2 Thessalonians 2:1-3
1. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto 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.
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;
If you ask the scripture, “what day shall not come”, the scripture answers, “the day of Christ”, but does not define that day. The teachings of that day have to be cross referenced. The Rapture of the Bride does not take place on the “day of Christ” which is the day of the return of the Messiah or the traditional second coming at the conclusion of the Great Tribulation. I totally agree with your passage.
That day shall not come “except” (a term that is critical in Rev 2:22) there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed.
Verse one is the passage most leave out. Paul is writing a second letter to the Thessalonians due to the fact someone has come into their midst and was teaching falsely they had missed “the gathering”.
If they had, that would place them inside The Great Tribulation and waiting now on the day of Christ. Paul is confirming for them that they had not. Also, all the comforting terms Paul uses mirror,
1 Thessalonians 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (Referring to the gathering).
I know this is old news to Post, Pre-Wrath and Mid-Tribbers, but If no one escapes (as described by Jesus Luke 21:36), I see no comfort in that news.
Luke 21:36
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
The foundation of the Pre-Tribulation teachings are clearly defined by the descriptions given by the scripture.
Revelation 1:7
7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
This is most definitely the Glorious Appearing or the “Traditional Second Coming” that occurs at the end of the Great Tribulation period. The truth is, the phrase “second coming” does not appear anywhere in the King James Version of the scripture that I have been able to find. I will stand corrected if any one can refer me to such a passage. I am sure it was the invention of a well meaning theologian somewhere in church history and derived from the obvious teachings regarding the return of Jesus Christ. But the term in and of itself does not appear in the text of the scripture. That is not to say there will be no second coming. There most certainly will be. But we must first find it in scripture under another term. This we will do from the passage Hebrews 9:28. The only instance in the entirety of the scripture (that I am aware of) when and where a numerical value is placed within the teaching of a reference to the return of our Lord.
Hebrews 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
This is the only verse in the scripture that directly identifies itself as referring to the second time the Lord Jesus will appear. Not the Rapture, (caught up or “snatched” before the Great Tribulation Period) not the traditional Second Coming (at the end of the Great Tribulation Period) but the next time or “second time” Jesus will make an appearance into this physical world.
The appearance of Jesus that is most commonly referred to, has him coming with/or/in the clouds of heaven, in/or/with great power and great glory (Matthew 24:29-30, Mark 13:24-26 and Luke 21:25-27).
Matthew 24:29-30
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mark 13:24-26
24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
Luke 21:25-27
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
These passages paired together in context suggest they speak of the same coming as it is also recorded in Revelation 1:7.
Revelation 1:7
7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
This appearance, that is so obviously the Glorious Appearing (every eye shall see him) undoubtedly takes place at the end of The Great Tribulation Period (after the tribulation of those days). But, these narratives do not record the numerical value identifying any of them as the second coming, nor do they agree with the description of Hebrews 9:28 that does (unto them that look for him shall he appear “the second time”).
The writer of Hebrews records clearly that he will appear to those who are looking for him and defines that appearance as the second time. These two criteria are then associated with the return of Jesus Christ in our future, due to the fact it has not yet occurred. Nowhere else in scripture are we given these two pieces of information attached to a single passage that is referring to an appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Since the passage of Hebrews is so dissimilar than the text of Matthew, Mark and Luke, the differences in their descriptions suggest there will be two separate events, both of which involve an appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Rapture, (the second time) appearing only to the select few who are looking for his return which will initiate the Great Tribulation Period. Then the traditional Second Coming, when the entire population of the world will see and witness his Triumphant Glorious Appearing which will end The Great Tribulation Period.
But, since this “theory” is derived from the assumption that the Rapture is in fact a biblical teaching from a predetermined Pre-Tribulational perspective, we need scriptural corroboration in order to accept it as truth. Is there a passage in the scripture that would help us confirm this “interpretation” of two separate comings of the Lord ? I believe there is, and as it happens, Jesus himself is again the speaker.
Luke 17:20-22
20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
22 And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.
He then turns to his disciples, with the subject of the coming of the Kingdom of God still the topic, and makes reference to the days of the Son of man, making the two subjects synonymous. But when he does so, he mentions the days in the plural, and then a time that will come when the disciples will desire to see one of them. “One of the days of the Son of man” is a direct indication of more than one, confirmed by the rest of the scripture in its descriptions as two, beginning and ending the time known as The Great Tribulation Period.