The Great Deception

2 Thessalonians 2:1–5
It’s easy to become discouraged and misled by false reports. That’s why it is so important to be able to discern between truth and error. In 2 Thessalonians 2:1–5, the apostle Paul corrected false doctrine that apparently was spreading via a letter forged in Paul’s name.

The letter claimed believers were already living in the Day of the Lord. The news shocked and disrupted the church because, if true, it meant the church had missed the Rapture and was destined to suffer the Day of the Lord’s wrath.

The teaching contradicted Paul’s earlier instruction in 1 Thessalonians, where he taught the church would be raptured before the Day of the Lord. Thus Paul quickly penned 2 Thessalonians to calm the church’s fears, correct the false teaching, and clear up any confusion concerning the Day of the Lord. He also described the Antichrist, whose appearance will precede the Day of the Lord.

The Reminder
Paul addressed the church with loving affection: “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come” (2:1–2).

Paul clearly stated the subject of his letter was “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,” which refers to the Rapture (cf. 1 Th. 4:13–18). He used the phrase we ask you, or we beseech you (2 Th. 2:1, KJV), to appeal gently but authoritatively to the Thessalonians to reject the idea the “day of Christ” (Day of the Lord) had already come.

He exhorted believers not to be confused or to allow such rumors to derail their commitment to Christ. In other words, the Rapture had not taken place, and their current persecution was not the Day of the Lord’s wrath.

The Request
Paul advised the church “not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled” (v. 2). The word troubled means to be agitated, disturbed, or traumatized. He told the believers not to allow false teachers to toss them back and forth, as a violent storm shakes a ship, and not to be anxious, excited, mentally confused, emotionally swayed, frightened, or alarmed by the false report that they were in the Day of the Lord.

Paul mentioned three possible ways this erroneous news could have spread. First, false teachers may have claimed divine authority, saying their teaching was “by spirit” or divine revelation from the Spirit of God. Such claims were spurious.

Second, false teachers may have spread this teaching “by report,” so Paul strongly denied ever sending an oral report saying the church was in the Day of the Lord.

Third, some may have claimed to possess a letter from the apostle, but such a letter (if it existed) was a forgery. Paul categorically denied that he or anyone on his missionary team ever penned such an epistle.

The Refutation
Paul refuted the false teachers’ lies, hoping to calm the church’s fear and dispel its confusion concerning the Lord’s Second Coming and to provide correct instruction on the timing of the Rapture and Day of the Lord.

He already had taught that the Rapture would be imminent, meaning no prophecy need be fulfilled before it occurs (1 Th. 4:13–18). He also taught that the church will never experience the Day of the Lord’s wrath (1:10; 5:9) because it will occur after the Rapture, during the seven-year Tribulation.

The phrase Day of the Lord refers to the time of God’s future intervention into history following the Rapture, when He will pour out His wrath and judgment on the wicked during the Tribulation (Rev. 6:1—19:21).

Unlike the Rapture, which will have no warning signs, many signs will identify the Day of the Lord. In fact, near the end of His ministry, Jesus revealed key events that will take place on Earth during the Day of the Lord’s wrath (Mt. 24:4–31).

In addition to judgment, the Day of the Lord will also include the blessing of the Messianic Kingdom, which the Lord Jesus Christ will establish on Earth for 1,000 years.

The Revelation
Before revealing the first two events that will accompany the Day of the Lord, Paul told the church, “Let no one deceive you by any means [in any way or manner]” (2 Th. 2:3). He warned the Thessalonians to guard against deceptive teaching so they would not be deluded or beguiled by spurious teachers or doctrinal error that leads to erroneous beliefs and causes defection from the faith.

Today many gullible Christians are being led into unscriptural practices and teachings, especially when false teachers are persuasive communicators or have dynamic personalities.

Paul cautioned, “For that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition” (v. 3). The preposition for introduces Paul’s two reasons for warning the Thessalonians.

First, the Day of the Lord will not come “unless the falling away comes first.” The phrase falling away (Greek, apostasia) is apostasy in English. Apostastize means to revolt, defect, fall away, or depart from the true God. Paul used apostasia to connote a willful, conscious withdrawal from God, resulting in a total rejection of belief in Christ.

