THE FALLING AWAY IS THE CASTING OUT

The falling away in 2 Thessalonians 2 is the casting out in Revelations 12

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

2 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.

3 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;

 

The falling away first, refers to Satan and his angels been thrown out of the second heaven, to the earth. This will end the devils access to both the second heaven and the third heaven permanently. This will also mean that the new residential address of the devil will be planet earth. The devil and the uncountable multitudes of his evil angels will come to co-habit the earth with humans. This soon coming event is explained in the following passage.

 

Revelations 12:7-10

 

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

 

Note what the loud voice is saying in verse 10, this is talking about the rapture. The salvation of the saints will happen simultaneous with the casting out of the devil from heaven. This also means that the actual revelation of the anti- Christ to the world after the casting out will only be a formality because by the time the devil is cast down salvation will have come.

 

The implication of this casting out and the consequent salvation of the saints is that it must be possible for the saints to know who the anti- Christ is even before he is formerly revealed to the world. The revealing of the anti- Christ is primarily meant for the people of the world. The fact that our salvation will be simultaneous with the casting out of the devil makes it clear that the saints will have already known prior to the casting out, the identity of the anti-Christ.

 

It is also important to note that Satan can only be at one place at any single time. So whilst Satan is busy with his ups and downs between heaven and earth, he will not be able to transfer or fully delegate his powers to the anti- Christ. The only time Satan will be earth bound full time and therefore be in a position to work with the anti- Christ full time, will be when he is cast out of heaven. This means that the anti- Christ cannot be revealed until such time when he is given his direct powers by Satan. Satan therefore is the restrainer, he is the one that obscures this revelation of the anti- Christ.

 

The war of Ezekiel 38 is ongoing in Syria. I believe that when Jesus talks about watching, He is mainly referring to watching this war. Jesus wants us to watch not only for the seasons but also for the times. I believe that if we monitor this war we may be able to see who the anti– Christ is likely to be.