You are mistaken, let's read it! Slooooowly.
2 Thes. 2:6-8
"And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
I have already shown you that the Church is raptured BEFORE the anti-christ is revealed!
What do I have to do for you to see that? Clearly the Church is taken out of the way before the anti-christ can be revealed.
. . .
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 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; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 (KJV)
Clearly, it is not the Church that is taken away,
@Charlie24 . . .
The topic at hand is "the son of perdition," also known as Satan, the Antichrist, or whatever other name you want to give him. He is Satan, and Satan will carry out Daniel 9:27's "abomination of desolation," and the church will be present to witness it, because the "gathering," or Christ's return, will
follow.
Iniquity is the "mystery of lawlessness." "He who now letteth will let," or "He who now holds firm (ketcho) will stand," in Greek. Instead of repeating the verb, "will let," use the ellipsis, which means "omission from an utterance of a phrase plainly suggested." Because "katecho" is a transitive verb, it requires an object. So, if Satan is the subject of verse six, the object must be his position in the heavenlies (see Ephesians 6:12), from which he shall be expelled by Michael (Revelation 12:7-9).
In Greek, "out of ek," or "the middle," means "out of the way." Acts 17:33 and I Corinthians 5:2 both use the same expression.
Many "rapture theorists" believe that the Holy Spirit is the one who "letth," and that when He is "taken away," the Antichrist will appear. You can create a whole new theology called the "Any moment doctrine" by reversing the roles of the actors in the passages and attributing what is Satan's to the Holy Spirit.
Michael is the one who "holds fast" to Lucifer (the Antichrist), and he will continue to do so until the allotted time. God has set aside that time. God will then give Satan the keys (power) to unleash his fallen angels and cast them to the earth at the specified moment (see Revelation 9:1-10).
Did you know there will be a war in heaven?
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. - Revelation 12:7-11 (KJV)
This is when Satan will physically appear on earth. This is the time of the Antichrist's coming (at the 6th Trump). The text then shifts to Satan standing in the holy place. Satan's goal is to deceive the entire world and have everyone accept his mark as their own. Don’t be deceived, Charlie.