We’re Almost Home, But Not Quite Yet

Commentary

Paul had been informed that these believers had been battling false teachers. Deceptive people had come in after Paul to essentially tell them, “Oh, the Lord has already come, you missed Him”. The truth was and is that Jesus has not returned yet. But these deceivers were trying to destroy the faith of these people.

Our time is no different. Many people are saying things like, “Jesus isn’t coming back” or “Oh no, that’s all spiritual, He’s not really coming back in a physical way” or “That already happened in AD 70”.

We can see the same pattern over and over again. Satan is a repeater. He will use the same old tactics if they work, and sadly these tactics still work. Understand that Jesus is coming again, first to take His Church prior to the 7-year Tribulation and then to establish His Kingdom for 1,000 years. In this study, we’ll further explore what God’s Word has to say on this matter, along with the awesome hope and motivation we can take from it.

Commentary

Verse 2 from yesterday contained the term, “The Day of the Lord”. It is a term used in the Bible to refer to the time of the end, being from Rapture to the end of the 1,000-year Kingdom. It’s not necessarily a single day of events but a period of time.

With that in mind, know that all the events associated with the “Day of the Lord”, mainly Christ’s Second Coming, will not take place until some other things happen prior. The first event listed in this passage is the apostasy. The Bible teaches that some will depart from the faith in the last days (1 Timothy 4). There will be people rejecting God’s Word and Jesus, people who once professed to be believers.

However, this verse in 2 Thessalonians is not required for that teaching. I say that because there are some who paint a very compelling argument that the term “apostasy”, in the original Greek, could actually mean departing, as in the Rapture. Either way, Jesus will not come back to this Earth to set up His Kingdom until both the Rapture and this great apostasy have taken place first.

The second event listed in this passage is the unveiling of the final Antichrist. We know from Daniel 9:27 that Antichrist comes on the world scene and confirms a covenant. Then he goes back on that halfway through the 7-year Tribulation. Revelation 13 and 17 tell us more about his rise to power.

As of writing, none of these events have taken place, but we can certainly see our world being set up for such a time. We are not only closer to going home because of time that has passed, but the prophetic implications of so many world events display for us the season we are in. This Antichrist could very well be alive today, a man not yet known to the world.

Commentary

Paul had talked with this group of believers prior. He had told them about these things. So they should’ve understood the sequence of events that will take place.

Paul tells us, by way of the Holy Spirit, that there is a restrainer in place, right now, who is keeping the lawlessness at bay. This doesn’t mean that lawlessness won’t continue to increase, but it will not get to the point where Antichrist is revealed until God wants him to be revealed. Make no mistake, Antichrist will be a judgment from God.

Verse 7 informs us that the restrainer is a “He”. We can understand that this is most likely the Holy Spirit. Even more specifically, the Holy Spirit’s restraining work through all born-again followers of Jesus. We’re the salt and light in this world right now, but once the Lord snatches us away, then the Holy Spirit makes a sort of ninety-degree rotation, if you will, to allow the evil to pass by and the floodgates of lawlessness open. Among this flood of lawlessness, will come the final Antichrist. He will confirm a covenant with many, according to Daniel.

This will begin the 7-year Tribulation period. But know that the main focus of the Tribulation period is on Israel. It’s from Jerusalem and the coming rebuilt temple that Antichrist will rule. And it’s because of the “elect”, the remnant of Jews who God will save, that Jesus destroys Antichrist and the False Prophet at the time that He does.

Commentary

Scripture makes it very clear just how deceptive Satan is. The time of the Tribulation will be no different. Many, many millions, likely billions of people will be deceived by him because of their hatred for Jesus.

Notice how Paul clearly differentiates us from them. It’s not born-again believers in Christ now, who will suffer this wrath of God, but those who have rejected Him and are left on this Earth after the Rapture of the Church to face this judgment of God.

God is so patient. His mercy is so deep. He will wait and wait and wait on us to come to Him. Even these harsh judgments that God sends on the world during the Tribulation are meant to lead people to repentance. And there will be those, a vast multitude, who will come to faith during that time. It will be the largest awakening in history. They are the saints referred to in Revelation 7:9-17. In addition to them will be the 144,000 Jewish men from the 12 tribes of Israel (Rev. 7:4) and the one-third remnant of Jewish people who end up coming to Jesus during that time.

Should these events begin in our lifetimes, I believe that we have the assurance of God that those who trust in Jesus now will be removed from this earth before God’s wrath hits. In Luke 21, Jesus tells us to be alert and in prayer that we will have the strength or be counted worthy — as some English translations use — to escape the coming wrath. This worthiness to escape is our faith in Jesus; those who love the Lamb will indeed escape God’s wrath, in the Tribulation and for all eternity.

Commentary

Those who continue to reject Jesus during the Tribulation will be given over to a strong delusion and will believe the lie that Antichrist is god.

The deceived people will take the Mark of the Beast and will suffer greatly during the Tribulation and for all eternity. They made their choice. God will have given them every opportunity, yet they still will reject Him. At that time, the world will not be full of Christians. The Church will have been snatched away by Jesus. The Tribulation saints will have been martyred when Antichrist takes full power. Only the 144,000 from the 12 tribes of Israel and the Two Witnesses (for a time) will be doing evangelism for Jesus. God will protect the remnant one-third of Jews who will be saved. But it sounds as if the vast majority of people remaining are condemned, like those who died in the Flood.

I like to compare it to Enoch being taken by the Lord and Noah and his family being safely protected through the flood. Enoch being a type of the Church and Noah being a type of the Jewish remanent. Those two groups are saved, the rest of humanity condemned, by their own choice.

There are two takeaways that I want to focus on. The first one being, if you are born-again now, and this happens in your lifetime — which seems more and more likely each passing day — then I fully believe the Bible teaches that you are going to be removed from suffering this time of great wrath from God. As Jesus promised in John 14, He is currently preparing a place for us, to take us there with Him one day, a wedding chamber for His bride.

The second takeaway is, God is incomprehensibly loving and merciful. This time of wrath will be directed in a way that many will come to faith during, including that promised remnant of God’s ancestrally chosen people, the Jews.

This event serves as yet another example of God’s promise-keeping. There’s no “maybe” with Jesus’ promises, only a hope of the things to come.

Saints, we’re almost home, and this should bring us great joy and motivate us to be sharing the Gospel with everyone that we can, Jews and Gentiles alike.