As always thanks so much for your great site. I have a question regarding the word apostasia found in 2 Thes 2:3. I have recently seen several commentaries that state that the word was used 15 times in the NT and only 3 times actually meaning apostasy, and that prior to the King James version the commentaries stated the word meant departure and not apostasy. Does this in fact say that the day will not come for the son of perdition except that we will be departed (raptured) or is it referring to the apostasy?
The meaning of the Greek word apostasia has always been the same and it only appears twice in the New Testament. Before the King James translation of 1611 it was translated departure because it’s derived from a root word that can mean departure. (It’s the root word that appears more often.) But even then the idea being conveyed is that it’s a departure from a condition or circumstance not a physical location. For example one of its meanings is divorce.
The sequence of events in 2 Thes. 2 does not depend on the meaning of apostasia, because however you translate it the Church will disappear before the anti-Christ is revealed. 2 Thes. 2:7-8 verify this.