Once again, recently, I had an ex-pretribber write me and share his encouraging epiphany of how the Truth was under his nose all this time in 2 Thessalonians 2. Paul makes it explicitly clear that the Church will see the revelation of Antichrist. This text is the most commonly cited when I read prewrath “testimonies.”
How someone reads the following passage and concludes that the rapture occurs before the revelation of Antichrist is a lesson in how Tradition prevents many believers from seeing the Truth.
“(1) Now regarding the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, (2) not to be easily shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. (3) Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. (4) He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat in God’s temple, displaying himself as God. (5) Surely you recall that I used to tell you these things while I was still with you.” (2 Thess 2:1-5).
