Shabbat Shalom! The Bible is the Word of God and the Word of God is precious to the hearts of those that love the Lord. Many years ago, I remember when my grandfather in the city of Jerusalem was taking me to the synagogue. They were singing those songs that come from the book of Psalms. How David, years ago, used to say, "Oh, how I love thy law, thy word is my meditation all the day long." And so, we are very thankful that we have the privilege of reading from the Scripture, from the Word of God, whether it is in the Tanakh, that is the Old Testament, or whether it is in the Brit HaChadasha, that is the New Covenant.

It is the Word of the Lord, and when we study the Word of the Lord, the Lord can feed us and encourage us, so we will be able to follow after Him, and have the hope that He had given to those that belong to Him. So, we are studying now in the book of 2 Thessalonians. So, I would like you, dear brothers and sisters, to turn to the second letter that Shaul Paul wrote to the brothers and sisters in the local assembly in the city of Thessalonica. We have arrived to the second chapter of 2 Thessalonians, which really is a prophetic message that Shaul Paul had given to the believers in Thessalonica.

And it's a very important chapter, because in these verses, we learn the program and the prophetic plan of God that was already given to the prophets of Israel long before even the Messiah has come. But we, as believers, have an additional information in the present-day age of the assembly or the ecclesia in which we live in. And so, I began with the plan to speak on the whole second chapter of 2 Thessalonians. But as I was reading the text and preparing for my message, I really had a very hard time to quickly rush through all these verses. So, I would like to limit this ministry meeting to only the first seven verses of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.

The title of the message will be the Enlightenment concerning the day of the Lord, Yom Le-Yehovah, Yom Le-Adonai, as we have this in the Hebrew Scriptures, in the Tanakh. So, Shaul Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 1, and he says, "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord Yeshua HaMashiach, and our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind or troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us. As that the day of Christ, or the day of Mashiach, 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 men of sin be revealed the son of perdition, who opposes and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember, ye not, that when I was with you, I told you these things, and now ye know what restraineth, that he might be revealed in his time, for the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only he who now restraineth will let or will restrain until he be taken out of the way. And I cannot stop here in verse 7. Now again, dear brothers and sisters, forgive me for being repetitious, you know.

In Jewish history, when the children learn from the word of God, they usually are repeating things. And in various chadarim, or schools, or synagogue, they will teach the boys to repeat what they have learned before, so it will help them along the way. Well, for us as believers in Yeshua, the Messiah repetitions is very important. To remind you that the Apostle Paul had three missionary journeys. When the Messiah came and saved him on the way to Damascus, and brought him to become a servant of the Messiah, then the Apostle Paul, Shaul Paul, began to serve the Lord among the Goyim, the Gentiles. And so when he went, he had three missionary journeys among the Gentile world.

He had arrived to various cities and towns in Asia Minor, and he preached the Gospel of our Lord Jesus, our Lord Yeshua HaMashiach. Well, on his second missionary journey, at about 50 AD, Shaul Paul and Silas and Timothy have arrived to the city of Thessalonica. In the city of Thessalonica, called today, Saloniki. My mother is from Saloniki originally. And when he arrived to Saloniki, he did not have yet the canon of Scripture completed. Brit HaChadasha, New Covenant, New Testament, was not yet compiled. He only had in his hand, you might say, the Tanakh, the Old Testament. So he entered into the synagogue of the Jews, of our own Jewish people, as we read in Acts chapter 17.

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his manner was, he went in unto them, and three Shabbat days, he risen with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging that the Messiah must need to suffer and risen again from the dead, and that this Yeshua, whom I preach unto you, is the Mashiach, the Messiah. So Shaul Paul presented before these Jewish people in the synagogue the fact that Yeshua is that Messiah who once had to suffer, and then later on he will rise from among the dead, and that he is that very promised Messiah.

Well, he didn't yet give them all the many, many information that you and I have today in the canon of Scripture, but many of them became believers in Yeshua. Gentiles as well became believers in Yeshua, and the local church, the local assembly in the city of Thessalonica was formed. Well, he had quickly to run away, to flee from there, because there were persecutions there which began against him and also against the believers in Thessalonica. He quickly fled. He went to Borea. He went to Athens. He went to the city of Corinth. Then he sent Timothy to see how they are doing in Thessalonica. Chapter 3 of 1 Thessalonians teaches us of the visit of the sending of Timothy to Thessalonica.

Timothy came back. He gave him the report. Things are not bad, but there are many challenges that these brethren experience in their lifetime in the city of Thessalonica. Persecution and trouble, they're experiencing opposition to the Gospel for many. The Jewish community, the Gentile community, they all caused them to be persecuted, and they go through terrible difficult time in the city of Thessalonica. And so these events of persecution cause the brothers and sisters in the city of Thessalonica to assume that they are already finding themselves in the time that is called the Day of the Lord. And the Day of the Lord in Hebrew, Yom Le-Yehovah or Yom Le-Adonai, a day which is describing a seven-year tribulation period which is given to us already in Daniel chapter 9.

Seventy weeks determined upon your people, God said to Daniel through the angel in Daniel chapter 9. And the 70th week, the last week, which is seven years, these are terrible times that the Lord will use in this world to discipline Israel, Israel to judge the world in order to restore a final shalom, a final peace in a future day. Well, these brothers and sisters, obviously, have gone through trouble, and because of the trouble that they have experienced, they assumed that they are already in what is known to be as the Day of the Lord, Yom Le-Yehovah, the tribulation period. So he wrote to them the second letter about a few months after.

