Sunday, February 22, 2015

An Alternate Sense of "A Falling Away" (2 Thes. 2:3)?

A common view among premillennial Bible students is that the "falling away" mentioned by Paul in 2 Thes. 2:3 is a reference to the apostasy of the body of Christ preceding its translation (2 Thes. 2:1, "our gathering together unto him") before Daniel's seventieth week (DSW). This view might be supported by references to apostasy in 1 Tim. 4 and 2 Tim. 4; plus Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to "stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught" in 2 Thes. 2:15.  In listening to some prophetic studies from Bro. Richard Jordan recently (http://www.graceimpact.org), I think that the "falling away" here may refer to something in DSW rather than before it.  Daniel 11 contains much information about the last days of antichrist (1 John 2:18).  Israel will make a covenant with him to begin DSW (Dan. 9:27).  If I understood Bro. Jordan correctly, he believes that the falling away is when the Jews fall away to antichrist.  Note in Dan. 11:35-37 that some Jews fall away because of him, and the context is his self-deification, matching Paul's statement in 2 Thes. 2:3-4.  To me this makes sense, since (1) no special signs precede the rapture, like they do the advent (note: the apostasies in 1 Tim. 4 and 2 Tim. 4 could happen in any generation); (2) Paul's reference to the body of Christ in v. 6 ("he"--cf. Eph. 2:15) is that of "withhold[ing]" the revelation of the man of sin, not falling away; and (3) the "falling away" seems to tie in to the work of antichrist in 2 Thes. 2:9-12, where he deceives men into believing "a lie" (v. 11) that ultimately damns them (v. 12).  

I welcome comments on this either supporting or disagreeing with this sense of the phrase "a falling away."  May the Lord "reveal even this unto [us]" (Phil. 3:15).  

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