The Falling Away Of 2 Thessalonians

This Revelation Timeline Decoded Bible study focuses on the falling away of 2 Thessalonians 2.

There certainly is a falling away from truth during these end times, but the falling away that Paul was referring to in 2 Thessalonians 2 occurred before the Son of Perdition appeared in the 6th century.

Satan had empowered the Roman Empire to try to wipe out the Early Church, but even after they killed 10 million saints, the Church of Christ kept growing.

Add in that God was causing the Roman Empire to collapse, and Satan changed His strategy.

He empowered the Bishops of Rome and Emperor Constantine to create a false religion of Christianity, the Catechism, to seek to destroy the Church of Christ from within.

He combined the pagan Babylonian/Roman beliefs with the basic tenants of the Scriptures, to create the beginnings of the Roman Catholic Church.

And after being severely persecuted, many followers of Messiah compromised with Rome in the name of peace.

At the First Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. they changed the calendar to be based on the Sun, not a lunisolar calendar as God ordained in the Bible.

In Constantine’s Christian Creed, he banned observing God’s Holy Feast days, which Messiah is fulfilling to redeem His bride.

“I renounce all customs, rites, legalisms, unleavened breads and sacrifices of lambs of the Hebrews, and all the other feasts of the Hebrews, sacrifices, prayers, aspirations, purifications, sanctifications, and propitiations, and fasts and new moons, and Sabbaths, and superstitions, and hymns and chants, and observances and synagogues. absolutely everything Jewish, every Law, rite and custom.”

What the Popes of Rome declared as “Jewish” was in fact God’s commandments, which all of His followers are to obey.

Satan was creating a new Christian sect, the Roman Catholic Church, which would pervert all of the commands of God.

In place of God’s Holy Feast days, they created ‘christian’ holidays which were based on pagan Roman dates.

In 325 A.D., at the First Council of Nicaea, they established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon following the March equinox.

Prior to this, the Romans worshiped Cybele and her lover/son Attis. Supposedly born of a virgin, Attis died and was reborn annually. The festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday and culminated after 3 days in a day of rejoicing over the resurrection.

Do you see the parallels with Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday? This appeased the pagan Romans, as they still had their holiday.  And it drew in the Christians to celebrate on this pagan day.

In 350 A.D. Pope Julius I declared December 25 the official date of Christmas.

Prior to this, December 25th had been the Roman feast of Sol Invictus (open unconquered Sun), where they celebrated Sun worship.

Their belief was that the Sun died on 12/21, the winter solstice, when daylight was at its shortest. Then after 3 days of being dead, they celebrated it’s rebirth on 12/25.

At the Council of Laodicea in 363 A.D., they banned followers of Messiah from observing the luni-solar sabbath, and instituted the Sunday as Lord’s Day.

“Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day. Rather, honoring the Lord’s Day. But if any shall be found to be Judaizers, let them be anathema (against) from Christ”.

But the Lord they are referring to is Lord Ba’al, which is worshiped on SUNday.

Subsequently special creeds were drafted, to which the Christian would have to swear such as:

“I accept all customs, rites, legalism, and feasts of the Romans, sacrifices. Prayers, purifications with water, sanctifications by Pontificus Maximus (high priests of Rome), propitiations, and feasts, and the New Sabbath “So! dei” (day of the Sun,), all new chants and observances, and all the foods and drinks of the Romans.”

In other words, Christians had to absolutely accept everything Roman, every new law, rite and custom, of Rome, and the New Roman Religion.

Keep in mind that the Christians had endured relentless persecution from Rome, and now they are being exalted to positions of power and treated well, so they are susceptible to compromise.

As so the falling away was a falling away from the truth faith, away from the commands of the Word of the Father, into a Babylonian-based Roman cult of Christianity.

Related study series: The Falling Away of 2 Thessalonians 2

Next Revelation Timeline Decoded Bible Study: Revelation 8 – 1st Trumpet