Will there be a great apostasy during the end times?

Will there be a great apostasy during the end times?

We're going to answer that question.

You can also discover more on GotQuestions .org.

The Bible indicates that there will be a great apostasy during the end times.

The great apostasy is mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2 .3.

The KJV calls it the falling away, while the NIV and ESV call it

the rebellion.

And that's what an apostasy is, a rebellion, an abandonment of the truth.

The end times will include a wholesale rejection of God's revelation, a

further falling away of an already fallen world.

The occasion of Paul's writing to the Thessalonians was to correct some of the errors believers

had heard from false teachers.

The Christians in Thessalonica were afraid that Jesus had already come.

They had missed the rapture, and they were now in the tribulation.

Paul had already explained the rapture to them in his first letter.

Paul writes his second letter to assure them that contrary to what they had heard, and despite the

persecution they were enduring, the day of Christ had not yet come.

Paul makes it clear that the day of the Lord, a time of worldwide judgment, will not transpire

until two things happen.

First, the falling away, or great apostasy, must occur.

Second, the man of lawlessness, the Antichrist, must make himself known.

By then, the end times will indeed have come.

Numerous speculations about the identity of the man of sin beginning in the first century have included

Caligula, Caius Caesar, Muhammad, Napoleon, and any number of Roman popes.

None of them were the Antichrist.

The man of lawlessness, according to 2 Thessalonians, is the one who will oppose and

exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself

up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

The Greek word translated rebellion, or falling away, in verse 3 is apostasia, from

which we get the English word apostasy.

It refers to a general defection from the true God, the Bible, and the Christian faith.

Every age has its defectors.

But the falling away at the end times will be complete and worldwide.

The whole planet will be in rebellion against God and his Christ.

Every coup requires a leader, and into this global apostasy will step the

Antichrist.

We believe this takes place after the church has been raptured from the earth.

Jesus warned the disciples concerning the final days.

At that time, many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false

prophets will appear and deceive many people.

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.

That answers the question, will there be a great apostasy during the end times?

On our website, gotquestions .org, you'll find a deeper discussion and recommended resources.

If this helped you, give us a thumbs up and click subscribe.

Meanwhile, if you'd like to study more, click the bell and check out these other questions.