Rapture Q & A
two questions
2Thes 2
by Craig C. White
2 Thessalonians (below) answers one primary question about the rapture. Its also answers one secondary question.
Q: What comes before the rapture?
Q: What comes before the revelation (or coming) of the Antichrist?
2Th 2:1-3 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 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. 3 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;
Many Christians have said that the answer to the primary question (Q: What comes before the rapture?) is that an apostasy of the Church precedes the rapture. That seems to me to be a difficult event to determine. This view is contingent upon the meaning of “a falling away” in verse 3. Most folks have completely overlooked the secondary question.
Let me answer the secondary question first. Q: What comes before the Antichrist? A: The Antichrist will be revealed on earth after Satan is cast out of heaven (Rev 12:7-12). The Antichrist is a man empowered by the devil. Satan must be on earth to empower the Antichrist.
2Th 2:9-10 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
Now let me answer the primary question. Q: What comes before the rapture? A: The rapture will happen after the Antichrist is revealed on earth; or at least after Satan is thrown out of heaven! When the devil is cast out of heaven the folks in heaven will be happy but the folks on earth are in for some trouble.
Rev 12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
High Time to Awake 