Today a discussion of the falling away spoken of by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, and it telling of the world (church and nations) having totally fallen away from the truth found in God’s word. In this examination we will clearly see the LORD’s coming as He described it and is recorded in the Gospels, and we will see the consistency of these ideas illuminated in the later writings of those witnesses possessing this same understanding.
As we know, Paul uses the Greek apostasia (apostasy,) literally meaning away standing, and as we’ve discussed the word standing (stasis) has the meaning of a position held or taken (a stand.) The position Paul is speaking of is specified just prior when as part of his statement he tells of our being not deceived about the coming of the LORD. He tells of this “falling away” as being total, and of the LORD not coming until after this had occurred.
The translations very deceptively tell of this culminating in the singular man of sin being revealed, and in doing conceal the fact of it’s telling of all places being corrupted, and all those sitting in these seats in God’s place being the sons of perdition. As we have previously discussed this plural aspect is very plainly seen as the same words translated in a singular form are in the follow chapter translated in the plural.
There in 2 Thessalonians 3 Paul begins by in summarization defining the problem he had just spoken of in detail. He tells of the LORD coming to deliver us from unreasonable and wicked men, the same wicked he had spoken of in the prior chapter translated as a singular person. In this statement Paul speaks of the problem by the remedy being the word of the LORD having free course as it comes in combating the corrupted ideas of those also defined in the prior chapter as opposing and exalting themselves above God as they sit in His house[s] showing themselves as if they are gods. Paul is defining the falling away from the word AS DELIVERED as the problem, and the solution being the word having free course in reconciling this wrong.
Paul follows the above description with a commandment telling of separating ourselves from these men who walk this way without order (disorderly.) The Greek word here translated as disorderly is ataktos, meaning insubordinate and unarranged, meaning they are the purveyors of confusion (Babylon,) and refuse to subordinate to the truth. It is into this void/condfusion the LORD comes, to reverse it and restores order and understanding to a world fallen away into its own harm and destruction, and held down under the hand of these wicked men (who are in rebellion (taking a stand) against the Higher Power.)
2 Thessalonians 3
1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the LORD may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you:
2 And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.
3 But the LORD is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.
4 And we have confidence in the LORD touching you, that you both do and will do the things which we command you.
5 And the LORD direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.
6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother that walks disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.
This falling away from understanding into confusion is what the LORD speaks of recorded in the Gospels as heaven and earth passing away, but His words not passing away. It tells of a world that becomes totally separated from His word and its essential wisdom, and in doing fallen into darkness and total confusion. We know this from our many discussions as the condition of the world the LORD comes into, delivering it by renewing and reconciling it again to His will and plan. It is the plan of civilization and peace on earth, as it is in heaven, heaven as place where the word is rightly divided and thereby understood.
Matthew 24
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
27 For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28 For where-so-ever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
The word tribulation in verse 21 above is from the Greek word thlipsis, meaning pressure; from the word thlibo, meaning to crowd, from the word tribos, meaning a rut, as in a well-worn path. It is meant to speak of all these meanings: a way that has now become so warn those in it are unable to extricate themselves, this in actuality is the pressure from the crowd, a culture so in its devolved rut of its own corrupted ideas, and pressuring and crowding any who dare try to escape, and leaving no place to escape to as it has covered the world.
The above passage tells of the LORD coming into the dark night of this culture.
Here is the meaning of the cloud He rides upon: we know the waters are the word of God come down from Him and His Spirit giving us the understanding as the word is rightly divided. This right dividing is understanding and when on earth is heaven on earth, as in this state man live in founded on this teaching of the way of peace; peace itself not being heaven, but the right dividing (the firmament) being heaven, and all else its products. When this understanding leaves the earth, by none rightly dividing any longer, heaven leaves the earth as the waters leave with it. Heaven rises off the earth into the air, and the waters are gathered into the clouds. The LORD comes in the air where the waters above are, and from where he rain these water down on us until we awaken (latter rain) and are able to join Him in this cloud in the air where we rightly divide with Him. This is the deep symbolism being used to explain the reality of our time.
