In Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, he told them that “the one who restrains must be taken out of the way so that the son of perdition may be revealed.” It reads like this at 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8a:

“And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed….”

You have noted that this translation identifies the “one who restrains” with capitalized pronouns, indicating deity. Some translations do not do that, even in passages clearly indicating deity. The ongoing scuffle among Bible students is just who or what is this “restrainer”?

The issue is that of holding back the advance of evil until the proper time for it to take place has arrived. That the lawless one may be revealed “in his own time” is the reason for the restraining or holding back the advance of evil.

Now, what does that mean?

It means that the most receptive time for the lawless one to be revealed is when his audience will be most responsive to his deceptive leadership. Even then, God is going to cause a deceptive spirit to come upon those who follow the lawless one, that they truly be committed to his godless endeavors. In other words, there will be no one to resist the encroachment of evil in those last days as judgment bears upon them. The falling away indicates a continual process, pointing to that time when the lawless one will be fully received by those who “have no fear of God before their eyes.”

But, then, just who or what is that one who restrains?

Let’s think for a moment on the total picture before us. The two opposing factions in all of history are that of good versus evil. The words of Isaiah 5:20 ring out loud and clear—“Woe to those who make evil good and good evil.” That is astoundingly evident in these days. We can see political foes warring over issues of right and wrong. However, the Bible says “we war not against flesh and blood but spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).

In every case in Scripture where evil is resisted, or held back, where Satan is not allowed to pursue his own desires, it is one of the Godhead who stands in the way. Those of the “pre-wrath rapture” theory want to say the restrainer may be the angel Michael, who opposed the devil over the body of Moses (Jude 1:9). But even there, Michael turned the issue over to God, saying, “the Lord rebuke you, O Satan.”

Another leading theologian who holds tightly to the “post-tribulation rapture” theory cannot bring himself to say who or what the restrainer is. It boils down to the obvious reality that if the true identity turns out to be the Holy Spirit indwelling born-again believers, then their particular rapture timing theory is shot to pieces!

The evidence shows that the One who restrains evil can only be the Holy Spirit indwelling the born-again believer. Not the church, that visible entity in the world, for its record of holding back evil is one of dismal failure. Jesus said His church would prevail against even the gates of hell, so why is it so hard to understand who is the one who holds back evil? It clearly shows that a pre-conceived idea guides those who cannot bring themselves to admit the obvious that lies openly in the Scriptures.

That one thing, if admitted, brings the timing of the rapture to a pre-tribulation position. Then, we see a steady, flowing continuity of events from Revelation 4 onward through to the coming of Jesus Christ in glory of judgment at the end of the seven years of the tribulation period.

It makes sense, the statement of Jesus in Luke 21:28, where he says, “When these things begin to happen, look up, for your redemption draws near.” Why did He not say, “When these things are completed, look up, for your redemption draws near?” The answer is unmistakable.

The most obvious fact that “post-tribulation” rapture timing is not scriptural is the total absence of any mention of the body of Christ, His church, in the time of the tribulation described in Revelation 6-19. If that fact is rejected as meaningless, then one must acknowledge that Jesus is also present during those seven years. Did Jesus not say, “I will never leave you nor forsake you?”

Actually, there are four appearances of the redeemed saints with Jesus before the Second Coming when Jesus shows up in conquering attire with judgment on His mind.

The first one is that mid-air meeting which is described in 1 John 3:2-3:

“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

This meeting in the air is of the Son of Man and His redeemed saints, both from the grave with transformed bodies joined again with their souls and spirits, but also with living saints who are changed from mortals to immortals in the twinkling of an eye. Contrary to one highly visible “post-tribulationist,” the word “meet” does not mean that Jesus returns back to earth with His saints—they will go with Him to heaven for that next appearance in his presence. The saints follow Jesus; He does not follow the saints.

That second appearance with Jesus is seen by John where he describes it in Revelation 4, a scene of Christ the Judge sitting on His throne. It is the account of that judgment seat of Christ described briefly in 2 Corinthians 5:10:

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

The third end-time appearance of Jesus being with His redeemed saints is that of His taking them to those mansions He has prepared for them, as reported in John 14:2-3:

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

Then, after seven years, the marriage supper of the Lamb is held in heaven, so reported in Revelation 19:7-8:

“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.’  And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”

If we follow the teaching of the “post-tribulationists,” there is not a chance that the marriage supper of the Lamb could take place, for that teaching says the saints in the rapture meet the Lord in the air and immediately return to the earth to begin the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth. By that theory, raptured saints would not go to heaven with the Lord, but He, with them, would return to the earth.

