Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.
That was not even from this thread.Randy, please go back and edit your post #63. In constructing your post, you mistakenly quoted me as saying certain things. It was not me. You got me mixed up with somebody else.
Randy, HOW can they be "one" when the revealing cannot happen until the departing takes place FIRST. This alone proves the two cannot be one, for one is dependant upon the other.
This theory is further advanced because right after the pretrib rapture, the 70th week will take place.
Another proof that Christ will come again ONLY for the Gentile (mostly) church of today is that John SAW the church in heaven right after the start of the Day of His Wrath.
He will probably be surrounded by clouds of glory in both comings. However, when He comes pretrib FOR His church He does not continue on down to the ground. Rather, He will escort the church to heaven as John 14 tells us. It is the prefect Jewish wedding. The Bridegroom goes to prepare a home, and when the Father is satisfied, he tells the son to go and get his bride and bring her home to the home he has just prepared.
Again I agree that Revelation 19 can be compared to Matthew 24, for they both take place "after the tribulation of those days."
On the other hand, Paul tells us His coming for His Bride will be a coming just before wrath - and John tells us that God's wrath will begin just before the week begins - at the 6th seal in Rev. 6.
My axiom on Revelation: ANY theory that must rearrange John's God given chronology is immediately suspect and will certainly be proven wrong.
Pre-wrathers have always been confused on timing, as they try to force a time after the tribulation of those days with the timing of the 6th seal, which is before the tribulation. Trying to warp time to make a theory fit just doesn't work.
That was not even from this thread.
Again, as I said, if it's talking about the departure of the church then that would mean Paul was saying that the departure of the church had to occur first before the departure of the church, which obviously does not make sense. He very clearly indicated that the departure had to occur before the day that Jesus comes and we're gathered to Him.
It would be nice of God chose to explain things more fully, but we have only what He has given us, and He expects us to understand it.I fully understand that the Greek word, like most Greek words, has more than one definition. However, the only other time the Greek word apostasia is used in scripture it has to do with people falling away from the teachings of the law of Moses. That's something worth taking into consideration here.
The timing of the departure in relation to the revealing has nothing to do with the point I'm making. What Paul indicated is that BOTH the departure AND the revealing of the man of sin had to occur first BEFORE Christ's coming and out being gathered to Him.
2 Thess 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 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. 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;
This couldn't be more clear. The falling away has to occur before we are gathered to Christ at His second coming. It's not a good look for you to deny something so obvious.
I'm not just going to take your word for this. Where are you getting this from? And how do you think it should read instead?
Ah, so you trust the Amplified version. Okay then, let's see what the Amplified version shows Paul as saying.
2 Thess 2:1 (AMP) Now in regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to meet Him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to be quickly unsettled or alarmed either by a [so-called prophetic revelation of a] spirit or a message or a letter [alleged to be] from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has [already] come. 3 Let no one in any way deceive or entrap you, for that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first [that is, the great rebellion, the abandonment of the faith by professed Christians], and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction [the Antichrist, the one who is destined to be destroyed],
Where are you seeing the word "present" here? Anyway, look at this. The Amplified version calls the departure "the great rebellion, the abandonment of the faith by professed Christians". So, if you're going to rely on the Amp. version for saying "at hand" should say "present" instead, then why not accept how the Amp. version translates the meaning of the apostasia as well?
No, the church will not have to depart before the church departs. That is silly. Stick with what is written! The church must depart before the man of sin will be revealed, because the Holy Spirit is using the church to restrain or hold back the revealing. The basis of Paul's argument is simple: by the time the man of sin is revealed, the DAY will have already started and will be present.
That isn't what Paul said.
A mass falling away from the faith is what will reveal the true beliefs of some people. They will be exposed as essentially believing they are God because they will have decided they don't need God and don't want to serve God.
If that happens, great. I hope it does. But, you do understand that scripture teaches that there will be a time period of increased wickedness just before the end of the age when Christ returns, right? Jesus Himself talked about it here:
Matthew 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and hall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
I believe in 2nd Thess 2 Paul was writing about the same thing Jesus talked about here.
(Emphasis added.)Simple. The "apostasia" is not the removal of restraint, as you seem to suppose. Rather, it is a departure from the faith initiated in full by Antichrist. It has actually been happening in Europe for a very long time! So the departure from the faith is a reference to what Antichrist does when he is revealed. There is no 1st departure and then revelation. Antichrist is revealed and leads a complete departure from the faith.
I see the 70th Week as fulfilled at the 1st Advent of Christ.
