Because of this, God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie;
Paul’s readers could, therefore, be confident that the day of the Lord had not yet begun. The tribulations they were experiencing were not those of the day of the Lord about which Paul had taught them while he was with them. Furthermore three prerequisite events had not yet taken place. These were the departure from the Word of God by many (2 Thessalonians 2:3), the removal of the restrainer at the Rapture (2 Thessalonians 2:7), and the revelation of the man of lawlessness, Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:3). This is the chronological order of these events. [Note: For a helpful summary of posttribulational interpretations of these verses, see John F. Walvoord, The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation, chapter 10: "Is the Tribulation Before the Rapture in 2 Thessalonians?"] 