In other words, the first letter was written at about 52 AD, which is two years after he led them to the Messiah, after he visited them. And then two years after he wrote the first letter, and a few months later, he writes the second letter that you and I are studying today. In our previous meeting together, in chapter 1, he encouraged the brothers and sisters who were going through tribulation. So he encouraged them, they were going through trouble, not the tribulation, but tribulation, trouble, sorrow, persecution. And so in the first chapter, he encouraged them, he told them in chapter 1, verses 1 to 12, that he says, "Listen, I am so much boasting in you because of your faithfulness to the Lord, verses 1, 2, 3 and 4." Then he assured them of the promises of God, verses 5 to 10, and finally he prayed for them in verses 11 and 12 of 2 Thessalonians chapter 1.

But now, he continued in this second letter, in the second chapter, and in the second chapter, he kind of enlightening them concerning the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord, Yom Le-Yehovah, the tribulation period. And because they were suffering, because they were really in sorrow and trials, because of persecutions, they thought that they are already in the middle of the trouble that was promised by the Hebrew prophet concerning the day of the Lord. And I want to remind you, beloved brothers and sisters, and just give you some thoughts, what God said to our Hebrew prophets of old, many years ago, before Yeshua came, concerning the day of the Lord.

For example, in Isaiah chapter 2, verses, verse 12, we read, "For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon everyone that is lifted up, and he shall be brought low." It's a terrible time. God was going to judge, to bring the proud, putting down, and God is going to judge this world in the day of the Lord, in Yom Le-Yehovah. In Isaiah 13, we read, in verse 6, "Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand. It shall come as a destruction from the Almighty." There will not be any shalom, it will be a destruction, first of all, before the Messiah will come at his second coming, at the end of the tribulation.

Look what he says in verse 9 of Isaiah chapter 13, "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel, both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate, and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it." "God is going to come in judgment upon an unbelieving world who rejects the Messiah Yeshua, who rejects his word." This is what Isaiah, the Hebrew prophet said, 750 years before even Yeshua himself, the Messiah was born. But not only Isaiah. Look what Yoel said concerning the day of the Lord. Yoel chapter 1 and verse 15, "Alas! For the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come." Yoel 2 verse 1, "Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound the alarm in my holy mountain.

Let the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord cometh. For it is nigh at hand," Yoel said. In verse 11 of chapter 2, we read, "And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army, for his camp is very great. For he is strong that executes his word. For the day of the Lord is great, and very terrible, and who can abide it?" You know, sometimes you hear of those songs, "For the day of the Lord is come," and people kind of clap their hands, as if it's going to be a day that we're all going to be happy-go-lucky. But the Bible teaches us that the day of the Lord is a day of judgment.

I didn't read the many passages that I found in the scripture, like for example, Tsephaniah, who said in chapter 1 and verse 14, "The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hates greatly. Even the voice of the day of the Lord, the mighty men shall cry there bitterly." Zechariah say in chapter 14 and verse 1, "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoils shall be divided in the midst of thee." Well, beloved brothers and sisters, the day of the Lord is a day of judgment. Yom Le-Yehovah is where God is going to take His righteous vengeance against the sinfulness of this world. In fact, I would like to just mention that we did read, if you remember, in the previous study of 1 Thessalonians chapter 5.

Notice, I'm just going to read this passage here before we'll continue in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 3. "For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction come upon them as travail upon a woman with a child, and they shall not escape." Judgment is coming. Judgment is coming. The world is being, you might say, preparing itself for the day of the Lord to come in a soon coming day. So the Thessalonians were believers already. They have accepted the Messiah, Yeshua, as their Lord and their Savior. And therefore, if you remember, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 13 to 18, He already told them of the catching up of the assembly, of the snatching up of the church, of the calling up to heaven, the believers in Yeshua the Messiah, before the day of the Lord will come.

And I remind you, and I'm going to read these verses. "For if we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Yeshua will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. The dead in Mashiach, the dead in Christ shall rise first and listen to verse 17. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up, shall be raptured, shall be snatched up out of this place together with them in the cloud.

And listen to these beloved brothers and sisters, to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. The believers of the assembly, of the ecclesia, will meet the Lord in the air prior to the day of the Lord, which is the tribulation period that's going to come upon the face of this earth. So, now, all this I said, in order for us to grasp what's going on here in the second chapter. Because in the second chapter, notice this, verses 1 to 7, Shaul Paul enlightening the brothers and sisters in Thessalonica, and he's enlightening you and I with the fact that the day of the Lord is not yet come, because there are certain things that had to happen before the tribulation that is the day of the Lord that is Yom Le-Yehovah will come.

And so notice what he said to them in verse 1 and verse 2. Now, we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him, then verse 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 the day of Christ or Mashiach or Lord is at hand. In other words, just pause here for a moment. You see, apparently, because of the persecution that these brethren have experienced, and you can read about the persecutions of the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 6, 2 and verse 14, 3 and verses 3 and 4, 5 and verse 15, 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verse 4.

