The “son of perdition,” otherwise known as the “man of sin” is Judas Iscariot.

In 2 Thes. 2:2-4, the Lord shows us that the antichrist will be revealed before the coming of the Lord. Paul says in verse 3, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. The question is, “Who is this son of perdition?” In Jn. 17:12, Jesus prayed to his father and said, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.” He was referring to Judas Iscariot when he prayed that. So, by cross referencing scriptures, we see that Jesus identified Judas as “the son of perdition.”

But you are saying to yourself right now, “How could the son of perdition be Judas? He’s dead and in hell right now! And this guy has yet to be revealed!!”

Well, for one thing, when Judas died, the Bible didn’t say that he went to hell. The Bible says that he went “to his own place,” (Acts 1:25). That place is the bottomless pit, over which he is “the angel.” The locusts in Rev. 9:11 “had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. Do you know what Apollyon means? It means perdition.

So, Judas’ body is dead, but the soul of that old devil (Jn. 6:70-71) is still alive in the bottomless pit. This explains the mystery of the scarlet coloured beast that carries the woman in Rev. 17. As the angel revealed to John in Rev. 17:8, “The beast that thou sawest was [when Judas was on the earth with Jesus and his disciples], and is not [at the time of John’s
revelation, Judas was dead]; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition [during the tribulation, as in 2 Thes. 2:2-4].” Ah yes, there’s that word again: perdition.

The opportunity for Judas to ascend out of the bottomless pit and “rise from the dead” will come when the beast is wounded to death in the head. As Rev. 13:3 says, “And I saw one of his
heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.” According to Zech. 11:17, the antichrist will be blind in his right eye and his arm will be useless from this deadly wound.

Zech. 11:17 says, “Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.” Now, check the context of Zech. 11:17!! It’s all about Judas Iscariot selling Jesus Christ for thirty pieces of silver and casting them down in the house of the Lord (Zech. 11:12-16)!!

There’s no doubt about it. The son of perdition is Judas!

Hope this helps,
Pastor Bevans Welder