Why would God subject the living saints to the tribulation, and those who are in the grave obviously are not because they are dead, yet both groups are in the rapture? By that unjust situation being allowed, it would be better for the living believer to commit suicide so he would not have to endure the tribulation. Perhaps the issue is made clearer with this question: What have the living saints done that has not been covered by the redeeming blood of Christ which promises “no condemnation” (John 5:24) for which dead saints are not to be charged?

 Is it not clear by any stretch of consideration that anyone present during the tribulation period is going to face and participate in suffering? For the whole world will be submerged in evil’s judgment. There is one exception, and that is the one-third of the Jews hidden away in the wilderness by God, away from Satan’s great rage, as told in Revelation 12:14 and in Zechariah 13:8.

Also, one must consider why God would allow His redeemed saints to suffer along with the unsaved during the tribulation period. No, Revelation 3:10 does not assure us that we would be protected in the midst of tribulation. “Kept from” means “kept apart from, separated from” by any common sense understanding. As an example of word usage, consider “from” in this statement of Jesus in Luke 13:27: “Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.” Does He mean “stand aside,” or “get totally away from My presence?”

Also, we have the straightforward assurance in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10:

“For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.”

Let’s not strain at a gnat and swallow a camel, as the Pharisees were prone to do. Light always expels darkness, and Jesus is the light of men, the light of the world! How simple it is to take the Word at face value and thus see who the restrainer really is.

Contact email:  andwegetmercy@gmail.com

The title should be in the form of a question, perhaps, to better emphasize the issue. It is not “How can a holy God stoop down to that?” but God only needs to step back and let sinful man do what he does best, sin. God only has to open the right doors. Some examples follow, starting many centuries ago.

When it came time for the children of Israel to come out of Egypt to freedom from that slavery, God raised up a man named Moses to lead them out. However, he was not ready for that leadership, and the people were not ready to go. It had become “home” after four hundred years; and change, like it is for all the rest of us, was not welcomed at all.

But God’s timetable was set, so He raised up a new pharaoh who had no favoritism toward the Hebrews. The new pharaoh made their slavery requirements—making bricks—exceedingly difficult to where the Jews began to long for freedom, to long to escape that burden and cruelty that came along with it. God used an ungodly ruler to turn their hearts to desire the Lord and to follow Moses, who by then had become usable to God as the leader for their escape.

Another instance in Old Testament times is spoken of by Isaiah in Isaiah 41:2, saying, “Who raised up one from the east? Who in righteousness called him to His feet? Who gave the nations before him and made him rule over kings?”

More specifically, in Isaiah 44:28 the prophet declares, “Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, and he shall perform all My pleasure, saying to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be built’ and to the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”

The remarkable thing about this quotation is that it was a prophecy some 200 years before Cyrus was even born and named Cyrus, who later became the king of Persia! As king of Persia, Cyrus issued a decree that allowed Ezra and his contemporaries to return to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding the temple and the city. God moved in the heart of an ungodly man to accomplish His purposes.

In another incident of gigantic import to the Jews was that of the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem in AD 70. Now, what did God have to do with that? Remember how God had promised the Jews that their rebellion would result in substantial judgment upon them. They were told again and again that He would scatter them into all the nations, no longer to have their own nation until a future time of restoration. After that event in AD 70, it still took sixty-five years for Jews to depart Jerusalem in AD 135.

It is surprising how some prophecy watchers put great spiritual emphasis on that destruction of the temple, then. They want to call that the abomination of desolation predicted by Daniel and restated again by Jesus. They want to say that the Romans were those who desecrated the temple, as prophesied by Daniel and Jesus. Here are some facts that clearly deny that possibility:

When Jesus was crucified, Matthew reports that a great earthquake shook the city, and the veil covering the Holy of Holies in the temple was torn open from the top to the bottom. Thus, that inner place where only the high priest could go once a year, and not without blood for himself and the people, was emptied before the whole world. God was no longer in that place.

