God's wrath on mankind is not when Anti-Christ goes forth to conquer. (Insert: He does use other's/armies to do his will though.) Why? Because after the Man of Sin has had 42 mo's, it says at the end of Rev 11 it is time to destroy those that destroy the earth. Constantly, people assume all the Trumpets are wrath on mankind. They are not and this is something we will disagree with each other on. There is over a page dedicated to just Mystery Babylon. Its destruction answers the question of the 5th seal martyr's. It's destruction causes what follows in the trumpets. Why does Christ need to make mankind suffer for 7 years? Then make them suffer in the lake of fire after their suffering. That is what you are saying.
Secondly, what Beast? There are 2 Beasts and the man of sin is only one of them.
That is offensive. Not taking the word of God as it is written and doing with it whatever you can to try and prove something that doesn't exist. Dr. Ice is right when he said, that the word apostasia is a departure.
But it is never a physical departure. As you even wrote, it is found in one other place in Acts and there, the argument was a spiritual departure from the law of Moses.
From Biblehub:
Definition: defection, revolt
Usage: defection, apostasy, revolt.
HELPS Word-studies
646 apostasía (from
868 /aphístēmi, "leave, depart," which is derived from
575 /apó, "away from" and
2476 /histémi, "stand") – properly, departure (implying
desertion);
apostasy – literally, "a leaving, from a previous
standing."
So, let's read this again.
KJV
Verse: 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;
Statement: Let's look at the context. What day? The day Paul just spoke about in the previous 2 verses.
Verse: Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 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.
Statement: The "day" that shall not come till an apostasia comes first is the day Christ appears (his parousia) and we are gathered to him.
If we took this as you read it, it would look like this:
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come
(our gathering together unto Him), except there come a falling away first
(our gathering together unto Him), and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
How does our gathering to Him not come till our gathering to Him comes?
Secondly, Paul says,
And you know what is now restraining him, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.
According to how you rewrite the meaning of apostasia, the thing that restrains is our NOT gathering to Christ that when we do gather he's unrestrained. That is eisegesis.
Paul just told us what is restraining. The restrained is the righteous and faithful preaching of the true Gospel. Departing from true faith is what brings the departure. This is what gives way to the man of sin when those who went out from us were not of us. The apostate and unbeliever doesn't fear (Reverence) God and his laws. It is a major theme throughout Revelation.
Rev 14:7
Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
It doesnt say, Prepare to suffer my Wrath as it goes forth. Time to punish the wicked on Earth. No, the angel says fear Him. It is a warning to change before its too late.
Fear of God requires faith; Faith coupled with fear restrains lawlessness. The absence of that allows wickedness to grow and the man of sin to be revealed. In Luke 18:1-8, the unjust judge doesn't fear God or man. The end result? Will God find faith on Earth?
Acts 3:21
Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
Christ cannot leave Heaven 7 years (Pre-TB timeline) before the end because Acts 3:21 makes it impossible. Are all things restored? They haven't even been removed yet! Not just that, but that restitution is the redemption of our body when we are changed per Romans 8:21-23
And we are sealed with the HG till that redemption -Ephesians 4:30
Lastly, Christ says in Matthew 19:28, In the regeneration, Christ will sit on his throne. Christ doesn't not sit on his throne in the regeneration till the Kingdoms of the world becomes his at the 7th trumpet.
Why are you making the rapture more important than the resurrection of the dead? In the Bible, what was more miraculous? The dead back to life and changed or the living changed? What was more preached since Job?
I'd study the words "alive and remain" if I were you. What is the living who are "alive and remain", alive from? You know the word also means "survive". What do the raptured survive on a Pre-TB timeline because it seems they don't survive anything- since they are off world before anything happens. In order to survive something and to remain alive as apart from being dead like others, one must go through it even if they did not endure it.
Which is also a reflection of Noah, Rahab, the Israelites, the Jews under Xerxes when the command was given to destroy them all in all provinces nor was it with Lot. They were all "alive and remain" or survived and none of them went off world. They trusted in God to keep them safe in the shadow of his eagle wings. Do you not think God can keep us safe and away from harm while punishing others? Didnt he do just that to the Egyptians and kept the Jews safe? Won't the 144k be safe?
And then you reveal what really drives you to think this way. You assume Israel will join the E.U. and the man of sin is some E.U. President. I don't like to dabble in "what If's" or great speculation. I'm a man and as such I cannot see the future. Nor am I a soothsayer/astrologer or some other type trying to prophesize something only God knows (I'm not saying you are these things either). We have what God gave us by his word and let us only use that. Anything else can bring doctrines of demons.
Why doesn't Paul reference the HS anywhere as doing just that? He only mentions the apostasia. He concludes by saying,
"And now ye know". He just told us what it was. And he follows up on what it is when he says,
only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. He who restrains (lawlessness) will continue to do so until he is taking out of the way. He is referring back to his original context of the apostate as being taken out of the way, no longer restraining lawlessness but joining/turning a blind eye to lawlessness.
To whom, then, is the mystery of that lawlessness now known? Not to all those who are contributing to its ultimate manifestation, for most of them are deceived by it (2Thessalonians 2:10), and, while sharers in the Apostasy, still believe themselves members of the Church.
I want to conclude with this, 1 Timothy 4:1, Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times
some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
