Paul’s second letter to the church at Thessalonica was sent not long after the first letter, to answer more specific eschatological questions concerning the coming of the Day of the Lord. The Thessalonian believers were confused by a doctrinal error. They were being told by some false teachers that they had missed the rapture and were thus living in the tribulation period (the Day of the Lord). Paul corrects this erroneous teaching by further instructions to clarify the coming of the Day of the Lord.

Paul’s Corrective Appeal for Calmness in View of the Erroneous Teaching (2:1-2)

“The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him” (2:1) is one and the same event, the rapture. This is a summary statement of the event of the rapture detailed in 1 Thessa.4:13-18. His coming will mean our gathering unto Him. At His coming (parousias) in the rapture, we will be gathered (episunagoge denotes the idea of a gathering together as an assembly/congregation) unto Him.

The Christians in Thessalonica were deceived to believe that they were already living in the Day of the Lord. This deceptive and confusing teaching came to them through a prophetic spirit, message/word, and also by a letter purporting to come from Paul (2:2). In subtle ways, the false teachers were trying to divert the believers from their sure and steadfast hope of the rapture.
(The KJV, NKJV rendering “the day of Christ” in verse 2 should be properly replaced with “the Day of the Lord” on better manuscript attestation).

Events Which Must Precede the Day of the Lord (2:3-4)

Paul gives correctives to the false teachings which has caused confusion in the minds of the Thessalonian believers. They were not in the Day of the Lord. It is yet future. Paul names two events which must occur before that day – apostasy (falling away) and the revelation of the man of lawlessness (the Antichrist).

The Day of the Lord

The Day of the Lord is that time after the rapture when God directly intervening in world affairs for judgment during the tribulation, followed by Christ’s glorious appearance, leading to blessings in the Millennial Kingdom. The Old Testament prophets frequently spoke of that day as a day of darkness, doom and gloom; a time of unparalleled judgment (Joel 2, Amos 5:18; Zeph.1:14-15; Isaiah 13; See also 1 Thessa.5:2; 2 Peter 3:10). Direct, dramatic and drastic judgment will characterize this day.

Walvoord defines the scope of the day as follows:

“It includes the tribulation time preceding the Second Advent as well as the whole millennial reign of Christ. It will culminate in the judgment of the great white throne. The Day of the Lord is therefore an extended period of time lasting over one thousand years” (John F. Walvoord, The Thessalonian Epistles, 117).

Paul outlined the chronology of events that will mark the first stages of the Day of the Lord. The first clear mark of the Day of the Lord will be the coming Apostasy.

Apostasy

The Greek word apostasia (usually translated as “falling away”) can mean either political revolution against a king or a religious revolution against God (NIV, ESV, & NET Bible translate it as “Rebellion”). Both of these will occur in the end times. But the context of the passage here in 2 Thessalonians 2 points to an aggressive and climatic revolt against God; a defiance of His authority which will prepare the way for the man of lawlessness (the Antichrist). who will take his seat in the temple of God at the midpoint of the tribulation period, committing the great sin of self-deification in open defiance of God (2:4).

Paul used a definite article – the apostasy (“the falling away”). It is a deliberate abandonment of a formerly professed position or a view, a defection and a total rejection. It seems that Paul’s reference is to apostasy in the professed Christian church. Paul reminded Timothy that in the last days many will hold on to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power (2 Tim.3:1-5). Such defection from faith has happened throughout the history of the church. We have seen repeatedly periods of declension and apostasy from the faith. It is “the apostasy,” a climatic revolt and a final “falling away” (Williams translation: “the great revolt”) that is in view here. No further elaboration of the apostasy is given by Paul.

F. F. Bruce notes, “Since the reference here is to a worldwide rebellion against divine authority at the end of the age, the ideas of political revolt and religious apostasy are combined” (1 and 2 Thessalonians, Word Biblical Commentary, 166).

