¹Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, ²that you 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. ³Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, ⁴who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. ⁵Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? ⁶And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. ⁷For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. ⁸Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; ⁹that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, ¹⁰and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. ¹¹For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, ¹²in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.   

(2 Thessalonians 2:1-12)

 

The first question we need to answer in studying this passage is what is the subject or topic Paul is addressing here? As is often the case, the answer is made quite clear from the opening introductory statements, or requests in this case:

“¹Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,..” (v. 1).

Can there really be any doubt? Would anyone seriously argue that this is not one of the clearest references to the rapture of the church to be found in scripture? Does it not match the following cross-references:

“²⁹“But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.” (Matthew 24:29-31)

 

“¹⁶For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. ¹⁸Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)

 

So it seems quite clear that the subject of this passage is the rapture of the church, the “day of the Lord”.

Next question, what is Paul telling these Thessalonian Christians, and by extension us, about this rapture?

“²that you 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.” (v.2)

Can we not agree that Paul is addressing a false teaching that was apparently being circulated at that time about when this rapture is to happen? What was that false teaching? Was it not that this rapture, “the day of the Lord”, had already come?

It is interesting that already in Paul’s day there was this false teaching about the timing of Christ’s coming to gather His elect to Himself. We still have this same false teaching today and it is very prominent even in conservative evangelical Christian circles and churches (particularly in Reformed churches). Generally it is called a “Historicists” view, including what is known as Preterists and Amillennialists, who say that most of the prophetic scriptures about Christ’s coming and the apocalyptic end of the world prophecies including those about the Antichrist, already happened. Most say it was mostly all fulfilled in AD 70 when Rome destroyed Jerusalem. They get to this by interpreting most end-times prophecy hyperbolically (meaning gross exaggeration), or allegorically (all symbolic), as opposed to literally (allowing of course for symbology, similes and metaphors where textually or contextually appropriate).

This teaching would indeed be disturbing to those of us who are looking for and expecting to be delivered from this sinful world (they call us pessimists) – especially those who are suffering persecution even martyrdom. Their teaching is that we are already now in that promised kingdom of God on earth – the “Millennium” (which they say is not a literal Millennium). Paul has specifically addressed this false teaching – if we can accept what he is so clearly saying as still applicable to us today.

He then goes on to address other false teachings about this subject of the rapture, and when it is to occur. It seems he does this by telling us the pre-requisites for this day of the Lord rapture event – i.e. what to watch for to discern truth from error on this subject.

“³Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, ⁴who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” (vv. 3-4)

First we have to determine what he is referring to by the world “it”, when he says “it will not come unless…”. Believe it or not, many men are telling us that this pronoun “it” is not talking about what we have already easily identified as the subject of this passage – Christ coming again and the rapture of the church. Without any grammatical or exegetical reason for making such a claim, they tell us that Paul has jumped to another subject – not the rapture but …well it depends on who is enlightening us, as discussed in the following, Alternate teaching that are more agreeable to most hearers.

Clearly he is talking about the “day of the Lord”, a term he has obviously just used to refer to “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto Him”. Thus he is still talking about the rapture, and the second coming of Christ, which is also not surprisingly the subject of the preceding first chapter (one needs to keep everything in context).

First, he informs us that “the apostasy” must come first. The Greek word used here, (apostasia), is normally interpreted by reputable Greek scholars as a “falling away from” or a “defection from the truth” (see Strong, Thayer or Vine). As we see from the following context, and other scripture, God is warning us that there will be an unprecedented “falling away” from the truth. Paul says that this apostasy has to happen before “it” will happen – “it” being the day of the Lord rapture event.

But in case we don’t understand that right, he goes on to make it unequivocally clear what must happen. First, he tells us “the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction” has to be revealed. Now lest we be fooled by those who say there are many “antichrists” not just one, we just need to keep going. Here is what we are told about this diabolical character:

1. It is a person “he”
2. He is referred to as “the man of lawlessness”
3. He is referred to as “son of destruction”
4. He “opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship”
5. He “takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God”
6. He is the one whom “the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming”
7. He is “the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, ¹⁰and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish.”

