AFTER THE WORKING OF SATAN by Uriah Smith

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 17, 1861

"AFTER THE WORKING OF SATAN."

By Uriah Smith

In 2 Thess., second chapter, occurs a passage which has been the occasion of some embarrassment and some study. We read in verses 8 and 9, "And then shall that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming; [even him] whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders." The question has been, Whose coming is referred to in verse 9, which is to be after the working of Satan with all power? and what is meant by this latter expression? It will be observed that the words "even him," are supplied words, constituting no part of the original text, and not necessary, we think, to be supplied in this instance. Omitting these words, the passage would read thus: "Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy with the brightness of his coming, whose coming is after the working of Satan," &c. In Greenfield's New Testament it reads thus: Τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ· οὗ ἐστιν ἡ παρουσία κατ' ἐνέργειαν τοῦ Σατανᾶ; a literal rendering of which might be given thus: "By the brightness of the coming of him, of whom the coming is after the working of Satan," &c. The only construction which it seems possible to put upon such language as this, is that the relative pronoun 'whom' refers to the pronoun immediately preceding, and that the 'coming' of verse 9, is identical with that last mentioned in verse 8, which is the coming of the Lord. This has been the general view we believe with Advent believers, and is undoubtedly correct. The question then arises, What is meant by the coming of Christ being after the working of Satan? The answer to this question has been based on the reading of our English version, 'after' being taken in its present most common and literal acceptation, as signifying, later in time. Taking the working of Satan with all power to be the wonders of Spiritualism beginning to be developed, immediately after which the coming of Christ would take place, and we had both a seemingly natural interpretation of the text, and a remarkable sign and precursor of the coming of the Son of man.

But a flaw was discovered in this exposition from the fact that κατά, the word translated 'after,' never has the meaning now commonly attached to that word, or is never used to denote subsequence in time. What then could it mean? The definition seized on in this dilemma was that by which agency or instrumentality is denoted, namely, 'after,' by means of, or through the agency of. But a difficulty at once arose here; for if the coming referred to is the coming of Christ, how can that be said to be according to, or through the agency of, the working of Satan? What then was to be done? Should we adopt the arbitrary insertion of the words, 'even him,' as the translators have done, and make the language refer to the man of sin? This, the construction, as already noticed, will hardly allow; besides, if applied to the man of sin, it would not be true in fact; for the man of sin was not developed by Satan's working with all power, and signs, and lying wonders. The mystery of iniquity began to work, it is true, in Paul's day; but it worked gradually and silently, spreading like leaven, and undermining in the hearts of men, the truths of the gospel. Let it be noticed also that the signs and wonders here brought to view, are not lying wonders in the sense of being false in themselves, mere tricks and deceptions, but they are real wonders, bona fide miracles, wrought to prove a lie. The miracles claimed to have been done in behalf of the man of sin, were tricks and pretences; they could not therefore be the signs and wonders of the scripture under discussion.

Then the coming of verse 9, cannot be the coming or revelation of the man of sin, for the reasons just adduced, namely, that the construction cannot be made to convey such an idea, and if it referred to him the passage would not be true in fact, since the manifestation of that power was not connected with the working of Satan with all power, signs and lying wonders, in any sense expressed by the word here translated 'after.' The coming must be the coming of Christ. But the objection still remained, viz., that his coming could not be according to the working of Satan, &c., and we could not explain it by saying that his coming was to be just subsequent to the working of Satan; for the word κατά never has that meaning.

