2 ND THESSALONIANS CHAPTER 2 Verses 1-8 “The Thessalonians were afraid!” WHY?

WHAT WAS THE REASON FOR 2nd THESSALONIANS CHAPTER 2 2 Thessalonians 2:2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Was it because the Thessalonian believers had a fear that the Day of the Lord had begun? Remember the question in the opening slide subtitle?

WHAT WAS THE QUESTION? QUESTION: WHY WERE THE THESSALONIANS AFRAID? Was it because they thought the Day of the Lord had begun? If so, WHY SHOULD THAT BOTHER THEM? IT WOULD NOT BOTHER ME! I’m sure the Thessalonians were at least as strong in their belief as I am, and probably stronger. So why were they afraid?

SERIOUSLY! If I were to find out that I had to go through the “Day of the Lord”, (a time when there will be great trouble here on earth)… I would be excited!!!! Because that would mean that Christ’s coming was just around the corner! I don’t think the Thessalonians were any less committed than I am… so why would the possibility that the “The Day of the Lord” had begun, scare them?

BEFORE WE ANSWER… … that question. I want to remind you all of something. Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. God conceals things…. BUT…

IT IS THE HONOR OF KINGS TO SEARCH THEM OUT Anybody got a king handy? I need some help with scripture. Revelation 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. If he is King of Kings then….

WHO ARE THE KINGS… … he is king over? Answer: Revelation 1:5-6 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

SO YOU ARE A KING! Jesus Christ has made you a king and priest of God, our Father. So God now has millions of kings and priests, and over these kings, is the King of kings, Jesus. Wanna know what else?

THOUGH GOD HIDES THINGS We are fortunate! Why? Because… Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

NOTHING GOD DOES NOTHING… … without revealing it to his servants, the prophets! Period! Therefore, there is nothing hidden that we cannot find out… … and we, as God’s kings, are empowered to find out the things God has hidden! So on to Thessalonians…

2 ND THESSALONIANS 2:1,2 1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4 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; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

2 Thessalonians 2:5, 6 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

2 Thessalonians 2:7, 8 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 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:

OKAY, WE BEGIN – 2 Thess 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, Let’s see what Paul means when he says “beseech”, above. First – the English dictionary

MERRIAM WEBSTER Beseech 1 : to beg for urgently or anxiously 2 : to request earnestly : IMPLOREIMPLORE Implore 1 : to call upon in supplication : BESEECH 2 : to call or pray for earnestly : ENTREAT BESEECH ENTREAT

HOW ABOUT THE GREEK? The word “beseech” is translated from the Greek word… “erotao” 2065 erotao {er-o-tah'-o} Meaning: 1) to question 2) to ask 2a) to request, entreat, beg, beseech Origin: apparently from 2046 cf 2045; Usage: AV - ask 23, beseech 14, pray 14, desire 6, intreat 1; 58 I like to check out origins

Origin: apparently from 2046 cf 2045 2045 ereunao {er-yoo-nah'-o} [erotao] Meaning: 1) to search, examine into Origin: apparently from 2046 (through the idea of enquiry); TDNT - 2:655,255; v Usage: AV - search 6; 6 NOW LET’S LOOK AT 2046…

Origin: apparently from 2046 cf 2045 2046 ereo {er-eh'-o} [erotao] Meaning: 1) to utter, speak, say Origin: probably a fuller form of 4483, an alternate for 2036 in cert. tenses;; v Usage: AV - say 57, speak 7, tell 4, speak of 2, call 1; 71 NOW LET’S LOOK AT 4483…

Origin: probably a fuller form of 4483 4483 r`e,w rheo {hreh'-o} Meaning: 1) to pour forth, to utter Origin: for certain tenses of which a prolonged form ereo {er-eh'-o}, is used, and both as alternate for 2036, perhaps akin (or ident.) with 4482 (through the idea of pouring forth);; v Usage: AV - speak 12, say, speak of 3, command 1, make 1; 26

BESEECH IN FULL BLOOM All definitions and nuances. ENGLISH: to beg urgently, anxiously, to implore, to call and pray for earnestly. GREEK: to question, ask, request, entreat, beg, to search or examine into, to speak, utter, or say… in a pouring forth.

WE DRILL A LITTLE FURTHER 2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, Next, we focus on the word, “by”. Whenever we do something “by” something, that something is the standard, the litmus test. For example, when we do something “by” the numbers, or “by” the book.

THE STANDARD The subject, the standard, the benchmark, that we are going to measure everything in the 2nd chapter of Thessalonians “by” is… 2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

AS IS APPROPRIATE… … the subject of chapter two is introduced in the first verse. That subject is… 1.“the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” AND 2.“our gathering together unto him,”

WE WOULD SAY… … “Today I’m going to talk to you about…”. The subject is introduced before we begin speaking on the body of that subject. God is no different.

SO THE SUBJECT IS… 1.“the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” AND 2.“our gathering together unto him,”

DEFINITELY TWO ITEMS 1.“the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” 2.“our gathering together unto him,” Now these two items could be two aspects of the same event, or two different events separated in time.

LET ME EXPLAIN… … and here, I am going to be forced to take a side road, not because I want to, but because, as with any important bible truth, such as the gathering together, or rapture of the church, and Christ’s 2 nd coming, mischief, obfuscation, and confusion abound. First, there are three main views as to the timing of our “gathering together unto him”, i.e., the rapture, and the second coming of Christ. A fourth view came into prominence during the 1990’s. I will briefly explain and demonstrate these four views with some assisting illustrations.

FIRST, THE MILLENNIUM The word “millennium”, is derived from two Latin words, “milus”, which means a thousand, and “annum”, meaning year. Literally, a one thousand year period. Scholars refer to a period that Revelation predicts will occur in the future, following Christ’s 2 nd coming as, the “millennium”

REVELATION Revelation 20:1-3 1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

MORE… REVELATION Revelation 20:4 … and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

STILL MORE… Revelation 20:5-7 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

SO… THERE IS THIS PERIOD… … still future, that is a thousand years in duration, during which, Satan will be bound – not allowed to roam. The first resurrection will have taken place at the beginning of the thousand years. This is why scholars place the thousand years after, or starting right at, the second coming of Christ. Why again, you may ask?

BECAUSE, AS WE READ The thousand years begins with the first resurrection, and it is Christ who performs this first resurrection, so he has to be returned as these resurrected people are going to live and reign with him. Where! On earth!

SO GOD’S WORD… … places Christ’s second coming right at, on, or just before, the beginning of the prophesied one thousand year period, this period being called often the millennial reign of Christ. Graphically it would look like the next slide.