This is the book in which we are reading today. He says, "For we are self-glorying in you in the assemblies of God, for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulation that ye endure." Paul is saying to them, "Brethren, we understand that you are being persecuted and being treated awfully by the unbelieving world, but you are not yet in the day of tribulation, because you are not part of the tribulation of the day of the Lord which will come." But apparently, some kind of false teachings and false instructions had been given to these brethren already 2,000 years ago, at about 50, 51, 52, 53 A.D. Look what he's telling them.

"Now we beseech you, brethren," verse 1, "by the coming of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, and troubled, either by spirit, nor by word, nor by letters as from us, as the day of the Lord is at hand, as the day of Christ is at hand." See what he's telling them? So interesting. He says, "Why are you shaking and you are in fear as if the day of the Lord already have come?" Well, apparently, brothers and sisters, it's already then, many years ago, just like in our days today, in every generation, whether it is Jewish history, or whether it is Israel history, or whether it is church history, assembly history, there were always those who rose up in the midst of the nation of Israel, and in the midst of the assembly, to teach certain things that are not really found in the word of God.

And people are swayed. You know, I don't know if we are any different than anybody else. We are so quickly, we are like sheep going astray. Every voice and every wind of doctrine, we adapt it. And we can say, "Oh, yes." And another one says, "Oh, yeah, yeah, this is right." And another preacher comes to town, "Oh, maybe what he says it is correct." Instead of listening to the Spirit of God, through the Word of God, to listen to what the Lord is saying. So, notice that he said, "I beseech you." "I beg you." "I beg you." "By what?" "I beseech you, brethren." Notice he called them brethren, because they were believers in Yeshua, the Messiah.

So, he's speaking to the brethren, to the Achim, as we say in Hebrew. And he beseeched them. He says, "Brethren, listen, I'm telling you. I'm telling you, I beseech you, number one, by the coming of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. And number two, by our gathering together unto him." In other words, he's taking them back to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, as it says here, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Messiah shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together to meet him in the cloud." In the air.

So, he's taking them back to what he already taught them in the first letter when he wrote to them about the snatching up of the believers to meet the Lord in the air. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. So, listen, I beseech you, brethren, by the coming of the Lord, this coming is the coming to take his people because they are snatched, they are taking together to meet him in the air. In verse 1, "On this basis he beseeched them." Listen, "On the basis of the promise of the coming of the Lord for his own people, I'm beseeching you, lest," and now notice what he says in verse 2, he says, "That ye be not soon shaken in mind, nor troubled." Now, there's two things I kind of brought to the surface as I was reading this text.

The word for shaken and the word for trouble, in Hebrew we call it lehitaref ve lehibahel, is when someone is scared and he is shaken because he heard of some bad news that somebody had delivered unto him. And you know how quickly, when you are being told about something that is going to occur or something perhaps has come upon you, you are very scared and you are shaken in your mind and you are troubled in your mind and he doesn't leave you because you have that fear that is taking over your mind and your thoughts and so on. Well, apparently somebody came to Thessalonica after Shaul Paul left and began to teach things that were not found in the teaching of the apostle Paul.

Because notice what he said, "Neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter," and notice he had the word "ess from us." And the "ess from us" is Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, as we read in the first verse of 2 Thessalonians 1. So apparently somebody came to the meeting and told them, "Listen, we received a word from the apostle Paul and here is the letter that he wrote and let me tell you what Paul said and Timothy and Silas, that we are already in the day of the Lord, in Yom Le-Yehovah, in the tribulation period." Now imagine, I don't have to tell you a lot because you and I would just have to open the television, we have to go on the internet, we have to read certain places and get some messages and you find out so many things.

This one, you have an idea. We have even some people that tells us they even know the day when the Lord is going to come. October 28th or September something. They already, they know the dates. Somehow they got the Revelation 23 from the Lord and they know the date of the coming of the Lord while Yeshua himself said that no one knows the days nor the time wherein the Lord is coming. It is kept in the hands of the Lord. But somehow it is always happening. And brothers and sisters, listen, we have to check things out, to evaluate on the basis of the complete canon of Scripture, to in prayer ask the Lord to help us.

None of us have all the truth in our hands, in our hearts. We are all students. We are learners. We are Talmidim. We are followers of Yeshua the Messiah. We don't have all things. We don't know all things. But we have to compare Scripture with Scripture. We have to understand that we cannot base our views upon feeling. Apparently what happened with these dear brethren who were not old in the faith. They were only a couple of years in the faith. 50, the year 50 they became believers. The year 52 or so they got the first letter. A few months after they getting that letter. I am amazed in the study of these letters to the Thessalonians how much information they received from Shaul Paul as young believers.

While you and I are struggling. We are 30 years in the Lord. 40 years in the Lord. 50 years in the Lord. And we still do not have a fundamental basis upon which we stand. And we are still like, you know, like the trees. We are blowing from place to place. In fact, I want you to turn with me to Ephesians chapter 4 for a moment. Look what Shaul Paul said to the Ephesian believers. Why do we give you gifted men in the assembly and Bible teachers and shepherds and evangelists? Why? Listen to this. It says in Ephesians chapter 4 for the reason, verse 12, for the perfecting of the saints or the maturing of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for edifying the body of Christ, the body of Messiah.

