I demonstrated at http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/feb2013/jovial218-1.htm how the word used for "rapture" in Scripture is CHATUF in Aramaic and ARPAGES in Greek.  That is not the word used in 2 Thess 2:3, which is APOSTACIA.

The same word for "apostacia" that is used in 2 Thess 2:3 is also used in Acts 21:21, when it says.

"they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to FORESAKE (apostasion) Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs" (Acts 21:21)

Paul was not accused of claiming Jews in Israel should foresake the Law.  He wrote letters to Gentile cities telling them THEY (Gentiles) were not obligated to keep the law of Moses.  But he replied to this accusation by saying he did not believe Jews living in Gentile countries should foresake the law and that he kept the law.  He was always consistent in what he taught both here and elsewhere, that Jews keep the Law of Moses and Gentiles don't have to.

A very similar word is also used for "bill of divorce" in 3 places. One Greek dictionary I have gives these meanings to the word; "rise in rebellion, revolt, quarrel,dispute, divide into factions."  That certainly happens during a divorce.  But would God use a word that describes divorce to describe an event that will trigger the marriage of the Lamb and His Bride?  That would be insane. 

It's used in the LXX in the following places...

• Josh 22:22 "He knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion (מֶרֶד=apostacia in LXX)"
• 2 Chron 29:19 " king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression (apostacia in LXX)"
• Jer 2:19 "Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee:"

None of these sound like a rapture.  None of these sound like moving from one location to another.  They all sound like apostacy.

How Greek Speakers Understand the Word

No Greek speakers at no time has ever understood "APOSTACY" / "apostasia" to mean "rapture".  The Greek word "apostacia" / "αποστασία" is not used in ANY early Church Greek writings to refer to the rapture.  Nor is it understood that way today.  "Rapture" just isn't even on the radar-scope of what "apostacia" could mean in Greek.

 

At http://agiooros.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?t=3383&f=50 , you can read a blog where Greek speaking people discuss in Greek the meaning of 2 Thess 2:3.  They debate things like whether we are in the age of apostacy today, or is the word "apostacy" referring to some future religious defection yet to come.  But no one jumps in to argue that it could mean "rapture".  It's only because this is an English speaking forum that there's even any debate on this issue .  But rest assured, it's pretty much the same as the English "apostacy".  For example, at http://agiooros.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?t=3383&f=50 , one Greek speaker says (translated to English here for your readability),

"And so the historical time we see the apostasy ("apostasia/αποστασία") in the form of restoration of ancient religion and rituals and customs that accompany it." 

He's obviously not talking about a "rapture" here, and there's no question he's using the Greek word "apostacia" to mean what we call "apostacy" in English.

 

The Greek version of Wikipedia has a page defining "apostacia", and no where on it is the concept of the rapture discussed.  Keep in mind that ANY Greek speaker could edit the page to add "rapture" into the discussion if he felt like that was some sort of serious omission, but not one person has chosen to "fix" that "problem". 

 

Googling "Apostacia" in Greek

I put "αποστασία" into Google once (in the past) in unicode and got 113,000 web pages.  Most were Greek web pages from Greek speakers.  a small number were in English trying to analyze a Greek word.  When I put both the Greek words for "apostacy" and "rapture" (apostacia and arpage) into Google, I got a whopping 3 Greek web pages, none of which talked about the rapture.  The laws of chance would lead me to suspect I'd get at least a few web pages that would switch from one topic to the next, and thereby have both words in the same web page.  But nope.  It appears that 113,000 Greek speaking web pages from people who speak Greek can get posted using the word "αποστασία" and not a single one of them has the topic of the rapture even on the radar screen.

 

Just to ensure I hadn't goofed, I put "apostacy" and "Jesus" in (In Greek unicode, of course) and got 32,000 Greek speaking web pages and Google took care of all the various inflections as well.  Most of the 81,000 that went away were political web pages concerning the "Apostacy of 1965", a military overthrow of the Greek government, leaving me with the normal religious usage of the term "apostacy".  I checked many of those web pages and every usage of the Greek term "αποστασία" I found involved apostacy, with no mention of any kind of rapture.  So if "apostacia" can mean "rapture", then why is it that people who speak Greek on a daily basis make absolutely no connection between the word "apostacia" and the rapture?  If those who think 2 Thess 2:3 is talking about the rapture, then I guess the Greek speaking world needs to take lessons on how to speak Greek from English speaking folks who don't know Greek!!!! 

 

Trying to find a writing by anyone from any time period in which a connection has been made by a Greek speaker, writing in Greek, between the word "apostacia" (as used in 2 Thess 2:3) and the concept of the rapture is a fruitless endeavor because there's just no connection.  And if 2 Thess 2 was written in Greek and Elohim was trying to tell us about the rapture there, why would He use a word that Greek speakers don't connect to the concept of the rapture in any fashion whatsoever?

We must fit our theology to the written text, not the text to our desired theology.

Shalom,

Joe