Hey pavelow, if I may, I need to address the following from you. I believe it is the core of why your not getting it. You are basing you understanding on a false doctrine from the start....
The primary
meaning is “a departure.” Paul says that day shall not come until the “falling away” or “departure.” What departure is he talking about? Well, the same departure he talked about in his first
epistle to the Thessalonians. That’s the Rapture of the church. The church is going to depart
from this earth.
I'm sorry, but I believe that to be a complete misunderstanding of the scriptures. Your simply wrong. Paul was not talking about a physical removal of the body of Christ at all, he was talking about a "falling away" of the apostate church, what we call "churchianity" in the world. I believe what he is referring to is churchianity will end up bowing to the world, like all other worldly relgions are doing, subject to their respective governments. Churchanity is the apostacy, it is the "falling away", or "departure", and it will get much worse.
"Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God." Hebrews 3:12 (KJB)"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would [no doubt] have continued with us: but [they went out], that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." 1 John 2:9 (KJB)2 Thessalonians 2:3 is not talking about the "rapture" of the body of Christ. It's about the revealing of the apostate churchianity. It's the seperating the wheat from the chaff. The purpose is to expose who the frauds are, but to the unbelieving world who don't know any better not having spiritual discernment, they will think this "new" spirit of friendship in the world among all religions is so cool, like one big happy family, all worshiping the "god of this world".
And "that day" is also "the day of redemption". Many names and ways to refer to the day Jesus returns in His glory, remembering that we are sealed by the Holy Ghost until the "day of redemption".
One could refer to unbelieveing mankind as "that man of sin", but it's not the case, as the verse is talking about a specific person, not a group of people or ideology.
The "son of perdition" is none other than the Antichrist, the first beast out of the sea. The one with seven heads and ten horns. "even he is the eighth, and goeth into perdition".
9 And here [is] the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, [and] the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Revelation 17:9-13 (KJB)Don't let the description of the 7-headed beast with the Great Wh0re in Revelation 17 as being THE description by overlooking the part where it says "even he is the eighth".
It's pointing out one aspect of the first beast, the "son of perdition", which is that he has a wordly government or group behind him that literally and physically runs the world for him, the antichrist system of the world. And it says clearly the "he", a specific person, is "of the seven".
Just like there is a spiritual aspect of Jesus that we are to focus on, but there is still a physical, literal Jesus. In fact, whatever is not of God is carnal and not spiritual, so that fact demands there be a physical representation of the "son of perdition", THE Antichrist.
I believe the apostate deception, the "strong delusion", is that people don't believe there will be a specific person rise to power and sign a treaty in Jerusalem. It won't even dawn on them what's going on because they can't see it without the Spirit. I believe this doctrine is born out of the attitude that bible prophecy is just metaphors and symbology, and it's not real actual events. They'll be too busy looking for some big bad sinister group of people, and not even see the "son of perdition" show up. Classic misdirection, and the root of deception.
"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." 2 Timothy 3:13 (KJB)