THE MILLENIUM Note: My own research confirms a seven day “week” from Adam to the end of time, therefore I firmly support the seven one-thousand year days from Adam until the end of Christ’s millennial reign which is then followed by a new heaven and new earth, beginning an eighth day that has no end (eternal), or as some rabbis call it, “a time of not counting”. This truth of the seven days is demonstrable by some obvious and some not so obvious scriptures, however, proving that truth is outside the scope of this effort. That said, no harm is done by my illustrations because whether you support such a doctrine or not, the historical fact that almost two thousand years -- or, 2 days, depending upon your understanding -- have passed since Christ’s ascension and Pentecost until the present is unarguable. Further, Revelation is clear - as we have seen in our previous verses - that there is a period up ahead of us, prophetically speaking, of one thousand years in length. Therefore, my illustrations can at least be helpful in depicting the last two thousand years, and the coming millennium.

PRE… POST… or A… choo! There are three prominent views of the millennium… the thousand year period that we have been discussing. 1.1 st view is “PRE-MILLENIALISM” 2.2 nd view is “POST-MILLENIALISM” 3.3 rd view is “A-MILLENIALISM” Note: I will often hyphenate a word, not because spelling requires it, but because I want to make a distinction.

1 st VIEW… PRE-MILLENNIALISM The premillenialist view is this essentially: That the rapture of the church, the judgements of Revelation, the antichrist, Armageddon, and the second coming of Christ, must all have already have occurred, or at least be coincident with the beginning of the thousand years (the millennium). And most importantly, that the thousand years (the millennium) is still future to us. There is more but I’m just giving the basics.

2 nd VIEW… POST-MILLENNIALISM The postmillennialist view is essentially this: That the thousand years (the millennium) has already happened… that the thousand years began counting two thousand years ago, and that we are now living in a period which is post-[past]millennial.

3 rd VIEW… A-MILLENNIALISM The amillenialist view is this: That there is no “literal” thousand year reign of Christ. That rather, the millennium, and Revelations’ references to such a period, are allegorical, and that the church reigns presently on earth in proxy for Christ.

FOR OBVIOUS REASONS… … I hold to the premillenialist position as it fits scripture when scripture is viewed in a literal sense and the prophecies are not “allegorized” away. History confirms that the thousand year reign of Christ has not occurred yet, not to mention that scripture indicates Satan is bound during this thousand year period. World conditions indicate that Satan is still active, not bound.

SO I/WE ARE… PREMILLENNIALIST That is, we believe that the thousand-year millennium is still future to us, and is a prophecy yet to be fulfilled. That said, we must now deal with a period commonly called, the Great Tribulation, or the 70 th week of Daniel chapter nine, a prophetic seven year period which is still future to us.

THE GREAT TRIBULATION… … is a time that will be like no other period in history. Matthew 24:21-22 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

THE GREAT TRIBULATION… … has obviously not occurred yet, but when will it occur? Since the great tribulation is marked by, and ends with, judgment… and scholars place the second coming of Christ at the end of this seven year period, right before, or right at, the beginning of the one thousand year millennium then… … the Great Tribulation (believed to be seven years in duration) ends, just as the millennium, or final thousand years begins at the 2 nd coming.

AND IT LOOKS LIKE THIS

7 YEAR TRIBULATION Has it happened yet? Matthew 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. No!

SO THE TRIBULATION… … is future… Therefore we are… Pre-tribulational a-n-n-n-n-d… Pre-millennial Both the seven-year Great Tribulation and the thousand-year millennium are future to us.

NOW, WE NEED TO GO A LITTLE DEEPER Because… though all pre-millennialists agree that the thousand year millennium is still future to us, and that Christ's 2 nd coming is still future to us… They disagree as to the timing of the gathering together, variously called the “catching away”, or rapture. We must have the seven year tribulation in view as we consider the various rapture views.

CONCERNING THE RAPTURE There are three prominent views, and a fourth not so prominent but more recent view (CIRCA 1990), as to when the rapture will occur. Each view has its dogged proponents, faithful supporters, who will readily point out how wrong the other views are.

1 st A WORD ON THE WORD… … “rapture”. Before we get all exercised about the use of the word “rapture”, and its lack of presence in the bible, I would like to mention a few salient facts. Jerome’s translation of the Hebrew and Greek scriptures into Latin, known as the Vulgate, occurred following an order from Pope Damasus I, in 382 AD.

RAPTURE cont’d. Jerome translated the following verse from the KJV… 1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Using the Latin word “rapiemur”, which means a catching or snatching away. In our verse above, the English words “caught up” are translated from the Greek word “harpazo”, which means the same thing, to catch or snatch away.

JUST A LITTLE MORE ARCANE INFORMATION ON “RAPTURE” Jeromes choice of the Latin “rapiemur” gives me no particular heartburn as it does mean, as we said, to catch or snatch away. Furthermore, “rapiemur” is the indicative passive future plural form. The present tense, active form in Latin is “rapere”, from which the word “rapture” is derived. It means to snatch, grab, or carry off. (see http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rapere).http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rapere Sounds like “rapture” to me. But you know what, if you want to call it the rapture, the gathering together, the great snatch, the catching up, or even the abduction of the church, I’m not going to get all twisted, as long as you understand the significance of the event and no one is harmed or misled by your choice of words. Okay, enough of this digression within a digression. Let’s get back to understanding the four views of the tribulation.

THE FOUR VIEWS The four views as to when the rapture occurs, in relation to the seven-year Great Tribulation are: 1.The pre-tribulation rapture 2.The mid-tribulation rapture 3.The post-tribulation rapture 4.The pre-wrath rapture

1 st THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE… … and it looks like this… NOTE: Pre-tribulation rapture beliefs vary somewhat as to whether the rapture happens some unknown period of time prior to the start of the seven year tribulation, or whether it happens right at the start of the seven years and may even trigger the start of the seven year tribulation. Point is, all agree that the rapture precedes the Great Tribulation and these folks would therefore be pre-tribulational in their view.

A WORD ABOUT IMMINENCY I was always told that the reason that I could never be successful in discovering the timing for the rapture of the church was because of something called the doctrine of “immanency”. The doctrine known as “immanency” essentially rests on the belief that Christ could have returned at any time in church history from the next day after Pentecost up to, and including, our present moment.

THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE with a twist The doctrine of immanency represents that the rapture could have occurred any time from Pentecost until the present, and anytime in the future, prior to the Great Tribulation.

