Matthew 24 reads about Christ sending His angels to gather "the elect" from the four corners of the earth.  "The elect" is a term used to describe the Gentiles who were chosen to salvation in the New covenant instead of Jews.

Matthew 8:11-12 KJV And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. (12) But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Luke 13:28-29 KJV There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. (29) And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.

Notice that coming from the east and west and north and south is associated with salvation of Gentiles just as in Matthew 24 says the elect are gathered from the four winds.

Historians claim nothing contributed more to the spread of the gospel and the evangelism of the church than the destruction of Jerusalem. The church's preaching about how this fulfilled Christ's distinct prophecy in Matt 24 contributed to the confidence and zeal with which the Church preached to sinners. Jerusalem's destruction was no small unknown event!

Would this gathering be the same as mentioned in 2 Thess 2?

2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 KJV (1) Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, (2) 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.

2 Thess 2 goes on to speak of the day of Christ occurring only when they saw the son of perdition. John already noted there were many antichrists around when he wrote 1 John.

1 John 2:18 KJV Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

This let John knew he was in the last time. But Paul stated they were not immediately close to that time. The Greek word which "at hand" is translated from is "enestemi". It is not the same Greek word found in Rev 1:3 which is "eggus" (at hand). "Enestemi" is also translated as "present" in some passages:

Romans 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present <enestemi>, nor things to come,

1Co 7:26 I suppose therefore that this is good for the present <enestemi> distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be.

So, "estemi" clearly means "present" as opposed to "eggus" which meant "near". Paul said the day of the Lord was not present yet. Some things must occur first. Dean Alford wrote, "The day of the Lord is present (not is at hand), occurs six time besides in the New Testament, and always in the sense of being present."

We cannot say that 2 Thess 2 is about a yet future coming of Jesus simply because "our gathering together unto Him" is mentioned. Matt 24 seems to be speaking about this gathering in association with the judgment of Jerusalem, after which the gathering of the elect would occur. The day of the Lord was a day of judgment of the nation in the Old Testament. Why would the Thessalonians worry about the day of the Lord if it was to be thousands of years later? They knew it was near. But was this the gathering together in 1 Thess 4?

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 KJV (16) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

We can see it may refer to the resurrection in 1 Thess 4 or to the judgment of AD70 in Matthew 24 since both accounts speak of a gathering to Jesus. So, we must continue reading 2 Thess 2 to narrow it down more to determine to which event this gathering in 2 Thess 2 refers.

2 Thessalonians 1:4-10 KJV (4) So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: (5) Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: (6) Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; (7) And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, (8) In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: (9) Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; (10) When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

The first chapter speaks clearly of the Thessalonian believers, themselves, in their day experiencing persecution. Paul told them they should consider this a blessing since they were suffering for righteousness' sake, and was a token of the righteousness of God because God would return tribulation to those who troubled them. So they were to rest, for the Lord would return and take vengeance on the sinner, especially those who directly persecuted the church in Thessalonica. How can this occur if the return in vengeance shall not take place for another 2,000 years? We all know that sinners shall suffer hell and the lake of fire, but this passage states there is vengeance for those who persecute this particular church, and this vengeance would occur when the Lord comes. If the coming of the Lord in this passage is not to occur for another 2,000 years, and the tribulation associated with it would take place millennia after the persecutors were dead, how would that be a time of vengeance against the persecutors of the Thessalonians? This coming has to refer to something within the lifetimes of the generation of that day in order for Christ's coming in vengeance to relate to their tribulation.

The vengeance mentioned in v. 8 is directly related to the recompence of tribulation to those who troubled the church in verse 6. This demands that this particular coming occur in that generation.

As we continue in 2 Thessalonians 2, we read about a man of sin and son of perdition. A falling away occurs and then this person is revealed. He opposes and exalts himself above all that is of God, and exalts himself in the temple. He proposes that he is God, himself.

If this all occurred in history, we must understand that historical references will be all that we can rely upon to witness of this. Historical references may not get into the details that scripture notes, by sheer virtue of anything written by historians. History is written by man, and although biases and errors and oversights are surely involved to a degree, we assume some amount of reliability can certainly be considered when reading history. Someone once wisely said history is written by people who wanted things to be understood as they saw them. So, history can be a good tool, but is certainly not 100% accurate.

With that in mind, it is sometimes hard to find history revealing a direct fulfillment of prophecy, if that prophecy was already fulfilled. And of course, if the prophecy was not yet fulfilled we can sometimes mistaken it as being otherwise when reading history. This is more complicated if history is not entirely accurate. So at best, we can only say that the following information I supply is a strong consideration to support the fulfilled concept. We cannot be dogmatic about these details. If a futurist might proclaim we must be dogmatic about what scripture stated, then I agree. However, if I am right and 2 Thess 2 was fulfilled, I may not be correct about the identity of the son of perdition or man of sin, but still be correct that it was fulfilled. I think the references in 2 Thess 1 are enough to prove 2 Thess 2 is fulfilled. But for the sake of information and strong consideration let me show what history has stated, as well as witnesses from believers through the centuries as to who the son of perdition may refer to, although we may not agree with everything the following believers wrote or believed in other issues of truth.

