General Articles

Study of the “Day of the Lord” in the Scriptures, Part 11 :: By Ron Ferguson

Published on: by RR7

It was mentioned in Part 10 that it was a difficult place to have ended PART 10, but not to have done so would have made a very long Part. We will continue from Part 10.

Wuest points out that the word “apostasia” is derived from the root verb “afistami,” which means to remove, withdraw, depart, go away, etc. Of its 15 occurrences in the New Testament, it is 11 times translated “depart,” and Wuest accordingly argues that the substantive must mean “departure,” and since the Greek text has the definite article [o = THE] then a particular departure is in view. There is one, and that departure is the removal of the Church, THE Rapture.

These are the references to the use of “apostasia/afistami.” (NASB) ))

Here are 13 references.

Luke 8:13 “And those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, and these have no firm root. They believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.” (That is, they depart their position, go away from it.)

Luke 13:27 “and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from. Depart from Me, all you evildoers.'” (That is, they will go away, leave, depart to another place.)

Luke 2:37 “and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four, and she never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.” (That is, disappeared from the temple, went to another place, went away.)

Luke 4:13 “And when the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.” (Went away, departed elsewhere.)

Acts 12:10 “And when they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself, and they went out and went along one street; and immediately the angel departed from him.” (Disappeared from his presence, went to another place.)

Acts 15:38 “But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.” (Left their presence, went to another location.)

Acts 19:9 “But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.” (Went away from their presence, left the scene.)

Acts 22:29 “Therefore those who were about to examine him immediately let go of him, and the commander also was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had put him in chains.” (Went away from him, removed from his presence.)

2Cor. 12:8 “Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me.” (Go away from, to leave.)

1Timothy 6:5 “and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.” (Departed from truth, left it.)

1Timothy 4:1 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.” (The departure of the last days, leave. This is more like leaving correct faith.)

2Timothy 2:19 “Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of the Lord abstain from wickedness.'” (Depart from it, leave, go away.)

Heb. 3:12 “Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God.” (Going away from, leaving, departing.)

NOTE – THE FIRST REASON IS BACK IN PART 10. HERE IS THE SECOND. The second reason they can’t be in The Day of the LORD – It is very clear that the Day of the LORD cannot come until the Church is taken out of the way, and until the Restrainer is removed, that being the Holy Spirit who is currently restraining the onslaught of evil that will break out in the vacuum left behind after the Rapture.

Paul explains that the Rapture (the apostasia) must happen before the man of lawlessness can be revealed, and that is why we will not see this man rise to power while the Church is still here. Yes, he may be alive today and may even hold a political or executive position, but the world will not know him or know of his revealing just yet. He comes on a white horse conquering in a bloodless rise (or coup) but only after the first seal is broken, which can’t happen until the great heavenly scene of Revelation 4 and 5, and that can’t happen until the Lord calls all His own home to heaven, “COME UP HERE” of Revelation 4:1. The Restrainer is connected with the passage below (2Thessalonians 2:3-7).

A LITTLE EXTRA ON 2 THESSALONIANS

2Thessalonians 2:1-2 “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.”

Without expanding this further, it is fairly easy to understand from the passage here that the persecuted Thessalonians were deeply troubled because they thought the terrors that had come upon them were those of the Great Tribulation Paul had taught them of. They knew they were to be caught up to be with the Lord before that event. See 1 Thess 1 v 9 and 10. Jesus is the Deliverer from the coming wrath. Because they thought the wrath had come, they were shaken and thought they had missed the Rapture, identifying their troubles with the Great Tribulation. Paul had to explain to them that Jesus is the One who will deliver “out of” the coming wrath (our versions translate as “from,” but the Greek is “ek” meaning “out of” – “away from it”). Verse 2 here should read, “Day of Jehovah.”

Paul now goes on to tell them that certain things must happen before that Day can come. As those things were not present then, there was no way that Day of Jehovah had come, and they could not be in the Great Tribulation. That was the assurance to the Thessalonians.

2Thessalonians 2:3-7 “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.”

In verses 7-8, it is revealed that there is One here who is hindering (holding back) the full release and revelation of iniquity. Only the Holy Spirit is capable of that. This, of course, means He is holding back the revelation of this lawless one (world leader/Antichrist). This one, the Restrainer, is the Holy Spirit, and only when He goes can iniquity become fully matured. The Holy Spirit WILL and CAN ONLY go when the true Church departs. And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth (seven years after his appearing) and bring this evil one to an end by the appearance of His Coming at Armageddon.