This should be enough – what could be clearer to anyone who is at all familiar with end-time prophecy? Time does not allow but the truth seeker will go back to Daniel to see this same one prophesied, where reference is made to “the one who makes desolate” and “the abomination of desolation” (see Daniel 9:27, 11:29-45, 12:11). This is the same one to whom Jesus makes reference in Matthew 24:

“¹⁵Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)” (Matthew 24:15)

It is also the one we see described as the “beast” in Revelation 13, who along with his false prophet “performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. ¹⁴And he deceives those who dwell on the earth…” and will “cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.” This is the one whom we know as “the Antichrist”, the one who requires everyone to take his mark, the 666 in their hand or forehead. There can be little doubt that taking Paul literally, in the natural sense of what he has written, that he is writing about this singular end-times Antichrist.

So what is he saying about when this day of the Lord rapture of the church is to occur? Is he saying we should look for it before the Tribulation Period begins? When are we told this Antichrist will be revealed? That takes us to the next verses about this.

“⁵Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? ⁶And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. ⁷For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. ⁸Then that lawless one will be revealed …” (vv. 5-8a)

First we see that Paul had already been telling these Thessalonians these things, and this is a reminder. The only record we have of communications with them per se is the first letter to them – 1 Thessalonians. There we see he told them that there would be a rapture but it would not come before the resurrection of the dead (see 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 cited above). Even many if not most Historicists have to allow that this hasn’t happened yet, and that there is a future coming of Christ involving that resurrection. From the fifth chapter, which continues describing the same event, we see what sounds a lot like what Jesus told us about in Matthew 24 (the “Olivet Discourse” – see vv. 42-44), with the “thief in the night” analogy. This also connects it with 2 Peter 3:10-18 describing the destruction of the present heaven and earth (interestingly Peter also refers us back to Paul’s writings on the subject). It also points us to Revelation 16:15, the sixth bowl which takes us to the “Battle of Armageddon” – the end of it all. These are dots which must be connected to get the picture God is painting for us – or we can just go with men’s opinions and preferred scenarios because they sound more palatable to us.

One thing Paul did make clear in the 5^th chapter of that first Thessalonian letter is that “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:9). That is the promise that God will be gathering His people together to be with Him, with Christ, before He pours out His wrath. We see clearly that the seventh Trumpet and the seventh Bowl of Revelation 11 and 16 are the outpouring of this wrath of God (as well as the “grapes of wrath” harvest of Revelation 14, and the return of Christ as “king of kings and Lord of lords” of Revelation 19). Paul is telling them again here that they will be raptured out before God carries out His judgment on the Antichrist, and all those who are deceived by him.

Then Paul tells them that they already know what is restraining this Antichrist from doing what he is going to do. He goes on to inform them, and us, that this restrainer is a “He”. This indicates that there is a personage involved, not just some powerful influence (as has been theorized by many). While he doesn’t explicitly tell us who this restrainer is, it seems he expects his readers to know – to be able to figure it out. So who can we say for sure, without speculation, is restraining the evil one, since Satan is the power behind the Antichrist, referred to in Revelation as the Great Red Dragon? The only one I dare to say, without mostly conjecture based on presuppositions, is God. Of course one can probably safely say it is God in the form of the Holy Spirit – especially since the Holy Spirit is by definition God’s Spirit. There are however those who come up with another “restrainer”, which is also dealt with in the following Alternate teaching that are more agreeable to most hearers.

            God is telling us through Paul here that God in His sovereignty is restraining this evil one, until the time which is according to His plan. That is the time about which the prophets wrote, especially Daniel and several New Testament writers including Peter and Paul. It is also the time about which Jesus spoke prophetically.

Paul also gives us a warning as to how people will be deceived by this Antichrist:

“with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.¹¹For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, ¹²in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12)

First, it will be those who did not “receive the love of the truth”. Paul writes about this in his second letter to Timothy chapters 3-4. There we see this warning:

“¹²Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. ¹³But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:12-13)

“³For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, ⁴and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

If we have not really received the love for the truth, no matter where that takes us, we will find some teaching or doctrine that will be more suitable to us, that will tickle our ears. People don’t really want to hear that they may have to go through the time of testing described in Revelation, and that they may have to endure persecution for their faith. They don’t like the teaching that they have to endure to the end to be ultimately saved. So they find teachers and teachings that tell them what they prefer to hear. This makes them very vulnerable to the deception of false teachers. It will only get much worse, much more deceptive, when these things are actually happening. If we don’t love, embrace absolute truth, we will be deceived – that seems to be Paul’s warning here.

It seems almost unbelievable that with all warnings and information God has given, and all the fulfillment of detailed prophecy, and all the manifestations of God’s power, and the Antichrist being revealed for who he is as the Beast, still men will refuse to believe and will follow and even worship Satan’s Beast. It would defy rational explanation except for the explanation God gives, that He Himself will send this deluding influence causing them to believe what is false. His reason for doing this – divine justice, – that because they rejected truth and took pleasure in wickedness, they would justly incur God’s wrath in judgment on them.

