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APOSTASY
The
issue here is not pretrib vs prewrath. It is the meaning of the word and the
understanding of these people.
THE EXPOSITOR'S GREEK NEW TESTAMENT
James Moffatt, "the apostasy and the appearance (so of Beliar, Asc. Isa.,
iv. 18) of the personal anti-Christ or pseudo-Christ form a single
phenomenon. From the use of ἡ ἀποστασία as a Greek equivalent for Belial (LXX
of 1 Kings 21:13, A, and Aquila), this eschatological application of the
term would naturally flow, especially as אישׁ בליעל might well be
represented by ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἀνομίας on the analogy of 2 Samuel 22:5 (LXX)
= Psalms 17 (18):4. Lawlessness was a cardinal trait in the Jewish figure of
Belial, as was persecution of the righteous (2 Thessalonians 1:4, 2
Thessalonians 2:7, see Asc. Isa., ii. 5, etc.)."
A.T. ROBERTSON
"The second coming not only is not 'imminent,' but will not take place
before certain important things take place. Apostasia is the late form of
apostatis and is our word apostasy. plutarch uses it of political revolt and
it occurs in 1 Macc. 2:15 about Antiochus Ephiphanes who was forcing the
apostasy form Judaism to Hellenism. In Josh. 22:22 it occurs for rebellion
against the Lord. It seems clear that the word here means a religious revolt
and the use of the definite article seems to mean that Paul had spoken to
the Thessalonians about it. The only other New Testament use of the word is
in Acts 21:21 where it means apostasy from Moses. It is not clear whether
Paul mans revolt fo the Jews from God, of Gentiles from God, of Christians
from God, or of the apostasy that includes all classes within and without
the body of Christians. But it is to be 'first' before Christ comes again."
NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY
William Hendriksen, "The fact that the day of the Lord would be preceded by
THE apostasy (falling away, rebellion) - an apostasy about which the readers
had received previous instruction - had been clearly predicted by the Lord
while he was still on earth (Mat. 24:10-13).
JOHN CALVIN from commentary on 2 Thessalonians.
"As, however, interpreters have twisted this passage in various ways, we
must first of all endeavor to ascertain Paul's true meaning. He says that
the day of Christ will not come, until the world has fallen into apostasy,
and the reign of Antichrist has obtained a footing in the Church;"
---
"I am also surprised, that so many writers, in other respects learned and
acute, have fallen into a blunder in a matter that is so easy, were it not
that when one has committed a mistake, others follow in troops without
consideration. Paul, therefore, employs the term apostasy to mean -- a
treacherous departure from God, and that not on the part of one or a few
individuals, but such as would spread itself far and wide among a large
multitude of persons."
JOHN FEINBERG
"Let me summarize my findings: 1) aphistemi and its cognates are found
widely in Greek literature; 2) the verb aphistemi has many and clear uses
where a physical departure can only be meant; 3) the noun apostasion has a
clear and fixed meaning that relates it to the marriage covenant, and it is
the common way of expressing the giving of a certificate of divorce; 4) the
other noun, apostasia, has a variety of meanings, but none of them relate to
a physical departure. It seems that any fair assessment of the data leads to
the conclusion that Paul does not refer to the rapture in 2 Thessalonians
2:3."
MATTHEW HENRY
"In these words the apostle confutes the error against which he had
cautioned them, and gives the reasons why they should not expect the coming
of Christ as just at hand. There were several events previous to the second
coming of Christ; in particular, he tells them there would be,
I. A general apostasy, there would come a falling away first, v. 3. By this
apostasy we are not to understand a defection in the state, or from civil
government, but in spiritual or religious matters, from sound doctrine,
instituted worship and church government, and a holy life."
JAMIESON-FAUSSET-BROWN BIBLE COMMENTARY
" a falling away--rather as the Greek, "the falling away," or "apostasy,"
namely, the one of which "I told you" before ( 2Th 2:5 ), "when I was yet
with you," and of which the Lord gave some intimation ( Mat 24:10-12 Jhn
5:43 )."
J. VERNON McGEE
"v. 3 — Paul puts down two signs of the day of the Lord:
(1) “A falling away” which is apostasy (Hebrews 3:12);
(2) The revelation of the “man of sin” (the lawless one, v. 8)."
