The apostle Paul uses the word apostasy (as translated by the Concordant Literal New Testament) only once in his letters, and it is found 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Here is the passage in which Paul uses this word:
2Ths 2:1-5 CLNT: "Now we are asking you, brethren, for the sake of the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to Him, that you be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be alarmed, either through spirit, or through word, or through an epistle as through us, as that the day of the Lord is present. No one should be deluding you by any method, for, should not the apostasy be coming first and the man of lawlessness be unveiled, the son of destruction, who is opposing and lifting himself up over everyone termed a god or an object of veneration, so that he is seated in the temple of God, demonstrating that he himself is God? Do you not remember that, still being with you, I told you these things?"
Before we dive into this passage, I want to attempt to get a good handle on how Greek speakers contemporary to Paul used this word, or at least speakers that are more contemporary to Paul than we are today. Fortunately, we have a good resource for this: the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, called the Septuagint, which most agree was completed by 132 BCE. Analyzing the use of this word in the Septuagint should give us a good idea of what Paul was referring to in a scriptural context.
The Greek word ἀποστασία, transliterated apostasia carries this definition from Strongs: Apostasy, rebellion, defection, falling way. The Greek-English Keyword Concordance in the back of the Concordant Literal New Testament tells us the English elements of the word apostasia are FROM-STANDing. This fits in with what BibleHub's helps word-studies says the the word is derived from here.
"The God of gods -- Jehovah, the God of gods -- Jehovah, He is knowing, and Israel, he doth know, if in rebellion, and if in trespass against Jehovah (Thou dost not save us this day!)"
And also from the Concordant Version of the Old Testament (CVOT):
"El, Elohim, Yahweh, EL. Elohim, Yahweh, He knows, and let Israel itself know: If we acted in revolt or in offense against Yahweh, do not save us this day!"
Here is where things get slightly challenging for me as someone that does not speak or read Greek or Hebrew. From what I can tell using a couple of Greek to English interlinears of the Septuagint, the words rebellion and revolt from the YLT and CVOT respectively is where the translators of the Septuagint used the the Greek word apostasia. One interlinear I am using places distancing; departure in English underneath apostasia. The other interlinear places defection below apostasia. The Septuagint and the above English versions are translations of the original Hebrew, so what Hebrew word is being translated in these ways in these two languages? Using a Hebrew to English interlinear, we see that these translations are from the Hebrew word mered (h4777). Strongs defines mered as: rebellion, revolt.
Let's examine our next passage, 2 Chronicles 29:19 from the YLT:
"and all the vessels that king Ahaz cast away in his reign -- in his trespass -- we have prepared and sanctified, and lo, they [are] before the altar of Jehovah."And from the CVOT:
"We have also prepared and hallowed all the furnishings that king Ahaz in his offense had cast off during his reign; there they are before the altar of Yahweh."
Again, using Greek to English interlinears, the words translated as trespass in the YLT and offence in the CVOT is where the Greek translators chose to use the word apostasia in the Septuagint. The interlinears I am using again place defection and distancing; departure underneath apostasia in English. The Hebrew to English interlinear tells us the Hebrew word being translated in these cases is maʿal (h4604) which Strong’s defines as: treachery, i.e. sin:—falsehood, grievously, sore, transgression, trespass.
What is interesting is that this word maʿal is also found in Joshua 22:22 that we looked at above. It is translated as trespass in the YLT and offence in the CVOT, just like it is in this verse. What did the translators of the Septuagint translate it as in in Joshua 22:22? The best I could find is this: ἐπλημμελήσαμεν which is defined as: to make a false note in music, to offend, err.
“Instruct thee doth thy wickedness, And thy backslidings reprove thee, Know and see that an evil and a bitter thing [Is] thy forsaking Jehovah thy God, And My fear not being on thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts.”
And from the CVOT:
“Let your evil discipline you, And your backslidings, let them reprove you; Know then and see how evil and bitter it is when you forsake Yahweh your Elohim And you have no awe of me, averring is the my Lord Yahweh of hosts.”
