upgraded July 28, 2008
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 (NIV) Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
Someone had obviously been stating that Jesus had already returned. That statement had unsettled the members of the Body of Christ. In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, the Spirit of God is edifying the members of the Body of Christ through Paul. The Spirit of God states clearly that Jesus' Coming, and "our being gathered to Him," will not occur until after the Man of Lawlessness is revealed.
The Man of Lawlessness is the Antichrist.
The Spirit of God referenced a crisis point in time when the Man of Lawlessness is revealed. Since the Spirit of God has given the members of the Body of Christ a crisis point in time to look for, He will also make us aware of what reveals the Man of Lawlessness. If we do not know what reveals the Man of Lawlessness, the crisis point referenced is of no use.
The Antichrist will be revealed at the beginning of the Seven Year Tribulation.
2 Thessalonians 2:8 printed below reveals that the destruction of the Antichrist, and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, will occur SIMULTANEOUSLY.
2 Thessalonians 2:8 (NIV) And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of His coming.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-8 printed above reveals that Jesus Christ will destroy the Antichrist, at the Coming of Jesus Christ WHEN WE ARE "GATHERED TO HIM."
Revelation 19:11-21 printed below reveals that the Antichrist is destroyed at the END of the Seven Year Tribulation period.
Revelation 19:11-21 (NIV) I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, "Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great." Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
We get irrefutable confirmation concerning when the Bride of Christ will be gathered to Him when we analyze the trumpets. Every single letter of the original Hebrew or Greek text in the Holy Word of God is inerrant, and thereby important. There are many places where a single word in a particular passage gives additional information that is not found anywhere else in the Scriptures. An example of this is found in the trumpets referenced at Jesus' Second Coming.
Matthew 24:31 (NIV) And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 (NIV) For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
1 Corinthians 15:52 (NIV) in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
Jesus stated, referenced in Matthew, that the elect will be gathered with "a loud trumpet call" (Matthew 24:31 printed above). Paul, in perfect consistency, writes to the Thessalonians that we will be gathered at "the trumpet call of God" (1 Thessalonians 4:16 printed above). Paul gives additional information to the Corinthians stating that we will be gathered at the "last trumpet" (1 Corinthians 15:52 printed above). John the Revelator clarifies that Jesus will begin His millennial reign on the earth at the "seventh trumpet" (Revelation 11:15 printed below).
Revelation 11:15 (NIV) The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever."
There is no eighth trumpet referenced in the Holy Word of God! The seventh trumpet is the LAST trumpet! The seventh trumpet marks the conclusion of the Tribulation and the beginning of the millennial reign of Jesus on this earth! Again, we can see a perfect consistency throughout the Holy Word of God, but have additional and more specific information given in some particular passages. The fact that Jesus will come to begin His millennial reign on the earth when the LAST (seventh) trumpet sounds loud and long connects 1 Corinthians 15:50-57, Matthew chapter 24, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, and Revelation 11:15 to the END of the Seven Year Tribulation:
1 Corinthians 15:50-57 (NIV) I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." 55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The LAST (seventh) trumpet is simultaneous with the seventh bowl of wrath. There is no eighth bowl of wrath. The seventh bowl of wrath is the LAST bowl of wrath, and like the LAST (seventh) trumpet also marks the conclusion of the tribulation.
Revelation 16:17 (NIV) The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, "It is done!"
Jesus will return with His angels at the sounding of the LAST (seventh) trumpet and at the pouring of the LAST (seventh) bowl of wrath, to gather His Bride to Him in the air, while He simultaneously destroys the Antichrist and False Prophet, and establishes His millennial reign on the earth.