JOHN MCARTHUR
Audio: The Coming Man of Sin, Part 3 2 Thessalonians 2:3–5 March 8, 1992.
"I told you the day would not overtake you like a thief. Something has to
come first he says. It can't be the day of the Lord for it will not come
until the apostasy comes first.
The reason you can't be in the day of the Lord is because the apostasy
hasn't come. . . The apostasy . . . short definition, revolt, rebellion.
Long definition, a deliberate abandonment of a formerly professed religious
position. This is defection, religious defection."
ELICOTT'S COMMENTARY FOR ENGLISH READERS
"A falling away.—A great change in the purpose of the sentence will be felt
directly “the” is substituted for “a.” Only one insignificant MS. omits the
definite article; the same article in our version is vigorously rendered
“that” before “man of sin.” In both cases the purpose is by no means to
utter a new, strange prophecy, or to add to the knowledge of the readers,
but to remind them of careful teaching given during the first few weeks
after their conversion. “That falling away” must undoubtedly imply that the
persons so apostatizing had formerly held (or, perhaps, still professed to
hold) the Christian faith: men cannot fall from ground which they never
occupied."
BENSON COMMENTARY
"the apostacy, come first — The article here is emphatical, denoting both
that this was to be a great apostacy, the apostasy, by way of eminence, (the
general, grand departure of the whole visible church into idolatrous
worship,) and that the Thessalonians had been already apprized of its
coming. Although the Greek word here used often signifies the rebellion of
subjects against the supreme power of the country where they live, or the
revolt of soldiers against their general, or the hostile separation of one
part of a nation from another; yet in Scripture it commonly signifies a
departure, either in whole or in part, from a religious faith or obedience
formerly professed, Acts 21:21; Hebrews 3:12. Here it denotes the defection
of the disciples of Christ from the true faith and worship of God, enjoined
in the gospel."
BARNE'S NOTES
"The word rendered "falling away" (ἀποστασία apostasia, apostasy), is of
so general a character, that it may be applied to any departure from the
faith as it was received in the time of the apostles. It occurs in the New
Testament only here and in Acts 21:21, where it is rendered "to forsake" -
"thou teachest all the Jews which are among us to forsake Moses" - apostasy
from Moses - ἀποστασίαν ἀπὸ Μωῦσέως apostasian apo Mōuseōs. The word
means a departing from, or a defection; see the verb used in 1 Timothy 4:1,
"Some shall depart from the faith" - ἀποστήσονται apostēsontai; compare
the notes on that passage; see also Hebrews 3:12; Luke 8:13; Acts 5:37. The
reference here is evidently to some general falling away, or to some great
religious apostasy that was to occur, and which would be under one head,
leader, or dynasty, and which would involve many in the same departure from
the faith, and in the same destruction."
THE BIBLE STUDY NEW TESTAMENT
"For the Day will not come until. Paul had already told them about this (see
2 Thessalonians 2:5). But no one has any way of knowing just what Paul said
to them. The final Rebellion takes place. Protestant churchmen have
traditionally identified this Rebellion as an apostasy to be identified with
the Roman Church. But in 2 Thessalonians 2:8 the appearance of the Wicked
One and the Coming of the Lord Jesus seem very close in time."
ADAM CLARKE COMMENTARY
Except there come a falling away first - We have the original word αποστασια
in our word apostasy; and by this term we understand a dereliction of the
essential principles of religious truth - either a total abandonment of
Christianity itself, or such a corruption of its doctrines as renders the
whole system completely inefficient to salvation. But what this apostasy
means is a question which has not yet, and perhaps never will be, answered
to general satisfaction. At present I shall content myself with making a few
literal remarks on this obscure prophecy, and afterwards give the opinions
of learned men on its principal parts.
ABBOTT'S ILLUSTRATED NEW TESTAMENT
"A falling away; an apostasy.--Be revealed; openly appear."
ARIEL MINISTRIES: ARNOLD FRUCHTENBAUM
"APOSTASY (ἀπόστασις, apostasis, ἀποστασία, apostasia). A public denial of a
previously held religious belief and a distancing from the community that
holds to it. The term is almost always applied pejoratively, carrying
connotations of rebellion, betrayal, treachery, or faithlessness.
Koiter, I. W. K. (2016). Apostasy. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R.
Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham
Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press."
COFFMAN'S COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLE
"let no man beguile you in any wise: for it will not be, except the falling
away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."
--
In 2
Thessalonians 2:3-10, Paul prophesied the great apostasy from the
Christian religion and the ultimate revelation of "the man of sin" who would
be destroyed by the Second Advent of Christ. However, this prophecy of a
vast and extensive defection from true Christianity does not stand alone in
the New Testament, wherein definite mention of it is made in the following
passages:
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly
are ravening wolves. By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather
grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth
forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good
tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth
good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and
cast into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every
one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;
but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to
me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name
cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works? And then will I
profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Matthew
7:15-23).
I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you not
sparing the flock; and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking
perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Wherefore watch ye,
remembering that by the space of three years I ceased not to admonish every
one night and day with tears (Acts
20:29-31).
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his
craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the
purity that is toward Christ (2
Corinthians 11:3).
But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away
from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons,
through the hypocrisy of men, that speak lies, branded in their own
conscience as with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to
abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by
them that believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and
nothing is to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is
sanctified through the word of God and prayer (1
Timothy 4:1-5).
But know this that in the last days grievous times shall come. For men shall
be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, implacable,
slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good, traitors,
headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding
a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof: from these also
turn away. For of these are they that creep into houses, and take captive
silly women laden with sins, led away by divers lusts, ever learning, and
never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. And even as Jannes and
Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also withstand the truth; men corrupted
in mind, reprobate concerning the faith (2
Timothy 3:1-8).
For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but
having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts;
and will turn away their ears from the truth and shall turn aside unto
fables. But be thou sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an
evangelist, fulfill thy ministry (2
Timothy 4:3-5).
But there arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also
there shall be false teachers, who shall privily bring in destructive
heresies, denying even the Master that bought them, bringing upon themselves
swift destruction. And many shall follow their lascivious doings; by reason
of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And in covetousness shall
they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose sentence now from of
old lingereth not, and their destruction slumbereth not (2
Peter 2:1-3).
This is now, beloved, the second epistle that I write unto you; and in both
of them I stir up your sincere mind by putting you in remembrance; that ye
should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and
the commandment of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles: knowing this
first, that in the last days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after
their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for, from
the day the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the
beginning of creation. For this they willfully forget, that there were
heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water,
by the word of God; by which means the world that then was, being overflowed
with water, perished: but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the
same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of
judgment and destruction of ungodly men (2
Peter 3:1-7).
--
CHARLES SPURGEON
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
"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;
except, 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 3:1-3; 4:3,4"
MATTHEW POOLE'S COMMENTARY
"for, except there come a falling away first, & c., or an apostacy, a
recession, a departing, or a standing off, as the world imports; so that
apostacy may be either good, when it is from evil to good, or evil, when it
is from good to evil: it is always used in this latter sense in Scripture. "
GILL'S EXPOSITION OF THE ENTIRE BIBLE
"except there come a falling away first; either in a political sense, of the
nations from the Roman empire, which was divided into the eastern and
western empire; for which, way was made by translating the seat of empire
from Rome to Byzantium, or Constantinople; the former of these empires was
seized by Mahomet, and still possessed by the Turks; and the latter was
overrun by the Goths, Huns, and Vandals, and torn to pieces; Italy
particularly was ravaged by them, and Rome itself was sacked and taken: or
rather in a religious sense, of the falling of men from the faith of the
Gospel, from the purity of Gospel doctrines, discipline, worship, and
ordinances; and this not of some Jews who professed faith in Christ, and
departed from it, or of some Christians who went off to the Gnostics; but is
to be understood of a more general defection in the times of the Papacy;
when not only the eastern churches were perverted and corrupted by Mahomet,
and drawn off to his religion, but the western churches were most sadly
depraved by the man of sin, by bringing in errors of all sorts in doctrine,
making innovations in every ordinance, and appointing new ones, and
introducing both Judaism and Paganism into the churches; which general
defection continued until the times of the reformation, and is what the
apostle has respect to in 1 Timothy 4:1 where he manifestly points out some
of the Popish tenets, as forbidding marriage to priests, and ordering
abstinence from meats on certain days, and at certain times of the year:
this was one thing that was to precede the coming of Christ, another
follows, which should take place at the same time."