Jesus explained it to the Jewish leaders like this: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” for He was speaking of His body as the temple of the Spirit of God. In the same manner, born-again believers are the temple of the Holy Spirit, as Paul notes in 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

So the Romans were only after the gold inlaid between the stones of the temple, as well as any other treasure they could find. Jesus alludes to this in His answer to the disciples regarding their view of the temple’s beauty, saying, “one stone shall not be left upon another.” There was no evidence that the Romans tried to make any one of them take the place of God in the temple. That desolation will take place at the halfway point in the seven years of the tribulation, just as Daniel 9:27 and 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8 tell us.

However, we cannot proceed without acknowledging that God also promised the Jews, repeatedly, in the Old Testament prophecies that He would restore the Jews to their own land, as given to Abraham centuries before. That initial provision was made on May 14, 1948, when the United Nations Security Council voted to establish a homeland for the Jewish race, a nation among the nations. After 1,800 years, the land of Israel is again blooming like a rose, and has been for these 71 years since 1948.

Another in more contemporary times, even within the memory of many today, is one of horrid circumstances. It is the raising up of one Adolph Hitler, who instigated the holocaust against the Jewish people in Europe. This was necessary, as in the days of Moses but much more severely, in order that the Jews would forsake their places in the world and want to return to their ancient homeland. At that point, though, a restoration of the nation was not yet apparent.

The number is said to be six million who were killed. Adding to that is the possibility that Hitler, himself, was part Jewish, an additional travesty, if so. (It is not entirely unlikely for such to happen, for it is on record that a person now known as George Soros was born in Germany in 1930 as a half-Jew under another name. At the age of fourteen, he was revealing the hiding places of Jews being sought by Hitler’s goon squad for extermination. In 1953 he changed his name and came to America, according to the online encyclopedia.)

Do you recall your readings in the Old Testament, where it was a constant need for God to discipline the Hebrew people to turn them from idols and from their rebellion against Him? Think about the response of the Jewish leaders at the trial of Jesus: “Crucify Him! Let His blood be upon our hands and on the hands of our children!” Yet God has held to His promise; and one day soon they will “look upon Him whom they have pierced and will mourn for Him as for an only begotten son” (Zechariah 12:10).

Finally, we come to a contemporary action of God that has the leftist element of our nation in an uproar. It is the elevation of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States. This one is not particularly a godly man but it is becoming more and more apparent that he is God’s man for the hour. That, of course, is my own opinion and has been since his debut on the political scene back in April 2011.

At that time, as well as before and since, it was not allowed for anyone to inquire about the background of President Barack Obama. All of his records were off limits, and even the courts would not accept a case dealing with anything about his background. Nevertheless, it was Trump’s courage and recognition of the travesty against the American people that has led me to believe he is God’s man to expose the intent of the evil faction embedded in top levels of our nation. It has been called “the establishment,” of which Trump is not a part, but apparently knows its inside purposes. His abrupt challenge to their deception made him their instant enemy and added a new word to the dictionary – “birthers.”

How devastating it was to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that they did not win the presidency in 2016. The subtle gloating of Barack Obama at that Correspondents’ Dinner in DC on April 30, 2016, reveals the direction of his intentions for this nation: “All of you are looking great tonight. The end of the Republic has never looked better!”

God snatched that goal out of his hands, and also of those who are behind him in his efforts. Why? It appears quite likely that God has His own timetable for the windup of this age of the Gentiles and the development of a New World Order with its one-world government, and it is not the soon happening planned by those of that persuasion. That seventh head of the Beast of Revelation is quietly being developed for God’s eventual judgment, as Revelation 17:10-11 tells us that the Antichrist becomes its eighth head and is headed to perdition – that is, the lake of fire:

“There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.”

When Trump was elected president instead of Hillary Clinton, it was just as the psalmist had written, in Psalm 75:6-8:

“For exaltation comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south. But God is the Judge: He puts down one and exalts another. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is fully mixed, and He pours it out. Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth drain and drink down.”

Thus, God prepares the way for judgment to come. Then, in Luke 17:26-30, Jesus says He will return at a time when the economy will rebound favorably, along with a saturation of moral degradation and lawlessness with a party-time frivolity, just as it was in the days of Noah and of Lot:

“And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

“Likewise, as it was also in the days of Lot, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”

Will you, then, be ready when He comes?

Contact email:  andwegetmercy@gmail.com