Who is the ‘Man of Sin’?
By Bob Thiel
The Apostle Paul wrote the following about the man of sin, the son of perdition, in 2 Thessalonians 2:
1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12)
Who is this man of sin?
Is this the King of the North of Daniel 11? Is this the Beast of the sea of Revelation 13? Is this the Beast of the earth of Revelation 13, also known as the False Prophet? What does the Bible actually teach? (Here is a link to a related YouTube video titled Who is the Man of Sin?)
Recently, and apparently related to some of my writings, someone wrote that the “man of sin” of 2 Thessalonians 2 was the two-horned beast of Revelation 13 and this was obvious to those who understand prophecy.
The problem is that individual overlooked scriptures which identify who this man of sin actually is and seemed to mainly rely on tradition.
Let the Bible Interpret the Bible
When possible, Christians should always look at other related passages of scripture so that the Bible will interpret itself. So, it is to the Bible we should look and not to traditions of men.
The Bible shows that this is the first Beast and that the second Beast (called “another beast below”) causes the world to worship the first Beast:
1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea…3… And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. 4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”…8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world…11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. 12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. (Revelation 13:1,3,4,8,11-12)
Since the man of sin exalts himself above all that is called God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4) and the second beast causes the world to worship, not himself but instead, the first beast (Revelation 13:11-12), the man of sin must be the first Beast.
Is the description in 2 Thessalonians 2 describing the false prophet (also known as the two-horned beast and final Antichrist)? While various ones have various opinions, doctrine is to come from the Bible:
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
So what does scripture teach?
To answer that, first let’s look at the verses in the New Testament that use the term “false prophet,” which are below:
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty (Revelation 16:13-14).
20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone (Revelation 19:20).
10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Revelation 20:10).
However, it seems that the description of the King of the North in Daniel closely fits the description of that man of perdition:
36 “Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. 37 He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all. 38 But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things (Daniel 11:36-38).
Notice that the King of the North exalts himself above all the gods. This includes the god of fortresses, which (as I have long suggested) is apparently the Roman (Catholic) god. And this would also have to include the two-horned beast of Revelation 13.
Furthermore, notice that the two-horned beast of Revelation 13 gets people to worship the first beast and that it is the first beast that Satan has given great authority to:
1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name…
2 The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority….
6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world…
11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. 12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. 15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed (Revelation 13:1,2,6-8,11-15).
Notice clearly that the two-horned beast (who is THE false prophet, cf. Revelation 19:20) gets people to worship THE FIRST beast, the ten-horned beast (with accompanying signs). Hence the two-horned beast is NOT putting himself above all gods as he has people worship the ten-horned beast. And it is the ten-horned beast who is granted “great authority,” not the two-horned beast.
There is simply no verse that says that the second beast gets the worship that the first one does. The false prophet clearly promotes false worship, as opposed to being the object of it himself. While popes have long let people kneel down before them, I have found no scriptures that indicate that the false prophet himself tries to make himself the object of worship.
The Old Testament clearly concurs. Notice something that Daniel also wrote:
24 The ten horns are ten kings
Who shall arise from this kingdom.
And another shall rise after them;
He shall be different from the first ones,
And shall subdue three kings.
25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High,
Shall persecute the saints of the Most High,
And shall intend to change times and law.
Then the saints shall be given into his hand
For a time and times and half a time (Daniel 7:24-25).
It is the ten-horned beast who speaks the pompous words against God, he is the one who exalts himself above all that is called God (2 Thessalonians 2:4).
Also notice that in the Bible, people are warned against worshipping the first beast:
9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation (Revelation 14:8-10).
2 So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image…10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain (Revelation 16:2,10).
Even if the image is related to the Catholic Church (which to a degree it is), notice that it is the beast and HIS image and HIS kingdom that worship against is warned as opposed to mainly that of the false prophet. The beast is clearly above the false prophet and is the one that exalts himself above all that is called God.
If we let the Bible interpret itself, it suggests, that the description in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 fits very closely to the first beast, the King of the North, and not nearly as closely the second beast, the false prophet.
Notice that the first beast also fulfills the following:
15 Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 17:15-18)
Notice that the harlot (the ecumenical Church of Rome) is devoured at this time. This is one additional way that the first beast, the ten-horned beast does not regard the desire of women as Daniel 11: 37 mentions (with the harlot church symbolized by a woman in Revelation 17) and exalts himself above all that is called god.
This destruction of the harlot also suggests that the man of sin, the son of perdition in 2 Thessalonians 2, is not the false prophet, but the ten-horned beast, and he and his supporters have the power and are taking actions on his behalf.
However, since the false prophet is still alive at this stage (Revelation 19:20), it appears that he either is a captive of the ten-horned beast or that he also betrays his church. But I strongly suspect the latter (as the second beast clearly promotes the worship of the first beast per Revelation 13:12)–he is complicit in the betrayal of the Church of Rome–which is another reason that I teach that the false prophet is a type of anti-pope.
Believe What the Bible Teaches
Because we in the Continuing Church of God rely on the Bible, we “have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed” (2 Peter 1:19, KJV).
We know that the New Testament teaches that the man of sin “exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped” (2 Thessalonians 2:4).
That the Old Testament teaches that the King of the North “shall exalt and magnify himself above every god” (Daniel 11:36).
That the New Testament also teaches that “All who dwell on the earth will worship” (Revelation 13:8) the first Beast, the ten-horned beast (Revelation 13:1).
This worship is not directed towards the false prophet. And the Bible teaches that the false prophet, the second beast of Revelation 13 “causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast” (Revelation 13:12).
Read it for yourself in your own Bible.
Even though people will likely worship both beasts, the descriptions in the Bible that describe the ten-horned beast/King of the North are much closer to the man of sin discussed in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 than any about descriptions the false prophet.
Those who truly understand prophecy and who prayfully study the word of God for doctrine should realize this.
Link to article in Mandarin: