THE RAPTURE SERIES: Part 5

WHAT ABOUT THE FALLING AWAY?

“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the FALLING AWAY comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

“Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is RESTRAINING, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now RESTRAINS will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. “

(2 Thes. 2:1-10)

Paul said the MAN OF SIN, the ANTICHRIST, cannot be revealed except there come a falling away first. There are two ways to interpret “falling away”. The Greek word is apostasia, which can be interpreted as “falling away” or “rebellion”. However, it has always been difficult for me to to believe that prior to the rapture, the Church would completely backslide in rebellion. It never made sense to me that Christ would return for a Bride who was no longer in love with Him. But there is another meaning of “falling away” or apostasia that seems to fit the context better. The other interpretation of this word by excellent Greek scholars is DEPARTURE.

Greek scholars agree that to pinpoint the true meaning of this word, it is necessary to look at the verb from which it is derived. The Greek noun apostasia comes from the root verb aphistemi, which means “to go away, depart, remove.” This root verb appears 15 times in the Bible. It is most often translated “depart” and usually refers to “one person departing another person or place.”

OTHER TRANSLATIONS

In the fifteenth century several Bibles including the Tyndale version interprets 2 Thes. 2:3 this way:

“Let no man deceave you by eny meanes, for the Lord cometh not, excepte ther come a departinge first, and that that synfull man be opened, the sonne of perdicion…”

Kenneth S. Wuest, the fine widely recognized commentator and Greek scholar translates that verse this way:

“Do not begin to allow anyone to lead you astray in any way, because that day shall not come except the aforementioned departure [of the Church to heaven] comes first and the Man of Lawlessness be disclosed [in his true identity], the man of perdition…”

This different translation by many other Greek scholars changes the entire meaning of this passage and best fits the context.

THE RESTRAINER

The one who is restraining the Antichrist from appearing is the Holy Spirit Who dwells most fully in the wise virgins who possessed Him both in their lamps and added vessels (Matt 25:1-13). Its not until the most devoted and consecrated of God’s saints are removed from this earth that the Man of Sin, the Antichrist, can be revealed. The earth is left without the presence, prayers, and power of the greatest moral forces and holiest population on the planet. It will leave a depletion of power and a vaccuum that Satan will fill through his Antichrist that he will enter and possess as he did Judas.

The relevancy of this revelation today cannot be overemphasized. Our supreme occupation should be to be a part of that firstfruits company of faithful saints and run to win that prize.

NOTE: I first discovered this revelatory teaching from Dr. Roy Hicks in his excellent book, ANOTHER LOOK AT THE RAPTURE, published in 1982 and sadly, no longer in print that I can tell.

Prayerfully consider sowing a seed to help us as we are temporarily sidelined for the time being.