Picking up from Part 3, in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 (below) the issue we are considering is this. Should the Greek ‘apostasia proton,’ (2 Thes. 2:3), which in the KJV is translated as “a falling away first,” be more properly be translated In Its Context to be a sudden or instantaneous “[physical] Departure FIRST,” meaning THE RAPTURE’ of “The Body of Christ” to dwell “Eternal In The Heavens” (2Cor 5:1b)?

In that case it will becomes quite clear that the Rapture of the church, “the body of Christ” is to Occur FIRST… BEFORE “that man of sin [the Antichrist] is revealed” (v3b), thereby then also starting of the 7-year Tribulation Period of Dan. 9:26-27)?

Note the detail of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 with my highlighted red parenthesis insertions.

“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [the Rapture], and by our gathering together unto him [at the Rapture], ² That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by [a Satanic] spirit, nor by word, nor by [a forged pseudo] letter as [if] from us [as it from Paul and company], as that the day of Christ [cf. Rev. 6:16, “the wrath of the Lamb [Christ]”, in the Tribulation] is at hand.

³ Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [of “the wrath of the Lamb”] shall NOT come, except there come a falling away first [Grk. apostasia proton; meaning ‘the instantaneous physical departure FIRST’], and that man of sin [Antichrist] be revealed, the son of perdition; ⁴ Who opposeth [God] and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he [Antichrist] as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” (2 Thes. 2:1-4 (KJV)

The context of 2 Thes. 2:3, considering 2Thes. 2:1-4, certainly suggests the Rapture is the issue at hand in v3 as it is being addressed by Paul to quell the fears of the Thessalonians who had been fed fake news, lies, in Paul’s absence. We should note that most every chapter of 1^st and 2^nd Thessalonians refers the Rapture using various terms. Then, why would Paul in 2Thessalonians now switch from the Rapture to the matter of ‘the obvious gradual spiritual falling away from the faith’ that most have observed. By contrast, 1Cor 15:51-55 tells us, “the departure” or Rapture will be “in the twinkling of an eye” - instantaneous?

“Behold, I shew you a mystery [Grk. musterion, secret]; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we [the living believers] shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (KJV)

If we simply use basic contextual translation for verse 3 in the context of verses 1-2, which speaks of “our gathering together unto Him,” then we can see why the earlier English language Bibles (before the KJV) all translated the Greek “apostasia proton” in v3 as “the departure first,” meaning ‘the Rapture before “the man of sin is revealed.”

“(T)he man of sin [Antichrist]” will be seen in Part 7 of the Study Series, riding on the White Horse among the three others of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The Bible tells us the rider on the WHITE HORSE is a geopolitical leader who is referenced as the Beast or the Antichrist (cf. Rev. 6:1-2, 1 John 2:18; 4:3).

By properly using the term “the departure first” in 2Thes 2:3 we have a very sound basis for the ‘Pre-Tribulation Rapture.’ The idea of “a falling away first” for the Greek ‘apostasia’ erroneously promotes the idea of a gradual spiritual or doctrinal ‘falling away,’ but this cannot be the case. Consider how that the church has been ‘spiritually and doctrinally falling away from the faith’ throughout its existence, just as Israel was continually falling away from and rebelling against the Lord throughout the Old Testament.

What best applies in translating ‘apostasia proton’ in the context of 2 Thes. 2:1-8 is the “the [physical] departure first,” which we call the Rapture, as seen below with my comments in parenthesis. We need to pay attention to Paul’s explanation of the timeline of events to come after “the Departure” or Rapture of the church in all 8 verses contextually surrounding verse 3. Note the detail below with my highlighted insertions in parenthesis.

¹ Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him [references the Rapture of 1The 4:13-18],

² That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by [false] spirit, nor by word [false teaching that was contradicting what Paul had already taught the Thessalonians, cf. v5], nor by [forged] letter as [if] from us [as if from Paul and company], as that the day of Christ [“day of the Lord,” called the Tribulation] is at hand. ³ Let no man deceive you by any means:

for that day [of the Tribulation] shall not come, except there come a falling away first, [the departure first] and that man of sin [Antichrist] be revealed, the son of perdition;

⁴ Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he [Antichrist] as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

⁵ Remember Ye Not, that, when I was yet with you, I Told You These Things?

⁶ And now ye know what withholdeth [restrains] that he [Antichrist] might be revealed [only] in his time.

[The Holy Spirit within the members of ‘the body of Christ’ holds back or retrains the time of the Antichrist being revealed in the Tribulation [cf. vs 7-8]. The Holy Spirit must first be “taken out of the way” [v7]. The fact that the Antichrist had not been revealed and the grace believers who had the Holy Spirit in them were still on earth means the Rapture and the time of the “day of the Lord’s wrath [the Tribulation]” had NOT yet come.]

⁷ For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he [the Holy Spirit] who now letteth will let, UNTIL he [the Holy Spirit] be taken out of the way. 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 Thessalonians 2:1-8 (KJV)

We note how that the Thessalonians had originally heard the truth of the Rapture from Paul when Paul first visited them (1Thes 4:13-18). This truth was to be a “COMFORT” to them (1Thes. 4:18,). However, in 2:3 we see how that Satanic deception had come to them by devilish lying teachers and at least one ‘forged letter… As If it was from Paul.’ The letter contradicted what Paul had originally taught the Thessalonians earlier as seen here in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5 (KJV).

“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. ² For yourselves know perfectly that ‘the day of the Lord’ [the Tribulation ‘wrath of the Lamb’] so cometh as a thief in the night. ³ For when they [the lost] shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. ⁴ But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. ⁵ Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-5 (KJV)

Yet now the Thessalonians had become “shaken” and “troubled.” The lies told them they had missed the Rapture and were now in ‘the Day” of “the wrath of the Lamb,” meaning the Tribulation’ was now upon them. But in 2Thes. Paul is again giving them the proper ‘timeline’ as to what must happen FIRST – that is “the departure [Rapture] first” – and then only AFTER the Rapture will the Antichrist be revealed.

So, what the Thessalonians were experiencing was NOT the fullness of times, NOT the Day of “the wrath of the Lamb” that is to come in the Tribulation, NOT the reign of Christ in His Millennial Kingdom that is to come on earth after the Tribulation period ends. They were simply experiencing “the mystery of iniquity” (2 Thes. 2:7) which was already at work, even as it is in our wicked day.

“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he [The Holy Spirit] who now letteth will let, until ‘he’ [The Holy Spirit] be taken out of the way.” (2 Thes. 2:7)

As us today, the Thessalonians were living in “this present evil world” as it is in ‘the nasty now and now’ with Satan currently operating as “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4). The Thessalonians needed to know the ‘timeline’ truth from Paul and be able to count on the “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13) of the coming greater glory that shall be revealed “in us” by our resurrection at the Rapture.

“For I reckon [count on the fact] that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed In Us.” (Rom. 8:18, Col. 1:27b)