[Faithwalker012]

Now I want to go back to 2nd Thessalonians. I'm sorry for jumping around so much, as it might be a little hard to follow. But I want to try to nail it down as many places as I can think of in the Word to hopefully smash this rapture theory to pieces. I know that I may or may not be successful in doing that with you, or for you. But at the very least, hopefully it drives you into the Word to read, reflect, and reason these verses out for yourself. Because certainly, if what I've said makes no sense to you, or leaves you with questions, seek out the answers for yourself in God's Word. It will not leave you wanting, while I perhaps will.

But, that said, I brought your attention to 2nd Thessalonians before, and really it as much as any place else for me verifies and documents just when we gather back to Christ and what must happen first. When Paul writes one letter to a group of believers and follows it up with a second letter and in one place feels he must clear matters up on this subject, that should really get your attention. But about 3 or so verses after where I believe I stopped before in this same chapter, there's a verse that many people seem to believe points to the removal of the church. You may know which verse I'm talking about. I'm going to start one verse before that.

2nd Thessalonians 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. This word withholdeth is the Greek word katecho. It means to hold fast and is often times rather forceful. Now, who or what is being withheld or "held fast" until his time, or season? Go back to verses 3 and 4 of this chapter and you know it's Satan or Antichrist. So who holds Satan back or holds him fast? Is it the church? Well, that's what rapture believers teach. But is it biblical? Let's see if we can't find out... next verse.
2 Thess 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

Now, a lot of people say that when the church is taken out of the way, or removed, it's at that point that Satan/Antichrist can make his appearance. But let's not rely on the word of man. Let's try to work this out in the Word of God. This word or verb letteth is the same Greek word as in the previous verse... katecho, or "hold fast". This is a transitive verb, so we must supply an object as well. It's pretty much universally agreed upon that the subject here is the Antichrist, or Satan. The object would be where Satan is held fast, and I might even say by whom. It isn't the church. Let's quickly go to Revelation 12.

Revelation 12 is a chapter that actually spans a great period of time, even going back to Satan's first rebellion. But we're going to start with verse 7. By this point in the history of Revelation 12 we've gotten past Christ's first advent and you might say we're in the midst of the tribulation... even at about the midpoint of it. A good clue for that is the end of verse where it says the woman is fed for 1260 days, which is about 3.5 years, roughly. So with that in mind, let's go to verse 7.

Revelation 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels.
12:8 And prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven.
12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Now, where was Satan being held fast? He was being held fast in heaven. Who was it then who was taken out of the way that he might be revealed? Was it the church? NO, it was Michael and his angels. That's the point in which Satan is cast down to the earth, as it goes on to further stipulate in Revelation 12:10-12. Revelation 12:12 especially where it says rejoice ye heavens and ye that dwell in them, but Woe to the inhabiters of the earth. Again I'll ask did the church have anything to do with that situation? NO! The church doesn't hold Satan in heaven, and the church doesn't cast him down to the earth. You can listen to man and his interpretations and traditions, or you can go with God's Word. Hopefully you can see by what I've shown you in God's Word that the so called "rapture" of the church has nothing to do with the arrival of Satan in his role of Antichrist. There's one final place that people believe gives a "rapture" of the church. It's in Revelation, I'll touch on that, and I'll finally wrap up.

Jason