Yes—the translation is significant because it determines whether the event preceding 'that day' is only a religious falling away or the departure of the church before the Antichrist is revealed.
Les Feldick teaches that apostasia can mean a departure from one place to another, and the Amplified New Testament brought this out. With that understanding, the man of sin cannot be revealed until the body of Christ departs, so the word choice changes the entire sequence of end-time events.
2 Thessalonians 2:3 — This is the verse where Paul uses apostasia; the KJV renders it 'falling away,' and the interpretation of the word determines what must happen before the man of sin is revealed.
Paul writes, '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;' (2 Thessalonians 2:3). In the King James Version, the Greek word apostasia is translated 'falling away,' and Paul places this event before both 'that day' and the revealing of 'the man of sin.' In the following passage, Paul also speaks of a restraining 'he' who 'now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way' (2 Thessalonians 2:7), showing that something or someone must be taken out of the way before the man of sin is revealed.
Les Feldick begins with a high respect for the King James Version, but he says the translators nonetheless made a 'glaring mistake' on apostasia in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. He explains that when he studied the Amplified New Testament, he saw that the Greek word can be enlarged in English to show its full meaning, and that apostasia is actually translated 'departure' — a person departing from one place to go to another. Les does not discard the falling-away sense; he defines apostasy as turning away from the revealed truth of the Word of God and says churches today have apostasized. But he sees verse 3 containing both the apostasia of Christendom and the departure of the Christian himself. Because of this, the Antichrist will not appear before the church is gone. He calls this departure 'the departure of the body of Christ,' and he links it with the removal of the Holy Spirit's restraining role in the believer in 2 Thessalonians 2:7.
Les Feldick explains that apostasia is the Greek word from which English gets apostasy. He defines it as the turning away from the revealed truth of the Word of God, and he says much of the church has apostasized. But he also points to a second definition: the word is translated 'departure,' a person departing from one place to another. In verse 3, he says you have both the apostasia of Christendom turning its back on the truth and the departure of the Christian himself — 'we're going to be taken out.'
For Les Feldick, the King James rendering is 'unfortunate' and a 'glaring mistake' because it obscures the departure sense. When he studied the Amplified New Testament, he saw that the Greek word could be enlarged in English by more than one word, and in this context it is 'actually translated departure.' That reading depicts a person departing from one place to another. The difference matters because if the word means departure, then the tribulation and the revealing of the Antichrist cannot begin until people depart from this place to another — a sudden future removal.
Paul's text says 'that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed.' Les reads this as the Antichrist not appearing before the church is gone. He says, 'That day shall not come and that man of sin be revealed.' Then, as soon as the apostasy has come on the scene, there shall be the revealing of the man of sin, the son of perdition, who is the Antichrist.
Les Feldick teaches that Paul's 'he who now hindereth' is the Holy Spirit in the person of the believer. The Spirit is the hindering force until He is taken out of the way, which Les places in 'the departure that we talked about up in verse 3 when the church is removed.' When the church is gone, the Holy Spirit's role as the indweller of believers has ended, although the Holy Spirit remains omnipresent on earth. This makes the translation of apostasia important because the departure is the means by which the restrainer is removed.
KJV's Glaring Mistake on Apostasia
Les says the King James translators rendered apostasia as 'falling away,' a mistake that caused confusion, and he found a better rendering when the Amplified New Testament enlarged the Greek word.
Apostasia as Both Apostasy and Departure
Les says apostasia is translated 'departure' and that verse 3 contains both Christendom's apostasy and the departure of the Christian, after which the man of sin is revealed.
Apostasy Defined
Les defines apostasy as turning away from revealed truth and applies it to today's churches, establishing the falling-away sense before introducing the departure sense.
Antichrist Not Appearing Before the Church Is Gone
Les paraphrases Paul to show that 'that day' and the revealing of the man of sin cannot come until a falling away, an apostasy, or a departure of the saints occurs.
The Departure of the Body of Christ
Les says earlier translations show that before the Antichrist comes there must be a departure, and he identifies it as the departure of the body of Christ at the trumpet call.
Apostasy Already Present
Les argues that the apostasy has already come, so believers can expect the day of Christ at any time, while also noting there is a second definition of apostasia.
The Departure and the Restrainer Removed
Les connects the departure in verse 3 with the removal of the Holy Spirit's restraining role in believers in verse 7, after which the Antichrist can come.
What Happens to the 144,000 Jews in the Tribulation?
That's just a few pages back to your left, and come over to Ephesians chapter 1, because here we have almost the same kind of language, so that you'll know exactly what Paul is talking about. That as we come down now to the appearance of the Antichrist, and the church has been removed, there's going to be one group of people who will not have an opportunity of salvation from the message of the 144…
2 Thessalonians 2:3: 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;
The key verse in question; the KJV translates apostasia as 'falling away,' and the timing of 'that day' hinges on this word.
2 Thessalonians 2:7: For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
Paul says a restraining 'he' must be taken out of the way; Les links this taking away to the departure in verse 3.
In the Greek, apostasia can mean a falling away or a departure. The King James Version translates it as 'falling away,' but Les Feldick points out that the same Greek word is translated 'departure' in other places in the New Testament. He sees both meanings in verse 3: the apostasy of Christendom and the departure of the body of Christ.
He says the King James Version is accurate overall but not perfect, and that rendering apostasia as 'falling away' in this verse was unfortunate and caused confusion. He found help in the Amplified New Testament, where the Greek is enlarged to show that apostasia is actually translated 'departure.'
Les teaches that before the man of sin is revealed, the church must depart. He says 'the Antichrist is not going to appear before the church is gone,' and this departure is the removal of the body of Christ.
Watch the Teaching: The Antichrist Revealed: What 2 Thessalonians Really Says