Daniel's willful king

Paul's reference to the man of sin in II Thessalonians 2:3-4 is an almost verbatim quote taken from Daniel 11:36-37.

36 "The king will do as he pleases. HE WILL EXALT AND MAGNIFY HIMSELF ABOVE EVERY GOD and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place. 37 He will show no regard for the gods of his ancestors or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will EXALT HIMSELF ABOVE THEM ALL.

Compared to II Thessalonians 2:3-4:

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 [b]sin is revealed, the son of perdition, WHO OPOSSES 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.

That is the willful king who exalts himself that Daniel prophesied concerning. Paul spoke of one and the same, even quoting from Daniel. This is the anti-Christ. THE Anti-Christ, not just another among many. Pau's reference proves it. A real person inhabited by the evil one whose goal and mission is to replace God and Christ. He will utter great blasphemies against the God of gods because God and Christ are his true enemies.

Below, I have capitalized everywhere Daniel referred to this entity as a human being. His short but fierce career is described in Daniel 11:21-45

21 "He will be succeeded by a contemptible PERSON who has not been given the honor of royalty. HE will invade the kingdom when its people feel secure, and HE will seize it through intrigue. 22 Then an overwhelming army will be swept away before HIM; both it and a prince of the covenant will be destroyed. 23 After coming to an agreement with him, HE will act deceitfully, and with only a few people HE will rise to power. 24 When the richest provinces feel secure, HE will invade them and will achieve what neither HIS fathers nor HIS forefathers did. HE will distribute plunder, loot and wealth among HIS followers. HE will plot the overthrow of fortresses””but only for a time. 25 "With a large army HE will stir up HIS strength and courage against the king of the South. The king of the South will wage war with a large and very powerful army, but he will not be able to stand because of the plots devised against him. 26 Those who eat from the king’s provisions will try to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall in battle. 27 The two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will sit at the same table and lie to each other, but to no avail, because an end will still come at the appointed time. 28 The king of the North will return to HIS own country with great wealth, but HIS heart will be set against the holy covenant. HE will take action against it and then return to HIS own country. 29 "At the appointed time HE will invade the South again, but this time the outcome will be different from what it was before. 30 Ships of the western coastlands will oppose HIM, and HE will lose heart. Then HE will turn back and vent HIS fury against the holy covenant. HE will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 "HIS armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. 32 With flattery HE will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist HIM. 33 "Those who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered. 34 When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many who are not sincere will join them. 35 Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.

THE KING WHO EXALTS HIMSELF
36 "The king will do as HE pleases. HE will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. HE will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place. 37 HE will show no regard for the gods of HIS ancestors or for the one desired by women, nor will HE regard any god, but will exalt HIMSELF above them all. 38 Instead of them, HE will honor a god of fortresses; a god unknown to HIS ancestors HE will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. 39 HE will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge HIM. HE will make them rulers over many people and will distribute the land at a price. 40 "At the time of the end the king of the South will engage HIM in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against HIM with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. HE will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood. 41 HE will also invade the Beautiful Land. Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from HIS hand. 42 HE will extend his power over many countries; Egypt will not escape. 43 HE will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt, with the Libyans and Cushites in submission. 44 But reports from the east and the north will alarm HIM, and HE will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many. 45 HE will pitch his royal tents between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain. Yet HE will come to his end, and no one will help HIM. (Daniel 11:36-37)

HE, HIMSELF, HIM ain't a person but is just a spirit or attitude or wrong teaching etc. sitting in the church?

Paul never calls the Jewish temple "the temple of God.” When he uses that term he is always referring to the Church or individual Christians. 1 Cor. 3:16-17; 2 Cor. 6:16.

TMK,

That is your only reply to all that was written? Your agenda and bias is blinding you.

Some commentaries to consider

Pulpit Commentary
"it appears more correct to refer the expression metaphorically to the Christian Church. It is a favourite metaphor of Paul to compare believers in particular, or the Church in general, to the temple of God..."

Matthew Henry
"so the antichrist here mentioned, is a usurper of God's authority in the Christian church, who claims Divine honours..."

Ellicott's Commentary
"The temple of God.””Though the image is drawn from the Jewish temple, we may say with some confidence that St. Paul did not expect the Antichrist as a prose fact to take his seat in that edifice..."

Barnes' Notes on the Bible:
"the temple was the proper symbol of the church, and an apostle trained amidst the Hebrew institutions would naturally speak of the church as the temple of God..."

"How can it be doubted that the reference here is to the papacy? Language could not be plainer, and it is not possible to conceive that anything can ever occur which would furnish a more manifest fulfillment of this prophecy. Indeed, interpreted by the claims of the papacy, it stands among the very clearest of all the predictions in the Sacred Scriptures..."

These are all commentaries from the 1800s, most people thought that the antichrist was the pope out of the reformation if you do a timeline from the time of say early commentaries from the early church fathers they thought differently

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Some commentaries to consider

Pulpit Commentary
"it appears more correct to refer the expression metaphorically to the Christian Church. It is a favourite metaphor of Paul to compare believers in particular, or the Church in general, to the temple of God..."

Matthew Henry
"so the antichrist here mentioned, is a usurper of God's authority in the Christian church, who claims Divine honours..."

Ellicott's Commentary
"The temple of God.””Though the image is drawn from the Jewish temple, we may say with some confidence that St. Paul did not expect the Antichrist as a prose fact to take his seat in that edifice..."

Barnes' Notes on the Bible:
"the temple was the proper symbol of the church, and an apostle trained amidst the Hebrew institutions would naturally speak of the church as the temple of God..."

