Resisting the Lawless One(s) as America Falls

Last October I prepared an update that I now feel compelled to release. Now that we’re nearly a month into the new US Administration it is time to consider a few Scriptures that speak directly into these turbulent times.

In his Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul warns persecuted believers expectant of Jesus’ second coming that pretender saviors would come first, preceding the true and only Savior.

“Let no one in any way deceive you, for it [the day of the Lord] will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God…. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work…” (2 Thess 2:3-7).

Paul warns believers in Jesus: “Let no one in any way deceive you.” This was because  being deceived was and continues to be a real possibility. “The apostasy comes first,” he says, using the Greek wordapostasia, meaning “the defection from truth, falling away, forsaking.”

The barrage of lies and disinformation we are faced with daily through mainstream and social media is often overwhelming. People’s inclination to believe what supports their biases makes us all vulnerable to propaganda, which takes hard work to resist through careful research and openness to views and sources that may challenge our preconceived ideas.

Paul writes of one who opposes and exalts himself, activities we certainly see in America’s leadership now– though this has happened in many times and places, and is occurring now in many nations.

Dominating, competitive leadership is rampant in the US, and self-exaltation is blatantly visible. The underlying Greek verb translated “exalts,” (huperairomai)in Paul’s description of the man of lawlessness is quite telling. It is defined as “to become puffed up with pride, with the probable implication of being disparaging toward others — ‘to be overly proud, to feel overly self-confident.” Being on the lookout for this and calling it out is critical as we discern our times.

The “man of lawlessness” aligns with Jesus’ warnings in Matthew’s Gospel, where he says: “because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures [lawlessness] to the end will be saved” (Mt 24:12-13). In the face of all this chaos do you ever notice your own love growing cold? Do you see lawlessness on the increase in your nation now? I certainly do! Today Donald Trump posted: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law,” suggesting he sees himself as above the law.

In Revelation 13 John writes that people will worship the dragon (Satan), because “he gave his authority to the beast” (13:4), evoking the devil’s temptation of Jesus in the desert that he would give him “all this authority and glory” over “all the kingdoms of the world” if Jesus worshipped him (Luke 4:6-7). Jesus answered by quoting the first of the ten commandments: “You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only”(4:8).

Here we are warned that the Ruler of this world is at large, seducing people to pursue dark sources of power. Do you see any signs of this happening in our times?

John of Patmos recounts that “they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” (Rev 13:4).

Capitulation before the powers was a temptation then and now!

“There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him” (Rev 13:5).

The reign of the beast appears linked to Paul’s warning that the man of lawlessness will come “in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness” (2 Thess 2:9-12).

I believe an apostasy is currently underway, marked by wholesale allegiance to arrogant leaders aligned with nationalists who claim to be Christian. The idolatry of America and overt worship, to “make America great again,” shows that a deluding influence is underway that is engulfing people here and in many other places where Christians aligned with American Christian nationalists are pursuing similar agendas in their own countries. There are even claims that “signs and wonders” are happening in these nationalists circles, which appear to confirm false narratives, as Paul warned. And all this is on the rise!

“Not receiving the love of the truth” and “believing what is false” open the doors to deluding influences, and to believing the ones with mouths “speaking arrogant words.” Yet what we see happening before our eyes is another spectre that we must pray for courage to directly face. The dominant empire is rapidly heading for ruin, threatening to take much of the world with it.

John of Patmos writes his vision of seeing an “angel coming down from heaven, having great authority,” to announce the fall of “Babylon,” the code name for the dominant global power.

“And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality” (Rev 18:2-3).

Unclean and hateful birds refer to birds of prey, which are symbols here of predatory powers, which could include marketers, influencers, propagandists, and manipulators of infinite varieties. Here in the US we certainly are home to many contemporary unclean and hateful birds!

From my vantage point here in the NW corner of the USA, as one who has studied history, has worked hard to stay informed, and is in regular contact with vulnerable populations, it looks like America’s fall is rapidly accelerating, and many are alarmed by this and lamenting.