The best I can tell, the word backslidings, in both translations above represent the same word that the Greek translators translated as apostasia in the Septuagint. Again, the interlinears I am using place defection and distancing; departure below apostasia. The Hebrew word mᵊšûḇâ (h4878) is what is being translated here and Strong’s defines it as: apostasy:—backsliding, turning away.
There is one more Old Testament verse I want to look at, and that is Jeremiah 29:32 YLT:
“Therefore, thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am seeing after Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and after his seed, he hath none dwelling in the midst of this people, nor doth he look on the good that I am doing to My people -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- for apostacy he hath spoken against Jehovah.”
CVOT:
“therefore thus says Yahweh, Behold, I shall call Shemiah the dreamer to account and his seed. Not a man shall remain for him dwelling in the midst of this people; not one shall see the good I shall do for My people, averring is Yahweh, for he has preached stubbornness against Yahweh."
Above, I said that apostasia was used three times in the Septuagint for sure and I listed those verses and we took a look at them, but on this page, under the Thayer’s Greek lexicon section, Jeremiah 29:32 is listed as having apostasia (or a form of it) in it as well (among some others), and when I consulted this interlinear I did find a form of the word there, with defection again being placed underneath it. The other interlinear I have been using cuts the verse short, and I am not sure as to why. The English words apostacy (YLT) and stubbornness (CVOT) in Jeremiah 29:32 quoted above are translations of the Hebrew word sārâ (h5627), which Strong's defines as: apostasy, crime; figuratively, remission. I believe apostasia in the Septuagint is the Greek translation of this word sārâ, though I cannot be absolutely sure because the one interlinear I have been using cut the verse short. If anyone has a more reliable and easier to use Greek to English interlinear of the Septuagint, I would be interested in knowing about it.
What can we glean from the information we have gathered here? It should be obvious by now that what we are doing here is not an exact science, but we are trying to get an idea of what a Greek speaker thought of when the word apostasia was used in a scriptural context. The verses we have looked at so far have used the word as describing Israel, or certain Israelites departing or defecting from the law of God, or worshiping other gods entirely. Israelites were under covenant to follow God's law in these contexts, and trespassing, trangressing, committing offense, rebelling, revolting, falling away - all definitions we have seen as we investigated the words above - point to Israel departing from God's law and the covenant He made with them at Mt. Sinai.
Before we circle back and look into 2 Thessalonians 3, there is another use of the word apostasia in the Greek scriptures, in Acts 21:21 CLNT: “Now they were instructed concerning you that you teach all the Jews among the nations apostasy from Moses, telling them not to be circumcising their children, nor yet to be walking in the customs." Believing Jews in Jerusalem were being told by those of the Circumcision (those of James that Paul had to defend his evangel against in Galatians) that Paul was teaching apostasy from Moses or departing from the law of Moses. Paul was teaching Jews among the nations departure from the law of Moses when he preached his evangel of the Uncircumcision to them, but these Jewish believers of the Circumcision were zealous for the law (Acts 21:20) and later tried to kill Paul for what he was preaching among the nations as they did not understand Paul's evangel. It is clear to me that the usage of apostasia in this verse and context matches up very well with how the word was used in the Septuagint, taking on the meaning of Israelites departing from the law of Moses (God).
2Ths 2:1-5 CLNT: "Now we are asking you, brethren, for the sake of the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to Him, that you be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be alarmed, either through spirit, or through word, or through an epistle as through us, as that the day of the Lord is present. No one should be deluding you by any method, for, should not the apostasy be coming first and the man of lawlessness be unveiled, the son of destruction, who is opposing and lifting himself up over everyone termed a god or an object of veneration, so that he is seated in the temple of God, demonstrating that he himself is God? Do you not remember that, still being with you, I told you these things?"