GENEVA STUDY BIBLE
"(3) The apostle foretells that before the coming of the Lord, there will be
a throne set up completely contrary to Christ's glory, in which that wicked
man will sit, and transfer all things that appertain to God to himself: and
many will fall away from God to him."
MEYER'S NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY
"ἀποστασία] a later Greek form for the older ἀπόστασις. See Lobeck, ad Phryn.
p. 528. The expression is to be left in its absoluteness, not, with
Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, Augustin (de civitate dei, xx. 21), and
Bolten, to be taken as abstractum pro concreto, so that Antichrist himself
is to be understood. But not apostasy in the political sense, but entirely
religious apostasy—that is, a falling away from God and true religion—can
have been meant by ἀποστασία. (1) What is said of the ἄνθρωτος τῆς ἁμαρτίας
in direct internal connection with the apostasy, (2) the characteristic of
the ἀποστασία, 2 Thessalonians 2:3, by ἀνομία, 2 Thessalonians 2:7, and (3)
the constant biblical usage, constrain us to this view. Comp. LXX. 2
Chronicles 29:19; Jeremiah 2:19; 1Ma 2:15, etc.; Acts 21:21; 1 Timothy 4:1.
Accordingly, also, Kern’s view (comp. already Aretius and Vorstius) is to be
rejected as inadmissible, that we are to think of a mixture of political and
religious apostasy."
CAMBRIDGE BIBLE FOR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES
"“A falling away” is a mistranslation. The Apostle uses the definite
article; he refers to the apostasy of which he had spoken distinctly to his
readers (2 Thessalonians 2:5). This word in common Greek denotes a military
or political revolt, a defection; then in the LXX it is applied to revolting
from God—e.g. in Jeremiah 29:32 (“rebellion against the Lord”), 1Ma 2:15
(“revolt,” consisting in sacrificing to idols): so the corresponding verb in
Hebrews 3:12; comp. Acts 21:21 (“thou teachest apostasy from Moses”), 1
Timothy 4:1. Here this ominous expression appears for the first time within
the Christian Church, as signifying revolt from Christ, the faithless
defection of men “denying the Lord that bought them” (2 Peter 2:1)."
BENGEL'S GNOMEN
"II. Paul especially teaches, that some great evil will first come.—Paul
does not enumerate all the events which were to intervene between that age
and the day of Christ; but he points out a certain one thing, especially
remarkable, the explicit declaration of which was even already at that time
seasonable and salutary to the Thessalonians. He therefore describes the
apostasy, the Man of Sin, etc."
E.W. BULLINGER'S COMPANION BIBLE NOTES
"falling away = apostasy. Greek. apostasia. Only here and Acts 21:21.
GEORGE MILLIGAN - PAUL'S EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS
"Whatever then the exact nature of the apostasy in the present connexion, it
must at least be a religious apostasy, and one moreover, as the use of the
def. art. proves, regarding which the Apostles’ readers were already fully
informed. In this conclusion we are confirmed when we pass to the next
words."
GREEK TESTAMENT CRITICAL EXEGETICAL COMMENTARY
"3.] Let no man deceive you in any manner (not only in either of the
foregoing, but in any whatever): for (that day shall not come) (so E. V.
supplies, rightly. There does not seem to have been any intention on the
part of the Apostle to fill up the ellipsis: it supplies itself in the
reader’s mind. Knatchbull connects ὅτι with ἐξαπατήσῃ, and supplies
ἐνέστηκεν after it: but this is very harsh) unless there have come the
apostasy first (of which he had told them when present, see 2 Thessalonians
2:5; and probably with a further reference still to our Lord’s prophecy in
Matthew 24:10-12. There is no need, with Chrys., Thdrt., Thl., Aug., to
suppose ἀποστασία to mean Antichrist himself ( τί ἐστιν ἡ ὰποστασία; αὐτὸν
καλεῖ τὸν ἀντίχριστον ἀποστασίαν, Chr.), nor to regard him as its only
cause: rather is he the chief fruit and top stone of the apostasy)"
WILLIAM BURKITT COMMENTARY
"As if the apostle had said, "Let no man deceive you in this article of your
faith, by any pretence whatsoever; for before Christ's coming there shall
come a great falling away from the catholic faith, and by that means the man
of sin will be revealed, who is the son of perdition:"
JOHN TRAPP COMPLETE COMMENTARY
"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;
Ver. 3. Except there come a falling] Gr. αποστασια, an apostasy, viz. of
people from the truth, when the whole world went a wondering and a wandering
after the beast, Revelation 13:3."
