I had a Bible school professor who taught that prophecy is like looking at a mountain range. You can see the peaks of the mountains but the numerous valleys are hidden from view. It was a fitting metaphor. With in one prophecy there may be an immediate fulfillment, a fulfillment yet to come, and one that is many years in advance. This principle makes it difficult at time to correctly interpret what we are reading.
We encounter such a spiritual mountain range here in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12. The passage talks about the Lord coming for his saints in verse one, then the Anti-Christ ruling in verse four, his destruction in verse in verse eight and God sending a delusion to the disobedient in verses eleven and twelve. Some see the gathering of his saints as one event and his coming to judge the World as another, while others believe they occur simultaneously.
With all respect to differing understandings, whether the fulfillment is near or far, the underlying message is the might and judgement of God against those who do not love the truth and his great mercy toward those who love his appearing (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; 2 Timothy 4:8).
