Let's just see the true order of events Apostle Paul proclaimed in 2 Thess.2, instead of relying on the false leanings of men's doctrines...
The MAIN QUESTION to be answered here, is who comes first, the pseudo-Christ, or our True Lord Jesus Christ?
II Th 2:1-12
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him,
The subject? The "coming of our Lord Jesus Christ", and "by our gathering together unto Him." Ain't no room for error there. That's the subject Apostle Paul is giving here. He's going to reveal in what order that is also.
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.
Some false prophets had crept in among them, distorting this subject of Christ's coming and our gathering to Him, even involving fake letters passed off as being from Paul and Christ's Apostles. Paul warned to not be troubled by them, that the day of Christ is at hand. The "day of Christ" phrase is "day of The Lord" per the Greek.
So already, Paul gave one time marker for Christ's coming and our gathering to Him. It's on "the day of The Lord". Paul also gave that same marker in his first Epistle to the Thessalonians. It's in 1 Thessalonians 5, where he proclaimed "the day of The Lord" will come "as a thief in the night." The events of "the day of The Lord" are what ENDS this present world. The OT prophets were given to write much about that day. Peter also proclaimed this in 2 Peter 3:10, associating the burning of the elements (man's works) off this earth. Do you think that means the end of the pseudo-Christ's working too? You bet it does.
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;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
Both those two verses above go together. Don't let any man deceive you; why would Paul say that? It was because of the false prophets that had crept in among those Thessalonian believers. Paul gives two major signs that must occur BEFORE "that day" comes. Before what "day" comes? The day of The Lord, which is about the time of Christ's coming and our gathering to Him from verses 1 & 2, remember?
The 2 signs are: 1) there come a falling away first, and 2) that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition
What working will that man of sin be revealed by? Again 2 signs Paul gives for that: 1) opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, and 2) so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
That temple there... is NOT the Body of Christ. NO false one can pollute the True Temple of God, which Paul clearly showed in Ephesians is represented by our Lord Jesus as its Chief Cornerstone, and His Apostles and the prophets as the foundation, and we His Body as lively stones. That's one of the main distinctions of how we 'know' Paul is speaking of a literal temple, in Jerusalem, which through history has been known to Israel as God's Temple, even with our Lord Jesus referring to the second temple in Jerusalem as the "house of God" (Matt.12; Luke 6).
That is not the only evidence for this temple Paul speaks of being a literal temple in Jerusalem. Around 170 B.C., a man named Antiochus IV conquered Jerusalem and went into the second temple and sacrificed swine upon the altar, and setup an idol abomination to pagan Zeus worship. That's the pattern for the "abomination of desolation" event our Lord Jesus quoted from the Book of Daniel in Matt.24 and Mark 13.
So there you have it brethren. Paul was very, very direct that the final Antichrist, "that man of sin", "the son of perdition", MUST come first along with a great falling away of believers.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
Paul then asks them didn't they remember before when he spoke to them of those things? Then he's going to give the order to them one more time...
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
Someone is withholding that "man of sin" until it's time for him to be revealed to do his evil working on earth.
Will that "man of sin" have to be here on earth before our Lord's coming to destroy him with the brightness of His coming? Yes, of course!!
Notice Paul also tells us that false one who comes first will work according to Satan "with all power and signs and lying wonders." Does that sound like the same pseudo-Christ our Lord Jesus warned us about in Matt.24:24 and Mark 13:22? Yes. Does that sound like the very same "another beast" our Lord showed John by vision in Revelation 13? Again, YES!
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Just how is it brethren, that some deny Paul's declaring that false one must come first, and then afterwards our Lord Jesus' coming to destroy him and to gather us?
That phrase "they received" is Greek 'dechomai' which can mean 'to take by the hand, to take up' (Thayer's). It has free will associated with it. The deceived do not 'take by the hand' The Truth, nor the love of The Truth. They are subject to the "spirit of slumber" (Rom.11:8). And thus God's Word has become 'a stone of stumbling' to them (1 Pet.2:8; Isaiah 8).
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
(KJV)
That "strong delusion" and "lie" Paul speaks of is about the falling away of many of God's people to that man of sin when he comes to sit in a temple in Jerusalem for the last days.
Many in the pulpits are following iniquity when trying to preach against that order of events Paul gave there. The Pre-trib rapture doctrine is a doctrine of 'iniquity' because it goes DIRECTLY AGAINST that order Paul gave there.
There is no reason to give the deceived even a little room for their pre-trib rapture doctrine being true, for this order of Christ's return and our gathering to Him which Paul gave there is SOLID, IMMOVABLE. It cannot be both ways. It is only one way which God's Word declares, and that is with Christ's return and our gathering after that false one's evil working on earth. Christ's coming will destroy that pseudo-Christ, showing the false one MUST be on earth working evil when Christ returns to gather us. This is a major Scripture evidence that supports Matt.24 and Mark 13 about Christ's return to gather us AFTER the tribulation He mentioned.