Thoughts From 2 Thessalonians - Day 2

             2Thessalonians 2:1-5

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?

              I remember coming home from school at a young age and no one was home. That could never happen now because at the age of 8 kids aren't even released from school without a preapproved credentialed guardian to escort them home. Of course, back then we just walked  down the sidewalk 3 blocks to my ranch styled middle class home. When I arrived, I entered the unlocked door and called out for my mom or my sister but no one answered. I had recently been scared to death at a YFC (Youth for Christ) meeting where they showed A Thief in the Night, a 50 year prequel to Left Behind, where the rapture occurs and a group of teens get saved during that post rapture time and it ended with a guillotine. I was concerned that my family had been raptured and I had been left behind, an 8 year old, to endure the wrath to come.

           So much for my psychotherapy, but this appears to be why 2 Thessalonians was written. A fake Pauline letter had arrived in Thessalonica saying the rapture had occurred and they missed it and the reason that they were having so much persecution was that they were already in the tribulation. Paul goes on to explain why this isn't true, although just to get a letter from Paul should be proof enough. He could have written, "Hey, I'm still here. Love, Paul.", and that should have been sufficient. However, just in case they thought it might be a forgery, he gives them reasons why they couldn't have missed it and that they aren't in the tribulation, namely if they were they would be seeing the antichrist on the scene.

         There has been a lot of debate about whether there even is a rapture among theologians, but to me, the existence of this letter along with the fact that Paul, spending only about 3 weeks there, then fleeing, felt the end times was essential doctrine to teach, shows me that this is true and a doctrine important enough to put in a church's doctrinal statement. Not to say it is essential for salvation and it's a doctrine we can agree to disagree on, but I think a church needs to unapologetically teach it from the pulpit.

        Maranatha! When's the last time you heard that?