The Lawless One Destroyed by the Lord (2 Thessalonians 2:8)

2 Thess. 2:8. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of His coming.

“And then,” when the restrainer is no more, or when he withdraws and steps off the stage, there will be revealed, will come forward, will be born and begin to act, “the lawless one”—one who wishes to know no law and acts solely at the prompting of the destroyer of the human race, in gratification of his own corrupt, evil, and proud nature; he will appear as a universal sovereign to whom all will bow down, as indicated above. The Apostle does not describe the whole course of events by which he will achieve this, though he does indicate below the methods he will employ. Here he says only in advance that however great he may appear, the Lord will but breathe—and he will be no more.

“Whom the Lord Jesus will slay,” will deprive of life, will strike dead, as a mortal man deserving every punishment. “With the breath of His mouth”—either by word, or by breath: He will speak a word, or merely breathe, and the life of that one will be cut off. According to Oecumenius, the breath of the mouth is a command and decree, and as it were a mere exhalation. Already Isaiah foresaw that “the rod from the root of Jesse… will slay the wicked with the breath of His lips” (Is. 11:1, 4). And in the Apocalypse, Christ the Lord, named the Word of God, is depicted thus: “out of His mouth” “proceeds” “a sharp sword,” evidently as a sign of the decisiveness, swiftness, and mercilessness of the righteous judgment of God and the wrath that accompanies it; as a result of which He will also cast the beast and his false prophet, who deceived many by his signs, into “the lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Rev. 19:15, 20). One may therefore conclude that in the Apostle here as well, the slaying by the breath of the mouth signifies the final determination of the lawless one’s fate by his being cast into hell.

“And will bring to nothing”—will make his place empty, will exclude him from the number of the living—the same as “will slay.” The Greek word also suggests that along with the bringing to nothing of the lawless one, the Lord will dissolve and undo his works as well. All his pomp, all his deceptive illusions, will vanish, and everyone will see the emptiness and falsity of his show. “By the manifestation of His coming”—by the act of His coming, by His coming itself, or by the manner in which it takes place. Either way, it signifies that as wax melts before the face of fire, as smoke vanishes before the wind, so before the face of the Lord coming to judgment, the lawless one and all his work will not stand—all will be scattered like dust. So majestic, so almighty, and so dreadful 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 Lord’s power. For, coming from heaven, he says, He will speak but a word and will deliver the destroyer to final destruction. This was also foretold by the prophet Isaiah; for, having said: ‘there shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse’ and described what kind of rod it is, he added: ‘and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked’ (Is. 11:1, 4).”

But it seems that in this depiction one may also see the all-purifying power of the Second Coming of the Lord “in flaming fire,” as was mentioned above (2 Thess. 1:8). Now every sin and lawlessness walks the byways of the world with head held high, commingled with virtue and righteousness, and even predominating over them. But then the righteous will be separated from the sinners, and the latter will be enclosed in one place from which there is no exit. On the stage of the world only purity, holiness, and righteousness will remain. This coming purification of all that exists is what the Apostle depicts under the figure of the bringing to nothing of the lawless one and his work by the manifestation of the Lord’s coming. The Lord will come—and as light drives out darkness, and wind disperses fog, so He will drive back and confine every unrighteousness and sin to the place appointed for them. And the all-radiant kingdom of truth and goodness will begin.

The Apostle speaks of the insignificance of the lawless one and all his illusory pomp before the majesty and power of the Lord, prior to his depiction of the cunning and dangerous stratagems of Antichrist, so as to keep hope and trust in the Lord alert and strong, and thereby to prevent the subsequent depiction of Antichrist’s stratagems from casting despondency and terror upon the Thessalonians. He urges them: the son of perdition will come—but do not fear; behold in what a Lord you believe! St. Chrysostom writes: “The lawless one will appear. What then? — Immediately after this the Apostle adds consolation, saying: ‘whom the Lord will slay.’ Just as fire, when it approaches, even before it draws near, benumbs and destroys the small creatures that are still at some distance; so too Christ, by His very appearance and coming, will slay Antichrist. It is enough that He appear, and all this will perish. Scarcely will the Lord appear, than He will put an end to the delusion.”