The Meaning of Apostasia

The Meaning of Apostasia

3 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; 2 Thessalonians 2: 3 (King James Version)

The Greek word for the phrase "falling away" is apostasia. A possible rendering of the Greek apostasia is "departure [of the church]."

Notice that 2 Thessalonians 2: 3 starts out saying; let no man deceive you. Whenever you see that phrase in the Bible, it implies that there will be strong deception in and around this topic. If this were not the case, why would the Holy Spirit ad this emphasis? Many have been deceived about the simplicity of the rapture because the truth about the rapture gives us hope and comfort. Hence, the enemy has worked overtime to distort the truth which bring liberty and joy and replace it with deception which brings fear and bondage. Some would say, but Bernard this teaching about us leaving before the great tribulation is just too good to be true. Well, stick with me today and I will show you that it is true. In reality the whole gospel sounds too good to be true, but it is true. We will do some deeper analysis of the Greek word apostasia which I will seek to make as simple as possible without watering down the meaning of the word.

Understanding Apostasia

The Greek noun apostasia is only used twice in the New Testament. In addition to 2 Thessalonians 2:3, it occurs in Acts 21:21 where, speaking of Paul, it is said, "that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake (apostasia) Moses." The word is a Greek compound of apo " from" and istemi "stand." Thus, it has the core meaning of "away from" or "departure." The Liddell and Scott Greek Lexicon defines apostasia first as "defection, revolt;" then secondly as "departure, disappearance."Gordon Lewis explains how the verb from which the noun apostasia is derived supports the basic meaning of departure in the following:

The verb may mean to remove spatially. There is little reason then to deny that the noun can mean such a spatial removal or departure. Since the noun is used only one other time in the New Testament of apostasy from Moses (Acts 21:21), we can hardly conclude that its Biblical meaning is necessarily determined. The verb is used fifteen times in the New Testament. Of these fifteen, only three have anything to do with a departure from the faith (Luke 8:13; 1 Timothy 4:1; Hebrews 3:12). The word is used for departing from iniquity (2 Timothy 2:19), from ungodly men (1 Timothy 6:5), from the temple (Luke 2:27), from the body (2 Corinthians 12:8), and from persons (Acts 12:10; Luke 4:13).

"It is with full assurance of proper exegetical study and with complete confidence in the original languages," "that the word meaning of apostasia is defined as departure." Paul Lee Tan adds the following:

What precisely does Paul mean when he says that "the falling away" (2:3) must come before the tribulation? The definite article "the" denotes that this will be a definite event, an event distinct from the appearance of the Man of Sin. The Greek word for "falling away," taken by itself, does not mean religious apostasy or defection. Neither does the word mean "to fall," as the Greeks have another word for that. [pipto, I fall; TDI] The best translation of the word is "to depart." The apostle Paul refers here to a definite event which he calls "the departure," and which will occur just before the start of the tribulation. This is the rapture of the church.

So the word has the core meaning of departure and it depends upon the context to determine whether it is used to mean physical departure or an abstract departure such as departure from the faith. Remember when studying the Bible that the context defines the meaning, not just the Greek. I remember when I first heard this teaching by the late Dr. Roy Hicks Sr. at our Church Prevailing Word Church in Anchorage, Alaska and the revelation illuminated me. Here is what struck me; How can there be a great revival just before the Lord returns if there is a great falling away at the same time? No, there will be a great revival of people returning to the faith and then a great departure before the Great Tribulation because Jesus has said, and I paraphrase; "My house shall be full!"

THE DECEPTION IS FOUND IN "TRANSLATION HISTORY"

The first seven English translations of apostasia all rendered the noun as either "departure" or "departing." They are as follows: Wycliffe Bible (1384); Tyndale Bible (1526); Coverdale Bible (1535); Cranmer Bible (1539); Breeches Bible (1576); Beza Bible (1583); Geneva Bible (1608).[5] This supports the notion that the word truly means "departure." In fact, Jerome's Latin translation known as the Vulgate from around the time of a.d. 400 renders apostasia with the "word discessio, meaning 'departure.'" Why was the King James Version the first to depart from the established translation of "departure"?

Theodore Beza, the Swiss reformer was the first to transliterate apostasia and create a new word, rather than translate it as others had done. The translators of the King James Version were the first to introduce the new rendering of apostasia as "falling away." Most English translators have followed the KJV and Beza in departing from translating apostasia as "departure." No good reason was ever given. I personally believe that this is the root of deception around the rapture. If you pray and let the Holy Spirit guide you and not the doctrines of foolish men, you will know the truth and get ready for the soon return of Jesus!

In Him,
Bernard

Reference;

Dr. Thomas Ice, www.pre-trib.org

Henry George Liddell and Henry Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, Revised with a Supplement [1968] by Sir Henry Stuart Jones and Roderick McKenzie (Oxford, Eng.: Oxford University Press, 1940), p. 218.

Gordon R. Lewis, "Biblical Evidence for Pretribulationism," Bibliotheca Sacra (vol. 125, no. 499; July 1968), p. 218.

Daniel K. Davey, "The 'Apostesia' of II Thessalonians 2:3," Th.M. thesis, Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, May 1982, p. 27.

Paul Lee Tan, The Interpretation of Prophecy (Winona Lake, IN: Assurance Publishers, 1974), p. 341.

H. Wayne House, "Apostasia in 2 Thessalonians 2:3: Apostasy or Rapture?" in Thomas Ice and Timothy Demy, eds., When the Trumpet Sounds: Today's Foremost Authorities Speak Out on End-Time Controversies (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1995), p. 270.

Gordon R. Lewis & Bruce A. Demarest, Integrative Theology 3 vols in 1 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), vol. 3, p. 420.

E. Schuyler English, Re-Thinking the Rapture (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1954), p. 70.

Allan A. MacRae, Letter to E. Schuyler English, published in "Let the Prophets Speak," Our Hope, (vol. LVI, num. 12; June 1950), p. 725.

Kenneth S. Wuest, Letter to E. Schuyler English, published in "Let the Prophets Speak," Our Hope, (vol. LVI, num. 12; June 1950), p. 731.



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