America’s fall has been underway for decades, visible in disastrous military interventions such as the Vietnam War, Iraq war, invasion of Afghanistan, and interventions in Syria, Yemen and the world over. Other signs of the US’s fall in recent years include:

• High death rate due to slow response to Covid 19 pandemic
• Huge loss of life due to opioid epidemic (still underway).
• Highest prison population per capita in the world
• High numbers of unhoused people in our cities and towns
• Increasing gap between the rich and poor and rise of billionaire class
• Natural disasters on the rise (hurricanes, fires…) due to minimally addressed global warming

Now in 2025 the US decline is accelerating, visible in the following:

• Open hostility and threats of deportation to millions of immigrant workers who serve the American public as low-wage earners, doing jobs most people would never choose to do
• Thousands dying of fentanyl overdose in communities across the country
• $36.22 trillion national debt, according to the U.S. Treasury
• Open hostility to immediate neighbors (Canada and Mexico), with threats of tariffs, of making Canada a US state, changing the name of Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America
• Defunding environmental protection agencies and initiatives that address climate change, accelerating global warming
• Widespread division, hatred and fear
• US two-party democracy in crisis
• Gun violence
• Executive orders canceling federal aid grants domestically and internationally, and firings and defunding of USAID and other agencies
• Open hostility to European Union, evident in refusal to include Europe in negotiations between the US, Ukraine and Russia, de-funding and denunciation of International Criminal Court, pulling out of Paris Climate Agreement, threats to annex Greenland, taking it from Denmark, JD Vance’s recent criticisms of UK and other European allies
• Trumps declarations about Palestinians permanent departure from Gaza that have alienated them and Arab nations

John goes on to describe the merchants of the earth weeping and mourning over Babylon’s fall, nostalgic for the glory days. Threats of tariffs are causing distress now, as prices rise. Many Europeans are lamenting America’s new hostile and isolationist posture, as are Canadians, Mexicans, and people the world over.

Threats of tariffs, the defunding of life-saving programs to vulnerable people all around the world, and the loss of perceived friendships are causing many to lament America’s fall from where it was. Some would like to make America woke again (or for the first time), which seems like a near impossible feat in the current climate.

Before America’s fall is complete, things can still get much worse as the current Administration seeks to exert and expand its control by rallying its faithful, building alliances with far right populist parties, Christian nationalists, reconstructionists, dominionists, and others around the world that align with its values and the politics of its empire.

Here’s where I find John’s next words to God’s people highly challenging and refreshing.

John hears another voice from heaven saying: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities” (Rev 18:4-5).

What would it look like for followers of Jesus to “come out” of the USA, and to “not participate in her sins?” How might this align with active solidarity with those currently out on our streets, being forced out of our country, or choosing to leave due to the current hostile climate? How can we come out from the impasses of partisan hostility, and become active peacemakers in alignment with Jesus?

Our best efforts to resist in the here and now are critical, though they may not change what John announces. John goes on to describe coming plagues, pestilence, mourning and famine, “for the Lord God who judges her is strong” (Rev 18:8).

There are no false hopes of things getting better in this chapter, nor are there calls to resist the powers through armed struggle nor to reform them, to “make Babylon great again.” This absence of reformation as an option aligns with a current that flows throughout Scripture.

Moses does not succeed in winning over Pharaoh through non-violent advocacy, nor through violent resistance or even through God’s judgement via the ten plagues. Pharaoh, his horsemen and chariots are drowned in the waters as they pursue God’s people as they go out from the land of slavery to freedom.

Jesus himself declares that not one stone will be left upon the other of Israel’s sacred Temple. He prophesies it’s destruction, and the sacking of Jerusalem by the Romans. He calls his followers to flee to the mountains rather than defend the homeland, in alignment with commands to disciples to flee to the next city when persecuted for announcing the kingdom of God.

Paul states clearly that when the end comes, and Jesus hands over the kingdom to God the Father, it is after he has “abolished [and not reformed] all rule and all authority and power” (1 Cor 15:24) and destroyed [and not redeemed] the last enemy, death itself (1 Cor 15:26).

Revelation 18:20 calls believers to an action that is the opposite of current calls to make America or any nation great again, or to pledge allegiance to anything other than to Jesus and the kingdom of God. Believers are told to join heaven’s chorus:

“Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her” (Rev 18:20).

This rejoicing is not about gloating or winning, but celebrating God’s liberating actions and victory through Jesus– to bring freedom to the oppressed, and to usher in his eternal kingdom.

I’m not saying I know that day or the hour as we face what looks like apocalyptic times, and the end of history. I find Jesus’ words to his disciples especially relevant, which he offers in response to their question as to when he would restore the kingdom to Israel.

“It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by his own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:7-8).

May we welcome the Holy Spirit’s empowerment and step more fully into our highest callings, to be Jesus’ witnesses, to announce his kingdom, in this world but decidedly not “of” this world.