Understanding 2Thessalonians 2

[Truth Files]

2Thessalonians

2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

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.

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;

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.

2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

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

2:8 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:

2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

2:14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

2:16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,

2:17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

The early believers of Thessalonica were troubled because of the prevalent false teaching that the day of the Lord was in process .... they thought they had missed the Lord's "harpazo" action to immortalize them:

Paul had discussed this issue with them earlier [1Thessalonians 4, 5] and so he sets the record straight by explaining that the day of the Lord had not yet come ..... he also tells them why ..... because certain conditions were not present .... the coming of the lawless one and his following [the falling away].

The gathering Paul speaks of and the day of the Lord are not the same events and the Lord's immortalization of the believer [both those asleep and those living at the time] will occur first ..... and then the day of the Lord will begin abruptly with no warning given to earth dwellers.

The day of the Lord will begin with His "hour" of trial [the coming tribulation period of 2,550 days] .... and will then include His coming millennial kingdom upon the earth for 1,000 years.

The term "last day" [the time frame of the day of the Lord] used in prophetic presentation is a period of time .... not just "one" 24 hour day .... and when this is used it is always presented as "at", or "in" the last day .... not "on" the last day.

Revelation confirms that the gathering noted in 2Thessalonians 2:1 is the Lord's call to immortalize the believer just before His coming hour of trial. Today's church is seen with Him dwelling heaven, in His temple, and around the throne just before, during, and at the closing of the tribulation period. [Revelation 3:10; 4:4; 5:5-10; 7:9-17; 11:1; 12:12; 13:6; 17:14; 19:1-14; 20;4 (those on thrones)]

[John317]

...The day of the Lord will begin with His "hour" of trial [the coming tribulation period of 2,550 days] .... and will then include His coming millennial kingdom upon the earth for 1,000 years.

Could you give us a Bible study on this? Present it just like you would if we were sitting with you at your dining room table or in your living room.

What texts would you use to show this to be the truth, and what comments would you make as we turn to read each verse?

What are the events that you expect to happen?

[Truth Files]

This is a fairly complex matter, but not difficult to present

I will address your question and present as you hae requested soon

I think I should create a specific thead for you since the topic of this post is related, but different

I will label: "2550 Days"

[Lysimachus]

2Thessalonians

2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

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.

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;

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.

2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

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

2:8 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:

2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

2:14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

2:16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,

2:17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

The early believers of Thessalonica were troubled because of the prevalent false teaching that the day of the Lord was in process .... they thought they had missed the Lord's "harpazo" action to immortalize them:

[Truth Files]

"They are both exactly the same events. Paul does not separate them"

>No they are not .... the gathering is one thing .... the following day of the Lord is another

>These early believers thought they had missed the "gathering" because of the false teaching that the day of the Lord was already in process .... Paul corrects their thinking

>He said that the conditions were not present [the great falling away and the presence of the lawless one] and that the day of the Lord's hour of trial and judgment had not yet begun .... therefore they has not missed the "gathering"

>Similar false teaching exists today with regard to the timing and sequence of the Lord's schedule .... for the purpose of discounting His intent to immortalize His church just before His judgment of an unbelieving world begins

"I thought it was 7 years. Now it's 2550 days. It's either 7 years or it's not."

>You have already commented on my post "2550 days" .... did you miss it? .... better read again

Revelation 3:10; 4:4; 5:5-10; 7:9-17; 11:1; 12:12; 13:6; 17:14; 18:1-14; 20:4, etc. say NOTHING about a pre-tribulation rapture, nor do they indicate that there are any pre-tribulation raptured saints.

>You are refuting the very proof text of the pre-tribulation rapture .... the literal evidence of this truth

"Some of your texts are referring to holy beings (which could be holy beings from other worlds, or angels)"

>There are angels [the 4 cherubs and the others] who serve the Lord in the visions, but there are also immortal humans by definition [you need to read more carefully] .... all present are distinctly describe as being one, or the other [either angels or resurrected humans] .... "other worlds" .... I don't think so [a very strange statement for you to make]

>And let me remind yo that these are the Lord's texts, not mine, and this is His revelation of the things "hereafter"

.... after what? .... "the things that are" .... the church on the earth [from the first century to this very day and still running]

"and some texts refer to God's people in heaven after the Second Coming, and some may be referring to saints that have been dwelling in heaven with Christ known as the captives He took with Him to heaven."

>Not one is there yet [1Corinthians 15:22-23] .... and only this one refers to immortal believers after [Revelation 20:4] .... at the end of His hour of trial and judgment at His visible appearing

..... so tell me about those known as the "captives He took with him to heaven [give the scriptures and your explanation]

>And there is only one second coming .... at the beginning of His hour [time] of trial and judgment [as a thief], which will last for 2550 days .... He is the one who will do this thing [Revelation 6:12-17] .... the earth dwellers will know where the judgments are coming from .... but they will not see Him

.... then He will appear visibly on the earth at the end of His hour of trial and judgment and all of the mortal survivors on the earth "after the tribulation of those days" [2550 of them] will see Him [Matthew 24:29-31 [of Israel]]; 25:31-46 [of the nations]] [Revelation 1:7]

[John317]

This is a fairly complex matter, but not difficult to present

I will address your question and present as you hae requested soon

I think I should create a specific thead for you since the topic of this post is related, but different

I will label: "2550 Days"

I would prefer that you stick with not more than three different discussions or topics at a time before you create a new one.

So please don't create any more until we've dealt with the one's you've made already. :-)

[Lysimachus]

"They are both exactly the same events. Paul does not separate them"

>No they are not .... the gathering is one thing .... the following day of the Lord is another

[Truth Files]

"But how does this prove a tribulation rapture? and how does this prove that the Rapture and Day of the Lord are 2 separate events? It is not computing."

>Read it carefully

>It fits all of the other related scriptures that do tell of the Lord's intent to immortalize His church before His coming hour of trial and judgment .... and the passage is self explanatory

.... the believers were troubled .... they thought thy had missed the gathering .... Paul sets them straight