This apostasia will be more than a general apostasy because the text calls it “the apostasy,” indicating a specific apostasy. The people deceived will hate the truth, believe the Antichrist’s lie, take pleasure in unrighteousness, and remain unsaved.

The word apostasy appears only one other time in the New Testament. Luke, the author of Acts, used it in reference to a charge made by Jewish leaders claiming Paul taught Jewish people “to forsake [apostastize] Moses” (Acts 21:21). They claimed Paul taught others to forsake the Law of Moses and Judaism, which in their eyes was a sin.

Throughout church history, professing Christians have defected from Christ. But “the apostasy” will be a specific departure from the faith prior to the Day of the Lord.

Some commentators interpret apostasia (departure) as the Rapture of the church. But this interpretation doesn’t fit with the congruity of the Rapture, when Christ will snatch away believers to meet Him in the air and take them to heaven (1 Th. 4:16–17). And Scripture never uses the term departure to refer to that event.

Apostasia primarily refers to a situation wherein a rebellious person departs from belief in Christ. Most Bible commentators believe professing Christians who commit apostasy were never truly saved.

Second, the Day of the Lord will not come unless “the man of sin [lawlessness] is revealed, the son of perdition (2 Th. 2:3; cf. 6–8). Paul said a specific man (the Antichrist) will be publicly revealed, or unveiled, at a specific time in history. This means he will have been living for some time before his manifestation as the lawless one. At his unveiling, people will know the Day of the Lord has arrived.

Paul called the coming Antichrist a “man of lawlessness” and “the son of perdition.” Lawlessness refers to his wicked character. Though not Satan, the Antichrist will be the total embodiment of evil—one who completely disregards, degrades, and tries to destroy any semblance of God’s will and goodness on Earth.

The phrase the son of perdition means “the son of doom and destruction.” Jesus Christ first used the title to describe Judas Iscariot (Jn. 17:12). The Antichrist will have Satan’s destructive nature, and he will be destined to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:10).

He will come to power, lead a confederacy known as the revived Roman Empire (Dan. 7:23–25), and establish a historic, binding covenant with many in the nation of Israel (9:27). This covenant will begin Daniel’s 70th week, also known as the seven-year Tribulation.

Satan will energize and empower the Antichrist to lead a planned program to dominate the world politically and religiously. The Antichrist will be one “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Th. 2:4). He will oppose God by blaspheming His name, His dwelling place, and those dwelling in heaven (Rev. 13:6). He not only will oppose God, Christ, and His followers, but he will oppose all forms of religious worship.

He will “[exalt] himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped” (2 Th. 2:4). With Satan’s help, the Antichrist will elevate himself above every religion and form of worship during the Tribulation. He will seize power and dominate and subdue all religious systems under his authority.

He also will “[sit] as God in the temple of God” (v. 4). The Antichrist will enter a rebuilt Jewish Temple during the Tribulation and desecrate it by sitting in the inner sanctuary as an apostate Gentile. Worse yet, he will erect an image of himself in the Temple, and anyone who refuses to worship it will be killed (Rev. 13:14–15). Jesus referred to this event as “the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet” (Mt. 24:15).

In addition, the Antichrist will “[show] himself that he is God” (2 Th. 2:4). His self-exaltation will lead to his self-deification and denial of all other gods (Dan. 11:36–37). His worldwide power will cause all unsaved people on Earth to worship him (Rev. 13:8).

Paul asked the Thessalonians, “Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?” (2 Th. 2:5). He reminded them that his teaching about the Antichrist and the Day of the Lord was not new, for he had personally and fully taught them about both when he was with them.

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul made it very clear: No believer in Christ will ever experience the Great Tribulation, live under the rule of the Antichrist, or go through the Day of the Lord’s wrath. Hallelujah!

7 thoughts on “The Great Deception

  1. What will be the role of the Church, the Body of Christ, when Christ is reigning on the earth? Do you believe that all those on the earth at that time will have a heavenly citizenship and bodies fashioned after the Lord’s glorious body?
    Phil 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,
    Will it be after the second coming that God will show us the exceeding riches of His grace?
    Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

  2. I do get confused about a lot of this stuff. I feel that the most important thing is always to hold onto, be completely obedient to, have faith and just follow our Saviour Jesus Christ!

    Things come and go. Jesus just wants us to follow Him.

