|
Home
You are in Online Reading - Burning Questions Burning Questions (index)
Burning Questions
answered by Rev. Colin Le Noury
Does
2 Thessalonians 2v3 nullify the
idea of Christ's imminent return?
This
particular chapter of Paul's second epistle to the
Thessalonians has been the subject of much controversy
among those who delve into prophetic truths. More
than most it is a that requires skilful rightly
dividing of the word of truth, for failure to do
so can lead to much confusion and error.
The
difficulties of the passage are compounded further
by the fact that various translations differ in
the rendering of verse two. As Mrs E.Potter, our
questioner, rightly points out, the A.V. and NKJV
translate it 'Day of Christ' whereas most other
versions translate 'Day of the Lord'. This is because
the A.V. is based on the Textus Receptus (Received
Text) of Erasmus and Beza whereas most other translations
use the Nestle Greek translation.
I
don't propose to go into the arguments of textual
criticism or of Bible versions, although I would
recommend Gail Riplinger's excellent book "Which
Bible is God's Word?', published by Hearthstone
Books, to any interested reader. The difference
in the translations does, however, result in a fundamental
difference of understanding and complicates to some
extent our understanding of what Paul is saying.
Although I do not believe it nullifies the principle
of imminency.
To
clearly interpret the passage it is vitally important
to understand three things:
a)
That the 'Day of Christ' and 'Day of the Lord' are
not the same.
b)
That the word 'Day' is not restricted to the events
of a 24 hour period.
c)
That the 'Day of Christ' and the 'Rapture of the
Church', although intrinsically linked, are not
entirely the same.
On
point a) above, let me explain that the 'Day of
Christ' is exclusively a New Testament phrase linked
directly to the church age. It is used to describe
the relevance of Christ's return to christian believers.
The
phrase 'Day of the Lord' spans both Old & New
Testaments but is strongly rooted in the Old. It
relates Christ's return to God's plan for the nations
of the world, and to the Jewish people in particular.
Moreover,
the two phrases enshrine totally different characteristics.
As the following scriptures show, the 'Day of Christ'
is always expressed as a time of hope and eager
anticipation for believers.
'Being
confident of this very thing, that He that hath
begun a good work in you will perform it until the
day of Jesus Christ' (Phil. 1:6)
'Holding
forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the
Day of Christ'....(Phil. 2:16)
'...waiting
for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall
also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless
in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ' (Cor 1v7,8)
By
contrast, 'the Day of the Lord' is heralded as one
of dread and fear of the impending judgement of
God. Consider the following scriptures:
'Alas
for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand,
and as destruction from the Almighty shall it come'(Joel
I v 15)
Woe
unto you that desire the day of the Lord! To what
end is it for you? The day of the Lord is darkness
and not light ..even very dark and no brightness
in it' (Amos 5 v 18,20)
'For
you yourselves know prefectly that the day of the
Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when
they say "peace and safety" then sudden
destruction cometh upon them' (1 Thes. 5 v2-3)
With
regard to point b. above, we must remember that
'A day is as a 1000 years with the Lord, and
a 1000 years as one day'. The use of the word
'Day' in scripture often refers to much longer periods
of time than the 24 hours with which we associate
it.
For
example, Paul in 2 Cor 6 v2 says, 'Behold now
is the accepted time, today is the day of
salvation'. That day was in the first century,
nearly 2000 years later the day of salvation is
still with us. We speak about living in a day of
grace - that day spans the whole period of the church
age.
In
the same way, both the 'Day of Christ' and the 'Day
of the Lord' will cover extended periods of time.
On
point c. above, it must be recognised that the 'Day
of Christ' incorporates a series of major events
which include the Bema seat judgement, the marriage
of the Lamb and His return to Olivet, all of which
will be initiated by the Rapture of the Church.
In
short, the 'Day of Christ' will span the whole period
from the Rapture of the Church to the Revelation
of Christ. Its events will be centralised in the
heavenly sphere whilst on earth the day of antichrist
- the tribulation period - will obtain.
With
these points clearly understood it becomes much
easier to unravel what Paul is saying in 2 Thessalonians
2. It is, of course, never right to take one verse
in isolation. Every verse must be looked at in its
context and this particularly applies to 2 Thes.
2 v 3. Indeed v.7 is undoubtedly the key to our
understanding of verse 3, for there Paul says that
before the Antichrist or Man of sin can be revealed
the restrainer has to be taken away. In a previous
question I have gone to lengths to show why I believe
that restrainer to be the
Holy Spirit working through the church.
Hence
what Paul is saying in 2 Thes 2 is that if the events
surrounding the 'Day of Christ' are to be unfolded
in the heavenlies, then the events surrounding the
day of antichrist must take place simultaneously
on earth. But before either of these things can
happen the Rapture of the Church must happen.
One
further important note is that the word translated
'falling away' in v.3 is APOSTASIA coming from the
the Greek verb APHISTEMI literally meaning 'to depart'.
This has generally been assumed to mean a departure
from the faith although this may not have been Paul's
thinking. Taken along with verse 7. it could be
a reference to the departure of the church. Thus
far I have tried to answer the question from the
premise that the translation 'Day of Christ' is
correct. But even if one accepts the translation
'Day of the Lord' as being authentic the argument
for imminency remains the same.
The
imminent Rapture of the Church referred to in v7
is the trigger which will set off a train of prophetic
events which will include both the 'Day of Christ'
with all its hopes and the 'Day of the Lord' with
its many judgements.
YT
4/97
Home
You are in Online Reading - Burning Questions Burning Questions (index)
|
