Words that have different meanings are plentiful in the English language. Such words as might, long, file, wind, ball, bear, dash, fast, right, light, stall, and sound can all mean at least two things. These words are called homonyms, and some may have multiple meanings, such as pound. But English isn’t the only language in which these occur. Greek has the same oddities, and today I thought we would look at an interesting one, apostacia, which can mean either “a falling away” or “a spacial departure.”

        The importance of these two meanings for apostacia can become monumental when we read 2 Thessalonians 2:3. The verse is a critical “end time” verse that deals with the second coming of Jesus Christ. Let’s first read the King James Version:

        “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,”

        Did you catch the words, falling away? In the original those words were the word, apostacia. In a more modern translation, the NIV, falling away has been upgraded to the word, rebellion. We are being told here, and rightfully so, that there will be a falling away or a rebellion against Christ and the Father prior to the appearance of the antichrist. None of us can doubt that. In fact, we can already see it taking place, even in America, the nation that was once the bastion of Christianity.

        A month ago President Obama said in a speech in Turkey that America was not a Christian nation, and most Christians, including me, were appalled. But the more I have thought about it, maybe he was right. Sure, more people claim to be Christian than any other religion in the United States. But if we ask most of them to talk about it, the majority truly have no clue of what it means. We will hear things like, ”I believe Jesus was right that we should feed the poor,” or ”Jesus was a good man,” or “I really believe Jesus actually lived.”

        And even within some of our traditional churches we can find ministers preaching that the resurrection really didn’t occur, or that the Bible truly is not “God’s Word” to mankind, or that because Jesus died on the cross everyone in the whole world will go to heaven, no matter what. We even now have homosexual ministers and bishops, and ministers and church leaders that vote for baby killing.

        Even the nation as a whole is trying to kick Jesus and the Father right out of our country. Such things as taking the Bible and prayer out of schools, and the ten commandments out of public buildings, are prime examples. The final straw will be the abandonment of the US of God’s chosen people, Israel. Yes indeed, a falling away, a rebellion, is occurring. And it will speed up even faster in the months to come. Don’t be surprised. God told us it would happen.

        But let’s get back to the Greek homonym, apostacia. Jerome translated apostacia in the Vulgate into the Latin “discecto,” meaning “a spacial departure.” Somehow, between the earlier Vulgate and the King James Version the meaning was changed to a falling away. So let’s read the King James Version, using what obviously was the earlier interpretation,

        “Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a spacial departure first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition,”

        What could a ”spacial departure” be except the rapture? In the first letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 4:16-17, God had written, “For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” 

        So, which interpretation of apostacia is correct. I believe they both are. Just as God often prophesied two separate events with one prophecy, as we discussed in Unlocking God’s Secrets, he did the same thing with the word, apostacia. He told us that we would experience the falling away that we are now seeing, but with the same word he told us that some of us would be a part of the glorious rapture of the true bride of Christ; not just so that we could escape his wrath, but also to prepare us for the jobs we will have in the coming Millennial Kingdom, as was also discussed at length in my book.

        Yes, God used the Greek homonym, apostacia for a reason, and we need to understand both meanings. More importantly, we need to understand the Greek homonym, pistevo, that our English Bibles weakly translate only as the word believe. Please study that discussion in Unlocking God’s Secrets earnestly. That is the most important homonym God used. It can be critical to our eternal lives.

        God is complex. So, too, is His Word. But the more we search out the matter, as he wants us to do, the more comfort and peace we gain. He communicated with us thoroughly. He gave us everything we need to know. It is up to us to “search out the matter.”