But let us look again at this word, and see if we do not find in it a solution of the difficulty. Although the word κατά does not mean 'after,' later in time, it has a meaning which we think will answer the purpose of this scripture much better. Denoting time, it signifies, according to Greenfield, at, about, during. Robinson in his Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, defines it thus: "Of time; that is, of a period or point of time, throughout, during, in or at which anything takes place." Liddell and Scott say, "Of periods of time, throughout, during, for." Before proceeding further with these definitions, it may be proper to answer a question that may arise here, viz., how we know that the word in this place denotes time, so as to bear the definitions just mentioned. This is evident from the tenor of the whole chapter. Its subject is time. It was written by Paul to correct an erroneous impression in the minds of the Thessalonians brethren in reference to the time of Christ's coming. He designs to give them something of an idea of the time when their Lord may be expected; and time is the great burden of the verses under consideration. Κατά, then, in this case has one of the definitions above given; and the passage may be translated thus: "Whose coming is after [at, or, at the time of] the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders." After giving a few examples of this use and meaning of the word, we will show that this will be true in fact, and that such instruction was eminently proper for the Thessalonians at that time. There are many such expressions as, κατά τὸ αὐτό, at the same time; κατά καιρόν, in due time; κατά μεσονύκτιον, about midnight, &c.; but as it may be said that the idea of time is expressed in these instances by words used with κατά, we will refer to instances where it is used in this sense with words that do not express time, any more than the words with which it is connected in 2 Thess. ii, 9. In Matt. xxvii, 15, Mark xv, 6, Luke xxiii, 17, occurs the expression, κατά ἑορτήν, at [or at the time of] the feast. Again: In 2 Tim. iv, 1, we have this passage: "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead [κατὰ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν αὐτοῦ] at his appearing;" that is, at the time of his appearing. Liddell and Scott furnish the following examples of this construction: "Κατὰ τὸν πόλεμον, during, or in the course of, the war. Hdt. 7, 137. Κατὰ 'Αμασιν, about the time of Amasis. Id 2, 184. Οἱ καθ' ἡμᾶς, or ἑαυτούς, our, their contemporaries [Xenophon];" that is, those living at the time we or they lived. The identity of construction between all these quotations, and 2 Thess. ii, 9, cannot fail to be seen. We may therefore regard the evidence as conclusive that the word may have this meaning in said scripture, and that the rendering above given will stand as legitimate and correct: "Whose [Christ's] coming is at the time of the working of Satan with all power, signs and lying wonders."

The question to be next considered is, Will this be true in fact? It will. The Bible expressly tells us that Satan's greatest power will be exercised near, and at, the close of his career. Rev. xii, 12; xiii, 13, 14; Matt. xxiv, 24-27; Rev. xviii, 2; xvi, 14. In the light of these declarations it is evident that 2 Thess. ii, 9, must refer to the working of Satan at the very close of time; for he is said to work with all power; and as he can never work with more than all power, and yet his greatest works are to be performed at the last, it follows that he cannot work with all power at any period previous to that time.

And what goes greatly to strengthen this position is the fact that this scripture is now fulfilling before our eyes. The working of Satan in modern Spiritualism answers well to this prophecy. Its phenomena are genuine, and its wonders palpable and real; and they are wrought, too, to prove a lie—the first and darling lie of the great deceiver that the soul is immortal, and that there is no such thing as death. This work will continue to the very last; and it is at that time that its greatest power will be manifested. The gathering of all nations to the battle of the great day of God Almighty [Rev. xvi, 14] is perhaps the greatest exercise of power, and the most potent deception of these spirits of devils. And this takes place under the sixth plague; it takes place just at the commencement of the seventh vial, when the great voice is heard out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. The army which these spirits gather, comes up to the great battle under the perfect inspiration of the Devil and his angels, and are no doubt the witnesses and subjects of a mighty power put forth by him for their preservation and further deception. Joel ii, 8. The mightiest works of these devils are performed in connection with that great multitude of apostates and blasphemers which are gathered to make war upon the Lord of hosts. And what then? He that is called Faithful and True, He that in righteousness doth judge and make war, He that sits upon the white horse, and whose eyes are as a flame of fire, rides forth to visit upon them, his judicially blinded enemies, their merited destruction. The beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies, are taken, and cast into the burning flame, and the remnant are slain with the sword of Him that sitteth upon the horse. 2 Thess. ii, 11; Rev. xix, 11-21. What then could be more accurately true than the declaration that the coming of Christ is at the time of the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders?

But why should the apostle concern himself to make this statement to the Thessalonian church? What bearing could this have upon the truth he was trying to impress upon them? Just this: He was endeavoring to correct an idea that they had by some means imbibed that the day of Christ was then at hand. Now by giving them an explicit statement of the events in connection with which the coming of Christ was to transpire, they could determine for themselves whether or not that day was then impending. He therefore tells them that the coming of Christ is to be at the time of the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders; as much as to say, Look around you, my Thessalonian brethren, and see if Satan is beginning to work in this manner now. If not, then the day of Christ is not at hand. Thus this language was relevant to the idea Paul was laboring to enforce. Such was the lesson it conveyed to the minds of the Thessalonians.

The lapse of time has made this language applicable to us, but with a far different signification. In the process of its fulfillment it tells us that the day of Christ is at hand. It bids us let no man deceive us, as that the day of Christ is not impending. It shows us that the last great manifestation of Satanic power and wonders, is beginning to be exhibited before us—that work which will only reach its culmination when the Son of man shall appear. It is to us a mine of truth, an anchorage ground for our hope, a quickener of our zeal, a consoler of our patience. May we esteem it as one of those exceeding great and precious promises by which we are made partakers of the divine nature, and endeavor to keep ourselves in the love of God and in the patient waiting for his Son from heaven.

U. SMITH.