Notice verse 14. He said that we, this is us, henceforth be not more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight. Notice that. By the slight of men and by the cunning craftiness whereby they, this is the false teachers, lay in wait to deceive. Beloved brothers and sisters, deceiving and tricking the people of God, it's something that existed many, many years ago. We are not different than what happened many, many years ago, beloved brothers and sisters. And the apostle Paul saying, brothers and sisters of Thessalonica, you really need to know, and I'm appealing to you by the fact that the Lord is coming and we are going to be gathered together unto him that you should no more shake or be troubled by anything, not by spirit, not by word, not by letter as if it is from us, Paul, Timothy and Silas.

Brethren, you have to realize this. Don't be influenced by everyone who come and tell you this is the ways of the Lord. Paul sent us this letter. You know, it is so sad that there are those who start to believe in certain other extra biblical writing as if it is divinely inspired. And then we start to look at those writings to find the ways of the Lord in the writings that were not given to us by divine inspiration. And so the word of God is what we need to go by, first of all. But these brethren didn't have all the word of God. They didn't come to the meeting hall in Thessalonica with the Tanakh and the Britach Adashah in their hand and walking with the Bible in their hand going to the meeting.

They didn't have because, first of all, in the synagogue of our own Jewish people, you only have the Tanakh, not the New Testament. And even then, when the Apostle Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians, it was not yet canonized. He is still writing, he is acting the time in which he is teaching his word. So he says, brethren, we do not want you to be influenced. I beseech you on a basis of the coming of the Lord in our gathering. We're going to be with him, beloved brothers and sisters, soon and very soon. I don't want you to be misunderstanding the truth as if you are already in the day of the Lord, in the tribulation period.

Notice, by the way, I found it extremely interesting because it says here in verse 2 at the end, as, notice this expression, as that the day of Messiah, the day of Christ is at hand. Now, I kind of took a note of it and I read this particular verse in all the given translation that we have in English. It is only King James and New King James that gives us this expression, the day of Christ, rather than the day of the Lord. In fact, I made a note that the King James Version, the New King James Version, the Young's Literal Translation and the Webster's Bible, the HNV, those five translations use the day of Christ.

The fifth one, this is the Hebrew name version, it gives us the day of Messiah. But, New King James, King James, Young's Literal Translation and Webster's Bible, all give us the day of Christ. So, five, you might say, specifically King James and New King James use the word Christ, Mashiach in Hebrew, Messiah. All the rest of the translation use the day of the Lord, rather than the day of Mashiach. And that's why many people are kind of troubled because of that, because they say, wait a minute. The day of Christ is not the day of the Lord. Why? Because we read in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ." And they're mixing the fact that there is a difference between the judgment seat of Christ, the judgment seat of the Messiah, which is only for believers, to evaluate our lives as believers, while the day of the Lord is the tribulation period, and it is only for unbelievers.

So, they kind of say, no, no, no, wait a minute, there's something wrong. I don't think this is the day of the Lord. But the truth of the matter is that the day of Christ, the day of Messiah, is not to be distinguished from the day of the Lord. Why? Because Yeshua, the Messiah, the New Testament name of Yeshua, is the Old Testament name of what we know today, Jehovah. The God of Israel exists and consists in three persons. Each one of them is Jehovah, the Eternal One. And it is God, the Son, who took humanity, union with His divine nature, and He became a man, became the Messiah, became the Christ, the Messiah.

So, it is He, the Messiah, who will judge this world in a future day. So, it is no different between the day of the Lord and the day of Christ. As far as we are concerned, from biblical perspective, it is the same day of the Lord. The same day of trouble, which will come upon the face of this world. So, now, go back to 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2. Now, after He besieged them, in verses 1 and 2, He besieged them not to be troubled, as if, verse 2b, the day of the Lord is already at hand, is there already. Then, in verses 3 to 12, He gives them the reason why they cannot be already in the day of the Lord, in the day of Mashiach, in the day of the judgment of the tribulation.

And so, He gives them reasons, from verses 3 to 12. We are going to just deal today, from verses 3 to 7, some of the reasons why it cannot be, beloved brothers and sisters of the Thessalonians, that you are already in the day of the judgment of God, the day of the Lord. Here are the reasons that He is giving to them in verses 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, and later on, verses 8 to the end of the chapter. And so, first of all, He gives them reason number one, that before the day of the Lord will come, apostasy, a departure must occur. And so, let me read these verses, verses 3, 4, and 5. He says, "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 opposes and exalteth himself above all that is called God, all that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Remember ye not, that when I was with you, I told you these things." So, let's pause here for a moment. He's telling them in verses 3, 4, and 5, that number one, before the day of the Lord, before the tribulation period, will come, first of all, apostasy must occur. The English here, it uses the word falling away. It comes from the Greek word apostasia. It's really a word that speaks of departure, or defection, or leaving. The meaning of the word apostasy is an abandonment of a belief that one once professed to hold. What is apostasy? Apostasy is an abandonment of a belief that one once professed to hold.

That is apostasy. In other words, what he's really saying to them, he says, "Beloved brothers and sisters of Thessalonica, I want you to know, you are not right now in the day of the Lord, the day of Mashiach, the day of judgment. Why? Simply because certain things have to happen according to the word of God before that day can have its beginning. First of all, I already told you that you have no part in the day of the Lord, in the day of God's wrath. I have already told you that." You notice, if you go back please with me to chapter 1 of 1 Thessalonians. And it says in verses 9 and 10, "For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how that ye turn to God from idols, to serve the living and the true God." Verse 10, "And to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Yeshua," listen to that, "which delivered us from the wrath to come." Brothers and sisters of Thessalonica, Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus the Messiah, delivered us from the wrath, the judgment to come.

Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, please, with me. And I'm reading verse 8 and 9. "But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation." Listen to this. "For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation or deliverance by our Lord Jesus Christ, our Adon Yeshua HaMashiach." We are not appointed unto wrath. Yeshua delivered us from the wrath to come. And therefore, beloved brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the day of the Lord cannot start as long as you are here, because I already told you this in the previous letter.

But not only this. He's saying to them, secondly, notice that, and I'm back to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse, notice the verse, verse 3. "He said to them, let no man deceive you by any means, for that day, making a reference to the day of Mashiach, the day of the Lord. He said that they shall not come, notice now, except or unless, first of all, there shall come a falling away first." In fact, what he's really telling them, beloved brothers and sisters, when that day is going to come, before it arrives, that will be a time of defection from the truth, departure from the ABC of the Word of God, by, as I mentioned, the word apostasia is abandonment of a belief that one professed to hold.

In fact, what we really learn here, that he's telling them, listen, the last days of the church age, of the assembly age, will be evidenced by the way that you will see how things are going to fall apart. And many who profess and claim as if they believed in the work of Yeshua the Messiah, they will depart, they will defect from that which they have professed to hold. They didn't really hold it, but they claimed, they professed to hold it. Now, let me read you a couple of verses, if you turn to the book of Timothy with me. 1 Timothy chapter 4, and I'm reading the first few verses.

This is so interesting in the preparation for this ministry. Amazing what the Apostle Paul gave to these young believers. Two or three years old in the faith, not like you and I, 30, 40, 50 years in the faith. He said to them, notice in 1 Timothy chapter 4, and verse 1, he said, Now the Spirit speaks expressly that in the latter time some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirit and doctrine of demons, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry and commending to abstain from meats which God has created to be received with thanksgiving, and them which believe and know the truth.

1 Timothy chapter 4, and the first three verses. Look a little bit further, beloved brothers and sisters, in 2 Timothy chapter 3. Look at these verses. I'm just going to give it to you, and you can read them in your own leisure whenever you have the time for that. Notice 2 Timothy chapter 3, in the first verse. This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. This is among the professing believers. "For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good." Verse 4, "Traders, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God." Verse 5, "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." Timothy, I'm telling you, this is what's going to happen in the last day among the professing assemblies, the professing church, the professing called out ones.

Then he said to them, in the end, he says, "From such, turn away," in verse 5 of 2 Timothy chapter 3. I mean, it is fascinating. Notice 2 Timothy chapter 4, verses 3 and 4. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts they shall heap for themselves teachers, having itching ear." You see, people don't like doctrine. Don't give me doctrine. All we need is love, is love, love, love. Well, the Beatles sang this. But we don't need only love, beloved brothers and sisters. Yes, we need love, but we need light. We need truth. And that's why he's saying to them, you know, after their own lusts they will not do sound doctrine.

Notice it says in verse 4, "And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables." Turn to 2 Peter chapter 2, that you will not think only Paul wrote about this. Peter himself, look what Peter said in the earlier part of his writing. He said in chapter 2 and verse 1, he said, "But there were false prophets among the people, namely Israel, historically." Now he said, "Even as there shall be false teachers among you, brothers and sisters." It was in the past, in our own nation's history, it will be in the present among the believers in the body of Messiah. "Who will privately shall bring indemnable heresies, even," listen to this, "even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction." Now, brothers and sisters, listen, this is serious.

What the Apostle Paul is saying to the Thessalonians is saying, "Listen, I'm telling you, you are not in the day of Mashiach, the day of the Lord, Yom Adonai or Yom Le-Yehovah." Why? Because certain things had to happen first. Number one, I have already told you in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 that you will be not even here to experience this. Because God had not appointed us unto wrath. Secondly, he says there must be a departure, an apostasy. It is those that abandoned the belief which once they profess to believe. "Oh, I used to believe in Yeshua, but now I don't think He is the Messiah." "Oh, I used to believe in the Bible, but now really, you know, how can you be sure that the Bible is correct?" "Oh, I used to believe in God, but now, you know, listen, we are modern.

We're living in those days. Everyone is God to Himself." "I used to believe in the ABC. My mother taught me. My grandmother taught me." "But you see, I'm enlightened. I'm living in the day of the computers." "And I can just press a button and I can send things and I can do many things." "The rockets are going in the air. There are many things." "You know, we are genius. We know so much." "But brothers and sisters, it doesn't matter how much bright we are." "How much education we have." "The Bible will never change." "Heaven and earth, Yeshua said, will pass away, but my word will never change." "It will remain the same." "So some people came to Thessalonica and they're saying," "Hey, brother, listen, we have a letter from Paul." "They cheated them.

They lied to them." "In fact, that's why he said to them," "Let no men deceive you," verse 3.

