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NASB | 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let 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, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one in any way deceive or entrap you, for that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first [that is, the great rebellion, the abandonment of the faith by professed Christians], and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction [the Antichrist, the one who is destined to be destroyed], [Dan 7:25; 8:25; 1 Tim 4:1] |
Subject: anti-christ revealed before rapture? |
Bible Note: Nolan, I'm not sure why you're concluding that the day of the Lord and the rapture will be at the same time. I must note first that I do not believe the Day of the Lord is a literal day but rather a period of time. As I read IIThessalonians 2:1-2, I see the composure of the readers about the coming of the Lord and our gathering together with him (rapture) being shaken because they were told that they were in the Day of the Lord. They felt this period had already started, again not a single day. Why was there composure shaken? The only reason the makes sense to me is that they were expecting to be 'gathered together' with the Lord BEFORE the Day of the Lord. Why else would they be shaken with regard to the coming of the Lord? I believe they expected to be raptured before that Day, but when they heard the Day had started and they were not raptured they lost their 'composure'. Also notice v3, "Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unles the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction," (NASB, '77). The 'it' refered to in v3 is the Day of the Lord not the rapture. Jump over to v7,8. The lawless one will NOT be revealed until the Holy Spirit is removed! This removal IS the rapture! There is no way that christians devoid of the Holy Spirit could withstand the evil one! With out the Holy Spirit there is no such thing as a Christian, because He seals us unto salvation! I believe that these versus strongly suggest a pretrib rapture. My list would be as follows: 1. Rapture (Removal of the Restrainer) 2. Revealing of the lawless one (he will begin in peace and prosperity, see Daniel) 3. The Great Tribulation/The Day of the Lord, beginning (Destruction of the Jews and any Christians saved after the rapture.) 4. The Lord slays the anti-christ/The Day of the Lord, ending (Revelation and Daniel have much more to say about this period of time.) I am also 'on the fence' with this discussion, so please let me know if my interpretation has holes. But I am quite certain that if the restrainer is the Holy Spirit, He cannot leave without taking all Christians with Him. Without the Holy Spirit we would be defenseless against evil! I would love to consider your comments on the pre-trib view, what was the post titled? GOD bless!! chris |