I'm trying to understand what you're saying, but it's not clear to me. Is it your view that Paul was saying that the gathering together of the church unto Christ can't happen until the church first departs from the earth? If so, isn't that pretty obvious? It goes without saying that meeting with Christ "in the air" (as Paul wrote about previously) would require us departing the earth, doesn't it? Was he really making such an obvious point like that in 2 Thess 2? If so, why?I appreciate your congenial manner in these discussions also. Since we are not clones, we can disagree without being disagreeable.
I believe the topic Paul addresses in vs 1 "by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him". The Church will gather together with the Lord when the Church departs out of this world to meet the Lord in the air. And at that time lawless mankind will be revealed and destroyed by His coming, and this world will also be destroyed by fire. Paul says since the Church has not yet departed it is clear that Christ has not yet come, though some were apparently saying He had.
Again, I am not interested in debating OSAS vs. NOSAS here in this thread. But, regardless of what the departure from the faith in the latter times means in 1 Timothy 4, why can't that be what Paul was talking about in 2 Thess 2 as well?I don't believe Paul is saying that men who possess the Holy Spirit will depart from the faith. If he is, we need to explain this contradiction, because I firmly believe that Scripture gives us great assurance of eternal salvation. So what does Paul mean when he speaks of some in latter times departing from the faith?
These men cannot possess the Spirit and the fruit of faith that comes from Him. I believe departing from "the" faith here is to "giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron". IOW they were being led by seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, because they were liars, and hypocrites, with seared consciences. It is in this ungodly doctrine that they had fallen away from the words (Gospel) of saving faith and good doctrine. It wasn't that they possessed saving faith and then fall away to condemnation. It cannot be!
1 Timothy 4:1-6 (KJV) 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. If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.
If these who fall away had possessed the Spirit of truth they would not have fallen away from faith that saves, faith that gives all glory to God.
John 16:13-14 (KJV) Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
In the case of the revealing of the man of sin, that may be true. I don't think the departure/falling away necessarily occurs at the exact same time as the revealing of the man of sin.Paul seems to be saying the evidence will be so clearly revealed that there will be no mistake when the Church is gathered together with the Lord in the air, it will be apparent to all the world the final day of this age has come.
Then I don't think you are seeing it as God and John see it.
Consider what Jesus said, those in Judea must flee when they see the abomination. We find that fleeing in Revelation 12:6. According to Dan. 9:27 it will be the abomination that will divide the week. Therefore the week is divided very close to Rev. 12:6.
This is further proven by John's 5 separate countdowns from the midpoint of the week (you think is history) to the end of the week.
Have you tried to find the trumpet judgments in history?
(Emphasis added.)You are reading this into the text. It is not being explicitly taught: 1st the Rapture of the Gentile Church, and then the 2nd Coming. It would've been easy for the Lord to say if that's what He wanted to say. He didn't.
On the other hand, Paul explicitly taught 1st the Revelation of Antichrist, and then the 2nd Coming for the Church. Explicit Teaching means we should believe it. It is *not* reading into the text a particular doctrine we presuppose.
This may sound good in someone's imagination, but for this to be true, one would have to MOVE the start of the Day of the Lord from Revelation 6 (where God and John put it) to Revelation 19 where Jesus comes to Armageddon. Why?There are saints in heaven presently waiting to return with Christ. They are the departed saints. But before they come back Christians who survive Armageddon will be caught up with them so as to be part of Christ's glorious revelation to the earth.
This will happen in the twinkling of an eye. It will not require any space of time between the time the saints are caught up and the time they return in glorious new bodies. It will take place in a mere second.
It's not silly at all. I find your doctrine to be silly...at best. I have other words for it besides "silly", but I'll keep those to myself.How do you come up with something this silly?
It happens on the day of the Lord, yes. That is what Paul indicated in 1 Thess 4:14-5:9. I suppose you are one of those people who makes the mistake of thinking 1 Thess 4:14-17 and 1 Thess 5:1-3 are completely separate events that happen at entirely different times. That is not the case. Just read 2 Thess 1:7-10 and you can see that Paul talked about Jesus both gathering with His people AND destroying His enemies on the same day when He is revealed.Do you equate the rapture with the Day of the Lord?
It will. That is made clear in 1 Thess 5:2-3 and 2 Peter 3:10-12 as well. But, scripture also teaches that we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air on that day. You should not read Isaiah 13 in isolation and draw conclusions from it. We need to read all of the scriptures relating to the day of the Lord. Not all of them contain all the same details. How can you not know this?Isaiah 13 tells us the Day of the Lord will come with wrath and fierce anger.
