2 Thessalonians 2:3
“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;”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read Full Chapter →Paul warns them not to be deceived, for that day will not come until a great falling away occurs and the man of sin, the son of destruction, is revealed.
What Does 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Mean?
Paul gives a firm warning, 'Let no man deceive you by any means,' and then supplies the correction. The day of the Lord cannot have already come, because certain events must precede it. First there must be 'a falling away,' a great defection or rebellion, and then the appearance of a figure he calls 'that man of sin' and 'the son of perdition,' titles that mark someone wholly given over to evil and destined for ruin.
Paul speaks of these things plainly without filling in every detail. What the text makes clear is the principle: God's final day arrives in His own ordered sequence, not on the schedule of every rumor. Believers are therefore protected from deception not by predicting dates but by knowing that the Lord governs the course of history and will not be hurried. Discernment, not alarm, is the proper posture.
In the Original Language
apostasia (ἀποστασία), "falling away" — a defection or rebellion, a standing away from what one once held.