It all AGREES Yes, OF COURSE God agrees with Himself! But the gathering in Matthew 24 cannot be Paul's gathering. The signs in the sun and moon in Matthew 24 CANNOT BE the signs at the 6th seal. These are DIFFERENT events separated by over 7 years. They are separated by all the events from Revelation chapter 7 to chapter 18.
Read verses 6 through 8: I have bolded them for you. They are very clear: a POWER is restraining the Beast to prevent his revealing before the proper time. But when the time comes, that restraining power will be taken out of the way. Do you agree so far?
Now look at the last two words of verse 3: I bolded them too for your convenience. Notice that suddenly Paul wrote that the man of sin IS REVEALED. Yet, Paul has told us that he COULD NOT be revealed until the power restraining him had been taken out of the way.
How can we solve this dilemma? It must be that in verse 3a, that power restraining him was "taken out of the way."
Read these early translations - before the KJV.
1384 Wycliffe N.T. That no man deceyue you in any maner / for no but departynge aweye (or dissencon) schal come firste & the man of synne schall be schewid [shewed] the sone of perdicioune.
1534 Tyndale N.T. Let no ma deceave you by eny meanes for the lorde commeth not excepte ther come a departynge fyrst and that that synfnll man be opened ye sonne of perdicion
1535 Coverdale Bible Let no man disceaue you by eny meanes. For the LORDE commeth not, excepte the departynge come first, and that Man of Synne be opened, even the sonne of perdicion.
1539 Cranmer Great Bible Let no man deceaue you by any meanes, for the Lorde shall not come excepte there come a departinge fyrst, & that that synfull man be opened, the sonne of perdicion.
1549 Matthew's Bible Let no man deceyue you by any meanes, for the Lord commeth not, except there come a departyng first, and that, that sinful man be opened, the sonne of perdicyon
1565 Beza Bible Let no man deceiue you by any meanes: for [that day shall not come,] except there come a departing first, and that man of sinne be disclosed, [euen] the son of perdition.
1575 Geneva Bible Let no man deceiue you by any meanes for that day shal not come, except there come a departing first, and that man of sinne be disclosed, euen the sonne of perdition.
Notice that every one translated "apostasia" as a or the departing.
Did you ever look up apostasia to see what it could mean?
What does Strong’s Concordance tell us about this Greek word, “apostasia?” First, it is a compound word made up of two Greek words, “apo” and “stasia.” We get our English word “stationary” from the Greek second half of this apostasia; stationary as in not moving. For the first word, Apo, Strong’s has this:
I. of separation…
..A. of local separation,
..B. of separation of a part from the whole
......i. where of a whole some part is taken
...C. of any kind of separation of one thing from another…
...D. of a state of separation, that is of distance
......i. physical, of distance of place
......ii temporal, of distance of time
II. Of origin
...A. of the place whence anything is, comes, befalls, is taken
...B. of origin of a cause (Emphasis added.)
At the rapture, will some part of the entire population be taken? The answer is yes.
Will those taken be separated by distance? Again the answer is yes.
The other part of the compound word, 'stasia," is where we get "stationary" or "not moving" from.
Putting these two words together again as a compound word, “apo-stasia” can certainly mean a part of a whole group suddenly moved from where they were to a new location, and it happens so fast, the rest of the whole group seems stationary - not moving.
I am glad you brought this passage up. Many believe it teaches a posttrib rapture. Only a beginning student would think that. It takes study to determine Paul's meaning. The key is when one sees "is revealed."
Read verses 6 through 8: I have bolded them for you. They are very clear: a POWER is restraining the Beast to prevent his revealing before the proper time. But when the time comes, that restraining power will be taken out of the way. Do you agree so far?
Now look at the last two words of verse 3: I bolded them too for your convenience. Notice that suddenly Paul wrote that the man of sin IS REVEALED. Yet, Paul has told us that he COULD NOT be revealed until the power restraining him had been taken out of the way.
How can we solve this dilemma? It must be that in verse 3a, that power restraining him was "taken out of the way."
Read these early translations - before the KJV.
1384 Wycliffe N.T. That no man deceyue you in any maner / for no but departynge aweye (or dissencon) schal come firste & the man of synne schall be schewid [shewed] the sone of perdicioune.
1534 Tyndale N.T. Let no ma deceave you by eny meanes for the lorde commeth not excepte ther come a departynge fyrst and that that synfnll man be opened ye sonne of perdicion
1535 Coverdale Bible Let no man disceaue you by eny meanes. For the LORDE commeth not, excepte the departynge come first, and that Man of Synne be opened, even the sonne of perdicion.
1539 Cranmer Great Bible Let no man deceaue you by any meanes, for the Lorde shall not come excepte there come a departinge fyrst, & that that synfull man be opened, the sonne of perdicion.
1549 Matthew's Bible Let no man deceyue you by any meanes, for the Lord commeth not, except there come a departyng first, and that, that sinful man be opened, the sonne of perdicyon
1565 Beza Bible Let no man deceiue you by any meanes: for [that day shall not come,] except there come a departing first, and that man of sinne be disclosed, [euen] the son of perdition.
1575 Geneva Bible Let no man deceiue you by any meanes for that day shal not come, except there come a departing first, and that man of sinne be disclosed, euen the sonne of perdition.
Notice that every one translated "apostasia" as a or the departing.
Did you ever look up apostasia to see what it could mean?
What does Strong’s Concordance tell us about this Greek word, “apostasia?” First, it is a compound word made up of two Greek words, “apo” and “stasia.” We get our English word “stationary” from the Greek second half of this apostasia; stationary as in not moving. For the first word, Apo, Strong’s has this:
I. of separation…
..A. of local separation,
..B. of separation of a part from the whole
......i. where of a whole some part is taken
...C. of any kind of separation of one thing from another…
...D. of a state of separation, that is of distance
......i. physical, of distance of place
......ii temporal, of distance of time
II. Of origin
...A. of the place whence anything is, comes, befalls, is taken
...B. of origin of a cause (Emphasis added.)
At the rapture, will some part of the entire population be taken? The answer is yes.
Will those taken be separated by distance? Again the answer is yes.
The other part of the compound word, 'stasia," is where we get "stationary" or "not moving" from.
Putting these two words together again as a compound word, “apo-stasia” can certainly mean a part of a whole group suddenly moved from where they were to a new location, and it happens so fast, the rest of the whole group seems stationary - not moving.
I am glad you brought this passage up. Many believe it teaches a posttrib rapture. Only a beginning student would think that. It takes study to determine Paul's meaning. The key is when one sees "is revealed."