  3. This universal false religion we are witnessing sweeping the church is looking very much to me like the falling away described. My concern is the deception is very cunning, don’t underestimate the entity behind this. He is the master at deception and lies. Seems to me the masses are falling away, following false teachings. The non Roman and Roman churches are loaded with man made false teachings and are all Coalescing-emerging as one massive false church.

  4. In reading though The Great Deception I kept saying, check, check, check. But then as Mr. Levy addressed 2Th2:3, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed.” and afterwords makes a declarative statement about apostasia, he never addresses what Paul writes in 2Th 2:6-8 “And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 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. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” – 2Th 2:6-8

    Now Mr. Levy does mention 1Thess 4:16-17, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” However, Mr. Levy forgot to point out that The Church will never know, let alone see, who the Antichrist is. We will be taken away by the Holy Spirt, just as Paul says in the second half of verse 7 of 2Th Chapter 2, “only He who now restrains [will do so] until He is taken out of the way.” And so it is only then that the Antichrist will be revealed. And since the “He” that Paul is speaking of is The Holy Spirit, Paul is clearly showing that when He goes, WE GO! That is when “the Church,” the “Bride of Christ,” is snatched from off the earth.

    And this fact Paul had written to the Ephesians, and shared and taught to all the Churches, that we are sealed, we are guaranteed, until the redemption of the purchased possession. “13 In Him you also [trusted], after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” – Eph 1:13-14 Come quickly, Lord! And until then… God bless Israel, and God bless Israel My Glory!

  5. Thank you for this timely teaching. I have been been meeting with a professed brother in Christ who has decided the body of Christ must go through the Great Tribulation. He now believes that the church will be taken up from the earth to meet Jesus the Christ in the air as He comes in His Second coming. And after meeting Him in the air the church will immediately turn around and return to earth with Christ. My heart breaks for my friend because he has a tendency to follow any strange doctrine taught by man. I have been praying for him because he seems to be a double minded man. Your explanation is what the Holy Spirit has convinced me concerning the Rapture as I have been studying Scripture. And I saw the hand of God at work to reassure me of my teaching on the subject thanks to your article on the subject. May the Lord of Heaven and Earth, the Lamb of God, the Lion of Judah continue to bless your ministry. Sincerely, Ken Keslar

    1. My Heart breaks as Well Ken.
      Let’s unpack this from an assertion in the article.
      “But this interpretation doesn’t fit with the congruity of the Rapture, when Christ will snatch away believers to meet Him in the air and take them to heaven (1 Th. 4:16–17).

      The scripture quoted that implicitly asserts”meet them in the air and take them to heaven ” in fact implicitly does Not say that. You added heaven. The word Meet is the word used to meet a dignitary on his way into a town. Nowhere in scripture does it ever say Christ raises the dead who are asleep, comes down and then turns around and goes back to heaven. It says that in a book you may have read or the long winded twisted meanderings of someone who pieced together a hundred verses to build a Truth out of guesses, but it says that No Where in God’s clear teachings.

      Now, in the light of the fact that virtually every Professional Theologian throughout all of church history sees the clear and overt meaning of the texts -that we are waiting for the Return of Jesus Christ at the second coming, which is preceded by the rebellion and the lawless one.. let’s see the fruit of error.
      Ken
      “My heart breaks for my friend because he has a tendency to follow any strange doctrine taught by man. I have been praying for him because he seems to be a double minded man. ”

      OK…. Feel free, in your accusations, to include virtually every single theologian, teacher pastor, virtually every single solitary Christian since the ascension until a very short time ago when this poor amateur scholarship started to spread.

      This is the fruit of error. You absolutely, positively have read your man-made taught doctrine from books, sermons, videos, and articles, and it has become so entrenched in your thinking – that you literally see what’s not there.

      You see others do it with their convoluted matrix, trying to be prophets, yet you cannot entertain, in the slightest way, that you are doing precisely the same thing. There is no trip back to heaven. Every metric applied to the text comes out exactly as everyone has always seen the text. Wishing a trip back to heaven with those who have already fallen asleep breaks every rule of hermeneutics and is downright silly.
      I suggest honest prayer and humility as you close the supplemental resources that taught you this convoluted idea and let the truth flow directly from the text through the Spirit. If you literally do this : you’ll kick yourself, seeing there is nothing clearer than these passages. They are simple and require no charts or graphs.
      Peace

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