In the 7^th verse He has told us that his mystery of lawlessness is already at work – and that was in the first century AD. When we see what men are believing today, what they believe is science for example, and the post-modernism (relativism and no absolute truth dictums), one has to think we may be seeing this deluding influence, allowed by God at least, in effect today. But Christians need to be aware that if they do not embrace, perhaps cultivate the love for the truth, wherever that leads, they may well get caught up in that deluding influence so as to be deceived, so as to ultimately be among those who will perish.

 

Alternate teaching that are more agreeable to most hearers

Some very well known Bible scholars and popular preachers, teachers and writers, tell us that Paul makes a very subtle change in subject from the first verse to the third verse. While the first verse is clearly referring to the rapture of the church, the “it” as in “it will not come”, of the third verse is only referring to the “day of the Lord” instead of the rapture. Their contribution then to our literal scripture is to inform us that “the rapture” and the “day of the Lord” are two very different things happening at different times (probably news to Paul – certainly not coming from his writing).

This is a perfect example of what is known as “eisegesis” (reading into a text what is not derived from it). However, it involves a lot more additions to, or manipulations of the various texts, to try to make sense of this. Incredibly these men have also come up with their own definition of this “day of the Lord”. Some, many, define it as being the whole Tribulation Period. In fact many of them say it is the whole 7 year Tribulation Period and the whole 1000 year Millennial Kingdom of God as well (one only needs to look up the 23 (NASB) occurrences (24 in the NIV, 25 in the KJV) of this expression in scripture to see that such a definition is not coming from scripture). Thus they are telling us that Paul is not actually writing about the rapture after the first verse, but only the “day of the Lord”, and that is actually at least the whole seven year Tribulation Period.

Maybe one should examine just what they are saying. If we accept their definition, and this explanation, then Paul is telling us that this event, this “day of the Lord”, will not happen until after the other precursory event occurs – which he goes on to clearly and explicitly define for us as the Antichrist being released, not only appearing but setting himself up as God in the temple of God. So then they are saying that this appearance of the Antichrist, which according to their own theory is to appear at the midpoint of the Tribulation Period, will appear before the beginning of that Tribulation Period. OOPS! Apparently they don’t believe their own theory, or their own definition, or just haven’t even thought it through – which is what often happens when we try to make scripture fit our presuppositions and preconceived scenarios and doctrines. Is this Antichrist to appear and set himself up as god at the midpoint of this Tribulation Period, or before it begins (before the “day of the Lord”)? I don’t think you can have it both ways at the same time.

Others who perhaps realized this contradiction will say that what Paul is talking about when he refers to the “day of the Lord” here in this passage, is the second coming of Christ. In that respect they are right, that is what he is talking about. But then they go on to add that this second coming of Christ won’t happen until seven years after the rapture. However, at the same time these same men also define the “day of the Lord” as at least the whole seven year Tribulation Period (a few saying the last half of that period, “the Great Tribulation), not just the second coming of Christ. Clearly, this is just another contradiction, changing their definitions as it suits them to make the passage fit their view.

However, to compound their error, they then also have to seriously manipulate the corresponding passage in Matthew 24:29-31. That is another clear description of the rapture of the church (arguably the clearest in scripture). They thus have to interpret it as also only referring to the second coming of Christ, seven years after the rapture. To do so they have to claim that the “elect” there in Matthew are not the same as the “elect” in every other passage where the word is used – i.e. the church the bride of Christ. Instead they argue that it refers either only to saved Israel, or people who came to Christ during the Tribulation Period (called “Tribulation Period Saints” – one of their inventions), or both. Furthermore they then claim that “the church is not in Matthew 24 at all” – it isn’t about the church or for the church. But then they would also have to make the same claim for Mark 13 and Luke 21 which give essentially the same message – at some point it becomes somewhat absurd.

How much simpler and more understandable it is to simply take the words as written by Paul under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, at face value, as they are written, in their natural sense? (“oh what a tangled web we weave …”). It is clear from the writings of the early church fathers that they knew nothing of such confusing additions to and manipulations of scripture – they understood the rapture and resurrection as occurring at the second coming of Christ, which is referred to in scripture as “the day of the Lord”.