The context suggests a religious connotation for the word “apostasy.” Defection and falling away of professed Christians is anticipated throughout the New Testament (Mat.24:11, 12, 24. 2 Tim.3:1-5; 4:1-3; 2 Peter 2; 3:3-6; Epistle of Jude). The word is used in the LXX (Greek translation of the Old Testament) in the sense of religious defection or rebellion (Josh.22:22; 2 Chro.29:19; 33:19; Jer.2:19). Acts 21:21 is the only other place where the noun occurs in the New Testament. Apostasy from Moses is in view here (to turn away or forsake Moses).

Even today we are seeing the defiance of man against God in an increasing measure. This is clearly evident in our political, and educational systems. Our universities, the entertainment industry, and the liberal media are the promotors of the anti-God ideologies. The rebellion against God, the word of God, the work of God, and the people of God will finally culminate in a worldwide anti-God movement - the final apostasy. The apostate tendencies are evident all over the world today. After the rapture of the church it will reach its climax – “the apostasy.”

Some Bible scholars have proposed the view that apostasy or falling away also has a secondary meaning, “departure.” It can be a “departure” from faith or a departure from one place to another (a spatial departure). If “the apostasy” is rendered as “the departure,” in a spatial sense, then, it can refer to the rapture of the church (the departure of the church from earth to heaven). Dispensational scholars Schuyler English and Kenneth S. Wuest, and a few others have favored this view. If apostasy means the departure of the church (the rapture) then this passage conclusively and directly teaches a pre-tribulational rapture.

The renowned Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (ed. Gerhard Kittel) recognizes that apostasia carries the spatial sense. It can mean “to remove” either spatially or from the context of a state or relationship, or from fellowship with a person. In recent times, H. Wayne House has done a comprehensive research and study on the word apostasia and its various usages in the Greek literature and has ably defended the “departure” sense of the word, referring to the rapture (Apostasia in 2 Thessalonians 2:3: Apostasy or Rapture?, Chapter 14, When The Trumpet Sounds, eds, Thomas Ice & Timothy Demy, Harvest House Publishers, 1995). The conclusion of his study is as follows:

“I have sought to demonstrate that the departure of the church may be the proper understanding found in the Greek word apostasia in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Certainly the case is not conclusive, but it should not be dismissed out of hand as many have done. The meaning of apostasia in Greek literature, the grammar of the passage, and the contextual considerations found in the Thessalonian epistles, fit well with this interpretation and may provide hope and comfort to Christians today, even as it did to the Thessalonian Christians of the first century” (286).
Edmond Hiebert in his insightful and superb commentary on the Thessalonian Epistles argues against the departure/rapture view. He writes: “But this interpretation is not in harmony with the nature of the rapture. Nowhere else does the Scripture speak the rapture as “the departure.” A departure denotes an act on the part of the individual or company departing. But the rapture is not an act of departure on the part of the saints. In the rapture the church is passive, not active. At the rapture the church is caught up or snatched away, an event wherein the Lord acts to transport believers from earth to into His presence (1 Th.4:16-17). Everything that takes place with the believer at the rapture is initiated by the Lord and done by Him. Paul has just referred to the rapture as our gathering together unto Him (v.1); why then should he now use this unlikely term to mean the same thing? ...apostasy is the action of professed believers. The biblical usage of the term points to something sinful” (306).
I believe, the best possible interpretation of the word apostasy in 2 Thess.2: 3 is to see it as religious apostasy, a falling away from the faith with a rebellious attitude. This idea fits the context of the passage and the theme of the epistle, especially the specific eschatological topics elaborated in chapter 2. At the same time, the possible meaning of “departure” should not be dismissed as having no merit or value, though the evidence for such an argument is not conclusive.

The Man of Lawlessness

The second mark of the Day of the Lord will be the revelation of the “man of lawlessness,” the “son of destruction” (2:3). He is also called the “lawless one (2:8). He is an individual of the future who will come to power during the tribulation days. There is no need for us to identify this man with any historical personage. Though Paul does not call him “Antichrist,” he has in mind the being John calls by this name (1 John 2:18). Satan’s antichrist program is at work throughout the history of the church. John recognized the presence of many “antichrists” during his time. They denied the reality of the incarnation of Christ and His relationship to the Father (1 John 2:22-23; 2 John 7).

