Texts in Conversation
Ezekiel taunts the prince of Tyre for claiming to be a god and sitting in the seat of gods. 2 Thessalonians echoes this image, describing a future figure who takes his seat in God’s temple and presents himself as God.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Ezekiel 28:2
Hebrew Bible
1 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘Your heart is proud and you said, “I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods, in the heart of the seas”—yet you are a man and not a god, though you think you are godlike. 3 Look, you are wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you.
2 Thessalonians 2:4
New Testament
3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat in God’s temple, displaying himself as God. 5 Surely you recall that I used to tell you these things while I was still with you.
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Notes and References
... Moreover, the Old Testament provided examples of kings who were supposed to have made themselves equal to God. According to Isaiah 14.13–14, the king of Babylon said in his heart: To heaven I shall ascend, above the stars of God I shall exalt my throne, and I shall dwell on the mountain of assembly [of the gods], in the far regions of the north. I shall ascend to the heights of the clouds, I shall make myself like the Most High. In Ezekiel 28.2, similar assertions are put into the mouth of the ruler of Tyre. Mention should also be made here of the expectation of a return of the Roman Emperor Nero ...
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