Paul was a highly educated man. One thing to understand about him was his expertise in using the language of the day to make points. This often involved unique turns of phrase. It has led to references that often have what Charles Capps liked to call “The Law of Double Reference.” One such place is, perhaps, 2 Thessalonians 2:1, with regard to the use of the word “apostasia” in Greek. On it’s surface in simply means “departure.” Most interpret it to be the “departure from the faith.” However, it is an interesting turn of phrase. In Greek, as you know, there were no capital letters, or punctuation. Paul, here, used a definite article, which was not called for by the sentence structure, to emphasize the word, so we would read it as “The Departure.”
This leads us to the double reference, in can definitely mean departing from the faith, or, it can mean an event looked forward to by the church, as in The Departure, or, the Rapture. This is brought to light, as he opens his discourse with the preamble:
“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him…” I bold it this way to show that he was talking about two separate events. Jesus will return triumphant, no question! However, there is a separate “gathering together” of the saints in the Rapture as well. Two separate events. One precedes the other.
Let’s see if this is not borne out. He continues, “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. “A teaching that he was confronting, was the false, deceptive teaching that the Day of Christ, or “Second Coming” was about to occur at any moment, with some even teaching it had already occurred! People were even circulating false letters, that seemed to be signed by Paul himself, to reinforce this false teaching!
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day (The Second Coming) shall not come, except there come a falling away (The Departure) first, and [then] that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition…” (The Anti-Christ). In other words, we, the church, would depart in the Rapture well before the Anti-Christ would be revealed when he commits the “Abomination of Desolation” in the temple, revealing himself as the Anti-Christ by claiming that he is god.
Again, we see that thought continue with:
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day (The Second Coming) shall not come, except there come a falling away (The Departure) first, and [then] that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition (the Anti-Christ); 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. (This event is described as the “Abomination of Desolation.”) 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.” In that last part of the verse is the key! The Amplified Version says, in the last part of the verse: “And now you know what is restraining him [from being revealed at this time].” What is restraining the revelation of the Anti-Christ is the operation of the Holy Spirit through the church. Once the Rapture occurs, and we, the salt, or preservative, of the earth (Matthew 5:13) are removed, only then will the Anti-Christ be publicly revealed. (Salt was used at that time as a preservative, as they had no refrigeration.)
This in no way diminishes the fact that there WILL be an apostasy of the church! Far from it! However, it can be argued that this was not his main topic here in this portion of scripture. He referred to it with word play, but he outright taught on it, and stated it clearly in 1 Timothy 4:1 “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils…” Note, DEPART, specifically, “from the faith.” One, in Thessalonians, is “The Departure,’ while this verse in Timothy is, “DEPART from the faith;” the whole phrase! They play on words being the mild inference of what we call “apostasy” because of the Greek word “apostasia” used in Thessalonians, while making the point of departure, yet speaking about the events, and timing, of those events in the Rapture, and Second Coming.
As one author and researcher, Dr. David R. Reagan, in his article, “2 Thessalonians 2:3 – Can the Rapture be Found in this Passage?” points out about the word “apostasia.” “The word is used in verb form a total of fifteen times in the New Testament, and only three of these have anything to do with a departure from the faith (Luke 8:13, 1 Timothy 4:1, and Hebrews 3:12). In other settings, the word is used for departing from iniquity (2 Timothy 2:19), departing from ungodly men (1 Timothy 6:5), departing from the temple (Luke 2:27), departing from the body (2 Corinthians 12:8), and departing from persons (Acts 12:10 and Luke 4:13).” So, in each case we need to see, from what, exactly, are we “departing?” In one case it is from the earth (our Thessalonian reference) and one is “from the faith” in our reference from Timothy.
Dr. Reagan also states:
“But recently, my thinking about 2 Thessalonians 2:3 has changed — all because of an outstanding presentation on the subject that I heard Tommy Ice make at a conference where the two of us were speaking.
For those of you who may not be familiar with Tommy Ice, he is a Biblical scholar who graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary and who serves as the Director of the Pre-Trib Research Center (www.pre-trib.org).
Tommy pointed out that the Greek noun, apostasia, is used only twice in the New Testament. The other occurrence is in Acts 21:21 where it states that an accusation was made against Paul that he was ‘teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake [apostasia] Moses.’
The word is used in verb form a total of 15 times in the New Testament, and only three of these have anything to do with a departure from the faith (Luke 8:13, 1 Timothy 4:1, and Hebrews 3:12). In other settings, the word is used for departing from iniquity (2 Timothy 2:19), departing from ungodly men (1 Timothy 6:5), departing from the temple (Luke 2:27), departing from the body (2 Corinthians 12:8), and departing from persons (Acts 12:10 and Luke 4:13).
This insight about the use and meaning of the word was certainly compelling, but the argument Tommy presented that was most convicting to me was his revelation that the first seven English translations of the Bible rendered the noun, apostasia, as either ‘departure’ or ‘departing.’ They were as follows:
- The Wycliffe Bible (1384)
- The Tyndale Bible (1526)
- The Coverdale Bible (1535)
- The Cranmer Bible (1539)
- The Great Bible (1540)
- The Beeches Bible (1576)
- The Geneva Bible (1608)
Tommy also noted that the Bible used by the Western world from 400 AD to the 1500s — Jerome’s Latin translation known as ‘The Vulgate’ — rendered apostasia with the Latin word, discessio, which means ‘departure.’
The first translation of the word to mean apostasy in an English Bible did not occur until 1611 when the King James Version was issued. So, why did the King James translators introduce a completely new rendering of the word as ‘falling away’? The best guess is that they were taking a stab at the false teachings of Catholicism.
One other point Tommy Ice made that I thought was significant is that Paul used a definite article with the word apostasia. The significance of this is emphasized by Daniel Davey in a thesis he wrote for the Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary:
‘Since the Greek language does not need an article to make the noun definite, it becomes clear that with the usage of the article, reference is being made to something in particular. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3 the word apostasia is prefaced by the definite article which means that Paul is pointing to a particular type of departure clearly known to the Thessalonian church.’
In light of this grammatical point, Tommy observed that ‘the use of the definite article would support the notion that Paul spoke of a clear, discernable notion.” And that notion he had already identified in verse 1 when he stated that he was writing about “our gathering together to Him [Jesus].’
This interpretation also corresponds to the point that Paul makes in verses 6 and 7 where he states that the man of lawlessness will not come until what ‘restrains’ him ‘is taken out of the way.’
And what it is that restrains evil in the world today? The Holy Spirit working through the Church.”
Of course, I need to emphasize that it is Church, the Body of Christ, that is removed in the Rapture, not, as some have tried to say, the Holy Spirit Himself! Indeed, the Holy Spirit must be here on earth in operation to convict those that will come to the Lord even after we, as the Church, are gone! We must be clear in our exegesis!
Now, with regard to the doctrine of a massive departure from the faith, or what we commonly call apostasy,
1Timothy 4:1 says, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. “ Many Christians, unfortunately, will depart from the faith and follow after doctrines that are taught by those influenced by demonic activity. These doctrines will include telling people that they are not to marry, others will involve strict vegetarianism, etc. These doctrines are inspired by demon activity to change our focus, and get us away from the primary goal, that of winning the lost in these last of the Last Days! Paul instructed his son in the faith, Timothy, to: “… put the brethren in remembrance of these things, [and] thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.”
In 2 Timothy 3: 1-9 Paul again brought up the time near the end to Timothy: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.”
We are seeing these times clearly laid before us today, and we must be mindful of our own spiritual walk to fulfill what God has called us to do!
