The Thessalonian believers were sorrowing as those with
"no hope", because of their loved ones who died in the faith before the Rapture (I Thessalonians 4:13)
Therefore, these dear saints believed that their dead
loved ones in the faith would miss out on the heavenly hope of the Church (Philippians 3:20-21)
Paul assures the Thessalonian believers that their loved
ones in the faith would be raised up at the Lord's coming for the Church (I Thessalonians 4:14)
Paul gives gives them new revelation ("by the Word
of the Lord") concerning the fact that the resurrection of the dead Church members will occur first at the
Lord's coming for the Church (I Thessalonians 4:15-16)
He also reveals the "mystery" concerning the
fact that not all will sleep (die), but that at the "last trump" (after the resurrection of the dead
Church members) - the living Church members will be changed (I Thessalonians 4:17 cf. I Corinthians 15:50-52)
Paul exhorts the Thessalonian believers to "comfort
one another with these words" (I Thessalonians 4:18) - that ALL (dead and living Church members) will "be gathered
together unto Him" at His coming for the Church (II Thessalonians 2:1)
Paul reminds the Thessalonian believers that as concerning
the "times and seasons" pertaining to God's earthly kingdom purpose concerning Israel (Acts 1:6-7; Daniel 2:21)
- they needed no further instruction via his pen (I Thessalonians 5:1)
Paul comforts the Thessalonian believers by assuring them
that they will NOT be around in the darkness of the Day of the Lord (I Thessalonians 5:4 cf. Amos 5:18-20; Zephaniah 1:14-15), because they are the "children of the Light" and are the
"children of the Day" and, therefore, are NOT associated with the night or the darkness (I Thessalonians 5:5)
They HAVE BEEN delivered from the "power of darkness"
(Colossians 1:13) and ARE NOW "light in the Lord" (Ephesians 5:8)
Paul exhorts the Thessalonian believers NOT to sleep as
those who are drunken in the night, BUT to be sober and put on "the armor of light" (I Thessalonians 5:6-8 cf.
Romans 13:11-12)
The most significant piece of this armor is knowing that
"God has NOT appointed us to wrath, BUT to obtain salvation" (I Thessalonians 5:9) and so He has "delivered us from the wrath to come" (I Thessalonians 1:10 cf.
Matthew 3:7)
when the "great Day of His wrath is come" (Revelation 6:17 cf. Romans 2:5)
This is why Paul says that whether we "wake"
("watch") or "sleep" - we shall ALL live together with Him, which are "words of comfort"
for these believers (I Thessalonians 5:10-11 cf. II Timothy 2:11)
This is because "NEWNESS OF LIFE" is based upon
the believer's identification with the Lord in His death and resurrection (Romans 6:3-5) and, therefore, the Lord can no more deny the believer His life than
He can deny His own life (II Timothy 2:13)
However, "REIGNING with Him" is based upon "SUFFERING
with Him" and so that honor will be denied to those who have NOT shared in the "fellowship of His sufferings"
(II Timothy 2:12 cf. Philippians 3:10) by NOT standing with the "Lord's prisoner" (II Timothy 1:8)
This "hope of salvation" is for ALL believers,
so that whether we "wake (watch) or sleep" (I Thessalonians 5:6,10) - "we should live together with Him" (I Thessalonians 5:10)
Therefore, Paul exhorts the Thessalonian believers to
"comfort yourselves together" (I Thessalonians 5:11) and NOT to be "troubled" about the arrival of the "Day
of the Lord" (II Thessalonians 2:2)
The anxiety was about the prophesied "Day of the
Lord" and is so rendered in the texts (NOT the "Day of Christ")
Letter "as from us" (II Thessalonians 2:2)
- Paul's unique written salutation in his own hand was the "token" (sign) of authenticity concerning
the original copy of each of his epistles (II Thessalonians 3:17)
Paul warns the Thessalonian believers NOT to be deceived
into believing that they were in the "Day of the Lord", because he reminds them that the "falling
away" (literally, "departure") must come FIRST (BEFORE) the "Man of Sin", i.e. BEFORE
the "Son of Perdition" can be "revealed in HIS TIME" (II Thessalonians 2:6) as the "king" who "exalts and magnifies himself above
all" (II Thessalonians 2:4 cf. Daniel 11:36-37)
The warning concerns the timing of the prophesied "Day
of the Lord" (II Thessalonians 2:2) in relation to the event called the "falling away", i.e.
the "departure"
The Greek word "apostasia" from which we get
our English word "apostasy" occurs only 2 times in the NT (Acts 21:21; II Thessalonians 2:3)
The word is actually a compound of the Greek prefix "apo"
("from") and the Greek root "istemi" ("stand") and, therefore, the word literally
means "away from" or "departure"
It may mean departure from doctrine as in the case of
"departing from Moses" (Acts 21:21), but is NOT necessarily always the case
The neuter form ("apostasion") of the feminine
form ("apostasia") occurs 3 times in the NT (Matthew 5:31; Matthew 19:7; Mark 10:4) and in each case is a reference to a "divorce (departing) from
a spouse"
Therefore, it is the CONTEXT which will determine the
sense of the "departing", which in the text at hand - it is the "departing" of the believers
to be with the Lord (II Thessalonians 2:1,3)
Paul reminds the Thessalonian believers that he already
told them these things (II Thessalonians 2:5):
Therefore, it is impossible for that Day to "overtake
them as a thief", because they are ALL the "children of the Light" and, thus, do NOT belong to the
time "of darkness", i.e. "the Night" (I Thessalonians 5:4)
Paul tells the Thessalonian believers that they know what
"withholdeth" and "letteth" until "HE be taken out of the way" (II Thessalonians 2:6-7)
after which the Wicked One (II Thessalonians 2:3-4) will be revealed with the Satanic "signs and lying wonders"
(II Thessalonians 2:8-9)
The same Greek word "katecho" is translated
in the KJV as "withholdeth" and "letteth" - it literally means to "hold down fast"
The Satanic "signs and lying wonders" to be
used to accredit the Wicked One (II Thessalonians 2:8-9) were once the very miracles used in the past to authenticate Israel's
True Messiah (Matthew 12:24-28 cf. Matthew 7:21-23)
Paul informs the Thessalonian believers that the reason
God will allow this "strong delusion" (the Satanic "lying signs and wonders") to be unleashed
is because "they" (apostate Israel) "received not the love of The Truth, that they might be saved"
and, thus, they will be allowed to be deceived into believing "The Lie", because they "believed
NOT The Truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (II Thessalonians 2:10-12)
"The Lie" is the "changing" ("prostituting")
of "The Truth" resulting in the "worship of the creature above the Creator" (Romans 1:22-25)
Satan is called "The Father" of "The Lie"
(John 8:44) and Christ is called "The Truth" Who sets one free (John 8:32,36)
The "they" is a reference to apostate Israel
who refused the love of the One Who came in His Father's Name, but who will receive the boast of the one who will
come in his own name (John 5:43)
Apostate Israel will take refuge in a "covenant of
lies" and will be swept away by it, but Israel's faithful remnant will trust in the Lord's "sure foundation"
and will "not haste", i.e. "abide" (Isaiah 28:15-18)