The Falling Away

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 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. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 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.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 (KJV)

I would like to talk for a moment about this passage and particularly the phrase ‘falling away’. The underlying Greek word here has some very interesting traits. According to Strong’s 646 it means ‘apostasia’ or apostasy; a defection from truth. Interestingly, it is a derivative of Strong’s 647 (apostasion) which describes separation, especially divorce.

Who Falls Away?

And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2 Thessalonians 2:6 (KJV)

Do you believe that every word is scripture was chosen for a reason and means something? Please take note now that the word 'what' is used, not who. The 'what' is an event, not a person. What then is withholding the Antichrist from being revealed?

Could it be that those who are 'falling away' are doing so from the faith? Well consider this; is God holding back the Antichrist from being revealed so that more people can leave the faith? I think not. Also this would imply that collectively speaking the world was at one time on the right track and subsequently strayed. However scripture tells us the path is narrow and there are very few who find it (Matthew 7:14 (KJV). Now there is indeed separation on account of apostasy taking place, however it is clear to me that this ‘falling away’ is the Bride of Christ separating herself from those apostates who have received not the love of the truth. But now I want you to look a little deeper.

At this point we could easily pat ourselves on the back and walk away from this passage confident that Paul is talking about true Christians separating themselves from the Great Whore.  Of course this is a great truth; after all, contrary to the cry of unity from every world religion God’s Word tells us to separate ourselves from unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14-17 KJV). But there is just one problem here, one niggling fact; I hate loose ends. Why was the derivative word apostasia chosen instead of its root apostasion? Because apostasion is gender neutral whereas apostasia is the feminine derivative.

If we backtrack to the first passage for a moment we see that the subject Paul is discussing is what needs to occur before the ‘day of Christ’ can come. First there’s the ‘falling away’ then the man of sin (The Antichrist) is revealed. The same Greek word translated as ‘falling away’ in Thessalonians 2:3 (KJV) is translated as ‘forsake’ in Acts 21:21 (KJV).

So let’s review what we have so far. We have a ‘falling away’ that must occur before the man of sin (Antichrist) can be revealed. This word means apostasy or abandonment of the truth and is derived from a word which means separation or divorce. In another part of the bible this word is translated into English as ‘forsake’.

Who is Taken Out of the Way?

For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 (KJV)

Now compare this passage to the first one. First, we see that it is indeed the Antichrist who is being withheld from being revealed, because the word “Wicked” is capitalized indicating a common noun, a person. But unlike in the first passage here it is the masculine who is withholding (only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way). In addition, we see that the Holy Spirit doesn’t fall away, but is forcibly taken out of the way. Is anything in the bible there unintentionally?

As I pointed out earlier those ‘falling away’ are intentionally referred to using the feminine. So since it is not the masculine Holy Spirit falling away it can only be one of the two remaining feminine entities; the Bride of Christ or the Harlot church.

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Revelation 18:4 (KJV)

This verse seals the deal for me. Reality check folks; the Great Whore wants unity not falling away or separation. It is Christ Himself who is even at this late hour calling us to separate ourselves, to fall away from the Great Whore which is the Catholic Church. She is the Mother of Harlots and her daughters are the all apostate religions and Protestant denominations.

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Matthew 3:11-12 (KJV)

So we’ve got both the Bride of Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit on the earth. But which one of the two is withholding the Antichrist? It is both; they are one! The Bride of Christ (feminine) coming out of the apostate world religion is the falling away that must take place. It is not until this is completed that the Holy Spirit (masculine) will be forcibly taken out of the way by the Father thus allowing the Antichrist to be revealed in his time.

As I’ve written before the Holy Spirit is not floating around in the ether of space but lives in the hearts of true Christians. You see, it is the Holy Spirit within the Bride who withholds the Antichrist from being revealed. When the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way we who have kept our robes will go along with Him. Are your garments spotless?