<<Would you care to summarize for me your pretrib understanding of the these
verses (v. 1-4)? Much thanks.
Psst, oh yeah. Be sure to throw in some Greek, so nobody on the Greek
list gets his nose out of joint.>>
OK, Here it goes (only it covers 2:1-15).
Paul's correction about the Day of the Lord in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-15 also
support a pretribulational view. Apparently a false epistle was sent to the
Thessalonians by Paul's enemies that taught that the tribulation they were
suffering was proof that they were in the Day of the Lord. The Thessalonians
were greatly disturbed by this teaching. Paul seeks to correct this false
teaching and connects it to their gathering with the Lord, which, along with
the parousia, is the topic orienter of the section. The Day of the Lord
would not come until the apostasy had come first and the man of lawlessness
was revealed. If the Thessalonians expected to go through the Day of the
Lord, why were they so disturbed. It seems that they believed that they had
missed the Rapture. Paul corrects this notion by appealing to other
argumentation. If they were truly in the Day of the Lord, they would see the
primary features of it: great apostasy and the revealing of the man of
lawlessness. Since they did not see these things, they must not be in the Day
of the Lord and therefore have not missed the Rapture. At the close of this
section Paul gives a strong assurance of salvation, which suggests that they
were so deeply disturbed because the presence of the Day of the Lord meant
they missed the Rapture and thus, lost their salvation.
Paul's entire discussion of this section has a chiastic structure which has
the TO KETECON/ hO KATECWN as the center. This places the emphasis on the
idea of "the restrainer." More than likely there is a direct connection
between the subject of the gathering of believers and "the restrainer." The
subject of the PAROUSIA is discussed in 2:8 and purely in terms of its
relationship to the man of lawlessness. Therefore, we can expect the
gathering of believers to be discussed in the same terms. This leads to the
conclusion that TO KETECON/ hO KATECWNrefers to the Gospel and the Holy
Spirit in the mission of the Church. The church is empowered by the Holy
Spirit and its mission is to preach the Gospel, which is the power of God to
save (Rom 1:16). When the church is removed (EK MESOU GINHTAI refers to a
change in activity by a removal to a different sphere; if the Holy Spirit
changes its sphere of activity, it necessitates the removal of the church),
the man of lawlessness will be revealed.