"And let me just say that by way of making the point to us all." "You know that since the days of old, Satan always wanted to deceive men." "Already before Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden," "Satan in Isaiah chapter 14 says," "I will be like the Most High." "I want to dethrone God and I want to be God." "That's why in Scripture he's called the God of this world," "with a small g." "He's not the God who created the world," "but he's the God of this world that the world follow after him," "by rejecting the true and living God." "And since then he tricked people all along." "It began in the Garden

of Eden when Chava," "when Eve," "instead of listening to what her husband had to say," "she went and listened to the voice of the serpent who beguiled her." "And Adam was worse than her," "instead of obeying the Word of God," "he disobeyed the Word of God," "and he plunged the whole human race into sin." "That's why you and I are called sinners." "I know we don't like it sometimes," "but we are sinners," "who are called saints today," "because of the work of Yeshua the Messiah." "But by nature we are sinners." "We have no good in our human nature." "We deserve to be judged by God." "That's why he judged the Messiah." "So you and I

who are sinners who deserve to go to hell." "The Messiah was punished on our behalf." "Paul is saying, brothers and sisters, don't you understand that?" "Don't let anybody deceive you." "Satan is a deceiver." "He's a liar from the beginning." "And he deceived us all throughout the ages." "And he's still, by the way, he's still deceiving today until one day he's going to stop when the judgment of God will come upon him." "And so the Apostle Paul is mentioning this to the brothers and sisters." "And notice what he's saying." "He's just heading up and he's saying now in verse 4, first of all, there gotta be an apostasy, a departure." "And then," he said, "notice that

immediately in the same verse," "verse 3, not only that apostasy will come," "will happen at the last day of the church age," "which will bring about the taking up of the assembly out of here," "and the beginning of the tribulation will come," "and guess what?" "He says in verse 3," "and the man of sin will be revealed," "the son of perdition or the son of destruction." "He's now speaking about one single man that is going to be revealed." "By the way, this man of sin is called in Scripture by the epistle of John as the Antichrist." "In Hebrew, we call it Mashiach Sheker," "the false Messiah," "the counterfeit Messiah," "the one who wants to take

the place of the true Messiah." "In fact, in Daniel 7, verse 8," "he is called the little horn." "In Daniel 9, verse 26," "he is called the prince that shall come." "In Daniel 11, verse 36," "he is called the willful king." "In the Gospel of John, chapter 5," "he is called the other one which will come." "In Revelation 13, he is called the beast." "Hachaya." "In 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2," "where we're reading today," "he is called the man of sin." "In verse 3b," "he is called the son of destruction." "And in 1 John, chapter 2 and verse 18," "he is called the Antichrist," "the false Messiah," "the one who is against the Messiah," "but also

the one who would want to look like," "or take the place of the Messiah." "And so now notice, go back to our chapter," "2 Thessalonians, chapter 2 and verse 3," "he said," "let no man deceive you by any means," "for that day shall not come," "except there come a falling away first." "And he said," "and that the man of sin be revealed," "the son of perdition," "the son of destruction," "he was born," "he was allowed to continue on," "here in this world," "in order to ultimately," "to go into destruction," "into perdition." "Now, again," "I would like to suggest," "beloved brothers and sisters," "that this man of sin," "is a man that want to take the

place of Yeshua," "the true Messiah," "and he will come in the future day," "he will appear," "notice," "he doesn't say that he will be born," "but he said will be revealed." "In other words," "by the time that he will be revealed to the whole world," "he had already been born," "he lived some of his life," "and then he will be revealed suddenly." "He will be revealed," "and he called him the son of perdition." "Now, immediately in the next verses," "Paul is explaining," "in verse 4," "he explained," "what the man of sin," "the son of perdition," "the antichrist," "the Mashiach Sheker," "will do." "What will he do?" "Look what he will do," "brothers and sisters," "it

says here in verse 4," "he opposes and exaltes himself above all that is called God," "or that is worship," "so that he is God," "sitting in the temple of God," "showing himself that he is God." "Can you imagine?" "What Apostle Paul is instructing the younger believers in Thessalonica," "about the man that will rise up in a future day," "and what will he do?" "Well, he says," "number one," "he is opposing and exalting himself above all that is called God." "In other words," "this wicked man, controlled by Satan," "will oppose and exalt himself against the true and living God." Now quickly, if you don't mind, turn with me to Daniel chapter 11 for a moment.

I just want to read a couple of words from the book of Daniel. Already Daniel, long time, at about 530 so BC, before Yeshua came, he was told about these men of sin, the counterfeit Messiah, what he will do.

In chapter 11 and verse 36, he said, "And the king," "this is that willful king," "shall do according to his will," "he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every God," "and shall speak marvelous things against the God of God," "Elohei ha-Elohim." "Elohei ha-Elohim." "And he shall prosper until the indignation," "he will be allowed to do so for a little time," "until the indignation be completed," "for that that is determined shall be done." "Neither shall he regard the gods of his fathers," "nor the desire of women," "nor regard any god," "for he shall magnify himself above all." "But in his estate he shall honor the God of forces," "and a God whom his father knew

not," "shall he honor with gold and silver and with precious stones and pleasant things." "Thus shall he do in a most stronghold," "with a strange God whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory," "and he shall cause them to rule over many," "and shall divide the land for gain." Now this is the counterfeit Messiah, the Antichrist, "as it says here, the willful king," "he will be, you might say, influenced by Satan," "and what he is going to do," "he will exalt himself above all that is called God," "that he is now," "notice," "and he wants to be worshipped," "so he is God sitting in the temple showing himself that he is God." Now it teaches

us another lesson here.

