2 Thessalonians 2:8 (KJV) 8 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: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
In the Good News Translation (GNT) it is spelled out better as "the Wicked One". Most of the other translations call him, "the Lawless One". Most theologians identify the Wicked One as Satan or the Devil. Not so! His coming is Satan's works. The GNT specifically delineates that idea with verse 9: "The Wicked One will come with the power of Satan and perform all kinds of false miracles and wonders, 10 and use every kind of wicked deceit on those who will perish."
Who is the Wicked One since he is not Satan? The pseudepigraphical Book of First Adam and Eve 63:12 concurs with Holy Scripture: "And Satan departed from him. But the wicked One remained behind in the heart of Cain, who sought many a time, to kill his brother."
Therefore, my conclusion is that "the Wicked One" is not Satan but a demonic spirit of some sort since he/it remained in the heart of Cain. I agree with Matthew Henry. The Wicked One must be the anti-Christ. Paul said that the Wicked (One) shall be revealed.
The "Wicked" is anomos in the Greek, being "the lawless one" - a Gentile who is not subject to Jewish Law. He will be revealed or apokalupto - in the Greek meaning "to take off his cover." In other words, just as Jesus is the manifestation of God, the Wicked One is the manifestation of Satan. The Word was Spirit until his revealing. Likewise, it makes sense that the anti-Christ is a demonic spirit until it is time for his revealing - to be born from demonic spirits as a Gentile man.
Since scripture refers to "the spirit of his mouth" that begins to make sense, especially when his character is referred to as "brightness" (both in verse 8 at the top).
2 Corininthians 7:14 says that Satan can transform himself into "an angel of light". This spirit with its 'brightness" seems to be the dark spirit of Satan in mimicry of the Holy Ghost as the Spirit of Jesus.
Cain means "hater". Cain was "the lawless one" when he killed Abel. Cain was also a Gentile, as he preceded Abraham. Perhaps, the spirit of Cain still lives because his "father" was the Devil. Satan is called "the hater" throughout the Books of Adam and Eve. The spirit of Cain "the hater", son of the Hater, is a prime candidate for the revealing of the anti-Christ. What I am implying is that the evil which Satan planted in Cain's heart will be revealed someday. Perhaps the spirit in Cain will manifest itself in some modern person much as the legions of spirits lived in the man of Gaderene (Mark 5).
Who will be the spirit of Satan revealed as the Wicked One? Many have been named from the General Hadrian, to Hitler, and even the Pope. We don't know who he will be or is already, but it seems that the same spirit which Satan left in the heart of Cain will be manifested as the anti-Christ.
Note: The Books of Adam and Eve are not Holy Scripture, but commentary. As such, they are not to be valued as THE Word of God. However, if they were written in the 3rd or 4th centuries B.C., the writer had great spiritual insight, and must have been a prophet. On the other hand, if the books were written in the 4th or 5th centuries A.D., then the writer understood Holy Scripture enough to superbly comment. He would have been "the Matthew Henry" of the Essenes or Ethiopians!
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