From: Marilyn Agee (Riverside, CA)
Re: hhamlet (7 March 2007) "2 Thes 2:1-5"Hi:
I totally agree with you. To me, the Greek "he apostasia" definitely means the departing, or departure, which is the Rapture. Below is my reasoning on the subject. If you have anything to add, please let me know.
This is not a new idea. We know it was understood by Jerome about 400 AD, because he used the Latin word “discessio”, meaning “departure” to translate “apostasia” in the Vulgate. The Latin "discessio" comes down to us in English as decease. If we die, we depart, but even better than that, if a believer dies, he departs to Heaven. That pictures the Rapture departure to Heaven nicely.The early English translations had either "departing" or "departure" too: the Wycliffe Bible (1384), the Tyndale Bible (1526), the Coverdale Bible (1535), the Cranmer Bible (1539), the Breeches Bible (1576), the Beza Bible (1583), and the Geneva Bible (1608).
Understanding that apostasia means departure is not totally lost today, either.
The WEB says, "it will not be, unless THE DEPARTURE comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction"
The HNV says, "it will not be, unless THE DEPARTURE comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction"Here is what the Geneva Bible of 1608 says, "Nowe we beseech you, brethren, by the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ, and by OUR ASSEMBLING VNTO HIM, That ye be not suddenly mooued from your minde, nor troubled neither by spirit, nor by worde, nor by letter, as it were from vs, as though the DAY OF CHRIST were at hand. Let no man deceiue you by any meanes: for that day shall not come, except there come a DEPARTING first, and that that man of sinne be disclosed, euen the sonne of perdition".
The Geneva Bible got "departing" right, but missed on the "day of Christ." Since the Day of Christ is the Pre-Trib Rapture, we won't have a Rapture before that. It was the Day of the Lord that the Thessalonians were worried about.
The King James translaters missed on both counts. It says, "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by OUR GATHERING TOGETHER UNTO HIM, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the DAY OF CHRIST is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a FALLING AWAY first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition".
Today, we have some major manuscripts found after the King James Version was made to straighten this out. These MSS have "the day of the Lord".
Constantine Tischendorf gave us some good information on this in his Introduction to the Tischendorf New Testament. He said, "The Authorised Version, like Luther's, was made from a Greek text which Erasmus in 1516, and Robert Stephens in 1550, had formed from manuscripts of later date than the tenth century....Since the sixteenth century Greek manuscripts have been discovered of far greater antiquity than those of Erasmus and Stephens; as well as others in Latin, Syriac, Coptic, and Gothic, into which languages the sacred text was translated between the second and fourth centuries..."
The Day of the Lord is also the Day of God's Wrath and takes place at the end of the shortened Tribulation. That day is the first day of Christ's millennial reign too. It is 7 months before the Second Coming of Christ (Eze. 39:12,13).
Jesus will be crowned in Heaven on the Day of the Lord. On the same day, there will be the second Rapture, called the Pre-Wrath Rapture, the Marriage of the Lamb and the Judgment Seat of Christ. The last part of Rev. 11 tells about that day.
Rev. 11:15-19 says, "the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and HE SHALL REIGN for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders (i.e., the 12 patriarchs and 12 apostles that were caught up in the Pre-Trib Rapture) which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God. Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art (on the Day of the Lord), and wast (at the Crucifixion), and art to come (at the Second Advent 7 months future; Eze. 39:12,13); because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and THY WRATH IS COME, and the time of the dead, that they should be JUDGED (at the Judgment Seat of Christ), and that thou shouldest give reward unto they servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, an! d there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail."Some of today's versions have "the day of the Lord:"
(ASV) "to the end that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that THE DAY OF THE LORD is just at hand".
(Darby) "that ye be not soon shaken in mind, nor troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as if it were by us, as that THE DAY OF THE LORD is present."
(DRB) "That you be not easily moved from your sense nor be terrified, neither by spirit nor by word nor by epistle. as sent from us, as if THE DAY OF THE LORD were at hand."
(ISV) "not to be so quickly upset or alarmed when someone claims that we said either by some spirit, conversation, or letter that THE DAY OF THE LORD has already come."In "The Rapture in 2 Thessalonians 2:3," by Dr. Thomas Ice
(http://www.pre-trib.org/article-view.php?id=165), under the heading "The Meaning of Apostasia" he said, "The Greek noun apostasia is only used twice in the New Testament. In addition to 2 Thessalonians 2:3, it occurs in Acts 21:21 where, speaking of Paul, it is said, "that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake (apostasia) Moses." The word is a Greek compound of apo " from" and istemi "stand." Thus, it has the core meaning of "away from" or "DEPARTURE." The LIDDELL AND SCOTT GREEK LEXICON defines apostasia first as "defection, revolt;" then secondly as "DEPARTURE, DISAPPEARANCE." Gordon Lewis explains how the verb from which the noun apostasia is derived supports the basic meaning of departure in the following:
The verb may mean to remove spatially. There is little reason then to deny ! that the noun can mean such a spatial removal or departure. Since the noun is used only one other time in the New Testament of apostasy from Moses (Acts 21:21), we can hardly conclude that its Biblical meaning is necessarily determined. The verb is used fifteen times in the New Testament. Of these fifteen, only three have anything to do with a departure from the faith (Luke 8;13; 1 Tim. 4:1; Heb 3:12). The word is used for departing from iniquity (2 Tim. 2:19), from ungodly men (1 Tim. 6:5), from the temple (Luke 2:27), from the body (2 Cor. 12:8), and from persons (Acts 12:10; Luke 4:13).
"It is with full assurance of proper exegetical study and with complete confidence in the original languages," concludes Daniel Davey, "that the word meaning of APOSTASIA IS DEFINED AS DEPARTURE".
Below are the verses he mentioned where the verb form is defined as departure.
2Ti 2:19 says, "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ DEPART from iniquity."
1Ti 6:5 says, "Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such WITHDRAW thyself."
2Co 12:8 says, "For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might DEPART from me."
Act 12:10 says, "When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel DEPARTED from him."
Luk 4:13 says, "And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he DEPARTED from him for a season."Agape,
Marilyn Agee
mjagee1@earthlink.net
http://prophecycorner.com/agee/index.htm