Now, brethren,
concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
and our gathering together to Him,
we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled,
either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us
as though the day of Christ had come.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-2, NKJV
In my opinion, 2 Thessalonians 2 is one of the most challenging passages in Scripture. Some of the most confused eschatalogical teaching I have ever heard comes from this chapter. One misunderstanding, one mistranslation, one misconception, and the whole passage unravels from a beautiful and meaningful tapestry into a tangled pile of meaningless thread. Whatever conclusions one makes based upon this passage must also align with other passages on the same subject. Out of all the passages I've discussed so far, none I think cause so much conflict and confusion as this one. So it is with a little trepidation that I wade into the churning waters of 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2.
Pulling on threads from Joel, Daniel, and Jesus, the Apostle Paul begins to weave his tapestry of end-time theology together, giving us more key facts about the Rapture, the Return of Christ, the Wrath that is coming, and now the Rise of the Antichrist at the end of the age. Thus far in Biblical prophecy, the Day of the Lord has been seen as a day of gloom, darkness and judgment upon the disobedient. But Paul adds an additional layer when he calls it the Day of Christ, a day of blessing and reward for believers that he will write about throughout his ministry. In this 2 Thessalonian passage, he doesn't dwell as much on the subject of believers and heaven as he does on the unbelievers who remain in the earth for the Day of the Lord.
48. The Day of the Lord connects and apparently includes the Lord's coming, our gathering together to Him, and the days of judgment that follow. The Day of the Lord was never intended to describe a twenty-four hour period in which all things would be wrapped up prophetically, but rather a time period of rebellion against God and wrath from Him, culminating in the return of Christ to win the victory over all his enemies. Because believers are not appointed to suffer either from or through the wrath of God with all the unbelievers, but rather are promised rescue and rest from it, those days of horror and awe cannot begin until the believers are out of the way.
49. The Day of the Lord, God's wrath and judgment, cannot start until after the "apostasia"--the great departure. I am not a Greek scholar, but some that are have taken a closer look at this verse in the original Greek and come to the conclusion that the English translators may have rendered this particular verse inaccurately. It's not a mistranslation that has caused anyone to stumble or be led astray. It changes no major doctrine of the church, but when understood correctly, it does bring an order to this passage that is desperately needed. Hang with me over the next couple of days and you'll see why.
In the Greek, the word apostasia means, most simply, departure, and it is only used twice in the New Testament. The first time is in Acts 21:21, when Paul is accused of teaching Jews to forsake (apostasia, depart from) Moses. When the English translators came to the word apostasia and saw it being used in this instance to denote a religious defection, they actually transliterated it into English and gave us the word apostasy, which ever since has been used to refer to the renunciation, abandonment, or neglect of established religion. And in the context of the Acts usage, such an understanding is reasonable. But when Paul employs apostasia in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, he gives it no qualifying words. Really, all he says is there will be a departure before God's judgment will begin.
Jesus talked about people abandoning their faith at the end of the age in His Olivet Discourse, and Paul will refer to the same in 2 Timothy 3. There will certainly be a mass exodus from true belief in favor of niceties and fables before the end, but here in this discussion of the Rapture, the Return of Christ, the Rise of Antichrist, and a few verses later the removal of a restrainer, talk of the departure from faith seems out of place. However, Paul has already been describing another kind of departure, not a departure from faith, but a departure from this planet. It's not a falling away that has to happen before judgment can begin, but a leaving.
50. The Day of the Lord cannot start until after the "man of sin" the singular manifestation of lawlessness and the object of God's wrath, is revealed. In this passage, Paul introduces an individual he calls the man of sin, the lawless one, and the son of perdition--this last being a phrase also used by Jesus to refer to Judas Iscariot. As the passage unfolds, we learn that he is talking about a person introduced in the prophets. In Daniel he is the Little Horn and the Willful King. In Isaiah he is the Assyrian. John will call him Antichrist (the one who replaces and opposes), and in Revelation he is called simply The Beast out of the sea. He will be the ultimate embodiment of evil, Satan's personal representative in his penultimate attempt to thwart the eternal plan of God. And judgment cannot begin until he is revealed.
