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Paul is now writing about “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” which is the second coming of Christ we as the church are waiting for as state in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 “the Lord himself shall descend from heaven” (Acts 1:11, Matthew 24:30, Revelation 1:7). Secondly, he says “our gathering together to Him.” which is the rapture of the church as stated in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 “we which are alive and remain shall be caught up”.

Much of the modern Western church tends to separate these two event. First, a rapture event that happens before and separate from the second coming of Christ. From this opening sentence, however, we can’t be certain. Paul may be referring to two distinct events as the pre-tribulation rapture teaches, or he could be describing a single event in which two things take place.

1. It is interesting to note Paul’s order here. He puts the second coming first “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”, followed by the rapture “our gathering together”. Yet today we mainly hear this order flipped when being taught, the rapture first, followed by the second coming 7 years later.

Paul now urges them not to be quickly shaken, troubled or believe anything they hear or read about the return of Christ, even if someone claims Paul wrote it. Christ’s return is not imminent, or “at hand,” as some may teach. Even today, we hear the same teaching, some say Jesus can come at any time to gather us. Paul clarifies that this is not true; His return will occur only after specific events, as we see in verse 3 below.

1. The Greek word for “at hand” here is Strong's G1764 – enistēmi, in the perfect tense, and it means “to be at hand” or “imminent.” This is the literal translation. Interestingly, modern translations take an interpretive approach and render it as “had come,” which changes the meaning in English and diminishes Paul’s warning against believing the return is imminent The KJV emphasizes the nearness and imminence "at hand" conveying that the day has not fully come, consistent with the perfect tense's sense of continuing present significance without affirming complete arrival.

If the church is raptured prior to the second coming, it raises the question of why Paul would reassure the Thessalonian believers that they had not missed the Day of Christ.

Notice an important clarification from verse 1. Paul mentioned two things in that verse, but it wasn’t clear whether they were separate events or part of the same event. Here in verse 2, he seems to refer to them together as “the day of Christ.” This suggests that the two events in verse 1 may happen simultaneously that the second coming of Christ and the gathering together (rapture) could occur at the same time.

1. The “Day of the Lord” is referenced throughout the Bible as one singular event: Old Testament (e.g. Isaiah 2:12; 13:6, 9; Ezekiel 13:5, 30:3; Joel 1:15, 2:1,11,31; 3:14; Amos 5:18,20; Obadiah 15; Zephaniah 1:7,14; Zechariah 14:1; Malachi 4:5) and several times in the New Testament (e.g. Acts 2:20; 1 Corinthians 5:5; 2 Corinthians 1:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:2; 2 Peter 3:10). It is also alluded to in other passages (Revelation 6:17; 16:14).

Paul warns them of men who already are and will try to “deceive” them that the Lord had returned. We must be careful not to be deceived. We don’t need to be a scholar to understand the Lord’s coming and the rapture, we only need the Holy Spirit as 1 John 2:27 tells us.

Again we read here “that day” which in context, is the second coming of Jesus and the rapture (see also 1 Thessalonians 5). Paul lists two things which must happen first before this day occurs. There is a conjunction “and” here which is vital to not overlook as it ties the two events together that must happen before the Lord returns and we are raptured.

1. “except there come a falling away first”

   1. The church is salt and light (Matthew 5:12,14). Salt preserves things. Christianity preserves the culture and the world. But if the salt loses its flavor then darkness can rise up. It makes sense that a falling of way of the church would come before or around the time that the man of sin is revealed.

2. “man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition

   1. As Paul told us in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 the world will say “peace and safety” which is when this man will be revealed and then the Day of the Lord will come.

We can’t have a rapture or the return of Christ until both of these events come to pass therefore, until this happens neither are at hand or imminent. As Paul says, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise no matter how studied and smart they sound.

Paul tells us here the final sign to look for before Jesus returns and raptures the Church. The man of sin must sit “in the temple of God” and declare himself to be God. Until the Jews rebuild the third temple and this man defiles it, we cannot say that the return of Christ and the rapture are imminent.

Daniel 11:36 seems to saying the same thing and speaking of this man of sin that will rule the world “And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.”

1. Antiochus IV Epiphanes seems to also fit what Daniel says here as he was a Greek king of the Seleucid Empire who reigned from 175 BC to 164. He did the following so in the historical layer, the verse very naturally fits Antiochus IV:

   1. Declared himself “manifest god” (Epiphanes = “God Manifest”).

   2. Forbade Jewish worship and desecrated the Temple.

   3. Exalted himself above all deities.

   4. Spoke blasphemously against the God of Israel.

2. In conclusion, Antiochus may serve a type or foreshadowing of a later, final figure which Paul speaks of here who will act in the same spirit, the “man of sin” or “Antichrist.”