Why does the rapture need to be mentioned in every passage about the day of the Lord? It's silly to expect that.Sorry, but that does not even sound like the rapture.
How do you come up with something this silly? You need to understand that 1 Thess 4:14-5:9 is all about one event, namely the second coming of Christ and it talks about the things that will happen on the day He comes from heaven.Indeed, it cannot be the DAY begins with the Rapture. Rather, the rapture will come FIRST and trigger the start of the DAY.
Because the rapture occurs on the same day. He did not just completely change subjects in 1 Thess 5:1. The translators made a big mistake by putting a chapter break there.Did you not notice that in 1 Thes. 4 & 5, Paul mentions the Day of the Lord just 3 verses after His classic rapture verse of our Lord descending, calling up the dead in Christ first, then those who are alive and in Christ? Why would Paul mention the DAY just after the rapture?
But, what Paul describes in 1 Thess 5:2-3 is complete destruction from which "they shall not escape" which lines up with what Peter said will happen on the day of the Lord in 2 Peter 3:10-12. This idea of a time period of years happening after what is described there is just plain silly.I submit it is because the DAY will start immediately after the rapture.
Wrong. Our being caught up AND the wrath occur on the same day. That is what Paul taught here as well:Next, Paul mentioned God's wrath in the same rapture passage. That makes perfect sense because the DAY is associated and will come with Wrath. What you seem to be missing is that the DAY comes FIRST in this passage.
The departure of the church will happen on the day of the Lord! You are butchering the text horribly. Look at it closely.So Paul is telling us:
Church age -> ->RAPTURE->DAY of the LORD->WRATH
So I will change your pet saying to reflect what Paul wrote in His first letter:
"Paul was saying that the departure of the church had to occur first before the Day of the Lord."
It makes no sense at all. I think someone saying that 1 + 1 = 3 would make more sense than your doctrine.This makes perfect sense.
What in the world are you trying to say here? I can't make any sense out of anything you're saying here. What Paul was saying is that they should not believe anyone trying to say that the day of the Lord had already come or was at hand because certain things had to occur first which had not yet happened. Since those things had not yet happened, it wasn't possible that the day of the Lord had come yet. That's clearly what Paul was saying. Your attempts to make him as saying otherwise are shameful.You have missed two critical things here for a correct understanding.
AMP not to be quickly unsettled or alarmed either by a [so-called prophetic revelation of a] spirit or a message or a letter [alleged to be] from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has [already] come.
AMPC Not to allow your minds to be quickly unsettled or disturbed or kept excited or alarmed, whether it be by some [pretended] revelation of [the] Spirit or by word or by letter [alleged to be] from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has [already] arrived and is here.
CSB not to be easily upset or troubled, either by a prophecy or by a message or by a letter supposedly from us, alleging that the day of the Lord has come.
CEB We don’t want you to be easily confused in your mind or upset if you hear that the day of the Lord is already here, whether you hear it through some spirit, a message, or a letter supposedly from us.
CJB not to be easily shaken in your thinking or anxious because of a spirit or a spoken message or a letter supposedly from us claiming that the Day of the Lord has already come.
CEV not to be easily upset or disturbed by people who claim the Lord has already come. They may say they heard this directly from the Holy Spirit, or from someone else, or even that they read it in one of our letters.
DARBY that ye be not soon shaken in mind, nor troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as [if it were] by us, as that the day of the Lord is present.
There are more I could have posted. The Greek word is enistēmi and it is a perfect tense verb. The perfect tense shows us an action completed, NOT an action about to happen. The king James MISSED it here, translating it as "at hand. It gets worse.
A direct translation from the Greek for verse 3:
Let no man deceive you by any means: for except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 3
The KJV translaters, having MISSED the truth of verse 2, ADDED WORDS:
[that day shall not come],
Where did they come up with these added words? From their faulty translation of verse 2: that the Day was about to come.
People read verse 3 like this:
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;
If they added words, it should be more like this:
Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not have arrived and be present], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Young's literal is about the only translation that does verse 3 correctly:
YLT let not any one deceive you in any manner, because -- if the falling away may not come first, and the man of sin be revealed -- the son of the destruction,
Here is a copy paste from your post:
for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first,
You underlined words that Paul did not write - and they are WRONG words that throw people off from the truth. It would have been MUCH better if they wrote, "that day shall not be present..."
What is clear in his first letter is that the rapture happens first and then the wrath ON THE SAME DAY. Just like he taught in 2 Thess 1:6-10. It seems that you are shamefully trying to twist what Paul said. I believe you are butchering the text horribly.I am convinced Paul did not teach a pre-wrath rapture in His first letter, and a post-trib rapture in His second letter. Neither God nor Paul would do such a thing. Since Paul's first letter is very clear on the order: rapture first, then The Day and Wrath, we should understand his second letter the same way. Read this the way Paul wrote it again:
(Emphasis added.)