And how will he be revealed--this successor to Nimrod, Pharaoh, Haman, Antiochus IV, Herod, Nero, and Hitler--as the man of sin? Most likely it is the covenant of Daniel 9:27, the treaty forged with Israel to bring peace to the middle east and give the Jews the right to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem, which also initiates the final seven years of God's dealings with Israel. From that moment, it is a predictable countdown of 2520 days until Christ shall return to earth in power and great glory!
48. The Day of the Lord connects and apparently includes the Lord's coming, our gathering together to Him, and the days of judgment that follow. The Day of the Lord was never intended to describe a twenty-four hour period in which all things would be wrapped up prophetically, but rather a time period of rebellion against God and wrath from Him, culminating in the return of Christ to win the victory over all his enemies. Because believers are not appointed to suffer either from or through the wrath of God with all the unbelievers, but rather are promised rescue and rest from it, those days of horror and awe cannot begin until the believers are out of the way.
Let no one deceive you by any means;
for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first,
and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
2 Thessalonians 2:3, NKJV
49. The Day of the Lord, God's wrath and judgment, cannot start until after the "apostasia"--the great departure. I am not a Greek scholar, but some that are have taken a closer look at this verse in the original Greek and come to the conclusion that the English translators may have rendered this particular verse inaccurately. It's not a mistranslation that has caused anyone to stumble or be led astray. It changes no major doctrine of the church, but when understood correctly, it does bring an order to this passage that is desperately needed. Hang with me over the next couple of days and you'll see why.
In the Greek, the word apostasia means, most simply, departure, and it is only used twice in the New Testament. The first time is in Acts 21:21, when Paul is accused of teaching Jews to forsake (apostasia, depart from) Moses. When the English translators came to the word apostasia and saw it being used in this instance to denote a religious defection, they actually transliterated it into English and gave us the word apostasy, which ever since has been used to refer to the renunciation, abandonment, or neglect of established religion. And in the context of the Acts usage, such an understanding is reasonable. But when Paul employs apostasia in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, he gives it no qualifying words. Really, all he says is there will be a departure before God's judgment will begin.
Jesus talked about people abandoning their faith at the end of the age in His Olivet Discourse, and Paul will refer to the same in 2 Timothy 3. There will certainly be a mass exodus from true belief in favor of niceties and fables before the end, but here in this discussion of the Rapture, the Return of Christ, the Rise of Antichrist, and a few verses later the removal of a restrainer, talk of the departure from faith seems out of place. However, Paul has already been describing another kind of departure, not a departure from faith, but a departure from this planet. It's not a falling away that has to happen before judgment can begin, but a leaving.
50. The Day of the Lord cannot start until after the "man of sin" the singular manifestation of lawlessness and the object of God's wrath, is revealed. In this passage, Paul introduces an individual he calls the man of sin, the lawless one, and the son of perdition--this last being a phrase also used by Jesus to refer to Judas Iscariot. As the passage unfolds, we learn that he is talking about a person introduced in the prophets. In Daniel he is the Little Horn and the Willful King. In Isaiah he is the Assyrian. John will call him Antichrist (the one who replaces and opposes), and in Revelation he is called simply The Beast out of the sea. He will be the ultimate embodiment of evil, Satan's personal representative in his penultimate attempt to thwart the eternal plan of God. And judgment cannot begin until he is revealed.
And how will he be revealed--this successor to Nimrod, Pharaoh, Haman, Antiochus IV, Herod, Nero, and Hitler--as the man of sin? Most likely it is the covenant of Daniel 9:27, the treaty forged with Israel to bring peace to the middle east and give the Jews the right to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem, which also initiates the final seven years of God's dealings with Israel. From that moment, it is a predictable countdown of 2520 days until Christ shall return to earth in power and great glory!
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