JOSEPHUS
Vitas, 43, "the apostasy from Nero."
Contra Apionem, 1, 135f; Antiquities 13, 219: "because of the apostasia from
Rome."
JUSTIN EDWARDS' FAMILY BIBLE NEW TESTAMENT
"A falling away; a great apostasy from the faith and practice of the
gospel."
PULPIT COMMENTARY
"Except there come a falling away; or, the apostasy; namely, that apostasy
about which the apostle, when in Thessalonica, had instructed his readers.
The falling away here alluded to is evidently religious, not political.
Hence it cannot be the revolt of the Jews from the Romans, or any of those
revolts and disturbances which then occurred in the political world. Nor
must we conceive that the man of sin himself is here meant; for this
apostasy precedes his coming - prepares the way for his advent; it is not
the result, but the cause, of his appearance. The word, then, is to be taken
generally to denote that remarkable "falling away" from Christianity
concerning which Paul had instructed the Thessalonians (comp. 1 Timothy
4:1-3)."
MARK DUNAGAN COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLE
“The falling away”: Defection from truth (properly, the state) apostasy,
falling away, to forsake the faith."
PEOPLE'S NEW TESTAMENT
"3. Except there come a falling away first. An apostasy must precede the
Coming. That is, there shall be a general falling away from the purity of
the faith. No apostasy of magnitude occurred in the history of the church
for centuries, which could answer to Paul's description, but the gradual
declension, corruption, and departure from the ancient faith, which was
fully developed a few hundred years later, has always been spoken of by
Protestant church historians as The Apostasy. There is no good reason for
doubting that it is to (what) the apostle refers."
SCOFIELD'S REFERENCE NOTES
2 Thes 2:3
"for that day
The order of events is:
(1) The working of the mystery of lawlessness under divine restraint which
had already begun in the apostle's time 2 Thessalonians 2:7
(2) the apostasy of the professing church 2 Thessalonians 1:3; Luke 18:8; 2
Timothy 3:1-8."
THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
Hermann Cremer and Julius Kogel; Edited by Gerhard Kittel.
2 Thes. 2:3, "Here a Jewish tradition is adopted which speaks of complete
apostasy from God and His Torah shortly before before the appearance of the
Messiah."
VINCENT'S WORD STUDIES
"Falling away (ἀποστασία)
Only here and Acts 21:21. Comp. lxx, Joshua 22:22; 2 Chronicles 29:19."
GEORGE N. H. PETERS: THE THEOCRATIC KINGDOM
Prop. 174.obs.3.10
"There is another sign attached to the church, the worst of all, and the
most significant, viz., the fearful apostasy witnessed in her. The rason why
Paul so guardedly expresses himself, e.g. 2 Thes. 2, concerning the falling
away and the rise of the Antichrist is, that in every generation such
apostatizing and (as John says even existed in his day) Antichristian powers
should be witnessed, so that the believing might be influenced to occupy the
position of watchfulness."
GEORGE HAYDOCK'S CATHOLIC BIBLE COMMENTARY
"2) What is meant by this falling away, (in the Greek this apostacy) is
uncertain, and differently expounded. St. Jerome and others understand it of
a falling off of other kingdoms, which before were subject to the Roman
empire; as if St. Paul said to them: you need not fear that the day of
judgment is at hand, for it will not come till other kingdoms, by a general
revolt, shall have fallen off, so that the Roman empire be destroyed."
JOHN F. WALVOORD
The Thessalonian Epistles
"Two things are mentioned in verse 3 as necessarily occurring before the Day
of the Lord and the time of judgment can begin. The first thing that is
mentioned is “the falling away,” and the word translated literally is “the
apostasy,” which means a falling away or a departure in a doctrinal sense.
Our English word apostasy comes from the very Greek word used here."
SCAFF'S POPULAR COMMENTARY ON THE NEW TESTAMENT
"The apostasy, of which Paul had spoken while at Thessalonica, and which our
Lord predicted in Matthew 24:12 as a characteristic of the last days."
WHEDON'S COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLE
"That day shall not come—Critics agree that the italicized words, though not
in the Greek, are properly supplied by our translators. A (or rather, the
definite article the) falling away—The apostasy—the well-known apostasy. Not
a political rebellion or revolt. The whole passage indicates that it is a
religious apostasy from Christ, led by antichrist, the man of sin, leading
to the most blasphemous opposition to God."
CHAFER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
"Apostasy – Apostasy is a willful standing apart from the Christian faith (1
Timothy 4:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:3) and a falling away from relationship with
God (Hebrews 3:12). It is distinguished from heresy, which is a belief which
is held in variance with Biblical truth. Historically, heresy has indicated
a refusal to accept a prescribed article of faith. Both apostasy and heresy
should be distinguished from common error, which involves a non-Biblical
interpretation of a minor doctrine. A gospel built on works or legalism is
an example of apostasy (Galatians 1:6-8)."
ENDURING WORD COMMENTARY
David Guzik
"Unless the falling away comes first: The ancient Greek wording for falling
away indicates a rebellion or a departure. Bible scholars debate if it
refers to an apostasy among those who once followed God, or a general
worldwide rebellion. In fact, Paul may have both in mind, because there is
evidence of each in the end times (1 Timothy 4:1-3, 2 Timothy 3:1-5 and
4:3-4). Nevertheless, Paul’s point is clear: “You are worried that we are in
the Great Tribulation and that you missed the rapture. But you can know that
we are not in the Great Tribulation, because we have not yet seen the
falling away that comes first.”
i. The falling away: The article “the” makes it even more significant. This
is not a falling away, but the falling away, the great and final rebellion.
ii. Some have suggested that the idea behind falling away is really a
departure, in the sense of the rapture of the church. But a departure
implies that the one leaving does so of his own accord and initiative, and
this is not the case with the catching away of the church. In addition, the
ancient Greek word in the New Testament (Acts 21:21, forsake) or in the
Septuagint, always implies something sinful and negative.
iii. The idea of a great end-times apostasy also does not contradict the
idea of a great end-times revival. Some Christians doubt the idea of great
revival in the last days, or even welcome apostasy believing it signals the
end. But just as the Book of Revelation describes great rejection of Jesus
during the Great Tribulation (Revelation 9:20-21 and 17:2-6) and great
acceptance of Him (Revelation 7:9-14), the two can stand side-by-side."
JOHN WESLEY'S EXPLANATORY NOTES
2 Thes. 2:3
"Unless the falling away - From the pure faith of the gospel, come first.
This began even in the apostolic age. But the man of sin, the son of
perdition - Eminently so called, is not come yet."
LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
Harold Willmington; the chapters of 2 Thessalonians
(Remember, the rapture positions are not an issue. It is the meaning and
understanding of apostasy)
"SECTION OUTLINE TWO (2 THESSALONIANS 2)
Paul writes about the Great Tribulation and gives thanks to God for the
faithful believers at Thessalonica.
I. THE DAY OF THE LORD (2:1-12): This is a reference to the coming Great
Tribulation.
A. The day of the Lord and the church (2:1-3)
1. The confusion (2:1-2): The church at Thessalonica has been falsely taught
they are currently going through the Great Tribulation.
2. The clarification (2:3b, 3c): Paul reassures them this is not the case,
for two events must occur prior to that terrible time.
a. A worldwide religious apostasy (2:3b)
b. The appearance of a satanic superman (2:3c)"
HOLMAN BIBLE DICTIONARY
In 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Paul addressed those who had been deceived into
believing that the day of the Lord had already come. He taught that an
apostasy would precede the day of the Lord. The Spirit had explicitly
revealed this falling away from the faith ( 1 Timothy 4:1 ). Such apostasy
in the latter times will involve doctrinal deception, moral insensitivity,
and ethical departures from God's truth.
UNGER'S BIBLE DICTIONARY
"In the New Testament its more usual meaning is a religious defection."
BAKER'S BIBLE DICTIONARY APOSTASY. A word of increasing interest found twice
in the NT (Acts 21:21; II Thess. 2:3). It comes from the Greek apostasia, a
late m of apostasis, originally to desert a post or station in life. It is
used by Plutarch of political revolt and is found in the OT in the use of
revolt against the Lord (Josh. 22:22). Antiochus Epiphanes enforced an
apostasia on Judaism to Hellenism (I Macc. 2:15). In the AV it is translated
“falling away” in relation to the revelation of the man of sin, Antichrist.
In this sense the thought is of religious revolt. Cremer states that
apostasia is used in the absolute sense of “passing over to belief,” thus a
dissolution of the “union with God subsisting through faith in Christ.”
Arndt adds rebellion or abandonment in the religious sense.
In the NT, II Thess. 2:3 is a part of a prophetic passage of apocalyptic
character. The falling away” invites conjecture about whom and from what.
The event seems future and is related to Antichrist. The implication is at
the apostates will welcome the man of sin.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL LITERATURE
(ἀποστασία , revolt), a forsaking or renouncing religion, either by an open
declaration in words, or a virtual declaration by actions. The Greek term is
employed by Paul to designate the "falling away" (ἡ ἀποστασία ), which in
his time was held in check by some obstacle (τὸ κατέχον, ὁ κατέχων ), 2
Thessalonians 2:3. It means one of two things: (1) Political defection
(Genesis 14:4, Sept.; 2 Chronicles 13:6, Sept.; Acts 5:37); (2) Religious
defection (Acts 21:21; 1 Timothy 4:1; Hebrews 3:12).
EASTON'S BIBLE DICTIONARY
"Backslide — to draw back or apostatize in matters of religion (Acts 21:21;
2 Thess. 2:3; 1 Tim. 4:1). This may be either partial (Prov. 14:14) or
complete (Heb. 6:4–6; 10:38, 39). The apostasy may be both doctrinal and
moral."
HASTINGS' DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE
APOSTASY . A defection from the tenets of some religious community. In Acts
21:21 it describes the charge brought against St. Paul by the Jews, viz.,
that he taught that the Jews should abandon Mosaism. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3
it describes the defection of Christians which was to accompany the ‘man of
lawlessness’; i.e. the Antichrist. This expectation is an illustration of
what seems to have been a common belief that the return of the Christ to
establish His Kingdom would be preceded by exceptional activity on the part
of His superhuman opponent, and that this would result in an abandonment of
Christian faith on the part of many of those nominally Christian
ISBE
Apostasy; Apostate
(ἡ αποστασία, hē apostasía, “a standing away from”): I.e. a falling
away, a withdrawal, a defection. Not found in the English Versions of the
Bible, but used twice in the New Testament, in the Greek original, to
express abandonment of the faith. Paul was falsely accused of teaching the
Jews apostasy from Moses (Act_21:21); he predicted the great apostasy from
Christianity, foretold by Jesus (Mat_24:10-12) which would precede “the day
of the Lord” (2Th_2:2). Apostasy, not in name but in fact, meets scathing
rebuke in the Epistle of Jude, e.g. the apostasy of angels (Jud_1:6).
Foretold, with warnings, as sure to abound in the latter days (1Ti_4:1-3;
2Th_2:3; 2Pe_3:17). Causes of: persecution (Mat_24:9, Mat_24:10); false
teachers (Mat_24:11); temptation (Luk_8:13); worldliness (2Ti_4:4);
defective knowledge of Christ (1Jo_2:19); moral lapse (Heb_6:4-6); forsaking
worship and spiritual living (Heb_10:25-31); unbelief (Heb_3:12). Biblical
examples: Saul (1Sa_15:11); Amaziah (2Ch_25:14, 2Ch_25:27); many disciples
(Joh_6:66); Hymeneus and Alexander (1Ti_1:19, 1Ti_1:20); Demas (2Ti_4:10).
For further illustration see Deu_13:13; Zep_1:4-6; Gal_5:4; 2Pe_2:20,
2Pe_2:21.
“Forsaking Yahweh” was the characteristic and oft-recurring sin of the
chosen people, especially in their contact with idolatrous nations. It
constituted their supreme national peril. The tendency appeared in their
earliest history, as abundantly seen in the warnings and prohibitions of the
laws of Moses (Exo_20:3, Exo_20:4, Exo_20:23; Deu_6:14; Deu_11:16). The
fearful consequences of religious and moral apostasy appear in the curses
pronounced against this sin, on Mount Ebal, by the representatives of six of
the tribes of Israel, elected by Moses (Deu_27:13-26; 28:15-68). So wayward
was the heart of Israel, even in the years immediately following the
national emancipation, in the wilderness, that Joshua found it necessary to
re-pledge the entire nation to a new fidelity to Yahweh and to their
original covenant before they were permitted to enter the Promised Land
(Josh 24:1-28). Infidelity to this covenant blighted the nation's prospects
and growth during the time of the Judges (Jdg_2:11-15; Jdg_10:6, Jdg_10:10,
Jdg_10:13; 1Sa_12:10). It was the cause of prolific and ever-increasing
evil, civic and moral, from Solomon's day to the Assyrian and Babylonian
captivities. Many of the kings of the divided kingdom apostatized, leading
the people, as in the case of Rehoboam, into the grossest forms of idolatry
and immorality (1Ki_14:22-24; 2Ch_12:1). Conspicuous examples of such royal
apostasy are Jeroboam (1Ki_12:28-32); Ahab (1Ki_16:30-33); Ahaziah
(1Ki_22:51-53); Jehoram (2Ch_21:6, 2Ch_21:10, 2Ch_21:12-15); Ahaz
(2Ch_28:1-4); Manasseh (2Ch_33:1-9); Amen (2Ch_33:22). See IDOLATRY.
Prophecy originated as a Divine and imperative protest against this historic
tendency to defection from the religion of Yahweh.
In classical Greek, apostasy signified revolt from a military commander. In
the roman catholic church it denotes abandonment of religious orders;
renunciation of ecclesiastical authority; defection from the faith. The
persecutions of the early Christian centuries forced many to deny Christian
discipleship and to signify their apostasy by offering incense to a heathen
deity or blaspheming the name of Christ. The emperor Julian, who probably
never vitally embraced the Christian faith, is known in history as “the
Apostate,” having renounced Christianity for paganism soon after his
accession to the throne.
An apostate's defection from the faith may be intellectual, as in the case
of Ernst Haeckel, who, because of his materialistic philosophy, publicly and
formally renounced Christianity and the church; or it may be moral and
spiritual, as with Judas, who for filthy lucre's sake basely betrayed his
Lord.
JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
By: Kaufmann Kohler, Richard Gottheil
Terms derived from the Greek ἀποστασία ("defection, revolt") and ἀποστάτης
("rebel in a political sense") (I Macc. xi. 14, xiii. 16; Josephus, "Contra
Ap." i. 19, § 4), applied in a religious sense to signify rebellion and
rebels against God and the Law, desertion and deserters of the faith of
Israel. The words are used in the Septuagint for : Num. xiv. 9; Josh. xxii.
19, 22; for : II Chron. xxviii. 19, xxxiii. 19; for : Isa. xxx. 1; and for :
I Kings, xxi. 13; Aquilas to Judges xix. 22; I Sam. xxv. 17. Accordingly it
is stated in I Macc. ii. 15 that "the officers of the king compelled the
people to apostatize," that is, to revolt against the God of Israel; and
Jason, the faithless high priest, is "pursued by all and hated as a deserter
of the law" (τοῦ νόμου ἀποστάτης; II Macc. v. 8). As the incarnation of
rebellion against God and the Law, the serpent is called apostate (LXX., Job
xxvi. 13; and Symmachus, Job xxiv. 13; compare II Thess. ii. 3; Revelation
of John xiv. 6; Gen. R. xix., ).
MORRISH BIBLE DICTIONARY
Though the word 'apostasy' does not occur in the A.V., the Greek word occurs
from which the English word is derived. In Acts 21:21 Paul was told that he
was accused of teaching the Jews who were among the Gentiles to apostatize
from Moses. Paul taught freedom from the law by the death of the Christ and
this would appear to a strict Jew as apostasy. The same word is used in 2
Thessalonians 2:3 , where it is taught that the day of the Lord could not
come until there came 'the apostasy,' or the falling from Christianity in
connection with the manifestation of the man of sin.
NAVE'S TOPICAL BIBLE
"Shall abound in the latter days
Matthew 24:12 ; 2 Thessalonians 2:3 ; 1 Timothy 4:1-3"
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