MORE ON IMMINENCY I found, in my research, that the doctrine of immanency is a contrivance. It exists no where in scripture clearly stated but rather, is assembled through inference. There is no such word in the bible, nor words to that effect. In the interest of not taking our current subject, the Thessalonians fear, to far afield, I am not going to deal with immanency here. Suffice to say that careful examination will demonstrate the fallacy of the doctrine of immanency. ‘Nuff said. (If you have questions on immanency… ask me)

NOW… THE MID-TRIBULATION RAPTURE We have covered the 1 st position, pre-tribulation, now here is the 2 nd. Mid-tribulation rapture. This view has the rapture occurring half way through the seven years.

THE POST-TRIBULATION RAPTURE The 3 rd view, post-tribulationalism, has the rapture occurring simultaneously with the 2 nd coming. And following the seven years when they end.

THE REDHEADED STEPCHILD 4 th view, the pre-wrath rapture… why? Revelation 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. Revelation 16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

SO WHY PRE-WRATH? Romans 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

SO WHEN IS THE PRE-WRATH RAPTURE? The pre-wrath position is a view that sees the church being raptured at a time that precedes the 2 nd coming of Christ by some months. That period of a few months is the period where God’s wrath via the bowls and vials are poured out upon the earth. The pre-wrath view envisions that the “wrath to come” that we have been saved from is God’s wrath, and God’s wrath is not poured out until the final months of the seven year tribulation. Any wrath prior to that is Satan’s wrath. A side note: The seven year period commonly called Daniel’s 70 th week and the Great Tribulation needs a slight correction in our understanding. While Daniel’s 70 th week is in fact seven years in length, the Great Tribulation itself is the final, or last, three and one half years of that seven year period. See next slide.

THE GREAT TRIBULATION IS NOT SEVEN YEARS Briefly, it goes like this: Dan 9:27 has the Abomination of Desolation taking place in the “midst” of the final 70 th week, i.e., the final seven years still future to us. The Abomination of Desolation is described by Paul in 2 Thess. 2:4 as being the “man of sin” sitting in the temple. Jesus said in Matthew 24:15 that the Abomination of Desolation spoken of by Daniel, standing in the temple, would be the trigger event which starts the “The Great Tribulation”, as it is called, for Jesus says when this abomination happens, he says in verse 21 “For then shall be great tribulation”. So simply put, THE tribulation does not begin until the man of sin enters the temple and proclaims himself God, and that does not happen Daniel says until the middle of the final seven years, therefore, only the final three and one half years comprise the Great Tribulation, not the whole seven. The Great Tribulation

THAT’S THE BASICS OF THE VARIOUS RAPTURE BELIEFS Now that you have somewhat of a mind picture of the possible scenarios for the rapture, let’s get back to 2 Thessalonians 2: 1-8, and Paul’s reason for writing this section. The next slide is a repeat of an earlier slide so that we may get back on track with our intended subject.

DEFINITELY TWO ITEMS 1.“the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” 2.“our gathering together unto him,” 2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, [the second “by” is implied]

First question is… … are these two phrases two aspects of one event? Or, are they two distinct events? The answer lies in performing our due diligence in the scriptures with respect to research. The kind of thing that kings do. The answer is set in concrete, but more on that in a moment. For now, let’s look at our next verse.

Paul beseeches by Christ’s coming and the rapture… …that they quit getting all shook up. 2 Thessalonians 2:2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

MOST SCHOLARS AGREE… …that the NASB has the best and most accurate translation for this verse as it reads… NASB 2 Thessalonians 2:2 that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. The Thessalonians thought the day of the lord was currently going on, NOT that it was just about to start. They thought they were in it!

BACK TO THE KJV 2 Thessalonians 2:2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand [DAY OF THE LORD HAS COME]. Whenever there is error in my thinking I find these two conditions in varying degrees – “shaken in mind” and “troubled”.

SHAKEN IN MIND 4531 saleu,w saleuo {sal-yoo'-o} Meaning: 1) a motion produced by winds, storms, waves, etc 1a) to agitate or shake 1b) to cause to totter 1c) to shake thoroughly, of a measure filled by shaking its contents together 2) to shake down, overthrow 2a) to cast down from one's (secure and happy) state 2b) to move, agitate the mind, to disturb one To be “shaken in mind” is a momentary state.

TROUBLED 2360 throeo {thro-eh'-o} Meaning: 1) to cry aloud, make a noise by outcry 1a) in the NT, to trouble, frighten 1b) to be troubled in mind, to be frightened, alarmed Origin: from threomai {to wail};; v To be “troubled” in mind is more ongoing. The initial shock of an event may be over, but we have a continuing affect when we are “troubled”.

PAUL LOVINGLY BESEECHES… … the Thessalonians to not be shaken or troubled, no matter the source of information, be it spirit, word [as in prophecy], or letter, that the Day of the Lord had begun. What is Paul going to use to get rid of their “shaken, troubled,” minds? The truth! Error in our thinking results in doubt, and doubt leads to worry and fear, and fear results in our inability to be at peace. Instead, we may find ourselves in the conditions the Thessalonians experienced – being shaken and troubled.

WHAT IS THE ANSWER TO ERROR -- RIGHT DOCTRINE! So Paul set about correcting their doctrine, which subsequently corrects their thinking. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 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;

PAUL STRESSES 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means… What were the means that had been used to deceive them? One, or some, combination of the following. 2 Thessalonians 2:2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

NOW! THE MEAT OF THE MATTER 2 Thessalonians 2:3 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; Please notice the words… “that day shall not come”

HOW IMPORTANT IS THAT STATEMENT? “that day shall not come” That statement is HUGE, for it goes directly to the Thessalonians problem! They were deceived into thinking the “Day of the Lord” HAD come! No other statement is this section goes right to the problem like, “that day shall not come”. Again, it’s HUGE! But wait! There is a problem!

PAUL’S HUGE STATEMENT… …the singular phrase that directly refutes the Thessalonians error… is…gulp! IN ITALICS! IT’S ITALICIZED! [KJV of course] “that day shall not come” Italicized words are added by the translators!

ITALICIZED WORDS ARE… … NOT part of the God-breathed word but are ADDED by the translators. Supplied, if, in their opinion, the words are needed to make sense in English. Am I to believe that the most direct refutation of the Thessalonians' error -- concerning what they believed to be the now occurring, “Day of the Lord”, -- was not even made by God, but was a translational addition as demonstrated by the italicized words, “that day shall not come”?

HMMM – LET’S SEE The words, “that day shall not come”, are not in any Greek MS. They have definitely been added by the translators. I looked at 25 different Bible translations. Of those 25, 21 of them all had the words “that day shall not come”, or words to that effect, added to verse 3. Four did not.