"How can he sit in the temple if there is no temple today?" "There must be a temple to sit in," "in order for him to sit in the temple to claim to be God." "Well, let me tell you, beloved brothers and sisters," "we know very well from the word of God," "that there are four temples throughout biblical history." "Temple number one is the Salomonic Temple," "which King Shlomo have concluded to build in 1st King chapter 7 and verse 51." "This is the great Salomonic Temple," "which he built King Melech Shlomo," "for our people of all the people of Israel." "Then there was a second temple after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed this temple," "took our Jewish people to

Babylon." "After 70 years they returned," "and they built the second temple called the Zerubabelic Temple," "which they concluded," "we read of it in Ezra chapter 6 and verses 15, 16 and 17." "This small remnant who came back from Babylon," "they had built a temple in Jerusalem," "which was so much smaller, insignificant in comparison to the Salomonic Temple," "but they rejoiced," "the young people rejoiced in the temple that was built." "The older people wept," "because they remembered the ancient temple of King Solomon." "Well, in about 70 AD," "after Paul wrote 2nd Thessalonians," "that temple was destroyed." "The Romans came," "as we mentioned it before," "they destroyed the temple in Yerushalayim," "they killed over 1,100,000 of our

own Jewish people," "many of them they took as slaves all over," "they destroyed the city of Jerusalem," "burned the temple completely," "took some of the article even to Rome," "and the Jewish people, our own people, were scattered abroad." "That temple is not existing." "We are now over nearly 2,000 years since that time," "no temple in Yerushalayim." "You go to Mount Moriah today," "and on Mount Moriah, no Beit Mikdash." "There is the Dome of the Rock," "where the Muslims are worshipping." "But the temple has to be built." "God promised that the temple will be built." "So, what we really learned that our Jewish people," "we want a temple, we want a temple." "Today, today, they long

for a temple." "Today, if you go to Jerusalem," "they are already preparing for the temple to be built." "There are articles that are ready." "The Menohiah is ready," "and there are many, many things." "The priests are learning how to function in the coming, future temple." "But, beloved brothers and sisters," "this third temple that will come," "it will not be the messianic temple of the Mashiach Yeshua," "who will sit there one day." "It will be what is known to be as the tribulation temple." "And in the seven year of the tribulation period," "the day of the Lord," "there will be rising a man," "he's called here the man of sin," "the son of perdition," "who will

make promises to our own Jewish people," "according to Daniel chapter 9," "he will make covenant with many of our own Jewish people," "and he will allow them to have a temple," "and he will say," "you go ahead and have sacrifices." "But, beloved brothers and sisters," "in the middle of the seven year tribulation." "He will stop the sacrifices in the city of Jerusalem," "and he will cause," "what is known to be in scripture," "the abomination of desolation." "In fact, go quickly to Matthew chapter 24 with me." "In Matthew chapter 24," "the Lord Yeshua HaMashiach himself said," "and I'm going to read verse 15," "When ye therefore see the abomination of desolation," "spoken by Daniel the prophet,"

"he takes us to Daniel chapter 9," "You see, Yeshua knew his Bible very well." "When ye shall see the abomination of desolation," "spoken by Daniel the prophet," "stand in the holy plain," "whosoever readeth, let him understand." "Then let them which are in Judea flee into the mountain." "Let him which are on the housetop not come down to take anything out of the house." "Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes." "And woe unto them that are with child," "and to them which give sack in those days." "But pray that your flight be not in winter," "neither on a Shabbat day." Verse 21, "For then shall be great tribulation." "The

day of the Lord." "Zarat Yaakov." "Great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time." "No, no, ever shall be." "Yeshua's word to the disciples before the church was born." "He is looking over the ages." "And he is saying after the ages in which I am building right now." "The restored people of Israel will come to the land." "They will experience what I am saying to you throughout the prophets of Israel." "And as he is mentioning to the believers." "The day of the Lord will not come except, number one, they will be falling away." "Number two, the man of sin will be revealed." "Number three, he will sit in a

built temple in a future day." "A built temple claiming or showing himself to be God." "And you know, again, beloved brothers and sisters." "Throughout Israel's biblical teaching the prophets already told us." "That there will rise a man who will follow after Satan." "Satan wanted to be God, to dethrone God." "That man would want to take away the place of the Mashiach." "He is a false Mashiach." "He will do such a thing in his days." "And by the way, I just want to add to it." "We said that there are four temples." "Temple number one, Solomonic." "Temple number two, Zubabelic." "Temple number three, Tribulation." "Which the Lord will not sanction at all." "The temple that will

be built these days." "Whenever it's going to be during the Tribulation period." "God will not accept it." "Because the rejection of the Mashiach Yeshua." "God will not sanction it." "In fact, we read in Isaiah at the end of the prophet Isaiah chapter 66 and verses 1 to 4, that God will look at the sacrifices as if they have offered pigs, swines on the altar." "He will not accept it." "There will be a Messianic temple, Beit Mikdash, when Yeshua is going to come." "And this is the fourth temple of which we read in Ezekiel 40 to 48." "Four temples." "Solomonic, Zubabelic, Tribulation and Messianic." "At the end where the Messiah will rule as King of Kings

and Lord of Lords." "Now come back please to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 5." "Paul saying to them, 'Remember, remember ye not that when I was with you, I told you these things." "Apparently there are certain things that we don't read about, but he already told them." "And because he didn't have New Testament with him, he must have told them certain things from the Tanakh, from the Hebrew Scriptures." "And information is filled in the Tanakh, in the Prophets about the Day of the Lord." "Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and on, Daniel." "And you have plenty of information." "Yoel, Hoshea, even Malachi and so on." "From the beginning to the end." "The Day of the Lord, the