Does what we have found in our study above concerning the word apostasia and its use fit into the context of 2 Thessalonians? I believe it does, and in a powerful way. Paul wrote this letter to the Thessalonians to comfort them, and assure them that the day of the Lord was not present. How does Paul comfort them? By emphasizing that the coming day of the Lord concerns Israel, and not the body of Christ at all. The day of the Lord concerns Israel, the apostasy concerns Israel and the man of lawlessness concerns Israel. These things are part of the seventy sevens segregated for the people of Israel and Jerusalem, the holy city (Daniel 9:24), and specifically the final seven of those seventy sevens. Is this apostasy mentioned in 2 Thessalonians prophesied in scripture? I believe it is the covenant that the majority of Israelites will agree to at the beginning of the last seven with the governor (who is not anointed, in contrast to the Annointed governor, Jesus Messiah, Daniel 9:26) mentioned in Daniel 9:27. This (unannointed) governor that is the master of a covenant with many in Israel is the man of lawlessness:
Daniel 9:27 CVOT "Then he will be a master of a covenant with many for one seven, he shall cause to cease the sacrifice and the approach present; on a wing of the sanctuary shall be desolating abominations. Until the conclusion of the era the decided conclusion shall be poured forth on the desolation."
This governor/king which is the man of lawlessness, committing these desolating abominations, also exalts and magnifies himself over every el (god) as described in Daniel 11:36 and reiterated by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5. This is the man that Jesus warns Israel about in John 5:43. What must come before the man of lawlessness commits these desolating abominations, and thus unveiling him explicitly as the man of lawlessness? It is the making of a covenant for seven years with Israel, by the man that comes in his own name, not in the name of God the Father (John 5:43), as the governor that is not annointed by God. This is the culmination of Israel's apostasy as they accept the man of lawlessness.
I want to share with you an excerpt from Vladimir Gelesnoff's booklet The Coming Conflict, that got me started on this study, from pg. 37:
"Still another time-mark is afforded by the general characteristic, "when the transgressors are to come to the full" (Daniel 8:23). Israel's past career has been strongly marked by prevalence of transgression. But its culmination has not yet been reached. Every movement, individual or national, is two-sided. There is departure from something and a turning toward something else; and the former necessarily precedes the latter. Apostasy is no exception to the general law governing the affairs of men and nations. Israel's apostasy attains its zenith when the one coming in his own name will be acclaimed as deliverer. The inception of Israel's national apostasy was when they desired a king like unto the nations; and it will become full blown when they enter into covenant with the horn. God cures the folly of His people by granting them the things on which their hearts are set. Israel wanted flesh: He gave them flesh. They wanted a king: He gave them a king. They have been following the nations: He will give them into the hands of the nations. The vision relates to the time when the measure of apostasy will be filled."
I looked up the Hebrew word translated as transgressors in Daniel 8:23, and it is transliterated pasha. It is defined as: to rebel, transgress - Meaning: to break away, trespass, apostatize, quarrel. Here is Daniel 8:23 CVOT: “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors come to an end, there shall stand up a king of strong presence and understanding problems.” I believe this verse parallels with 2 Thessalonians 2:3 quite well: “No one should be deluding you by any method, for, should not the apostasy be coming first and the man of lawlessness be unveiled, the son of destruction.” I do not find it far fetched that "the apostasy" mentioned by Paul could be an indirect reference to the "when the trangressors come to an end" of Daniel 8:23 and "the man of lawlessness being unveiled" being an indirect reference to "there shall stand up a king of strong presence and understanding problems". I do not doubt that the apostle Paul knew the book of Daniel very well, and used it in explaining these things to the Thessalonians.
With this interpretation of what Paul meant by apostasy in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, some may think that this lessens or otherwise damages the expectation of the body of Christ, specifically the expectation of being snatched away before the day of the Lord is present. I wholeheartedly disagree with that, and I believe it actually reinforces this expectation of the body of Christ.
