The false report wasn't that the The Day of the Lord was "near", the false report was that it was "present", or already begun.

They knew the day of the Lord contained the wrath of God, and that tribulation was the main factor of the day of the Lord.  Since they were experiencing heavy tribulation as mentioned in 2 Thess 1, they could easily mistake their sufferings as being part of the tribulation of the Day of the Lord.  Their fear, therefore, wasn't that they thought the rapture (at the start of the Day of the Lord) was going to happen soon, but that the rapture had ALREADY HAPPENED, and that they were left behind in the tribulation of the Day of the Lord.

Such exact false reports are mentioned elsewhere in scripture:

[2Tim 2:18] Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

Here are a few of the translations which agree, and say that they thought the beginning of the Day of the Lord was past already, not near.  The false report was that they thought they were living in the Day of the Lord, because it was falsely reported to be present, or already come.

(NIV) 2 Thessalonians 2:2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.

(NASB) 2 Thessalonians 2:2 that you not be quickly shaken from your  composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a  message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

(NKJV) 2 Thessalonians 2:2 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 Christ[1] had come.

(RSV) 2 Thessalonians 2:2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or by letter purporting to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

(Darby)2 Thessalonians 2:2 that ye be not soon shaken in mind, nor troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as [if it were] by us, as that the day of the Lord is present.

(Young's Literal)2 Thessalonians 2:2 that ye be not quickly shaken in mind, nor be troubled, neither through spirit, neither through word, neither through letters as through us, as that the day of Christ hath arrived;

(WE)2 Thessalonians 2:2 Do not let your minds be easily upset. Do not be troubled by a spirit, or a message, or a letter. Do not be troubled if you hear that the day of the Lord has already come. Some people will say it came from us.

The word for "at hand" (KJV) or "present" (Darby) or "has come" (RSV) is:

1764 enistemi {en-is'-tay-mee}
                 from 1722 and 2476; TDNT - 2:543,234; v
                 AV - present 3, things present 2, be at hand 1, come 1; 7
                 1) to place in or among, to put in
                 2) to be upon, impend, threaten
                 3) close at hand
                 4) present

I will suppose for a moment that the word could be translated either way, near or present.

Let's walk through a few implications of what the chapter would mean either way.

Considering that the day of the Lord was reported to be "near".  First of all, this could not be considered a false report.  The Bible iteself tells us repeatedly that the day of the Lord is near.  There are too many scriptures to even list, but such scriptures have been used as the basis for both "imminency" and also for "historicism".  The Bible so overwhelming presents the picture of the Lord's soon return, that some people have mistaken the message and said it must have happened all at 70AD!

This message of the nearness of the Day of the Lord also could not shake some from the faith, since it is the message of the faith.  If you heard that the Day of the Lord was near, it should cause you to repent, to draw near to God.  It would certainly encourage your faith, since the time remaining to wait for the arrival of the Lord Jesus Christ and your translation would be very short.  Such a message, if believed, would cause the faithful to rejoyce, not draw back in fear or be "shaken in mind, or be troubled".

Now, considering that the day of the Lord was present, because it had already begun:  This type of false report could only be believed if the Thessalonians believed in the pretribulation rapture.

If they believed in a post tribulation rapture, and likewise, believed the day of the Lord begins at the end of the tribulation with the return of the Lord, then hearing that the Day of the Lord was present and already begun, would have likewise caused them to be full of joy, because the Lord would have been in the process of destroying his enemies at that very moment, literally ushering in his righteous kingdom.

But joy was not their response.  They were afraid they were left behind in the tribulation.  They were afraid that they had missed the resurrection and translation into heaven, and that the Lord was not on his way to rescue them that very hour.  This can only mean that they believed in a pretribulation rapture, where the Day of the Lord begins at the start of the tribulation.

I will quote it again;... they were afraid the resurrection was already past; that was the implications of the false report that the Day of the Lord was already present.

[2Tim 2:18] Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

The reason this might overthrow the faith of some is that they thought that they were not worthy to be raptured, that they were all rejected.  Like the 5 foolish virgins of Matt 25:1-13, or the lukewarm Church of Rev 3.

And that is just ONE of the many reasons why 2 Thess 2 preaches and teaches and supports the pretribulation rapture.

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