While we cannot be certain of the identity of the restrainer, Paul makes clear that God has established something that is presently holding back the revelation of the son of perdition. The term translated “withholdeth” is Strong’s G2722 (katechō). In verse 6, it appears in the neuter form, giving the sense of an impersonal restraint, such as an institution, law, or governing authority (some have even suggested the church). However, in verse 7 the same verb appears in the masculine form, indicating a personal agent who is actively restraining. This grammatical shift suggests both an impersonal means and a personal actor working together under God’s sovereignty.

1. It is unlikely that the one “withholding” is the church. In Scripture, when the bride of Christ or the church is referenced, it is consistently expressed in the feminine gender in Greek. Identifying the restrainer as the church lacks textual support and relies on eisegesis rather than careful exegesis of the passage.

It seems less likely that the restrainer is the church, since Scripture speaks of a coming falling away (2 Thess 2:3), and Jesus warns that salt can lose its savor (Matt. 5:13). A widespread apostasy would imply diminished salt, insufficient to preserve or restrain evil. Therefore, another restraining force appears to be in view.

A reasonable explanation for the entity here could be the law and governments in place around the world.

1. In Romans 13:1 Paul’s says God has setup the world governments and law:

   “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”

2. Furthermore in Romans 13:4 we read:

   “For he is the minister of God to thee for good”.

3. God uses kings or rulers as He sees fit:

   “...he removeth kings, and setteth up kings” Daniel 2:21

The presence of governments during the Antichrist’s reign shows that God does not universally employ civil authorities as the restrainer of evil. History itself demonstrates that governments frequently promote evil rather than restrain it. Instead, God selectively raises up and uses rulers and nations according to His will.

The phrase “he who now letteth” is made up of two Greek words, the first “arti” Strong’s G737 and just means time, ie the “now” in English. The second Greek word is Strong's G2722 - katechō and it is in the masculine form. Which is where we get the “he” in the English. The important thing to note is this is the exact same Greek word used in verse 6 above but instead of being the neutral form it is now masculine.

1. The fact that he deliberately uses both suggests he wanted to capture two aspects of the same restraining reality:

   “What” restrains (an impersonal principle, force, or institution).

   “Who” restrains (a personal agent behind that force).

Again like in verse 6 above, we don’t know who the “he” who is here which is holding back the son of perdition. It doesn’t seem possible to be the church since the church is referred to as feminine in scripture ie. bride, virgin, she, her (see Ephesians 5:25-27, 2 Corinthians 11:2). We don’t really need to know outside the fact that it seems to be something God put into place. It could be Himself or maybe the Holy Spirit, until His set time comes to be moved out of the way. The he set in place here is the only thing stopping “the mystery of iniquity” which is already at work from taking over throughout history. This could make sense to be when the fullness of the Gentiles happens as Romans 11:25 says.

The phrase “he be taken out of the way” in no way means to be removed, ie. disappear, vanish, completely gone. It simply means to shift position, to no longer be in the midst of things. The Greek leans more toward “out of the way” as the KJV renders it here. Think of it as: A police officer stepping out of the street → traffic that was held back now rushes through. He didn’t “disappear” or stop existing in the area, he just moved out of the middle where the restraining effect was applied. The Greek does not suggest the restrainer ceases to exist or disappears. It suggests he/it is shifted aside, no longer in the middle actively restraining, allowing the “mystery of lawlessness” to run its course. So here is a second reason this would not make sense to think this is the church being raptured here but rather a divine force no longer holding back evil.

1. To clarify, in the Greek the second “he” here in “he be taken out of the way” is referring back to “he who now letteth”. These are all the same person and cannot be separated from each other.

2. If Paul wanted to mean “the church,” he would not have used a masculine singular participle he would have used feminine (or plural). Grammatically, it does not make sense to identify the restrainer as the church. The gender mismatch is decisive. The church is corporate (plural, collective), not singular masculine.

3. As noted in verse 6 above, when the bride of Christ or the church is referenced, it is always in the feminine gender in the Greek. Yet again here in verse 7 Paul did not use the feminine gender for “he”.

4. The most important scripture to note is 2 Thessalonians 2:3 which states the church will not be gone until two things happen, an apostasy and the son of perdition is revealed. If the church was raptured here before or at the time of the restrainer moving out of the way this would contradict verse 3. Therefore we can conclude whatever is being moved out of the way here is not the church.

In summary of the restraining forces in verses 6-7, we could conclude that the restrainer is the Holy Spirit (or God) working through some entity (perhaps laws or world powers ordained of Him) to hold back the son of perdition until God deems it fit to step aside and allow him to rise to power.

The “Wicked” is revealed and is destroyed by the Lord but we don’t know of the timetable here. There could be any number of years between the revelation and destruction of this “Wicked”. There must be some sort of time as he does signs and lying wonders as verse 9 says below.

Why do the “perish”? Is it becomes God didn’t choose or call them? No, it is “because they received not” the truth.

