Question: in [a recent] Q&A column about II Thessalonians 2:1-3. You say “obviously Paul had ...

Question: I wondered about your explanation in the Q&A column about II Thessalonians 2:1-3. You say “obviously Paul had taught the Thessalonians that the Rapture came first,” that is, before “the Day of Christ.” It is not at all obvious....What is obvious is that the Rapture of verse 1 is included in the “day of the Lord” of verse 2, and that the two items of verse 3 must come first....The evil person, the opponent of God in verse 4, will be destroyed by the “appearance” of the coming of Christ in verse 8. It must be, therefore, that the “lawless one” will appear before the Rapture.

Response: I believe it is obvious that to be told the Day of the Lord had come would not distress those believing in a prewrath, midtrib or post-trib rapture, or amillenialists. Only those believing in a pretrib rapture would be disturbed, because if the Day of the Lord had already come and they were still on earth, either Paul had lied or they had been left behind. Since Paul was concerned that the Thessalonians would be distressed by such a report, it does follow logically that he had taught them a pretrib rapture.

As for verse 8, it refers to the Second Coming, an event distinct from the Rapture. There must be two events because what Christ says about His coming cannot occur in one event or in one time-frame. For example, He says that on the basis of all the signs having been manifest, those waiting will “know that it [His coming] is near, even at the doors” (Mt 24:33). Yet in verse 44 He says that His coming will be an unexpected surprise. Christ is either contradicting Himself, or He is referring to two comings: the Rapture, and the Second Coming.

He plainly tells us (Mt 24:37-38; Lk 17:26- 30) that His coming will be at a time of peace, prosperity, thriving business and pleasure. Yet we know the Second Coming occurs in the midst of Armageddon when famine, pestilence and numerous disasters have already ravaged the earth and the most horrible war in history is underway. Again, He is either contradicting Himself, or is referring to two events.

Both Jude 14 and Zechariah:14:4-5 [4] And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. [5] And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
See All... tell us that when Christ returns to the Mount of Olives He brings “all the saints” from heaven with Him. Thus, prior to the Second Coming He must have taken the saints into heaven. That could only have occurred at the Rapture, a prior and separate event.

As for the Day of the Lord, 2 Thessalonians:2:3Let 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;
See All... says that the apostasy must come first. It does not say that the Antichrist must be revealed first. It is not straining the text to interpret it as saying that the Day of the Lord will not come without the Antichrist being revealed in that day. This fits with Paul’s statement that someone is preventing the Antichrist from being revealed. The One preventing could only be the Holy Spirit indwelling the believers, and that special presence of God could only be removed by catching away the church in the Rapture.