2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one deceive you, that Day [The Return of Jesus] cannot come before the final rebellion against God, when wickedness will be revealed in human form; the man doomed to destruction. R.E.Bible
NOTHING to do with a 'rapture'!
The convoluted machinations of the 'rapturists' to make this verse support their false theory, knows no bounds!
Oh wise one who is up on all things....
2 Thessalonians 2:3 (1599 Geneva Bible) Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except
there come a departing first, and that that man of sin be disclosed, even the son of perdition.
Virtually every translation prior to the KJV used "departure", "departing", "the departure", etc. Even the Latin Vulgate (4th century) used the word "dicessio" which has a meaning of physical or spatial departure, not a doctrinal departure. The context of the chapter is laid out in verse 1...
2 Thessalonians 2:1 (1599 Geneva Bible) Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by
our assembling unto him,
The context is our gathering or assembling to Him, not our defection or "falling away" from Him. This further expounded on in...
2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only
He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
It is generally accepted that the "He" that is restraining is the Holy Spirit. Nothing else can restrain evil. And the Holy Spirt indwells the redeemed. So the overall picture is one of the redeemed are gathered to the Lord via the departure.
Context is everything. Apostasia and its variant aphistemi, are used in Greek literature in many ways, including a physical departure as well as a doctrinal departure. The context is key to how the word is used. And 2 Thessalonians 2, the context in the passage that the word is used is our gathering to assembling to the Lord, not our doctrinal departure or "falling away".
An analogy would be something like this... "it was really cool outside today" compared to "he has a really cool motorcycle". Word "cool" is used in both, but have totally different meanings based on the context.
Paul was very good at meticulous sentence structure that is studied in many college level literature classes today. It is key to look at how he developed the passage and the grammar. And it is clear from the context, a departure or "rapture" is in view in verse 3.
Also Greek scholar and head of Moody Bible Institute NT Greek, Dr. Kennth Wuest (1893 - 1961), also showed in his analysis of the passage the same thing. Dr. Andy Woods did a review of Wuest's assertions in 2018 and came to the same conclusion. In fact, even more so that caused Woods to say emphatically that 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is pre-trib..."game, set, match".
Using your assertion, it is convoluted to come to any conclusion that the passage is talking about a doctrinal departure, falling away, or rebellion when the context is clearly our gathering or assembling to the Lord. Seems to me that some have a unhealthy, irrational fear of a rapture. I guess that would beg the question... "Why?"