This is also why Hebrews 12 begins by addressing those who understand as the cloud of witnesses.
Verse 29 above tells of the places on earth that were intended as the place where the word was rightly divided and produce their intended product, and these being darkened and shaken from heaven. We know this is the same description we are given in Hebrews 12 as we are first told our being gather into this cloud by the LORD correction, His delivering us from the corrupted ideas of these wicked men, and in doing having arrived in heavenly Jerusalem (taught and founded on the word that flow from God, and realizing their product of peace in understanding.) It is the LORD coming to establish us away from these men’s abominations that have caused the desolation of the earth in total. In this reconciliation a new heaven and a earth are created – here on earth, build atop the ruin of the old earth that has become without form and void.
When verse 30 & 31 then tell of the sign of the LORD’s coming and of our being gathered it is referring specifically to Deuteronomy 301 & 2. In the final verse of Deuteronomy 29 we are told of why the LORD mentions in Matthew 24:35 His word not passing [falling] away, but heaven and earth will. The sign He speaks of is His restoring it anew by the secret things kept with Him in heaven where He resides (in the realms of the understood word.) It is telling of the witness in heaven and in earth being joined/gathered again in One.
Deuteronomy 29
24 Even all nations shall say, Wherefore has the LORD done thus unto this land? what means the heat of this great anger?
25 Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:
26 For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:
27 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:
28 And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.
29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Deuteronomy 30
1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD your God has driven you,
2 And shall return unto the LORD your God, and shall obey his voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all thine heart, and with all your soul;
3 That then the LORD your God will turn your captivity, and have compassion upon you, and will return and gather you from all the nations, whither the LORD your God has scattered you.
4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD your God gather you, and from thence will he fetch you:
5 And the LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and he will do you good, and multiply you above your fathers.
6 And the LORD your God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of your seed, to love the LORD your God with all thine heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.
7 And the LORD your God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate you, which persecuted you.
8 And you shall return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command you this day.
The above is speaking of hearing the same voice spoken of in ending Hebrews 12, and also why its final verse says, “Our God is a consuming fire.”
The word used in Matthew to tells of heaven and earth “pass[ing] away” is the Greek word parerchomai, meaning to go away, and figuratively meaning to perish or neglect (a lack of diligence.) It is the same word used in 2 Peter 3:10 to tell of the heavens passing away with a great noise, as the LORD comes as a thief (unknown) in the night. The “great noise” is referring to both the voice and the gathering the LORD also speaks of in Matthew 24, as he tells of His command to gather His people together to Him.
It is referring to Isaiah 13:4 where we read of the LORD gathering His hosts to battle. The chapter beings with Isaiah seeing the burden (a prophetic warning) of Babylon, followed in verse 2 with telling of lifting the banner (the sign of the LORD’s coming), and to calling us to go the gate and speak to these men of confusion. The chapter ends by telling of this being the shortening of the days, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”
Isaiah 13
1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
2 Lift you up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.
4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts musters the host of the battle.
5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
6 Howl you; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travails: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.
15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.
16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.
17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children.
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
The word parerchomai is also the same word used in Revelation 21:1 in telling of the first earth and heaven being passed away.
Revelation 21
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice [noise of command from a rightly divided word] out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7 He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
And, the word parerchomai is used in this same context in 2 Corinthians 5:17 to tell of the old man (corrupted heart/reasoning/foundational thinking) that passes away so all things can be made new in the new creation. It tells of this being the work of the LORD, in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, as I Am.
2 Corinthians 5
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad.
11 Knowing therefore the terror of the LORD, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
12 For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that you may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance [pretense,] and not in heart [well-reason.]
13 For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.
14 For the love of Christ constrains us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
18 And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be you reconciled to God.
21 For he has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