LET’S REMOVE THE ITALICIZED WORDS First with the italicized words… KJV 2 Thessalonians 2:3 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; Then without… KJV 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: … for except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition…

DO YOU SEE IT? THERE’S SOMETHING MISSING!

LET’S LOOK AT THE FOUR BIBLES THAT OMIT THE WORDS The Basic Bible in English BBE 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Give no belief to false words: because there will first be a falling away from the faith, and the revelation of the man of sin, the son of destruction, [first before what? This translation needs to end this verse with: “before the day of the Lord come.”] Notice the bold words. They changed the grammer in order to make it work without the italicized words. They changed those bold words from the KJV, et al, where it says, “except there come a falling away first” - KJV.

THE DOUAY-RHEIMS AMERICAN EDITION DRA 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition… Notice how you are left hanging at the end of the verse. You sense something is missing but you do not know what.

Now – the NAB NAB 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For unless the apostasy comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one doomed to perdition, Again, we are left dangling as if we are being set up to be told “something” but the “something” is never revealed.

NOW THE FOURTH – YOUNG’S LITERAL TRANSLATION YLT 2 Thessalonians 2:3 let not any one deceive you in any manner, because -- if the falling away may not come first, and the man of sin be revealed -- the son of the destruction, And here, for a fourth time, we are left hanging, waiting for something we cannot exactly identify.

BUT THE YLT IS CLEVER They, at least recognize they have missed something in the sense of their translation. So what do they do? They fix it by adding some italicized words two verses down! They add these words… “the day doth not come”. But where do they add them? Next verse!

LET’S LOOK YLT 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 3 let not any one deceive you in any manner, because - - if the falling away may not come first, and the man of sin be revealed -- the son of the destruction, 4 who is opposing and is raising himself up above all called God or worshipped, so that he in the sanctuary of God as God hath sat down, shewing himself off that he is God -- the day doth not come.

AND HOW DID THE KJV PUT IT 2 Thessalonians 2:3 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; So let’s tally up. We have 21 translations that add the words “that day shall not come”, or words to that affect.

THEN WE HAVE A TRANSLATION The BBE [Basic Bible in English] which does not include the italicized words but DOES change both the tense and voice to cover for not adding the italicized words [which is ineffective]. In other words, they changed the word of God so they would not have to add the italicized words IMHO.

THEN WE HAVE TWO… … translations, the DRA and the NAB, neither of which make grammatical changes to hide the missing sense, nor do they add the italicized words, but rather, they simply leave us wondering what is missing. Then there is the YLT, which adds the italicized words in the next verse.

SO WHAT’S THE SCORE Twentyone translations who include in verse 3 the words, “that day shall not come”. One, the BBE, that changes the grammar so you don’t sense something is missing. Two translations, the DRA and NAB, who do not supply the italicized words but are honest enough to leave you with a sense that something is missing. And lastly, the YLT, which ends up adding the words at the end of the next verse.

THE EVIDENCE IS… … overwhelming. The words, “that day shall not come” should be added, and are properly supplied by the translators. Well now wait a minute! If they BELONG THERE, but were not PUT THERE, originally, by God, then that means that they were INTENTIONALLY left out by God! WHY? Why would he do that?

ELLIPSIS A legitimate figure of speech. E.W. Bullinger, in his work, “Figures of Speech used in the Bible”, says specifically that the words, “that day shall not come”, in verse 3, are a particular kind of the figure, “Ellipsis”, whereby a whole clause is intentionally omitted.

GOD, IN OMITTING… …the words, “that day shall not come”, intentionally makes them a figure of speech… and what is the purpose of a figure of speech? TO GRAB OUR ATTENTION! IT IS GOD’S WAY OF SAYING, HEY!IT IS GOD’S WAY OF SAYING, HEY!

HEY!! HEY !! HEY!! PAY ATTENTION!!! THAT DAY SHALL NOT COME!

WHAT WERE THE THESSALONIANS AFRAID OF? They were afraid that… … THAT DAY … HAD COME! So God attacks their error with… THAT DAY… SHALL NOT COME

EXCEPT That day shall not come… EXCEPT! 2 Thessalonians 2:3 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;

SO NOW WE SEE… Before the “Day of the Lord” begins, some things have to occur first. In fact, just by way of information, a bunch of things have to happen first, before the “Day of the Lord” can arrive. For example… Joel 2:30-31 30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

ANYTHING ELSE - YEAH Malachi 4:5-6 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Yup! Elijah is coming before the DAY OF THE LORD.

ANYTHING ELSE – WELL… YEAH Isaiah 13:9-13 9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. 11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. 12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. [THE DAY OF THE LORD]

ANY MORE – YEAH, SOME Revelation 6:12-17 12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

THE BEGINNING OF THE… … “day of the Lord” will be marked by tremendous signs in the heavens and on the earth, so the arrival of the “day of the Lord” will be evident – no guessing needed. And let’s remember in the verses we just read that we learned that the “day of the Lord” is also the “day of His wrath”.

AND YOU MAY RECALL Romans 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

SO AT THE VERY LEAST WE CAN SEE A PRE-WRATH RAPTURE

BUT WAIT! We are also supposed to see something else before the “day of the Lord”. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 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;

PAUL SAYS THAT… … before the “day of the Lord”, two things must happen in succession. What are the two things? 1.a falling away first … and 2.that man of sin be revealed

WHICH HAPPENS FIRST? The “falling away”, or the revealing of the “man of sin”? No question about it! The “falling away” happens first. How do I know that? I’m glad you asked.

2 THESSALONIANS 2:3 SAYS… … “except there come a falling away first…” That word “first” is the Greek word, “proton”, and it means… 4412 proton {pro'-ton} Meaning: 1) first in time or place 1a) in any succession of things or persons 2) first in rank 2a) influence, honour 2b) chief 2c) principal 3) first, at the first

THESE TWO EVENTS… … the “falling away”, and the revealing of the “man of sin” may be separated by some period of time or they may occur the one right after the other, but one thing is certain, the “falling away” happens first in the sequence. Now that brings us to a very controversial issue, namely, what exactly is the “falling away”?

APOSTASIA The three English words, “a falling away”, are translated from the one Greek word, “apostasia” in 2 nd Thessalonians 2:3. Finding out exactly what God meant to convey when he used this word is crucial to the whole reason for writing 2nd Thessalonians 2, 1-8, and, as we might expect, anything that is crucial to our understanding something will find a great deal of devilish mischief surrounding it.

