralyzes and destroys small creatures that are still far off, so Christ will slay the antichrist by His mere appearing and coming.

"It is enough that He appear, and all this will perish. As soon as the Lord appears, He will bring deception to an end."