Apostasy and Perdition

"Now we beseech you, brothers, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together to him, That you 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. 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; Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember you not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?"
(2 Thessalonians 2:1-5)

Christ's second coming and our gathering together to him will not occur until after a "falling away" and the revealing of the "son of perdition". This “man of sin” won't declare himself to be deity until after a "falling away" (646 apostasia); a defection from truth, an apostasy. The word is used one other time in Acts 21:21 to "forsake" Moses. It is akin to 647 apostasion, a separation or divorce. This refers to Christians abandoning their love and faith in Christ (1 Timothy 4:1). Though several denominations have ordained homosexual leaders in recent decades, I think churches who recently removed their crosses and embraced Chrislam have fulfilled “falling away”, since they have accepted a false god, Allah, as being equal to Yahweh who gave us His Son Yeshua. Allah has no son. Islam denies the Father and the Son, and is antichirst (I John 2:22-23). Paul is very clear that “the son of perdition” is revealed after the “falling away” and before “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
One of the reasons the pre-trib rapture theory came into being was because people kept calling the pope the son of perdition or the antichrist. The new doctrine placed the revealing of the son of perdition after Christians had been raptured away, and so the pope could be as corrupt as he desired without constant accusation. Though Catholics hold to some unbiblical doctrines, they have not denied the Father and His Son Jesus, so they are not antichrist.
Judas is the other person called a “son of perdition” (John 17:12), though he was one of the Twelve. So a “son of perdition” is a professed follower of Jesus who then denies Christ. To be an “antichrist” he will follow a religion that denies the Father and the Son, like Islam. He will exalt himself as God in a shrine/naos of God/theos (which could mean magistrate), not the Hebrew Temple (so it doesn't have to be rebuilt before Christ's return); possibly the White House. Yes, I'm alluding to President Obama.
I consider President Obama to be the “son of perdition” here and the “little horn” of Daniel 7.

Daniel 7:8 “. . . there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” Beasts are empires, and horns are kings."

Daniel 7:24-26 “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it to the end.”

President Obama applauded the Tunisian vendor who set himself on fire to contest his government. The Tunisian president was a peacemaker who protected Jews in his country and held talks with Israel. One horn down. Obama's administration worked behind the scenes and openly in Egypt to bring down its president who upheld his country's treaty with Israel. Two horns down. Obama used his power to start a war with Libya through the UN, and has continued to do so in violation of the U.S. Constitution. This third horn is not going down as easily.

II Thessalonians 2:8-12 “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all delusion of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

I think the “strong delusions” came in the 1800's with uniformitarianism denying Noah's flood (II Peter 3:2-7) and the age of humanity on earth, and evolution which denied Elohim created man in His image (Romans 1:18-32), and then the pre-tribulation rapture theory gained ground in America to lull Christ's church to sleep. Lastly, from the 1880 to 1914, several thousand Muslims immigrated to the United States from the Ottoman Empire, and from parts of South Asia.

Revelation 20:4 “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark on their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

The Muslims have been beheading people and making the videos available. They have been slaughtering Christians, Jews, and 'unworthy' Muslims by the thousands throughout the Middle East the last two decades. Their soldiers wear berets and armbands with the blasphemous name of Allah.

Revelation 18:22-23 “. . . for your merchants were the great men of the earth; for by your sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain on the earth.” All the nations have been deceived that Islam was a 'religion of peace'.

Revelation 16:6 “For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments.”

Revelation 17:6 “And on her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said to me, Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns.”

Obama is not the 8th head of the beast, which will be the last caliphate of Islam. The beast is the empire of moon worship, which began in Babylon with Nimrod, and “is[was] not” while John wrote. The leader of the 8th head is the Mahdi, who is likely Muqtada al-Sadr, who will revive the Ottoman empire which was the 7th head which received a mortal would at the end of WWI. And the “son of perdition” and the beast of Islam will go into perdition.

Revelation 17:11 “And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition.”

Revelation 20:11 “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”