II Thessalonians
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Chapter Two
By Peter Marshall McLewin
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Paul begins his teaching on Christ’s return with a request.  The word request is erotomen, which conveyed to the Thessalonians his personal and warm affection for the Thessalonians.  He could feel how much they had been affected by false teaching on the subject of Christ’s return.  He took the unusual steps of warning them not to listen to anyone claiming to have received a message from God to the effect that Christ had already returned.  He warned them to disregard books that claimed that Christ had returned and not to listen to sermons that implied that Christ had returned.  Paul could not have given them a stronger warning on this subject.  He wanted them to know, in no uncertain terms, that Christ had not yet returned and that He is going to return.  Christ’s return will be so dramatic that no one will be in any doubt as to what has happened.

In I Thessalonians 4:13 Paul taught that Christ’s return will be like a “thief in the night.”  Notice that Christ’s coming is like a thief but not as a thief.  Paul’s only point is that Christ will return when He is least expected.  Many people thought that Christ would come at the turn of the second millenium, but that is exactly the kind of thinking that misses Paul’s teaching.  For one thing, the second millenium began in 1995 or 1996 because, as best we can tell, Christ was born in 4 or 5 BC.  I point this out because it illustrates how foolish thinking can creep into teaching and preaching on the subject of Christ’s return.  Paul wrote not only for the benefit of the believers in Thessalonica, but for all believers, including those of us who are alive today.  The clearest thing that we can gain from Paul’s texts in I & II Thessalonians is that Christ’s return is a future event.

Having made his point about Christ’s future return, Paul now goes on to deeper teaching on future events.  These next few verses are some of the most widely interpreted verses in the entire Bible and certainly in Paul’s teachings.  My thoughts on these verses reflect my training and study of Scripture.  Many godly men and women hold different views on this subject.  Let us not make the way we interpret these verses a test of Christian fellowship.

There are several phrases or words from these verses that we should examine more closely.

Vs 2. “Day of the Lord”

The phrase the “Day of the Lord” is an expression found in many places in the Bible.  It is a reference to God’s coming judgment on earth.  It is not a reference to hell or eternal destruction but rather to events that will take place on the earth while the people of that time are still living.

Here are a few references to the “Day of the Lord.”

“Wail, for the day of the Lord is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.”  Isaiah 13:6

“Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation; and He will exterminate its sinners from it.”  Isaiah 13:9

“Near is the great day of the Lord,
Near and coming very quickly;
Listen, the day of the Lord!
In it the warrior cries out bitterly.
A day of wrath is that day,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of destruction and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
A day of trumpet and battle cry
Against the fortified cities
And the high corner towers.”
    Zephaniah 1:14-16


The old rabbis believed that the “Day of the Lord” is a great turning point in history.  For them there is the past with all its pain and suffering and there is the future when Messiah will come and rule with righteousness.  In between these two eras is the “Day of the Lord.”  But the “Day of the Lord” is most likely more than a single day.  I believe it is a reference to Daniel’s 70th week or John’s Revelation of seven years of tribulation, plus Christ’s millennial kingdom here on earth.

The second word we need to consider is apostasy.

Vs 3. “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first…”

Paul said that the “Day of the Lord” will not come until there is massive apostasy.  The word apostasy means falling away.  It is a reference to worldwide spiritual decay.  Paul is not referring to the corruption of the world but of the Church.  The Church has always been at greater risk for attack and corruption from inside than from outside sources.  Traditions of men rob the Church of spiritual vitality.  Preachers lose their confidence in the Bible as the Word of God.  Members shift their focus from winning the world to Christ to surviving in the market place.

Another view of this passage is that this “apostasy” is the removal of the Church from the earth. This view teaches that the “apostasy” or “falling away” is not a reference to spiritual corruption but to the lifting of the saints of God to meet Christ in the air.  Clearly Paul taught the Thessalonians that there will be a meeting between believers and the Lord in the air.

 “Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” I Thessalonians 4:17

This meeting in the air must be accounted for in one’s view of the end times.  I believe this meeting in the air is the removal of the Church from the earth prior to the events of the “Day of the Lord.”  I believe this was the main point that Paul wanted to get across to the Thessalonians in his first letter.  While I do believe the Church will be removed, I do not think that it is necessary to interpret the “apostasy” of II Thessalonians 2:3 as a veiled reference to this event.
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