“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, “(2 Thessalonians 2:3). The words falling away originates from the word APOSTASY, which means departure. There’s a good chance that 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is referring to the rapture. Some biblical scholars who believe in the Church’s pre-tribulation rapture contend that the Greek noun APOSTASIA, which is generally translated “APOSTASY,” refers to the rapture and should be translated “departure.” As a result, this scripture implies that the SEVEN YEAR TRIBULATION (AKA: Day of the Lord) will not arrive until the RAPTURE has occurred. Thus, 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is solid evidence for PRE-TRIBULATIONISM if APOSTASIA refers to a physical departure.
The true meaning of the Greek word APOSTASIA
The Greek noun APOSTASIA appears just twice in the New Testament, both times in the book of Revelation. Aside from the passage in 2 Thessalonians 2, it is also seen in Acts 21:21, where it is declared of Paul, “that you are instructing all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake (APOSTASIA) Moses.” The word is a Greek combination composed of the words APO, which means “from,” and ISTEMI, which means “stand.” As a result, it has the fundamental meaning of “AWAY FROM” or “DEPARTURE.” The Liddell and Scott Greek Lexicon defines APOSTASIA as “DEFECTION, REVOLT,” followed by “DEPARTURE, DISAPPEARANCE,” according to the second definition.
Gordon Lewis shows how the verb APOSTASIA, from which the noun APOSTASIA is derived, contributes to the fundamental meaning of departure in the following sentence: It is possible that the verb means to remove spatially. There is therefore little reason to doubt that the noun can refer to a spatial removal or departure in this context. It is difficult to draw any conclusions about the noun’s biblical meaning because it is only used once more in the New Testament to refer to the departure from Moses (Acts 21:21). In the New Testament, the verb is used a total of fifteen times. Only three of these fifteen have anything to do with a renunciation of one’s religious beliefs (Luke 8;13; 1 Tim. 4:1; Heb 3:12). Departing from sin (2 Tim. 2:19), from ungodly men (1 Tim. 6:5), from the temple (Luke 2:27), from the body (2 Cor. 12:8), and from persons are all examples of the word’s use (Acts 12:10; Luke 4:13). It is with full assurance of proper exegetical study and with complete confidence in the original languages, concludes Daniel Davey, that the word meaning of APOSTASIA is defined as departure.”
Paul Lee Tan adds the following to his remarks: Was Paul referring to something specific when he stated that “the falling away” (2:3) must occur before the tribulation period? The use of the definite article “the” indicates that this will be a specific occurrence, distinct from the arrival of the Man of Sin, and that it will take place. The Greek word for “falling away” does not necessarily refer to religious apostasy or defection when used in isolation. Furthermore, the word does not signify “to fall,” as the Greeks have a different word for this. The most accurate translation of the verb is “to depart from.The apostle Paul is referring to a specific occurrence, which he refers to as “the departure,” which will take place shortly before the commencement of the tribulation period and will be announced by the angel Gabriel. The rapture of the church is taking place at this time. As a result, the word has the fundamental sense of departure, and it is dependent on the context as to whether it is used to refer to a physical departure or an abstract departure, such as a departure from one’s religious beliefs.
The History of Translation
Each of the first seven English translations of APOSTASIA expressed the word as either “DEPARTURE” or “DISAPPEARANCE.” The names of them are as follows: Among the most notable are the Wycliffe Bible (1384), the Tyndale Bible (1526), the Coverdale Bible (1535), the Cranmer Bible (1539), Breeches Bible (1576), the Beza Bible (1583), and the Geneva Bible (1583; 1608). This lends credence to the idea that the term literally signifies “LEAVING.” The Latin version of the Bible, known as the Vulgate, which dates back to roughly the year 400 CE, replaces the term APOSTASIA with the word DISCESSIO, which literally means “LEAVING.” Why was the King James Version the first to deviate from the commonly accepted translation of the word “departure” in the English language? Swiss reformer Theodore Beza was the first to transliterate the word APOSTASIA and coin a new word, rather than simply translating it as others had done previously. The translators of the King James Version were the first to use the new interpretation of APOSTASIA, which means “falling away.” They did so because it was more accurate. The majority of English translators have followed the KJV and Beza in refraining from interpreting APOSTASIA as “departure” from the original Greek. There was never a good rationale presented.
To sum it all up, the fact that the Greek word APOSTASIA most likely refers to physical departure is a clear support for the theory of PRE-TRIBULATIONISM. If this is correct, it means that Paul establishes a clear prophetic seque
Primary Sources: Dr. Tim Lahaye, Dr. Thomas Ice, and Derek Walker writings on the pre-tribulation rapture