“The apostasy [will] have first come, and the man of sin have been revealed, the son of perdition; who opposes and exalts himself on high against all called God, or object of veneration; so that he himself sits down in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:3–4).
What do these words mean, which at first sight seem to present such a dark prospect? Here we are taken into the time after the rapture of believers. The Thessalonians had been confused by false news and teachings. They had been told that the tribulations they had experienced were a sign that the terrible day of the Lord had dawned (see Joel 1:15). Paul refutes this in this passage.
He reminds the Thessalonians that the next event to be expected for them (and for us!) is the coming of the Lord Jesus for the rapture of believers (the “coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him”; see v.1). No prophecies need to be fulfilled before this event. The Lord has said: “I come quickly”! (Rev. 22:20). The Day of the Lord, which will come with the public appearance of Christ in power and glory for the judgment and establishment of His millennial reign, only takes place afterwards. It is preceded by the time of tribulation and many other events.
When all true believers have been raptured by the Lord into the Father’s house, the coming of the “apostasy” will be the first subsequent event. The remaining nominal Christians will turn away completely from the teachings of the Bible and from God. Every trace of Christianity will be wiped out – especially in Europe, the territory of the coming Roman Empire. That is the apostasy mentioned here. So it is by no means an apostasy of believers, but of people who have only a form of godliness, without being born again. It will be similar with the Jews, for from their midst will arise the man of sin, the son of perdition, that is to say the Antichrist, who will allow himself to be worshipped as God and who will enter into a close alliance with the head of the Roman Empire according to Revelation 13:11–17.
The apostasy mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:1, on the other hand, takes place before that. Here it is not a global apostasy either but only concerns “some”. But they too are not children of God who give up their personal faith, but people who “apostatise”, that is to say, who turn away from the Christian truth, the Christian faith. We will go into this in more detail in the following section.
The apostasy (2 Thess. 2:3; 1 Tim. 4:1)
“The apostasy [will] have first come, and the man of sin have been revealed, the son of perdition; who opposes and exalts himself on high against all called God, or object of veneration; so that he himself sits down in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:3–4).
What do these words mean, which at first sight seem to present such a dark prospect? Here we are taken into the time after the rapture of believers. The Thessalonians had been confused by false news and teachings. They had been told that the tribulations they had experienced were a sign that the terrible day of the Lord had dawned (see Joel 1:15). Paul refutes this in this passage.
He reminds the Thessalonians that the next event to be expected for them (and for us!) is the coming of the Lord Jesus for the rapture of believers (the “coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him”; see v.1). No prophecies need to be fulfilled before this event. The Lord has said: “I come quickly”! (Rev. 22:20). The Day of the Lord, which will come with the public appearance of Christ in power and glory for the judgment and establishment of His millennial reign, only takes place afterwards. It is preceded by the time of tribulation and many other events.
When all true believers have been raptured by the Lord into the Father’s house, the coming of the “apostasy” will be the first subsequent event. The remaining nominal Christians will turn away completely from the teachings of the Bible and from God. Every trace of Christianity will be wiped out – especially in Europe, the territory of the coming Roman Empire. That is the apostasy mentioned here. So it is by no means an apostasy of believers, but of people who have only a form of godliness, without being born again. It will be similar with the Jews, for from their midst will arise the man of sin, the son of perdition, that is to say the Antichrist, who will allow himself to be worshipped as God and who will enter into a close alliance with the head of the Roman Empire according to Revelation 13:11–17.
The apostasy mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:1, on the other hand, takes place before that. Here it is not a global apostasy either but only concerns “some”. But they too are not children of God who give up their personal faith, but people who “apostatise”, that is to say, who turn away from the Christian truth, the Christian faith. We will go into this in more detail in the following section.
Table of content: