THE FALLING AWAY

(A Study of 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 2)

by William H. Bell, Jr.

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering
together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or
by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away
comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition.

The Thessalonians were expressing anxiety about the parousia or coming of Christ. They
were gathering together unto him. However, an error concerning the time of the Lords
coming had gained influence among them. Some taught and persuaded others to believe
that Christ had already come. This fact caused them no small anxiety. Their spirits were
troubled. The minds were vexed. Their condition, being furiously persecuted by their
enemies had not changed and was constantly intensifying.

To hear that Christ had come and had not changed anything related to their current
circumstances was indeed troubling. Particularly, because Paul earlier taught them that
when Christ came, sudden destruction would come upon the enemy and they would not
escape. Yet, the enemy is clearly unpunished and Christ had supposedly arrived.

Paul seeks to correct this misinformation and fallacy of the time of the Lords coming. He
calls the attention of the Thessalonians to something that Jesus stated. And because
lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. Matt. 24:12. This is a
prediction of the great apostasy that would occur prior to the parousia of Christ in A.D.
70. Jesus stated that all these things would happen or come to pass before that generation
passed away. He linked these events to the destruction of Jerusalem and overthrow of the
Jewish temple, Luke 21:20-22.

Thus, Paul comforts the minds of the brethren by assuring them that the Lord had not
quite yet returned for the great falling away or the apostasy had not yet occurred. This
was a sign of his return. When these words were record, about 50 or 51 A.D., the
destruction of Jerusalem would not occur for another 20 years. That this letter resolved
their concern should be considered obvious because no future letters were written to the
Thessalonians expressive of this concern.

By way of contrast, the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews sees a totally different
perspective of the gathering together unto Christ. In fact, from his viewpoint, not only
has it not occurred, it is not in the far distant future! Not forsaking the assembling of
ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the
more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:25.
What we have here is a warning against forsaking the gathering. This is the same word
as that used in the Thessalonican epistle. It is not a reference to attending Sunday worship
services. Rather it is the eschatological gathering of the saints together at the parousia of
Christ. Jesus stated that during the destruction of Jerusalem , that he would send forth his
angels and they would gather together his elect from the four winds under heaven, Matt.
24:31.

Notice the fact that some were in the process of falling away. This element, absent
from the Thessalonican epistle, is here mentioned as a present reality. As is the
manner of some, is a present tense occurring event. They were in the process of falling
away or "abandoning" (present tense) the gathering. The exhortation was urgent in view
of the soon approaching Day. They could not see the Day approaching. This is the day
of the Lord, the parousia of Christ.

The timing of this epistle is about 64 A.D., just 6 years prior to the impending
destruction. Hence, they could see what the Thessalonians could not see. They could see
the falling away. They could see the Day approaching or drawing near, much nearer than
in 2 Thessalonians 2, but yet future. In contrast, the Thessalonians could see neither the
nearness of the day or the falling away.

The third viewpoint from which Scripture views the apostasy is in the past. John records
the event as having occurred at some time in the past.

"Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming,
even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They
went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have
continue with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them
were of us." 1 John 2:18

John's statement, "many antichrists have come," serves as confirmation to know what the
Thessalonians did not know, namely that the parousia had drawn imminently upon them.
Not only could they know that it was near, they were certain that the time was the last
hour, much abbreviated than mentioned in any previous text.

The verbs are very significant. They "went" out, they "were" not of us...but they went
out..." The purpose of their going out was to be made manifest or made known they they
were not of the saints.

John penned the epistle approximately 68 A.D..