The Church WILL NOT go through the Tribulation. Neither is there only one appearing that false teachers teach. Nor is the Rapture and Second Coming connected together as some try to teach.

NOAH. I hope it can be seen that “the departure of the Church” must occur before any release of judgment upon the earth. Surely Noah is a pertinent lesson here. He was raised from the earth while the judgment raged below. He was removed from judgment. So shall the Church be removed from judgment. When the wrath of God was completed on the earth, then Noah returned to the earth for the new age. The Church will be lifted up out of judgment which will run its course on the earth, and then will return with the Lord to the earth, to the new age of the Millennium.

[3]. 2Peter 3:10–13 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”

We look at the last New Testament reference to “The Day of the LORD,” though many other inferences and suggestions are contained in the scriptures. The passage begins with the same simile we have seen before, that of a thief who comes in the night to destroy and to undertake his activities outside the planning of man (for it is the Lord). We say it over and over that the thief analogy does not relate to the Rapture, so stop using it that way. It is false to do so. Some keep insisting on doing it. That is the mark of the false teacher who will not learn. It connects with the Second Coming, not with the glorious hope of the Rapture. What glorious hope is it when a thief strikes? People need to think better into the scriptures and start comparing scripture with scripture as did the Bereans. In this passage, Peter speaks of the Second Coming and beyond, and none of the imagery here can be applied to the Rapture.

The rapture is called “the blessed hope,” and it is not hope when you know a thief is ready to strike you. It is terrifying and can only apply to those coming events that happen to a sinful world when there will be dread and chaos. This is why the word “thief” is used in Matthew 24 because all of Matthew 24 is in the Tribulation, NOT our current world with the Rapture looming. Matthew 24 is NOT the Rapture but the Second Coming.

There is a problem with this passage, and the chronology appears to be wrong if each part is taken sequentially. Peter seems to lump a few thoughts and facts together in no particular order. He appears to think that at the Second Coming all this happens, but we know from Revelation that it does not. The Second Coming happens at the end of the Tribulation when the world’s armies are destroyed at Armageddon, and then the Jews return to their land, and the Millennial Kingdom is set up with Messiah reigning as King over the whole earth. One thousand years pass, and then all human activity is wrapped up; the great white throne judgment occurs, and then comes this proclamation at the start of chapter 21 – verse 1 “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.”

It is only Peter who talks about the earth melting and the fervent heat.

This is the only place in all the New Testament where “melt” is used. It means to burn with great heat in the fire. Holman translates the verse as, “But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed.” I think what Peter is doing is using apocalyptic language to show the intensity of the Lord’s Coming, not necessarily the order of events. There is no way the earth will disappear or be dissolved or melt in the intense heat as life exists on the earth, such as Israel redeemed in her own land. Peter was used, inspired to use this whole embracing statement, but the Holy Spirit used John to define the parts of it. That is not uncommon in scripture.

Peter says we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth, and this is true, but I wonder if it really is our first focus (I think Peter does that in a general sense, a forward look). For me, it is the Rapture we are looking out for, and all those other things will follow on.

When the Rapture occurs, or if we die, then we will forever be in righteousness. It will be wonderful when way in the future, righteousness will dwell in the new heavens and earth. It is only when we have that installed that the New Jerusalem descends from heaven.

This is the eternal state. I believe the New Jerusalem is the eternal home for the Church.

People say we are going to heaven forever, but that is not the case. Heaven is not our eternal home. It is temporary. For those alive when the Rapture happens, they are taken to heaven but only for 7 years, and at the end of that, the Bride (The Church) returns to earth with Christ, and we live and reign with Him for 1,000 years. The Bible says we judge angels (the demons), so we are present with the Lord also at the great white throne when He judges the unsaved mass of mankind. Following that, we will have the new heavens and earth and then the New Jerusalem, where we will dwell forever. Amen!

PART 12 will follow.

It is the last Part.

ronaldf@aapt.net.au

 

The Falling Away Is Moving Right Along :: By Gene Lawley

Published on: by RR7

Was the Apostle Paul a prophet? Did he foretell anything of the future having to do with God’s plans for the age? What could he have meant when he reported, after being left for dead from a stoning at Lystra, “How he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (2 Corinthians 12:4)? No doubt but that he learned prophecy there, firsthand!

Therefore, when Paul writes of events to come in the future, such as in 2 Thessalonians 2 of a “falling away of lawfulness,” we can count on it being a prophetic revelation. Along with that passage, the prior letter to the Thessalonians also bears some weighty prophetic revelations that can be counted on for our future, as well. There, we are told of the coming removal of the saints from the path of God’s wrath upon the unbelieving, an event called the Rapture.