Day of Judgment is coming." "Brothers and sisters of Thessalonica, you are not in the Day of the Lord." "Why Paul?" "Because, number one, the rapture didn't happen." "Number two, the Day of the Lord cannot begin." "First of all, there must be a total departure." "Last day's departure, apostasy." "Number three, the man of sin has to be revealed." "Not only born, but revealed to people." "They can realize, wait a minute." "This son of perdition is sitting in the temple claiming to be God." "You see why, beloved brothers and sisters, it was so hard for our own Jewish brethren to accept that Yeshua is the Messiah." "Because they thought, here's a man who's claiming to be God."

"But they make a mistake because he was God who became a man for the sin of this world." "Couple of hundred years before, Antiochus Epiphany was a man who claimed to be God." "And long after, a couple of thousand years, there will be a man who will claim to be God." "But he will be the false Messiah, the son of perdition." "The one that wanted to take the place of the true Mashiach." "This is the man of sin." "I told you!" "We were not there, but if you and I were there, he probably would say," "Wait a minute brothers and sisters, let's turn to Isaiah 53, the Messiah had to suffer." "Wait a minute brothers

and sisters, let me tell you, let's turn to Psalm 22, the Messiah had to be pierced." "Hey, wait a minute, let me turn to Psalm 16, the Messiah must be resurrected." "And then I want to tell you that this Jesus, this Yeshua, he is Hamashiach, he is the Messiah." "But I want to tell you about the day of the Lord." "Let's go to Daniel chapter 9." "Let's go to Daniel chapter 11." "And he opened to them the Hebrew Scriptures, and he presented before them the way and the time in which that man of sin will appear." "And so quickly, beloved brothers and sisters, just bear with me." "In verses 6 and 7, the apostles now

tell them that the coming men of sin, in a future day, is being restrained for a season." "He didn't come because it was not the time for him to come." "And notice what he says in verse 6 and 7." "And now ye know what restraining or what withholding, that he," this is the man of sin, "might be revealed in his time." Verse 7, "For the mystery of iniquity does already work, only he who now restrain, he will continue to restrain until he will be taken out of the way." Now it is amazing to understand this truth.

He is saying, "Listen, now there is something that restraining from the tribulation, from the day of the Lord to come." "Paul, what is restraining?" "Well, notice he says in verse 6." "Now you know what withhold or what restraining that he might be revealed in his time." "In other words, there is something that is existing in this world that God has set the order, the time to do so." "That restraining the coming of the man of sin and for him to sit in the temple to claim to be God." "Something restraining him from coming." "Something restraining him from the tribulation to begin." "Then in verse 7 he tells us what is restraining." "He says, listen, in

verse 7, the mystery of iniquity is already now, already revealed." "But now notice that, he changing the word from what restrained to he that restrained." "Notice verse 7." "For the mystery of iniquity is already work." "Only he," this is a person, "who now restraining, continue to restrain or he hinder it to come." "Until he," this is that particular person that restrained, "be taken out of the way." "What we learn from this verse 7, that there is a person that restraining the coming day of the Lord." "And the appearing of the counterfeit Messiah." "And that restrainer is none else but the Holy Spirit of God." "It is the divine person of Ruach HaKodesh as we say

in Hebrew." "Ruach Elohim." "The Holy Spirit of God who is indwelling every believer today." "You and I, if we are believers, we have the Holy Spirit of God indwelling us." "In this present day dispensation, God the Holy Spirit is indwelling every believer." "And he is restraining the coming day of the Lord as long as he is in the days in which we live in today." "Once the assembly, the ecclesia is going to be taken out of here." "He will no longer will restrain the coming day of the Lord and the appearing of the man of sin." "He will allow him to continue the program that he wants to continue." "And it is very interesting, if

you read Daniel chapter 9, that the tribulation period is only seven years." "God has a program and a plan and a time." "In Galatians 4:4 we read, in the fullness of time God sent forth his Son." "He sent him in a full number of time." "You remember Yeshua said before he died in John 17:1, "Father, the hour is come." "God knows the period and the time." "Not you, not I." "God knows that and God the Holy Spirit will, as it says here in verse 7, "He will be taken out of the way." "It doesn't mean that the Spirit will not work on earth during the tribulation." "Of course he will." "Because people will be saved

during the tribulation period also." "He worked before the church age, he will work after the church age." "He worked right in the beginning of creation and he is going to work throughout the ages." "But he will move out of the way," "will allow Satan to carry on with his own plan," "will allow the men of sin to take a place here," "to sit at the temple," "to claim to be God until the judgment of God will fall upon him." "And he will be taken, judged and eternally going to be separated from the living God into the lake of fire." "Now brothers and sisters, you see there is so much to be said." "But I really

had to explain myself and I still feel that I haven't explained myself enough." "And I hope that the Lord will help you to study this passage so you will glean out of this." "This is a prophetic ministry that is so important for any believer to learn in order that he or she will grow spiritually in appreciating the Bible and our Lord Yeshua the Messiah." "May the Lord bless His word and encourage us all." "Can we say amen to that?" "Gideon Levittam"