BUT LET’S WADE IN There are three views expounded with regard to the meaning of “apostasia”, as it is used in 2nd Thessalonians 2:3, and let’s remember that it is translated, “a falling away”. The views are as follows in no particular order. 1.That before the “man of sin” is revealed there will be “a falling away” of Christians.

THE SECOND VIEW IS… 2.That the falling away is that which occurs as a result of a future rebellion by Lucifer which then issues in the unveiling of his “son of perdition”, the antichrist. 3.The third view is that “a falling away” is a poor rendering of “apostasia”, and that the word would be better rendered “departure”, meaning that some sort of “departure” must occur before the “son of perdition” is revealed.

MY VIEW PRIOR TO THIS STUDY… … has been that “apostasia” should be translated, “the departure”. However, for the purposes of this study I set aside my view and let the evidence speak. I have no personal preference and desire to simply ascertain what God said.

I WILL PROVIDE THE EVIDENCE… … and you decide for yourselves. Before we examine the evidence I want to warn you of one thing. The belief, of various theologians, as to the correct translation of “apostasia”, is often clouded by the orthodoxy of various parties, and their predisposition, or opposition, to a pre- tribulation rapture, or any rapture that is separate from the 2 nd coming of Christ.

NOT TO WORRY THOUGH God has so written His word that if we will search for the hidden gems, that we as kings are entitled to do, and are equipped to do, then we will discover the wonderful ways in which God has written his word so as to negate His interpretation from being prejudiced by a particular denomination, theological school, or translators orthodoxy.

A CAVEAT ON DEFINITONS The usage of a word may be distinct and unrelated to the actual definition of a word. For example, we all know what the word “bad” means, however, there is a usage in our culture where “bad” means “good”, e.g., “That chick is bad!”. Generally speaking, a word is not defined by its usage, but by it’s definition. The “meaning” of a word may change over time by virtue of the way in which a culture uses the word, but its definition, generally speaking, will not change. Please remember this.

APOSTASIA – “A FALLING AWAY” The argument for translating “apostasia” as “a falling away”, seems to have solid scholarship behind it. Of those who believe that this “falling away” is people, and not some special demonic event, there is debate over whether believers in the church are pictured as “falling away” [from their belief in God], or whether a general “falling away” of the whole world’s population is in view.

THE CHURCH, THE WORLD, OR LUCIFERIC, WHICH IS IT? No matter who you believe the falling away speaks of [above], one thing is clear. This event is not just “a falling away”, but it is “the falling away”, for the Greek supplies the definite article “the”, which is interesting because… In Greek grammar the article is assumed anyway. So by God supplying the definite article God is making a clear statement.

It is “ THE Apostasia” God makes it clear that this is a singular, one-time event. Not all translations translate the Greek article “the” that God intentionally placed to show the emphasis on this being a singular event. That is unfortunate, and it is poor translation. Whether it is “the falling away” or “the departure”, the “the” belongs there.

HOW “THE APOSTASIA” IS TRANSLATED IN 34 VERSIONS ASV, NKJ, & YLT – “the falling away”; BBE, K21, KJG, KJV, PNT, RWB & WEB [Webster Bible] – “a falling away”; AMP, CSB, DBY, MSG, NAB, NAS, NAU, WEY – “the apostasy”; DRA – “a revolt”; ESV, NET, NIB, NIV, NRS, RSV – “the rebellion”; MRD – “a defection”; NJB – “the Great Revolt”; NLT – “a great rebellion”; CEV – “people will rebel”; GNT – “the final rebellion”; NCV – “the turning away” NLV – “people turn away”; GNV, TNT, - “a departing”; WEB [World English Bible] – “the departure”.

THE LEXICON ON “APOSTASIA” My bible software allows me to hold my mouse cursor over a word or group of words and see the Strong’s Concordance Lexical definition of the word. The results.

A GENEVA BIBLE NOTE Notes: Geneva Bible Notes: (1) The apostle foretells that before the coming of the Lord, there will be a throne set up completely contrary to Christ's glory, in which that wicked man will sit, and transfer all things that appertain to God to himself: and many will fall away from God to him.

THIS GENEVA BIBLE NOTE… … is very revealing. Why? Let’s look at the pertinent parts one more time. (1) The apostle foretells that before the coming of the Lord, (1) there will be a throne set up completely contrary to Christ's glory, in which that wicked man will sit, and (2) transfer all things that appertain to God to himself: and many will fall away from God to him.

PUT SIMPLER 1.He sits on his throne [in Jerusalem, in the rebuilt temple] 2.He receives worship intended for God and causes many to “fall away” from God and worship him. ANYBODY SEE A PROBLEM HERE!

SEQUENCE, SEQUENCE 1. Sits on throne 2.Causes many to “fall away” 2 Thessalonians 2:3 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 APOSTASIA HAPPENS FIRST, THEN HE SITS 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: 1: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 2 Thessalonians 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

WHATEVER THE APOSTASIA IS… … it is FIRST, before the revealing of the man of sin, who is revealed when he sits in God’s temple, claiming God’s worship. Remember an earlier slide on the word “first” in the phrase, “except there come a falling away first”? The word “first” is “proton”, the first in a succession!

THAT MISTAKE MAKES ME A LITTLE SUSPICIOUS… … but never mind, let’s continue to examine the case for “apostasia” being translated “falling away”. You probably do not remember the fact that the Strong’s definition for “apostasia” mentioned that “apostasia” appears one other time in the New Testament in Acts 21:21 where it is translated, “forsake”.

ACTS 21:21 Acts 21:21 And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. The word above, “forsake”, is translated from the Greek word, “apostasia”. The same word translated “a falling away” in 2nd Thessalonians 2:3

THE CASE FOR “A FALLING AWAY” IS LOOKING STRONG In all cases, any argument made by scholars, teachers, and believers, for translating “apostasia” as “a falling away”, or “a rebellion”, or, “apostasy”, all reference the only other use of “apostasia” in Acts 21:21 where it is used to describe “forsaking” Moses, indicating a religious “falling away” from Moses. They also use the definitions provided in the Lexicons as well as verses in the LXX.

THE LXX – THE SEPTUAGINT The Septuagint is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament produced around 282 BC. Hebrew scholars who also knew Greek were invited to Alexandria Egypt to produce the LXX. The LXX has a few references (a half dozen or so) where Hebrew bible verses speak of rebellion against God or religion, and in these verses, the Greek word, “apostasia” is used.