The 2 Thessalonians 2:3 passage says, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day [of the Lord] will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition.”

It goes on to say, in verses 6-7, “And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.” Being taken out of the way of that lawless one’s progress of evil means that those righteous ones in whom dwells the Spirit of God are gone, departed from the earth and with the Lord.

This lawless one is identified as one who eventually, then, is able to assume a position in the temple and claim that he is God and demand that all must worship him. For background on this, let’s go to Daniel 9:26-27:

“And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.”

Several things are brought together in these two verses. Earlier in Daniel 9 is the declaration of a 70-week punishment of God upon the Jews for their rebellion, but the count stops at 69 weeks. (These are, strangely, weeks of years, that is, one “day” of the week is one year, so that the real count is seven years for each week.) Thus, there is the final 70th week not yet accounted for, and no other possibility remains but the seven-year treaty that is confirmed by this coming “prince” of the heritage of the Roman army, which destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D.

Note, now, what he does, according to Daniel’s account, where he confirms that covenant, then breaks it after halfway through it. Then he desolates the temple by standing in it and declaring himself God and demanding that all worship him. Fast-forward to 2 Thessalonians 2, now, and see what Paul reports will happen in the future—a repeat of Daniel’s prophecy. This desolation of the temple is done in the future by the clear action of an identified person, the Antichrist. The claim that the temple is made desolate by an abomination brought on at its destruction in 70 A.D. is a figment of imagination by the false teachers who twist the Scriptures to support their preconceived ideas of how God’s plan should come about. Imagine someone declaring himself God and demanding worship while the temple he is standing in is being torn down by Roman soldiers?

This lawless one, the Antichrist, will not be some obscure person from the shadows of Europe and the old Roman nation; he merely has the heritage of that ancient nation. That also is not a likely appearance of such a person, for how does he acquire the authority to confirm a covenant with many? And then, declare an end to its fulfillment at mid-term? He will be a well-known, fully accepted person whom the world will welcome as their leader when the whole world of believers is taken away in the Rapture. One such person has already been identified as having been “primed” to lead [them] into a New World Order.

The Jewish people who remain behind will believe he is the Messiah, for he makes an effort to befriend them with a peace covenant and allows their rebuilding of the temple. (It is not yet restored, as you recall, but the Jews have fully prepared for its rebuilding.) Remember, the Jews are not looking for a Messiah with nail holes in His hands.

But, how soon will these things come to pass? What about this current degradation of the world’s morality and lawfulness, the defiance of justice for all, and the demand of the immorality of the LBGTQ+ Perversion faction for equality recognition? Is it just another wave of evil like those of the past—if there were any like this?

I contend that this is the time of the end, just as predicted by Daniel, Paul, and even Jesus, who said, “When these things begin to happen, look up, for your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28). The demands of evil people are universal and unrelenting, even permeating the highest governmental levels in many countries. The freedom of believing in God is fast losing favor among the nations, and declaring the claims of the gospel that believing it will change one’s life for the better is already essentially illegal in Canada and is looming closer in Britain. “Conversion counseling” it is called and is termed illegal in many USA states.

The collection of end-time events is bunching up, and it is hard to sort out which is coming next. We do know that this “falling away” is real and racing like so many lemmings to the destruction that can only be the end result. As righteousness is rejected and the reign of Satanic behavior multiplies, there can only be that result. “The thief only comes to steal, kill and destroy,” Jesus said in John 10:10.

We know from Scripture, now, that when this time of “falling away” comes to its climax, believers will be taken away to the Lord, and the remaining world will be in great dismay and terror with terrible conditions for survival. It will come at a time when the secular world will be feeling well and enjoying good times, according to Luke 17:26-30, which gives us that kind of a picture:

“And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”

How can it be that “good times are here” when society is crumbling before our very eyes—sexual immorality fully promoted, lawlessness upheld, and criminals allowed freedom? Police dishonored and denied authority, and many other contrasts to a peaceable culture? Yet, the economy is reported as doing well; the stock market is holding steady in a rising market. Perhaps those who ignore God have no hope and are like those Paul writes of in 1 Corinthians 15:32b, saying, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!'”

Perhaps the year 2022 will be the one in which God looks down and sees the world as He saw Sodom in Lot’s day, notes that He has obtained for His namesake the measure of Gentiles He wants, and moves with judgment in mind. It is by His great mercy that believers can be “Looking for that Blessed Hope and glorious appearance (then) of that great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

Contact email: andwegetmercy@gmail.com