Victorinus spoke of the prophecy of 2 Thessalonians and proposed it involved Rome and implied the wicked one was Nero.

“And after many plagues completed in the world, in the end he says that a beast ascended from the abyss…that is, of the Romans. Moreover that he was in the kingdom of the Romans, and that he was among the Caesars. The Apostle Paul also bears witness, for he says to the Thessalonians: Let him who now restraineth restrain, until he be taken out of the way; and then shall appear the Wicked One, even he whose coming is after the working of Satan, with signs an lying wonders.’ And that they might know that he should come who then was the prince, he adds: ‘He already endeavours after the secret of mischief’ – that is, the mischief which he is about to do he strives to do secretly; but he is not raised up by his own power, nor by that of his father, but by command of God.”

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse, ad 11:7; Ante-Nicene Fathers, p. 354

Augustine (A.D. 354-430) is even more explicit:

“Some think that these words refer to the Roman empire, and that the apostle Paul did not wish to write more explicitly, lest he should incur a charge of calumny against the Roman empire, in wishing ill to it when men hoped that it was to be everlasting. So in the words: ‘For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work’ he referred to Nero, whose deeds already seemed to be as those of Antichrist.”

Augustine, City of God, XX, xix; cf., Irenaeus, Against Heresies, V, xxv-xxviii; Lactanius, Divine Inst. VII, xxv

J. Stuart Russell wrote these words in The Parousia of Christ,

“At that time Nero was not yet ‘manifested;’ his true character was not discovered; he had not yet succeeded to the Empire. Claudius, his step-father, lived, and stood in the way of the son of Agrippina. But that hindrance was soon removed. In less than a year, probably, after this epistle was received by the Thessalonians, Claudius was ‘taken out of the way,’ a victim to the deadly practice of the infamous Agrippina; her son also, according to Suetonius, being accessory to the deed.”

J. Stuart Russell, The Parousia (1887, London, T. Fisher Unwin; republished 1983, 1999 by Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI), pp. 182, 183

It is interesting that some Greek scholars have noted that "he who now letteth" is the Greek phrase, "ha katechon." And in Latin, this is translated to "qui claudit." Some believe this is a somewhat subtle way of pointing the finger at Claudius Caesar who ruled before Nero, and that when Claudius was removed from office as Emperor, Nero would be revealed. A similar belief is held about the number of the Beast, 666, being the gematriacal equivalent to Neron Keser, or Nero Caesar. It is a historical fact that Claudius held back persecution of the church. He commanded a ruling entitled "religio licita" which disallowed Christian persecution and even banished some Jews from Rome because of their riots against "Chrestus", referring to Christ and Christians. (Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars, Claudius, XXV, 4. Cf. Acts 18:2). This means Jews could not persecute the church so long as Claudius remained in power. His wife, Agrippina, poisoned him and her son, Nero, came to power, showing that the one who restrained was removed so the wicked one could be revealed. Nero's wife Poppaea was a Jewish proselyte and brought the Jews back into favour in Rome. The mystery of iniquity, which could be seen as antichristian power of persecution, was then allowed back as Nero became emperor.

Lactantius (A.D. 260-330) wrote:

And while Nero reigned, the Apostle Peter came to Rome, and, through the power of God committed unto him, wrought certain miracles, and, by turning many to the rue religion, built up a faithful and stedfast temple unto the Lord. When Nero heard of those things, and observed that not only in Rome, but in every other place, a great multitude revolted daily from the worship of idols, and , condemning their old ways, went over to the new religion, he, an execrable and pernicious tyrant, sprung forward to raze the heavenly temple and destroy the true faith. He it was who first persecuted the servants of God; he crucified Peter, and slew Paul; nor did he escape with impunity; for God looked on the affliction of His people; and therefore the tyrant, bereaved of authority, and precipitated from the height of empire, suddenly disappeared, and even the a burial-place of that noxious wild beast was nowhere to be seen.

Lactantius, Of the Manner in which the Persecutors Died, Chpt. II; Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VII, p. 302; cf. Divine Institutes, VII, xvii

Chrysostom (A.D. 347 to 407) wrote:

"For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work." He speaks here of Nero... But he did not also wish to point him out plainly: and this not from cowardice, but instructing us not to bring upon ourselves unnecessary enmities, when there is nothing to call for it.

St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on II Thess., Nicene-Post Nicene Fathers, Vol. XXIII

What about the charge of lying wonders? History shows that Nero was hailed in Rome as "Nero the Hercules! Nero the Apollo! Thou August, August! Sacred voice! Eternal one." (Stuart, Commentary on Apocalypse, Chapter 8). If one calls himself a God, then it stands to reason he claims to perform wonders and supernatural miracles.


Continued... (click here).