"How can it be doubted that the reference here is to the papacy? Language could not be plainer, and it is not possible to conceive that anything can ever occur which would furnish a more manifest fulfillment of this prophecy. Indeed, interpreted by the claims of the papacy, it stands among the very clearest of all the predictions in the Sacred Scriptures..."
2023/11/29 16:16\t

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Noun
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%BD%CE%B1%CF%8C%CF%82
νᾱός ”¢ (nāós) m (genitive νᾱοῦ); second declension (Doric, Tragic, Koine)

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3485/tr/tr/0-1/

a temple
innermost part of a temple, sanctuary, the part of the temple considered most pure and holy

Matthew 23:17 N-NMS
GRK: ἢ ὁ ναὸς ὁ ἁγιάσας
NAS: or the temple that sanctified
KJV: or the temple that sanctifieth
INT: or the temple which having sanctified

John 2:20 N-NMS
GRK: οἰκοδομήθη ὁ ναὸς οὗτος καὶ
NAS: this temple, and will You raise
KJV: was this temple in building, and
INT: was building the temple this and

1 Corinthians 3:16 N-NMS
GRK: οἴδατε ὅτι ναὸς θεοῦ ἐστὲ
NAS: Do you not know that you are a temple of God
KJV: that ye are the temple of God, and
INT: Know you that temple of God you are

1 Corinthians 3:17 N-NMS
GRK: ὁ γὰρ ναὸς τοῦ θεοῦ
NAS: will destroy him, for the temple of God
KJV: destroy; for the temple of God is
INT: indeed [the] temple of God

1 Corinthians 6:19 N-NMS
GRK: σῶμα ὑμῶν ναὸς τοῦ ἐν
NAS: that your body is a temple of the Holy
KJV: body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
INT: body of you a temple of the in

2 Corinthians 6:16 N-NMS
GRK: ἡμεῖς γὰρ ναὸς θεοῦ ἐσμὲν
NAS: with idols? For we are the temple of the living
KJV: ye are the temple of the living God;
INT: we indeed a temple of God are

Revelation 11:19 N-NMS
GRK: ἠνοίγη ὁ ναὸς τοῦ θεοῦ
NAS: And the temple of God
KJV: And the temple of God was opened
INT: was opened the temple of God

Revelation 15:5 N-NMS
GRK: ἠνοίγη ὁ ναὸς τῆς σκηνῆς
NAS: I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle
KJV: behold, the temple of the tabernacle
INT: was opened the temple of the tabernacle

Revelation 15:8 N-NMS
GRK: ἐγεμίσθη ὁ ναὸς καπνοῦ ἐκ
NAS: And the temple was filled with smoke
KJV: And the temple was filled with smoke
INT: was filled the temple with smoke from

Revelation 21:22 N-NMS
GRK: ὁ παντοκράτωρ ναὸς αὐτῆς ἐστίν
NAS: and the Lamb are its temple.
KJV: the Lamb are the temple of it.
INT: Almighty temple of it is

https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/searchresults?target=greek&all_words=%C3%8E%C2%BD%C3%8E%C2%B1%C3%A1%C2%BD%C2%B8%C3%8F%C2%82&phrase=&any_words=&exclude_words=&documents=

Perses search can be used to search for greek words such as ναὸς outside the bible and it refers

From Homer's Iliad

"ἦδη δ' ἐνὶ ναῷ ἐξῆλθε διογενής Ἀχιλλεύς" (Il. 1.225)

Interlinear translation:

And now from the temple [naós] came forth the godlike Achilles

"ὅφρα ἴδω ἐνθάδ' ἐόν τε ναὸν τε ἕδος τε θεῶν" (Il. 10.30)

Interlinear translation:

So that I may see here both [the] temple and the dwelling and the seat of the gods

From Sophocles' Antigone

"ὡς οὐδεὶς ὅθ' ἐν ναῷ κατῴκισται θεῶν" (An. 589)

Interlinear translation:

Since no one truly dwells in the temple of the gods

From Plato's Republic

"τοῖς δὲ ἐκ τῶν ναῶν ἀφικομμένοις" (R. 380a)

Interlinear translation:

But the ones coming from the [temples]

The papacy fits better than anything else proffered.

//Your agenda//

Agenda? I guess if someone disagrees with a mainstream view with questionable biblical sort he has an agenda. My only agenda is to not slobber all over popular views because they are popular. The Left Behind series of books sold over 80 millions copies and apparently codified a lot of people’s eschatology. Not saying this about Docs because I know he is not in line with much of the "theology” set forth in those books. But in general it is what a vast number of evangelicals believe.

II Thessalonians 2:3-4 is an almost verbatim quote taken from Daniel 11:36-37.

Why did Paul go directly back to Daniel and quote from him in his own description of the man of sin/lawlessness/perdition?

I have never been aligned with the Left Behind books in 20 years as a believer... I actually laughed a bit when I read that since I am, and always have been solidly post tribulation, pre millennial and a literalist when reading prophetic scripture, so in other words, practically the opposite of our friends Tim Lahey and Jerry Jenkins (I think they authored the left behind books).

But this just goes to show how little people actually read the posts of others on this site... And just burn straw men and push their own agenda.

Irony to say the least.

I think Docs is the closest to my, if not the same views as my eschatology. But I am not completely sure as there are alot of terms I don't know the definitions for.

Didn’t say I was talking about you either ES.

Why do you insist on saying that people who have a differing eschatology are "pushing and agenda?”the word agenda smacks of some nefarious purpose.

Eschatology is not cut and dried. It has been debated for centuries.

"Eschatology is not cut and dried. It has been debated for centuries."

I find the majority of it is actually pretty cut and dried. The minutia of detail (Babylon, identities of figures, etc.) however are not.

The rest is only debatable if we read into it mens ideas. If we just read the biblical eschatology, it's all pretty easy to understand.