Thoughts on Second Thessalonians 2:1-4, 7

2 Thessalonians 2:1 ¶ Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him (translation of the church; Colossians 1:13; Hebrews 11:5, to remove or transfer from one place to another with “gathering together unto him” meaning to assemble to Him after being removed by Him), 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand (Day of Christ is a period of time, of judgment; the Great Tribulation; Matthew 24:21; Revelation 2:22 and 7:14. Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:2 as the fulfillment of that prophecy in Himself but stopped before “the day of vengeance of our God” in Luke 4:18, 19. See also Isaiah 63:4 and Jeremiah 46:10, keeping in mind John 3:36; Matthew 3:7; 1 Thessalonians 1:10, with Revelation 11:18.) 3 ¶ Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away (falling away refers to going over to the other side, to the enemy; Jeremiah 37:13) first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition (See John 17:12 as the Beast of Revelation who is popularly and incorrectly called The Anti-Christ, comes in the spirit and power of Judas Iscariot just as John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah; see Luke 1:17; Mark 9:11-13. Now, based on who the Beast is, think about the betrayal of falling away for the Christian world is currently denying the authority of Christ and His words and proclaiming what the Jews did at least since the so-called Second Great Awakening, see John 19:15) ; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God….7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way (Historically, look at the Lateran Treaty between the Vatican and the government of Italy and the Reich Concordat between the Vatican and Hitler’s regime. One great evil holds back another great evil until it is revealed. Evil tends to hide behind a façade as in Ezekiel 28:15. The standard explanation of this phrase that the Holy Spirit restrains the Beast of Revelation until it leaves the earth is an absurdity as per Psalm 139:8. The power or person that holds back the Beast, perhaps his sponsor or mentor, will be killed as “taken out of the way” is defined in Job 24:24).