The blame is placed on the individual “they received not”. Just like John 1:12 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”

Why did God send them this “strong delusion”? The previous verse tells us it was because they did not receive the truth, they rejected Jesus. In the same way, Pharaoh was given multiple chances to repent, but after he continually refused, God hardened his heart and used him to deliver the Israelites. God desires that every person be saved and is not willing that any should perish, as stated in 2 Peter 3:9. Yet, just as in the days of Noah, there comes a time when the door is shut, whether that occurs before a person’s death or at the moment of death itself.

Romans 1:18 parallels “who believed not the truth,” here when describing the wicked and similarly and says “people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness”.

Romans 1:21 tells us, they became evil, these people who, just like the ones here “who believed not the truth,” also chose to reject the truth. The blame is placed on the individual for not believing. Man was not created this way as Ecclesiastes 7:29 tells us “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.”

When reading this, we must first establish God’s will, that He desires all people to be saved, as the Bible makes clear in passages such as 1 Timothy 4:10, 1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9, Romans 3:22–23, John 12:32, and John 12:46. Therefore, when we read the phrase “chosen you to salvation” here, it cannot mean to the exclusion of other individuals or else you would have a contradiction.

The audience is key to consider here: the Thessalonians were primarily a Gentile group of converts. In 1 Thessalonians 1:9, we read how they turned from idols, something not descriptive of the Jews. We know Paul was chosen by God to reach the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; Acts 13:46–47; Romans 11:13). Even Peter initially did not believe the Gentiles could be accepted by God and was corrected through a vision in Acts 10:34–35. The Gentiles’ coming to faith had been hidden for thousands of years, but to the surprise of the Jews, “God hath from the beginning” planned that the Gentiles would also receive salvation. Just like the Jews, the Gentiles were also “chosen” to receive salvation.

1. Ephesians 3 speaks of this, and we see the same word beginning paralleled in Ephesians 3:9: ”And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

2. Again in Romans 16:25 Pauls says the same thing to the Roman Gentiles: “Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,”

Paul often reminded such audiences that they were not second-class citizens in God’s plan, but fully included by divine intention. That’s the heart of his “mystery” language in Ephesians and Romans. Paul is encouraging the Thessalonians that they too are loved by the Lord and “chosen,” just as the Jews were from the very beginning. In conclusion, the “you” in “chosen you to salvation” does not refer to individuals but rather to a corporate group: the Gentiles, whom God, from the beginning, chose and predetermined to also be included in salvation.

1. A secondary view similar to Ephesians 1 where we are chosen in Him for something, a destination of being holy, etc. God’s “choosing” is not of who will be saved, but of how people are saved, ie the method which is belief. So here the alternate view would be God has chosen from the beginning that salvation is to those who have “belief of the truth” (ie. receive the gospel) whom will have the “Spirit”, which leads to “sanctification”.

Another Biblical truth whether viewing choosing corporate or individually can be learned in Matthew 22:1-14 Jesus gives a parable about calling people for a wedding feast an analogy for the gospel call. At the end of this parable the summary is the Jews rejected this call and so God will call other people, the Gentile’s. The key takeaway is the call can be refused. The original group of people that were called in Matthew 22:3 (the Jews) could have been the Greek word “eklektos” (chosen) if they had responded appropriately to the call (Romans 10:3). The distinction is that while many are called (ie. all are invited), only a few are chosen because they choose to accept and respond to God's call correctly by believing in Jesus. In essence, "chosen" (eklektos) is not automatic just because one hears the call it requires an active response to God's invitation, and those who respond are considered the chosen.

Lastly, keeping this verse in context, Paul just told us in the prior verse that “they all” are damned whom do not believe the truth. Paul blames the individual and their rejection of the truth in verses 10-12 above. The reason being they had pleasure in sin, just as Paul says in Romans 1 and Jesus in John 3:19. The reason is not because they weren’t chosen or elect of God but because they love their sin. In fact, the Jews were called of God but instead we see this didn’t result in their salvation: “And they all with one consent began to make excuse.” Luke 14:18. This was not God’s will and we see Jesus lamenting over Jerusalem in Luke 13:34-35 and Matthew 23:37.

Corporately speaking, the call of the gospel was unto both Jews and Gentiles:

1. Acts 13:46 ““Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.”

2. Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

3. Romans 11:11 “I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

4. Ephesians 3:5-6 “Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:”

Individually speaking, the call of the gospel is unto every single human that ever existed, Jew and Gentile alike. The following verses and the parable of Matthew 22:1-14 show this to be true. A person just has to believe which is exactly what verse 12 above says the damned individuals didn’t do.

1. Titus 2:11 “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,”

2. “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.”

3. 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

4. Romans 3:22-23 “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

   1. The “all” here means for both sin and for the opportunity to receive righteousness