From A.E. Knoch's Concordant Commentary on the New Testament for 2 Thess. 2:1:
"The controlling thought in this section of the epistle is based on the teaching of the first letter. Had they fully accepted and understood what he had already written to them they never would have been led to believe that the day of the Lord was already present. In the meantime it seems that Paul has been misrepresented in this matter, perhaps by a forged letter (3:17). He now gives two of the salient signs which will be present when the day of the Lord comes: the apostasy and the man of lawlessness. Neither of these was present at that time."
Paul had already told the Thessalonians that the body of Christ, both the living and the dead would be snatched away at the same time to meet the Lord in the air at His descending from heaven for them (1 Thess. 4:13-18). This resurrection of the dead at the same time as the Lord's descent for them precludes this from being the resurrection of faithful Israelites prophesied by Daniel in Daniel 12, as that resurrection occurs 75 days after Jesus' return for Israel. Paul also told them that the day of the Lord would not overtake them like a thief, because they are sons of light and sons of the day, and being of the day, they are not appointed to indignation at all (1 Thess. 5:1-11), with God’s indignation being a highlighting characteristic of the day of the Lord. This is reiterated by Paul at the beginning of his second letter to them when he reminded them they would be at ease at the unveiling of the Lord Jesus from heaven (2 Thess. 1:7)
2Ths 2:6-10: "And now you are aware what is detaining, for him to be unveiled in his own era. For the secret of lawlessness is already operating. Only when the present detainer may be coming to be out of the midst, then will be unveiled the lawless one (whom the Lord Jesus will despatch with the spirit of His mouth and will discard by the advent of His presence), whose presence is in accord with the operation of Satan, with all power and signs and false miracles and with every seduction of injustice among those who are perishing, because they do not receive the love of the truth for their salvation."
After coming to understand 2 Thess. 2:1-5 in the way I have described above, have I now changed my mind about the detainer mentioned in verses 6 and 7 being the saints of the body of Christ? No, I have not, and I believe the apostasy being exclusive to Israel supports this understanding. The apostasy is associated with the man of lawlessness' own era, an era in which the body of Christ has no part. Again, from Knoch's Concordant Commentary on the New Testament, for verse 7:
"The influences which will bring about the great apostasy of the end time have been at work from the beginning, but have been restrained by another, counteracting force. What is this? Some have supposed it to be the Spirit of God. But the Spirit of God will continue to work throughout the apostasy, enabling a few to endure to the end, and empowering others to be faithful unto death. It has been suggested that Satan "holds fast" his place in the celestial spheres, for when he is cast out the apostasy commences. His ejection does mark the crisis between the secret and open manifestation of the apostasy, but that which is restrained is evidently the apostasy, not a place in the celestial realms. The apostasy is restrained by the presence of the saints. When we are taken out of the midst by our assembling with Christ in the air, then the apostasy and all its terrible train of afflictions will deluge the earth with fire. Thus the apostle proves that their own presence on earth is conclusive evidence that they were not enduring the afflictions of the Lord's day."
In conclusion, many in the body of Christ have adopted the interpretation that the word apostasy in 2 Thess. 2:3 would be better translated as departure, with departure being a reference to the physical snatching away of the body of Christ. Though departure may be a fine translation of apostasia, a physical departure was not the emphasis of the word in any of the other scriptural contexts in which the word apostasia was found in our study. The emphasis was consistently on Israel departing from the law of God (Moses), and their abandonment of the covenant Israel made with God at Mt. Sinai. Therefore, I believe that is also what Paul was referring to 2 Thess. 2:3, and more specifically, he is referring to the apostasy that Israel commits when they accept the man that comes in his own name, and not in the name of the Father.
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In this talk by James Coram on 2 Thessalonians, James brings up many interesting points that further corroborate the findings I have presented here. This is talk number 323 under the free audio tab on the Concordant.org website.
Very interesting, my brother.
ReplyDeleteAnd, well written.
And, thoroughly researched.
Love, Grace and Peace!