A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES LXE Joshua 22:22 God even God is the Lord, and God even God himself knows, and Israel he shall know; if we have transgressed before the Lord by apostasy, let him not deliver us this day. LXE 2 Chronicles 29:19 and all the vessels which king Achaz polluted in his reign, in his apostasy, we have prepared and purified: behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.

SO OUT OF 35 BIBLES… … why would even three bibles choose to translate “apostasia” as “depart”, or “departure”? The evidence for “a falling away”, or, “apostasy”, or “a rebellion”, seems overwhelming! The answer to that question is very interesting, and vital to your life. Yes, vital!

WHAT DO WE HAVE? 1.We have the LXX Greek bible using “apostasia” to translate Hebrew words meaning rebellion against God. 2.We have the only other verse in the New Testament which we can look at using the “prior usage” rule, Acts 21:21, where “apostasia” is translated as “forsake”, as in a religious forsaking of Moses. 3.We have the Strong’s definition of “apostasia” as “a falling away”, “defection”, “apostasy”.

EVERYONE BUILDS THEIR CASE ON THOSE THREE THINGS,… … which are not unsound! So what made me question? After all, I have settled on the meaning of other words with far less research. I would simply look at Strong’s and move on. But! In those various cases, I was not detecting the putrid aroma of… gasp…

A CONSPIRACY! What exactly was bothering me? Was it that I had some personal predilection causing me to want to see “a falling away” translated as the “the departure”. NO! First, that would not be honest, and I have not approached the word of God dishonestly in many years. Was it my desire to see a rapture verse that showed us leaving before most of the bad stuff?

NO! TO ALL OF THESE! THEN WHAT? It was a nnggghhh! A what? A nnggghhh! What the hell is a nnggghhh? I’m glad you asked:<(0) A nnggghhh is a thing I get in my spirit when something stinks but I have no idea why. When that happens, I just pray, continue to read, and do my due diligence.

Then… I began…to notice things Things like the Geneva Bible note we read that had the sequence of events backwards, that is, they had the AntiChrist being revealed as God, and then the “falling away”. Nothing conclusive in itself, but enough for me to say, “why were they backwards”. Then there is the subject. Yes, the subject.

REMEMBER THE SLIDE WHERE WE SAW THAT THE SUBJECT… … was 2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 1.“the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” 2.“our gathering together unto him,”

THE SUBJECT, THE STANDARD BY WHICH TRUTH and ERROR… … must be measured. Everything in this section of 2 nd Thessalonians must comport with the announced subject of and be measured by… 1.“the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” 2.“our gathering together unto him,[rapture]”

DID I FIND THAT TO BE THE CASE? NO! HOW SO! I’m glad you asked! Remember, we measure by… 1.“the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” 2.“our gathering together unto him,” However, when I read verse 3 and following, it raised a flag for me. Why? First of all, notice in verse 1 that the order of the phrases are reversed. Jesus does not come, and then we are gathered! We are gathered to him, and then we come back with him at his 2 nd coming!

THE REVERSAL OF THIS ORDER GRABBED MY ATTENTION You see, the Day of the Lord is synonymous in scripture with the 2 nd coming of Christ. If you are talking about the 2 nd coming you are talking about the Day of the Lord. If you are talking about the day of the Lord you are talking about the 2 nd coming. I saw the reversal in the subject…

AND THEN I SAW THE REVERSAL AGAIN… IN VERSE 3 2 Thessalonians 2:3 … for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, “For that day shall not come”! What day? The Day of the Lord, that is, Christ’s coming! The Day of the Lord/Christ’s coming is placed in sequence in the verse before the “apostasia”, or “a falling away”. The order they are mentioned is in reverse order from their actual occurrence.

SO NOW I SEE A PATTERN In 2nd Thessalonians 2:1, the subject… 1.“the [2 nd ] coming of Christ,” 2.“our gathering together [rapture],” And in 2nd Thessalonians 2:3 1.“that day [the 2 nd coming] shall not come,” 2.“our gathering together,” WHAT!!

ARE YOU NUTS? I do not see what you see! I’ll grant you that the italicized phrase in verse 3, “that day shall not come”, is a reference to the Day of the Lord, the day of Christ’s 2 nd coming but BUT BUT ! I see no words after that, or even in the next words, “except there come a falling away first” that remotely relate to “our gathering together”, instead we have, “a falling away”.

EXACTLY! We have a subject introduced in verse (1) which is “Christ’s coming [Day of the Lord]” and then “our gathering [rapture]”. It’s even introduced in REVERSE order with respect to sequence. Then, in verse (3) we the same reverse order, “Christ’s coming [Day of the Lord]” and then “our gathering [rapture]”? NO! That’s; not what we see! We see, instead, “Christ’s coming [Day of the Lord]” and then what? “[A] falling away”?

LET’S SEE, OKAY, APPLE/APPLE, then APPLE/BANANA? Day of the Lord [APPLE] then gathering together/rapture [APPLE] in 2nd Thess 2:1, but in 2 nd Thess 2:3 we see Day of the Lord [APPLE] then “falling away” [BANANA]? 2 Thess 2:3 I’m expecting everything Paul introduces to comport with God’s benchmark, the subject introduced in verse (1). “A falling away” was NOT introduced in 2 nd Thess 2:1 as the subject. So why is it there in verse 2:3?

MORE SUSPICIOUS NOW… … but do not have nearly enough authority to overturn the great body of evidence supporting “a falling away” as a translation. But I am getting more suspicious. Why? Because I have done too much research into God’s word, and seen the incredible harmony and symmetry in the structure of His word to be comfortable with “apostasia” as “a falling away”.

DEEPER WE GO DEEPER The word “apostasia” itself is a compound of two Greek words, “apo”, meaning “from” and “istemi”, meaning “stand”. So in it’s literal sense, it is a standing away from, and would be defined as “away from”, or “departure”. So where does a “falling away” come from? Good question. Let’s look at the Lexicons

BDAG Lexicon Sounds like a falling away to me…

THAYER’S LEXICON NOTICE THIS COMMENT! AHA! THE FIRST RAY OF LIGHT!

LIDDELL-SCOTT LEXICON Notice the words “late form of” and the slight difference in the words. Also notice this Lexicon provides the definition of “defection”. A much more general term and more accurate, I would say. See it! This… is a “late form” of this! So let’s look at the earlier form.

