Re: 2 THESS 2:2-3
Paul S. Dixon (dixonps@juno.com)
Fri, 14 Nov 1997 11:52:55 EST
On Thu, 13 Nov 1997 12:39:21 +0500 Noel Maddy <ncm@biostat.hfh.edu>
writes:
>
>In 1 Thess 4-5, Paul mentions the return of the Lord that believers
>look forward to, and after that he mentions the day of the Lord -- the
>time of tribulation. I don't want this to become a debate about
>pre-/mid-/post-tribulationalism, but isn't it possible that the
>Thessalonians were thinking that if they were in the tribulation that
>they had missed the Lord's return? This would surely cause them to be
>troubled.
>
>Again, please don't take this as an argument on any theological point,
>but just an observation on what the readers may have been thinking...
If we take ENESTHKEN hH hMERA TOU KURIOU as "the day of the Lord has
come," then it would seem the Thessalonians thought they had missed the
Lord's return. If that suggests they thought they were then in the
tribulation period, then they were wrong, as Paul goes on to explain.
Before the day of the Lord comes the apostasy must come first and the man
of lawlessness be revealed (2:3-4). These are both tribulational events.
Since these had not transpired, then neither could the day of the Lord
have arrived, or be "at hand." Furthermore, if they had thought the
order of events was as you say, then they were wrong on that count, as
well.
Paul Dixon