It is natural to be curious about prophecy, because we all want to know about Christ's coming. But people have been wrongly speculating about Christ's return ever since He left. That was practically the first thing that the apostles asked. It's not for us to know the time or season, that's in God's hand. We are to watch as we begin to see prophecies fulfilled.
A wrong speculation has led some people—in this context right in I and II Thessalonians—to quit working, and they became really nothing more than physical and spiritual deadbeats—all excited about the return of Christ at the wrong time. That was the problem. We should be enthusiastic; we should be excited about the return of Christ, but not in this way—the misled, foolish way—that these people were.
Paul gives two signs: a falling away and a son of perdition arising. The first concept I want us to think about is whether we are examining events that are confined to a small church (the true church)? Or are we looking at events that are worldwide in their scope, even though those in the church may be the only ones who catch the true significance of them? Remember that, are we looking at something that is happening to a small true church, or are we looking at something that is worldwide in its effect?
The second item I want us to think about is: what does Paul mean by "gathering together?" It's very easy to jump to the conclusion that he means Christ's return, but Paul is giving signs so that the people of God will be protected from what is occurring. Now in that case, the "gathering together" would have to be before the tribulation, in a place of safety; otherwise you're in it—the tribulation. What good would the signs do you? No good at all. For the sign to be of any value—that is so the people can be escaping from what is coming, called here generally the day of the Lord—it has to be something that occurs before the day of the Lord comes. Then there is a possibility that when Paul talks about "gathering together," it has to do with a place of safety, NOT a resurrection.
Let's look a little bit closer at the falling away. Translated from the Greek apostasia, which is transliterated into the English "apostasy," it means defection or revolt. Those two are pretty widely separated really—defection and revolt. But it is translated that way because of the context in which it appears. Most Greeks using the word apostasia would think of it in terms of a political revolt, rather then a falling away from religious truth. That's the way an unconverted Greek would look at it.
According to Matthew Henry's commentary, there is quite possibly two scenarios as to what might be going on here between I and II Thessalonians. One stems from the letter in I Thessalonians where Paul mentions the return of Jesus Christ, and if I count it properly, he mentions it about five times. Now Matthew Henry suggests that some may have misunderstood that Paul was saying and therefore began to think that the Day of the Lord or the return of Christ had already come or it was at least in the near future.
There it is! Their response to his first letter was to interpret the word "sudden" in what is now chapter 5.
Well, their interpretation of that was "immediate." Their interpretation was to leap to the conclusion that because Paul was writing about these things, that Jesus Christ was going to come immediately. The result of that was that some of the more unstable and excitable ones in the congregation quit their jobs.