The mystery of lawlessness is already at work (2:7). Lawlessness is used with the definite article, “the lawlessness.” Hiebert explains the significance of this: “…..it does not merely denote disorder and violation of law but rather that definite aim of the devil to overthrow the law of God and establish his own rule” (The Thessalonian Epistles, 312). At the midpoint of the tribulation period (Rev.13; Matt.24:15) the Antichrist will desecrate the rebuilt Jewish temple in Jerusalem by placing himself there to be worshipped by all. Thus he will commit the great blasphemous sin of self-deification, in open defiance to God (2:4).
Satan’s antichrist program through many false teachers denying the fundamental truths of the Christian faith, and opposing the people of God throughout the history of the church is a clear manifestation of the spirit of the Antichrist. The Antichrist program will finally culminate in “The Antichrist,” the coming man of lawlessness in the future. John wrote about this coming great Antichrist in Revelation 13:1-10.

This teaching was not new to the Thessalonian Christians. Paul reminded them of the past oral teaching (2:5).Had they remembered it they would not have been so quickly shaken or disturbed by erroneous teachings.

This is the summary of Paul’s argument in 2:1-5:

1. The Tribulation days or the Day of the Lord is marked by the ultimate apostasy and the coming of the man of lawlessness.

2. The man of lawlessness has not been revealed.

3. Therefore the Day of the Lord has not yet begun.
The Thessalonian believers should not be confused or disturbed by what has been propagated among them by false teachers.
The Restrainer and the Lawless One (2:6-7)
Paul says that something is restraining the man of lawlessness. His time has not yet come. But when the restrainer is taken out of the way, the lawless one will be revealed. Who is the one who hinders, the restrainer?

The Restrainer

Many widely divergent views have been proposed for the identity of the restrainer. The most popular ones are the Roman Empire, human government, the church, Satan, and the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirt as the restrainer seems to be the best possible interpretive option. Charles Ryrie explains it well when he writes, “It is really impossible to see how the restrainer can be anyone other than God Himself. Undoubtedly God uses good government, elect angels, and other means to restrain evil, but the ultimate power behind such forceful restraint must be the power of God and the person of God” (First and Second Thessalonians, 115).

The following arguments identify the restrainer as the Holy Spirit:

1. Only God can ultimately restrain evil. So the restrainer must be God Himself.

2. The lawless one is a personality and he is energized by Satan, and operates in the realm of the spiritual. The restrainer must likewise be a personality in the spiritual realm – God the Holy Spirit. The masculine gender of 2 Thessa.2:7 (“he who now restrains”) requires the restrainer to be a person. The use of neuter gender in verse 6 (“what is restraining”) probably denotes the supernatural force involved in the restraining activity.

3. The restrainer must be stronger than the lawless one and Satan. Then only he can restrain, control, and hinder the wicked one. Such a one is the Holy Spirit of God. Only a supernatural power can hold back a supernatural enemy.

4. The present age is the age of the Holy Spirit. The church age commenced with the advent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and it will close with the removal of the Spirit (at the rapture of the church). The Holy Spirit, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament is the agent for restraining evil and wickedness on the earth. At the rapture, the Spirit will be removed and then the lawless one will be revealed in the early stages of the Day of the Lord.

A slightly modified version of the Holy Spirit as the restrainer is to see the church also involved in the restraining work to some extent. The restraining power is the Holy Spirit working primarily through the church as believers shine as the light of the world, and permeate the secular culture as the salt of the earth.

Robert L. Thomas’ words are a fitting conclusion to our study:

“God has a “proper time” for the lawless one’s revelation just as he does for the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven (1:7). No one knows that time since it is part of the future day of the Lord (1 Thess.5:2; 2 Thess.2:2, 3). Until the gathering of the saints (2:1), the Spirit will continue his restraining work” (2 Thessalonians, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol.11, 325).