From: Marilyn Agee
Re: Jim Goodrick (20 May
2011)
"2 Thessalonians
2:3"
Hi:
> > 1. There will be no rapture until the "falling
away" ( apostasy ) takes place....
What kind of apostacy could come that is not here already?
The Greek "he apostacia" means "the departure." The verb form is used when one
party DEPARTS after a divorce.
> > and there will be no rapture until :
>
> 2. The man of sin ( the future antichrist ) will be revealed by SITTING in
the temple as God.
The First-Trump Rapture takes place before Mid-Trib (Rev
4:1). Satan cannot enter into the man of sin until Satan is cast down from
heaven Mid-Trib (Rev 12:9).
The man of sin will be the
Satan-possessed son of perdition, the False Prophet. Satan cannot enter into him
until Mid-Trib. Rev 12:7-9
says, "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his
angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in
heaven. 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."
Rev 17:8
says, "The beast (Satan) that thou sawest
was (in Judas Iscariot, the first son of perdition), and is not (in man now);
and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition (the False
Prophet, the 2nd and last son of perdition): and they that dwell on the earth
shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the
foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was (in man, Judas
Iscariot), and is not (in man now), and yet is (exists)."
> > Until those two events take place, it is too
far out of the ballpark to configure, even with disclaimers.
> > Now a
person can twist 2 Thessalonians 2:3 all to pieces until it "says"
180 degrees the opposite of what it simply says : no rapture until 2 things
happen first.
The New Testament was written in Greek.
We can be misled by two errors in the English KJV translation of 2Th
2:2-4.
It says, "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 (should be DAY OF THE LORD, i.e.,
the day of the second Rapture and the Day of God's Wrath) is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for
that day shall
not come, except there come a FALLING AWAY (a
DEPARTING, i.e., the First-Trump Rapture) FIRST, and that man of sin be revealed
(SECOND), the son of perdition (i.e., the Satan-possessed False Prophet);
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all
that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the
temple of God, shewing himself that he is God"
(Mid-Trib).
The First-Trump Rapture of I Thess 4:16,17 will take place
first, before Mid-Trib. Satan will be cast out of Heaven Mid-Trib and
be cast "INTO" the Earth. After that, Satan will come up out of the
Earth and go into the False Prophet, who will be revealed as
the "man of sin" when he sits in the Temple "shewing himself that he
is God," thus desecrating the Temple.
The Introduction of the Tischendorf New Testament tells us
when three older copies of the Bible were found that were not available to
the translators when the KJV was published in 1611. The KJV was
the first translation to make the mistake of "apostacy" in 2Thess 2:3,4.
Previous translations had departing.
In his New Testament, Tischendorf noted where the older
copies differed from the KJV. That makes his work outstanding.
The Vatican Codex (V) was found in the Vatican
library. When it was acquired is not known, but it was listed in their first
catalog, dated 1475.
The Alexandrin Codex (A) was presented to King
Charles in 1628 by the Patriarch of Constantinople. Having
previously been the Patriarch of Alexandria, he had brought the
Codex from Alexandria himself. Unger's Bible Dictionary said it was
published in 1078.
Parts of the Sinaitic Codex (S) were found by
Tichendorf himself in 1844 and1859 at the Convent of St. Catherine on what
is commonly thought to be Mt. Sinai. (I think it was Mt. Jebel Helal in the
desert nearer the Mediterranean Sea, because they never left the desert on the
way to Mt. Sinai.)
2Th 2:2-4 (KJV) says, "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 (should be DAY OF THE LORD, which
is Jesus' Long Day, the Day of God's Wrath) 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 (the False
Prophet) be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and
exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he
as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is
God."
Tishindorf's note at the bottom of the page says
that the "DAY OF CHRIST" was the "DAY OF THE LORD" in "SVA,"
meaning that all three older copies, Sinaiatic, Vaticanus and
Alexandrian, had "DAY OF THE LORD."
The DAY OF THE LORD is one long day, the DAY OF GOD'S WRATH, at the end of
the Great Tribulation, the shortened last half of the Tribulation. That will be
the day of the Last-Trump Rapture (I Cor 15:51-54), not the First-Trump
Rapture (I Thess 4:16,17), which precedes the time when the False Prophet
is revealed.
At the first Rapture, the wise-virgin Philadelphian
saints, for which the Lord has no words of condemnation, will be caught up
to Heaven. At that time, those saints will become incorruptible, but not
yet immortal. At the second Rapture, ALL saints will become immortal.
I Cor 15:51-53 says, "Behold, I shew you a
mystery; We (all believers) shall not all sleep (i.e., die), but we
shall ALL (including Paul) be CHANGED, 52 In a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye, AT THE LAST TRUMP (but not at the first trump): for the
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible (those caught up
in the first Rapture are also incorruptible), and we (all the saints,
INCLUDING PAUL) shall be CHANGED. 53 For this
corruptible must put on incorruption (that happens at the first Rapture, which
takes place before Mid-Trib), and this mortal must put on
immortality" (that happens at the last Rapture, which takes place before God's
wrath falls on Earth on the great and terrible Day of the
Lord).
The KJV's "falling away first," should have
been translated as "DEPARTING FIRST", i.e., the First-Trump
Rapture will take place before the man of sin, the False Prophet,
second beast of Rev 13, is revealed.
I Thess 2:3,4 in the Tyndale
Bible says,"Let no man deceave you by eny meanes for THE LORDE COMMETH NOT
EXCEPTE THER COME A DEPARTYNGE FIRST and that that
synfull man be opened ye sonne of perdicion 4 which is an adversarie and is
exalted above all that is called god or that is worshipped: so that he shall
sitt as God in temple of god and shew him silfe as
god."
2Th 2:3,4 in the Geneva Bible says,
"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, 4
Which is an aduersarie, and exalteth him selfe against all that is called God,
or that is worshipped: so that he doeth sit as God in the Temple of God, shewing
him selfe that he is God."
Seven early Bibles have DEPARTING FIRST in 2 Thess.
2:3. We are on solid ground if we accept it.
1. Wycliffe Bible
(1330) has "departynge first"
2. Tyndale Bible (1525/26) has
"departynge first"
3. Coverdale Bible 1535) has "departynge
first"
4. Crammer Bible (1539) has "departynge
first"
5. Geneva Bible (1560) has "departing first"
6.
Breeches Bible (1583) has "departing first"
It is listed separately and dated
differently. However, Breeches Bible seems to be a book-collector's term for the
earlier Geneva Bible
7. Beza Bible (1583) has "departing
first"
The KJV translation of 1611 was the first to make the 2
errors in 2 Thess. 2:3,4.
Several modern translations
followed in the KJV footsteps, but the World English Bible corrected the
second error.
The "departing first" is the First-Trump Rapture. It
comes before the man of sin, the False Prophet, is revealed
Mid-Trib.
I just downloaded the entire World English Bible, a
modern update of the ASV of 1901, for eSword from http://ebible.org/web/
Below is 2 Thess 2:1-4 (WEB). The Day of Christ (the first
Rapture) should be Day of the Lord (the second Rapture and Day of God's
Wrath), but the main thing, "the departure", is correct.
2Th 2:1-4 (WEB) "Now, brothers,
concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to
him, we ask you 2 not to be quickly shaken in your mind, nor
yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by letter as from us, saying
that the DAY OF CHRIST had come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any
way. For it will not be, unless THE DEPARTURE comes first, and the man of sin is
revealed, the son of destruction, 4 he who opposes and exalts
himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sits as
God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God."