The Day of the Lord Has Not Come
2 Thessalonians 2:1­3

In chapter one, Paul thanked God for the Thessalonians and encouraged them to rest with him in their sufferings because God would recompense the wicked and glorify the godly.

In chapter two, Paul dealt with the heart of the epistle and its purpose because someone had declared that the Day of the Lord had come (v. 2d).

Specifically, this unique section provides us with information about the man of sin found nowhere else in Scripture (2 Thess. 2:1-12).
This section is the most difficult of Paul's writings and, therefore, we must seek to understand it in light of what we do know in Scripture and the full counsel of God's Word.

What is not so obvious to us in this chapter was very clear and common knowledge to the Thessalonians. It is clear that Paul had gone into great detail about the study of end times in spite of the briefness of his three week stay (1 Thess. 5:1, 2 Thess. 2:5).
Peter tells us that some men twist Paul's writings to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16).

Paul comforts the Thessalonians by doing three things. He reminds them of what they knew, reproves them for what they had believed, and reinstructs them on what they had forgotten (v. 1­3).

Paul reminds them of what they knew, the foundation to remember (v. 1). A fundamental principle of interpretation is whenever anything taught contradicts what I know to be foundational to faith and Scripture, I must hang on to what I know to be Scripturally true. Paul reminds them of the coming (meaning "presence") of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Paul's time, this word was used to describe a royal visit by a ruler of Rome as a manifested deity (v. 1a­c).
Remember, they had been waiting for God's Son from heaven who would deliver them from the wrath to come (1 Thess. 1:10).
He had told them of his hope and joy with them and their perfection at His coming (1 Thess. 2:19, 1 Thess. 3:13).

Paul also told them that their dead loved ones would return with Jesus and prayed for their own sanctification in order to be blameless at His coming (1 Thess. 4:14­15, 5:23).

Paul reminds them of their gathering together with Jesus and qualified the "parousia" of Jesus with our gathering to Him (v. 1c).
The Thessalonians had been earlier concerned over their dead loved ones and the Lord's return. Paul told them they would not miss anything but in fact return with Christ (1 Thess. 4:14).

Now they were concerned about their own gathering to Christ because they had received the false teaching that the Day of the Lord had come (v. 2d).

Paul had told them they would be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air prior to that day (1 Thess. 4:17­18).
The words "caught up" mean to "seize violently, carry off by force or claim for one's self eagerly". Of the 13 times it appears in the New Testament, the meaning of "a sudden, jolting removal" appears consistently. Two examples will suffice; Philip was super-naturally removed from Gaza after the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch to Azotus and Paul was carried off to heaven (Acts 8:39­40a, 2 Corinthians 12:2).

Paul uses a second word, "assembling" that means "a gathering of saints as a corporate body for worship", which appears only twice in the New Testa-ment (Hebrews 10:25). A.T. Robertson discovered its use in the island of Syme, off Caria, to mean "collection". Paul reminds them of what they knew was the foundation to remember; they would be gathered with Christ in the air!
Paul reproves them for what they had believed, the folly to be rejected (v. 2).

Paul admonishes them for being soon shaken in mind and troubled by discounting what they knew (v. 2a). He describes their immediate reaction to the false teaching. The word "soon" denotes "the immediate effect, hastily" and the word "shaken" means "to waver, agitate, topple, a restless tossing as a ship not securely moored". Jesus defended John the Baptist before those who perhaps thought John was doubting who He was. "Who did you go see, a reed shaken in the wind?" (Matthew 11:7).

The words "in mind" mean "the reasoning aspect giving equilibrium of thought balance". The J.B. Phillips translation is helpful: "keep your heads and not be thrown off your balance". Notice Paul describes their continuous state of agitation since embracing the false teaching by the word. The word "troubled", which means "to wail", appears two other times in the New Testament which was used by Jesus to describe the anguish of the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:6, Mark 13:7).

Paul reproves them for believing that the teaching was from himself (v. 2b­c), and tells them not be soon shaken in mind or troubled by spirit (a prophetic utterance), by word (communication or teaching) or by letter (meaning forgery). Throughout Scripture the believer is exhorted to test the spirits by the revelation of God's Word because even Satan can transform himself into an angel of light (Acts 17:11, 2 Corinthians 11:14, Galatians 1:6­9, 1 Thess. 5:19­21, 2 Thess. 3:17, 1 Timothy 4:16, 1 John 4:1­3).

Paul reproves them for believing that the Day of the Lord had come for he had already told them that the Day of the Lord would come as a thief in the night to the unbeliever but not the believer (1 Thess. 5:1­4). Paul also told them that "that day" was the outpouring of God's wrath on the world (1 Thess. 1:10, 5:9­10).

The Day of the Lord is not determined by a local or personal suffering but a worldwide lawlessness which never has been (Matthew 24:21). Paul reproves them for what they had believed, the folly to be rejected!

Paul reinstructs them on what they had forgotten, the faithful Word to be received (v. 3).
This is the application which Paul had delivered to them when he established the church. All they needed to do was to hold on to what they had received (v. 5).

Paul instructs them that believers are to watch for various means of deception (v. 3a). The word "deceive" means "to beguile, seduce wholly, entirely". Sin nature, self, Satan and man can deceive us (Romans 7:11,1 Corinthians 3:18, 2 Corinthians 11:3, Matthew 24:4). He points out that "The Day of the Lord" will not come unless two things occur (v. 3b­d). The falling away must come first, which means defection from the truth. The word in classical Greek is used of political or military rebellion and in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (septuigent), it is used of rebellion against God (Joshua 22:22,2 Chronicles 29:19).

The word is found two times in the New Testament where Paul is accused by the Jews of teaching them to forsake the law of Moses (Acts 21:21). But the root word is "aphistemi", "to remove", so it could be referring equally to a departure or removal of the church from the earth (v. 6­7). According to John, the church is raptured and then the Antichrist appears on a white horse to deceive the world (Revelation 4­6). I think that the falling away has begun and the removal of the church will bring to pass the ultimate fulfillment, (1 Timothy 4:1­4, 2 Timothy 3:1­9, 13, 4:3­5).

Notice the article is present; it is not another rebellion but the rebellion of the world. The second condition for the Day of the Lord is that the man of sin will be revealed, the son of perdition (v. 3c-d).

The man of lawlessness depicts his character of rebellion and opposition to God. Mark it well. He appears as the result of falling away (v. 6­8). The word "reveal" means "to unveil" which means he will be on earth before he is revealed (1 Thess. 1:7). He has many other titles and names throughout the Old and New Testa-ment. The title "Antichrist" is perhaps the most recognized and is also used by John (1 John 2:18, 22, 4:3, 2 John 7). The title "son of perdition" describes his destiny, doom, and destruction. Jesus uses this title to describe Judas (John 17:12). Paul instructs them again on what they had forgotten - the faithful Word to receive!

Conclusion

Paul comforted the Thessalonians regarding false teaching about the Day of the Lord by reminding them of what they knew, reproving them for what they had believed and reinstructing them on what they had forgotten. How about you? Have you been taken in by false teaching regarding our Lord's coming and our gathering to Him? Remember to be ready. Jesus is coming for His church at such a time as you think not.

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