Really? Let's look:
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
Something is restraining or holding back the revealing - and we are not suppose to know
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let [restrain - hold back], until he be taken out of the way. The power restraining or holding back the revealing will continue to hold back the revealing until He is 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:
And what will happen when the power restraining is taken out of the way? Then the man of sin will be revealed.
Make no mistake here: what is being restrained or held back or prevented from coming to pass is the revealing.
CEB Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. That day won’t come unless the rebellion comes first and the person who is lawless is revealed, who is headed for destruction.
What happens when he is revealed? The next verse tells us.
CEB He is the opponent of every so-called god or object of worship and promotes himself over them. So he sits in God’s temple, displaying himself to show that he is God.
This is proof that in 3b when Paul wrote that he "is revealed," he really was (in Paul's argument) He will then proclaim himself as God.
The huge question then is, HOW in the world did he, the man of sin, get revealed in 3b in light of verses 6-8? The only possible explanation is that somewhere in 3a the power restraining or holding back had to have been "taken out of the way."
We are left with two possibilities: a falling away (from what Paul did not specify) that was the restraining power taken out of the way or else the departing of the church as in the rapture as the restraining power taken out of the way. It must be one or the other, for Paul to write that the man of sin IS revealed in 3b.
Therefore I find no other possibility that hidden in "apostasia" IS the restraining power taken out of the way. No other words in 3a could possibly be anything taken out of the way.
The fleeing in the Olivet Discourse and the fleeing in Rev 12 are two separate events, in my opinion. Aside from "fleeing," I see no real connection. To think two events must be the same because of one word like "fleeing" is an interpretive fallacy.
The entire context of the Olivet Discourse concerns the time when the temple is attacked and destroyed, which could only have been 66-70 AD, when the Roman Army, the "Abomination of Desolation," made 2 separate trips to Jerusalem.
By contrast, the Woman fleeing the Dragon concerns the time of the reign of Antichrist, who reigns for 3.5 years. Two different events in two different times.
There are no "countdowns" in the book of Revelation that I know of? Such an idea would have to be an insertion, since there is no explicit connection between the book of Revelation and Daniel's 70th Week.
I believe the Trumpet Judgments are future history, and have not happened yet. I said Daniel's 70th Week was fulfilled in the past--not the book of Revelation! I'm not a Preterist!
Randy, the word "Revelation" comes from the word "reveal." What is John talking about in verse 6? I believe by "revealed" it means NO ONE WILL KNOW who the man of sin is, until He enters the temple and declares He is the God of the Jews. Without a doubt this will be broadcast on video to the entire world. At that moment in time, all will know who the Antichrist Beast will be. He is revealed to them.6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
This is the problem. Of course I think the restraint of Antichrist's appearance happens before Antichrist appears! But I don't believe it anywhere says that the restraint of Antichrist's appearance is, in fact, the revelation of Antichrist!
How does this prove that the restraint of Antichrist's appearance is the appearance, or revelation, of Antichrist? It only proves that once the restraint of Antichrist is lifted, the Antichrist is revealed!
I know I am slow, but I am not getting this. Can you please explain this more fully? It seems like we are going in circles and not getting anywhere.Again, this proves nothing. Obviously, this is cause and effect. If the restraint of someone's appearance is removed, that person may be revealed! It doesn't in the least mean or imply that the thing restraining that person is itself the person!
No, those are not the only 2 possibilities in interpreting the relationship between the Restrainer and the Antichrist! In fact, nothing at all suggests the Restraint of Antichrist is the Antichrist!
Many people imagine they will know who the Beast will be at the beginning of the week. (not you, because you imagine the week is historyy.) That is when some covenant is confirmed by the man of sin. However, Jesus jumped right over the confirming of a covenant in His end time discourse. John jumped right over it in Revelation. Why? In your theory because the week is history. I think the reason is that the confirming of a covenant with the Jews will be done in secret.
I do have a question: since John shows us 5 countdowns from the midpoint of the 70th week to the end of the week, how then can you imagine the week is history and not future? Do you imagine a SECOND (perhaps 71st) "week" of 2520 days?
If the 70th week (the end of the Jewish age) was way back then, why is Revelation 20 in front of us, not behind us? John shows chapter 20 right after the week ends at the 7th vial. Why didn't Jesus return at the end of the week like Rev. 19 shows us?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?