LIDDELL-SCOTT LEXICON The “earlier”, original form. LITERAL DEFINITION FIGURATIVE USAGE by Thucicides LITERAL USAGE by Euripides LITERAL USAGE by Plato

A-HA!!!!!!!! So we see on the previous slide that the Liddell-Scott Lexicon informs us that the word, “apostasia”, in its older, original form, has, as its literal definition, “a standing away from”. However, in use, this Lexicon shows us in example #1 [previous slide] that the Greek Historian, Thucidides, c. 460 – c. 400 BC, used the word “apostasia” in his writings in a figurative way to represent defection or revolt. Euripides [example #2], the Greek Playwright, c. 480 – c. 406 BC, used “apostasia” in its literal sense as departure from. Finally, Plato, c. 427 – c. 347 BC used the word in its literal sense of distance or interval, that is, separation.

SUMMING UP THIS PORTION The literal definition of “apostasia” in its older, original form, is “a standing away from”, or “departure from”, which results in, “distance”, or “interval”. That fact is inescapable. Next, that the word “apostasia” in its older, original form, may be used to depict a literal “standing away from”, a “departure”, a “separation”, a “distance”, or an “interval”… and finally, that it may be used in a secondary way in a figurative sense to depict revolt or defection.

GORDAN LEWIS Gordon Lewis explains how the verb, from which the noun apostasia is derived, supports the basic meaning of “departure” in the following: Henry George Liddell and Henry Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, Revised with a Supplement [1968] by Sir Henry Stuart Jones and Roderick McKenzie (Oxford, Eng.: Oxford University Press, 1940), p. 218. “The verb may mean to remove spatially. There is little reason then to deny that the noun can mean such a spatial removal or departure. Since the noun is used only one other time in the New Testament of apostasy from Moses (Acts 21:21), we can hardly conclude that its Biblical meaning is necessarily determined.”

GORDAN LEWIS – CONT’D. The verb is used fifteen times in the New Testament. Of these fifteen, only three have anything to do with a departure from the faith (Luke 8;13; 1 Tim. 4:1; Heb 3:12). The word is used for departing from iniquity (2 Tim. 2:19), from ungodly men(1 Tim. 6:5), from the temple (Luke 2:27), from the body (2 Cor. 12:8), and from persons (Acts 12:10; Luke 4:13). Gordon R. Lewis, " Biblical Evidence for Pretribulationism," Bibliotheca Sacra (vol. 125, no. 499; July 1968), p. 218.

MORE EVIDENCE " It is with full assurance of proper exegetical study and with complete confidence in the original languages," concludes Daniel Davey, " that the word meaning of apostasia is defined as departure." Daniel K. Davey, " The ' Apostesia' of II Thessalonians 2:3," Th.M. thesis, Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, May 1982, p. 27.

Paul Lee Tan adds the following: What precisely does Paul mean when he says that "the falling away" (2:3) must come before the tribulation? The definite article " the" denotes that this will be a definite event, an event distinct from the appearance of the Man of Sin. The Greek word for "falling away", taken by itself, does not mean religious apostasy or defection. Neither does the word mean " to fall," as the Greeks have another word for that. [pipto, I fall; TDI] The best translation of the word is "to depart." The apostle Paul refers here to a definite event which he calls "the departure," and which will occur just before the start of the tribulation. This is the rapture of the church.

EARLY TRANSLATIONS The first seven English translations of apostasia all rendered the noun as either "departure" or " departing." They are as follows: Wycliffe Bible (1384); Tyndale Bible (1526); Coverdale Bible (1535); Cranmer Bible (1539); Breeches Bible (1576); Beza Bible (1583); Geneva Bible (1608).[5] This supports the notion that the word truly means "departure." In fact, Jerome' s Latin translation known as the Vulgate, from around the time of A.D. 400, renders apostasia with the " word discessio, meaning ' departure.' " [6] Why was the King James Version the first to depart from the established translation of "departure" ?[5][6]

E. SCHULYER ENGLISH ASKS THE QUESTION… Again, how would the Thessalonians -- or Christians in any century since -- be qualified to recognize the apostasy when it should come, assuming, simply for the sake of this inquiry, that the Church might be on earth when it does come? There has been apostasy from God, rebellion against Him, since time began.

PROFESSOR J.S. MALAN WRITES… The Greek word apostasia means departure, withdrawal or separation. A spiritual and moral falling away can be read into this word only as a secondary meaning, deduced from its basic reference to the departure of the truth. Apostasia is derived from the particle apo which means off or away [from something near], in various senses of place, time or relation. It denotes separation, departure, or the cessation [of a relationship]. The verb correlate of apostasia is aphistemi which, according to Strong’s Concordance, means to depart, withdraw, draw (fall) away, remove.

PROF. MALAN CONCLUDES… … the word “apostasia” is best translated, and, has as its meaning, “depart”, departure”, “departing”. This “departing” is in a literal physical sense, and may be used in a secondary figurative sense, such as departing from the faith. But which is it in verse three, for I have heard the witnesses. I am satisfied that “a falling away” is at best, an unfaithful translation. KJ: I AGREE

STRUCTURE, STRUCTURE HOW I IDENTIFY IT First, to reveal structure, I simplify. No parenthesis. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8 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; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.) 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 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.) [parenthesis mine.]

NEXT, VERSE NUMBERINGS 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, Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, [I remove the verse numberings.]

NEXT, I COLOR IDENTICAL OR SIMILAR STATEMENTS 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, Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed,

THEN I COLOR WHAT PRECEEDS THE IDENTICAL STATEMENTS 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, Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed,

THEN ORGANIZATION BY COLOR USING RETURN KEYS 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, Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now hinders will hinder, until he be taken out of the [midst]. And then shall that Wicked be revealed,

THEN TABS 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, Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, told you these things? And now ye know what hinders, [ katecho neuter ] that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now hinders [katecho, masculine] will hinder, until he be taken out of the [midst]. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, NOTICE!

KATECHO - HINDER 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, Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, told you these things? And now ye know what hinders, [ katecho neuter ] that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now hinders [katecho, masculine] will hinder, until he be taken out of the [midst]. And then shall that Wicked be revealed,

KATECHO - HINDER 2 Thessalonians 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 2722 katecho {kat-ekh'-o} Meaning: 1) to hold back, detain, retain 1a) from going away 1b) to restrain, hinder (the course or progress of) 1b1) that which hinders, Antichrist from making his appearance 1b2) to check a ship's headway i.e. to hold or head the ship 1c) to hold fast, keep secure, keep firm possession of 2) to get possession of, take 2b) to possess

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, Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, told you these things? And now ye know what hinders, [katecho neuter] that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now hinders [katecho, masculine] will hinder, until he be taken out of the [midst]. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, IT HINDERS – HE HINDERS Here “hinders” is neuter because it speaks of an event that hinders. Here “hinders” is masculine and has a “he” in view

WE HAVE A DIFFICULT VERSE When I have a difficult verse I sometimes put it in Excel and place each KJV word in its own cell with its corresponding Greek word below it. I then list every word the lexicons have as a possible translation, no matter the context. I next eliminate the obviously incorrect and inapplicable until I arrive at the word that the context, grammar, and God’s interpretation of His own word, permit.

