The 'falling away' is not the Rapture my friend.
It is a 'Departure' from the truth.
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thess 2: 10-12
Here ^ , you are simply conflating two distinct things:
1) ONE THING that must come *FIRST* (
BEFORE it can
then be TRUTHFULLY SAID "that the DOTL IS PRESENT [perfect indicative]");
[
and]
2) what takes place once "the DOTL" has ARRIVED (with its "man of sin") which is
WHEN "God SHALL SEND
TO THEM great delusion, IN ORDER THAT
THEY should believe
the LIE / the FALSE / the PSEUDEI" (and the "THEM / THEY" of these verses is the SAME "THEM" that chpt 1:8 referred to "In flaming fire INFLICTING VENGEANCE
ON THEM that know not God and...," speaking of NON-BELIEVERS / the UNSAVED / who are NOT SAINTS / who are PERISHING...)
Notice the following words
in vv.9,11 (
AFTER the DOTL has ARRIVED, with its "man of sin" at the START of the 7 Trib yrs--sometime FOLLOWING
its and
his ARRIVAL
then the following comes into play...):
9 whose coming [/ ARRIVAL / presence / advent / parousia] is according to
the working [G1753] of Satan, in every power, and in signs, and in wonders
of falsehood [G5579],
10 and in every deception of wickedness
unto those perishing, in return for which
they did not receive the love of the truth
in order for them to be saved.
11 And because of this, God will send
to them a working [G1753] of delusion, for
them to believe what
is false [the false - G5579],
12 in order that
all those...
But
v.3 is telling of something DISTINCT FROM THAT ^ which must come *FIRST* BEFORE it can THEREAFTER be TRUE [a true claim] "that the DOTL IS PRESENT"...
...ONE THING must take place
*FIRST* (BEFORE)
before it can be truthfully claimed that "the day of the Lord IS PRESENT" (
v.2) and that ONE THING said to be *FIRST* (
per the text) is: "
THE DEPARTURE
*FIRST*"...
--one of the FUNCTIONS of the definite article, where this word does not ordinarily require a definite article, is to POINT BACK to something
PREVIOUSLY mentioned in the text, not something FURTHER DOWN in the text... not forward to something that takes place
once "the DOTL" is indeed IN PLAY (with its "man of sin" IN HIS TIME). So, no.
And the passage you brought forth for consideration is referring
NOT TO BELIEVERS / SAINTS / the SAVED / Christians / the Church WHICH IS HIS BODY / etc... supposedly [
at least, in your mind and your suggestion] "falling away" / apostasizing... NO!
--The text
in vv.9-12 TELL US *WHO* God SHALL SEND
TO THEM great delusion, THAT
THEY should believe
THE LIE / THE FALSE / THE PSEUDEI ...(that is, IN / WITHIN / DURING the 7 Trib yrs--whereas the OTHER thing--"THE DEPARTURE *FIRST*"--takes place BEFORE it COMMENCES / BEFORE "the man of sin" even ARRIVES!)
You're simply CONFLATING two completely
distinct items, here, incorrectly equating them. But many people do... you're not alone.
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