The early church had been taught that end of the age would bring 'the time of Jacob's trouble' along with God's wrath, and then would come His 1000 year earthly kingdom, followed by eternity.
Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ1 had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away2 comes first, and the man of sin is revealed... Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
2 Thessalonians 2:1,3,5
1 The King James Version (KJV) translated this phrase from compromised texts as the Day of 'Christ' [Christos] but should be the Day of the 'Lord' [Kurios] meaning God's judgment. Older manuscripts with the correct word were found after the KJV was translated; the Vatican Codex, Alexandrine Codex, and Sinaitic Codex.
Most translations, including the following, now render it correctly as 'the Day of the Lord':
So what is the 'the day of the Lord'? It is used most of the time to refer to the final day or days at the end of the Tribulation when God's wrath is poured on the earth. It is also used a few times by Paul to refer to the whole time of the Tribulation.
For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.
Thessalonians 5:2
2 Apostasia's first meaning is apostasy, or departure from faith. It also can mean departure, to depart spatially. The first seven English translations all rendered the noun apostasia as either departure or departing:
Unfortunately, most modern translations render it as 'the apostasy' or 'the falling away' but there are only two instances of this noun in the Bible so there is little comparison that can be made. However, the article 'the' is correct indicating it is a specific event.
This verse is commonly referenced in many Bibles to 1st Timothy to describe this 'falling away' event.
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart [Aphistemi - to depart] from the faith [Pistis - belief in Jesus], giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods...
1 Timothy 4:1-3
Aphistemi means to depart or withdraw. It is translated 14 times as 'depart' or 'withdraw' and once as 'fall away'. This supporting scripture describes a general departing from the faith by using a full descriptive phrase - and does not use the word apostasia.
Does 'some will depart' sound like a notable, recognizable event, worthy of unique reference?
It is my opinion that later translators departed (pun intended) from earlier consensus in earlier works and chose 'apostasy' or 'falling away' because it did not fit their overall understanding due to the lost teaching of the miraculous Rapture some time after the fourth century.
So, the big question remains - why did the Thessalonian church think that 'that Day' had come? They knew that Paul was not using 'the day of the Lord' to refer to the final day of the Tribulation because they had not seen the wrath of God and they were obviously not in the Millennial kingdom!
Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.
Luke 21:36
Paul had taught them that those 'counted worthy' would be taken away for their protection and 'escape all these things' - and they feared that they had been left behind at the start of the Tribulation!
For evidence of the Rapture being taught in the early church:
www.grantjeffrey.com - Why Do Some Teach that the Church will Endure the Tribulation? Find "The third reason" half way down.
For more in depth discussion on the translation of apostasia:
www.raptureready.com - Antichrist and the Falling Away
www.pre-trib.org - The Rapture in 2 Thessalonians 2:3
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