GINOMAI – AN INTERESTING WORD 2 Thessalonians 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the [midst]. (“he be taken” is ginomai) “Ginomai” is an interesting Greek word. It appears some 419 times in the new Testament and some 300+ of those times it’s usage is “being” but it has some interesting infrequent usages like, “saltiness”, “fulfilled”, “vanished”, “married”, etc. Insert these and say the verse above, as in, “until he be [vanished] out of the [midst]”, or, try this: “until he be [married] out of the [midst]”. Interesting, but, it’s okay, we don’t need to do that.

APOSTASIA – THE DEPARTURE Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come THE DEPARTURE first, and that man of sin be revealed, Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, told you these things? And now ye know what hinders, [ katecho neuter ] that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now hinders [katecho, masculine] will hinder, until he be taken out of the [midst]. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, Here is the proper translation of “apostasia” based upon its definition. So the “what” that “hinders” is “the departure”. It must happen first “proton”. The “he” who now “hinders” is you and I.

THE “he who now hinders” is a “he” IN WHAT SENSE? The sense this example provides… “Todays American has no concept of the freedom he loses when he trades liberty for peace and safety. He who? Which American? Answer: In the example above a single American is representative of all Americans. What applies to one American applies to all. One is put for the many. The same sense is seen in “he who now hinders”. What is in view is really the church, but it is the church as it is individually represented by each member during his or her lifetime. It cannot mean the whole church as only a portion of the church is alive at any one time to serve as a hindrance to the unveiling of the “son of perdition”.

ONE MORE THING 2 Thessalonians 2:3-5 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; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

PAUL IS REFERRING TO… … his first letter, 1 st Thessalonians. What things had he told them? Well, how about, in virtually every chapter he told them something about the Day of the Lord, or the 2 nd coming, or the rapture. How bout the fact that NOT EVEN ONCE did Paul mention “a falling away”, or “a rebellion”.

BUT LOOK WHAT HE DID TELL THEM 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

LOOK AT VERSE 5 AGAIN Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come THE DEPARTURE first, and that man of sin be revealed, 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, told you these things? And now ye know what hinders, that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now hinders will hinder, until he be taken out of the [midst]. And then shall that Wicked be revealed,

“Remember ye not when I was yet with you I told you these things?” What things? These things in part…that… “we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them” [the dead in Christ] “Caught up together” of 1 st Thess. 4:17 equals “our gathering together” of 2 nd Thess 2:1, which equals “the departure” of 2 nd Thess 2:3, which equals the “[being] taken out of the [midst]” of 2 nd Thess 2:7.

IN ADDITION I would like to point out that the “falling away” crowd are fond of stating that every reference to the word “apostasia” in scripture is both negative and about religious rebellion. I wholeheartedly disagree! The LXX scriptures appealed to wherein “apostasia” appears are figurative uses of the literal definition, “a standing away from”. As for Acts 21:21 where “apostasia” is translated “forsake”, that is hardly a negative usage. After all, Paul was teaching the saved Jews that they were no longer under the law, but under grace! Forsaking Moses [law covenant] was a good thing!

DON’T BELIEVE IN RAPTURE Another thing I noticed was that those who opted for “a falling away” seem to be largely those who are against a pretribulational rapture view. Hardly determinative, but interesting. There is the additional evidence that I have provided this fellowship before from E.W. Bullinger’s work using Euclidian geometry to demonstrate the meaning of Greek prepositions, such as the prefix to “apostasia”, “apo” meaning from.

NOW WE HAVE APPLE/APPLE APPLE/APPLE In 2nd Thessalonians 2:1, the subject… 1.“the [2 nd ] coming of Christ,” 2.“our gathering together [rapture],” And in 2nd Thessalonians 2:3 1.“that day [day of the Lord, the 2 nd coming] shall not come,” 2.“the departure,” [the rapture]

FINALLY, CONSIDER THIS The Thessalonians were afraid that the “day of the Lord” had begun. Now, did they know that the “son of perdition” would “be revealed”? Yes! They thought Ceaser was him! Now-w-w-w stay with me! Think! If “apostasia” meant “a falling away”, then why would the Thessalonians now be afraid? After all, they thought Caesar was the “wicked one”, therefore they would have no problem with understanding that Caesar coming to power had been preceded by an apostasy that permitted his revealing as the “wicked one”, and therefore they would be expecting the “day of the Lord”, and subsequently, the 2 nd coming -- a good thing! They would finally be with the Lord! How exciting! HOWEVER! If “apostasia” meant “THE DEPARTURE”, then they would be very alarmed! Why! Because “the departure”, (as one of those things that Paul referred to when he said, “remember ye not when I was yet with you I told you these things”) would first take the “dead in Christ”, then all remaining alive believers! SO-o-o-o! Since the “apostasia” and the revealing of the “son of perdition” were to precede the “day of the Lord”, and they believed (due to an evil report) that they were already in the “day of the Lord”, it meant that they had missed “the departure”, the rapture! And what would that mean if you were not “taken” at the gathering? Simply put… if “apostasia” meant “a falling away”, then the Thessalonians would not have been afraid, even if they were in “the day of the Lord” because they would have been thoroughly thrilled, as you or I would, to know that the 2 nd coming was right around the corner. But if “apostasia” meant “the departure”, then that meant they were lost, had missed the gathering, in which case, I’d have been very afraid too!

THE END TO SUM UP Let’s be fair to the Thessalonians. We have the advantage of reading and understanding 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8 after the fact. Remember, these verses were written to address and correct their fear. They did not have these verses until they were written. What they did have were the words of Paul that he referred to when he said… 2 Thessalonians 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? They were expecting to be “caught up” before the day of the Lord. Not witnesses to some tragic “falling away”. There are other verses which speak of falling away, but not 2 Thessalonians 2:3. It speaks of our departure, one of the things Paul had told them about in 1st Thessalonians 4:17 when he discussed our being “caught up”, snatched, ahhhhh… raptured.

2 ND THESSALONIANS CHAPTER 2 Verses 1-8 “The Thessalonians were afraid!” WHY?

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2 ND THESSALONIANS CHAPTER 2 Verses 1-8 “The Thessalonians were afraid!” WHY?

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