Always remember that prophecy, much like our day to day conversations, is not strictly chronological. God helps His people when the dawn comes, but part the evil darkness that precedes the dawn, is when,

“The nations raged.” Psa 46:6a

The nations in raging, in an uproar, is described in more than one passage. The Hebrew word used here is hama. This word is used of city being in an uproar in 1Kgs 1:41. It is used of being disturbed in passages like Psa 42:11, and Psa 43:5. It used of the water of the sea roaring, earlier in Psa 46:3. It uses this same word as being “stirred up,” and speaks of this same period time, when it says,

“For, behold, your enemies are stirred up.
Those who hate you have lifted up their heads.”
Psa 83:2

In the book of Proverbs this word is often used of being loud and boisterous. It seems to be speaking of riots. Seeming to speak both of the end of Damascus and the end of our age, Isaiah tells us,

“12 Ah, the uproar of many peoples, who roar like the roaring of the seas; and the rushing of nations, that rush like the rushing of mighty waters! … 14 At evening, behold, terror; and before the morning they are no more.”
Isa 17:12, 14

Other Hebrew words are also used of these times.

1 Why do the nations rage,
And the peoples plot a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth take a stand,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against Yahweh, and against his anointed, …”
Psa 2:1-2

The Hebrew word translated here as “rage,” of “uproar” is ragash, and could be used of a tumult or a commotion or a riot.

These passages are speaking of the great rebellion that precedes the coming of the man of sin / man of lawlessness / the beast. The ESV, the NET, the 1984 NIV all correctly translate this as “the rebellion,” in 2These 2:3. Following on the heels of this giant world wide rebellion against all law and order and rule of God, will the greatest antichrist of all time will be revealed “in the temple of God, setting himself up as God,” 2Thes 2:4

We are speaking of a world wide revolt against God and against all law and order, much like the more localized BLM and Antifa riots in the United States in 2020. It is clear that some rulers are involved in this giant rebellion against everything which is good. In Psalm 2 it is the “kings of the earth” that “plot” against God. In Revelation it is the beast and ten kings who are center of this revolt against everything which is good.

“The kingdoms were moved.” Psa 46:6b

This beast, this corpse, is “given” “Authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation,” Rev 13:7. Such authority hasn’t happened, yet! David asks the Lord,

“Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
From the noisy crowd of the ones doing evil;”
Psa 64:2

These will be very stressful times for ALL men.

Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901