Then there are a few men who try to manipulate the word “apostasy” in the 3^rd verse to say it is a reference to the rapture. Instead of the normal and widely accepted translation of the Greek word “apostasia” as a falling away from the truth or the faith, they claim it can be translated as “a departure”, as in a physical departure from the earth – a very forced and unnatural interpretation. If it were actually referring to the rapture wouldn’t Paul be saying that the rapture can’t happen until the rapture happens first? Maybe we should just stick with what God said – makes a lot more sense, every time.

Ironically this passage features a verse which is normally cited as the primary proof text for the view we have been addressing – the Pretribulation Rapture view. Here it is:

“⁷For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.” (2 Thessalonians 2:7)

There it is. How can anyone miss it? This verse says that the church will be raptured out before the Tribulation Period begins – right? Oh, you don’t see the word church there, or believers, or saints … ? What, you don’t see anything like “our gathering together unto Him”, or the elect being “gathered from the four winds”, or “we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air”? Ok, the problem is you have to do a little reading between the lines. It does take a little indoctrination to understand what this verse is saying – or what it really means anyway. First, you have to realize that when it says He who restrains, that it isn’t really referring to God, or a person. It is actually referring to the Church. The Church is the restrainer. Or, it is the Holy Spirit in the Church, but it is the presence of the church on this earth that is doing the restraining of the evil one. So now surely anyone can see that this is a proof text for the rapture happening before the Tribulation Period begins – or not?

Still don’t see the mention of the rapture? That’s easy, when the restrainer is “taken out of the way” that is just another way of saying the rapture of the church. So, we have the restrainer – which is obviously the church – being taken out of the way – which is obviously the rapture of the church. And it is being said to happen before the Antichrist appears claiming to be God. What more scriptural proof could you need?

Pardon the sarcasm, but it is to illustrate the point. Is this what anyone could call a literal interpretation of the text. Is this not a classic textbook example of manipulation of words, eisegesis, forcing a meaning on a text? Now if there were another text anywhere that articulates that the rapture will happen before the Tribulation Period begins, such an interpretation might be justified as letting scripture interpret scripture. But, such is not the case – there is no such text anywhere (which is why this is there primary proof text). Rather this very forced and unnatural interpretation of this text is being used to interpret other texts, involving the same kind of intellectually dishonest approach to exegesis and interpretation, then claiming it is letting scripture interpret scripture. The result, sadly, is very illogical and self-contradictory theories and scenarios that at times become almost comical, if they weren’t so misleading.

Summing it up, the Pretrib Rapturists start with saying the “gathering together unto Him” is not the “day of the Lord” but happens seven years before. The “day of the Lord” is the whole Tribulation Period (at least) and the Antichrist, who is known to appear desecrating the temple at the midpoint of the Tribulation Period, has to appear desecrating the temple before this period – “the day of the lord” – even begins. For some the “apostasy”, being the rapture of the church, has to happen before the rapture of the church and the “day of the Lord”. The restrainer, which is the Holy Spirit in the church, is taken away meaning the church is raptured – yet we have true faithful believers in whom the Holy Spirit dwells (dubbed “Tribulation Saints”) being persecuted and beheaded by this Antichrist, but the Holy Spirit in them is not restraining this Antichrist. So goes the logic of that school of thought – who could argue with such brilliant, scholarly, highly regarded men of the cloth (high priest of the church today) as those who dogmatically hold to and defend this view?

Maybe a little boy who so naively says “the emperor doesn’t have any clothes on”. Or maybe anybody who simply reads the word of God, depends upon the Holy Spirit to guide and enlighten them, and takes what men say with a huge grain of salt. Someone who takes the words as written literally, at face value, understood in their natural sense. Maybe someone who studies diligently the word of God, letting scripture interpret scripture (as opposed to theological or doctrinal presuppositions), and considering the whole counsel of God on any given subject (i.e. not cherry-picking passages or words to fit a preconceived template).

This student of scripture maintains that 2 Thessalonians is very clear, concise, easily understood and unambiguous in its message. It agrees completely with all that is written on the same subject, when those passages are allowed to speak for themselves. The message is not that complicated:

Jesus is coming back to get us before He judges the sinful unbelieving world. That coming won’t happen until the Antichrist is released by God to do what God will allow him to do, and evil has run its course. Then Christ will come in judgment on the world. But He will first take us out to join Him and His forces in conquering our mutual foes. This is our blessed hope. But until that day our faith will be tested, and we will be allowed to suffer with Him and for Him, for which we will receive great reward, being glorified with Him. Even so, come Lord Jesus.