Pre-Tribulation Rapture: Part 4

2 Thessalonians 2:1–8 HCSB

1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him: We ask you, brothers, 2 not to be easily upset in mind or troubled, either by a spirit or by a message or by a letter as if from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in God’s sanctuary, publicizing that he himself is God. 5 Don’t you remember that when I was still with you I told you about this? 6 And you know what currently restrains him, so that he will be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one now restraining will do so until he is out of the way, 8 and then the lawless one will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of His mouth and will bring him to nothing with the brightness of His coming.

Paul writes to the Thessalonians to correct some inaccurate teaching they had received. Some were claiming that Christ had already returned. In doing so, Paul reminds them of some conditions that Christ had mentioned, and also provides further revelation concerning that time.

Paul mentions 2 individuals and the events that must happen before Christ’s bodily return to the Earth.

The individual Paul mentions is the Man of Lawlessness, whom Jesus also mentions. Most scholars believe this man to be the Anti-christ. He isn’t merely an anti-Christ, one who possesses a spirit of opposition to Christ. He is the one who will rule on earth during the Great Tribulation, seeking to set up his own kingdom on Earth. At this time, Paul suggests the Anti-christ is currently working, but hidden form our sight. His spirit is continually at work to undermine the work of the Church. However, before the Lord returns, he will be revealed in a man of flesh and blood, to a certain extent, mimicking the first advent of Jesus Christ.

The second individual mentioned is not specifically identified. He is merely referred to as the One who is holding back the lawlessness of the Anti-christ. Essentially, he is the someone who is preventing the Anti-christ to fully exercise his power and authority on the Earth.

Over the years, people have attempted to determine the identity of the restrainer. Among their conclusions were:

The Roman Empire

The Jewish State

The Apostle Paul

The Preaching of the Gospel

Human Government

Satan

Elijah

An Unknown Heavenly being

Michael the Archangel

The Holy Spirit

The Church

The Bible does not specifically tell us who this person is, however it does give us some clues from which we might determine his identity with some degree of accuracy, which if we are correct, further necessitates a Pre-tribulation rapture of the Church. This passage gives us four clues to his identity.

The Restrainer holds back the man of lawlessness.

The Restrainer is referred to using both neuter and masculine verbs.

He is referred to as a principle and as a person.

3. The Restrainer must be removable

The Restrainer must be removable.

The Restrainer must be powerful enough to hold back the forces of evil the Anti-christ attempts to set free.

Based on these clues, there is only one reasonable conclusion we can reach as to the identity of the Restrainer: He is God Himself, specifically the Holy Spirit.

Now, to be fair, this conclusion presents a few difficulties that must be addressed. For instance:

Why is the Holy Spirit referred to as both a thing and a person?

How can the Holy Spirit be removed from the Earth, since He is omni-present?

If He is removed, how will people be saved, since the Spirit does the work of regeneration?

However, despite the difficulties presented by this view, there are four substantial reasons to attribute this Restrainer to the person of the Holy Spirit.

First, restraining the forces of evil controlled by Satan, in my opinion, requires infinite power, power possessed by the Church because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that even the gates of Hell would not stand against His Church. However, that is not because we possess any power in and of ourselves. We are indwelled with the Holy Spirit, and through Him, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish in accordance with His will.

Second, this view clearly explains the change in gender we see in regarding the Restrainer. In the Greek, the word pnuema (Spirit, wind, or breath) is a neuter word, meaning it is assigned a gender usage that is neither masculine or feminine. However, when being referred to by a pronoun, the Bible always refers to the Holy Spirit using a masculine pronoun. The Bible refers to Him as He rather than It.

Third, the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit works to restrain sin and evil in the world, and in the heart of every believer:

Genesis 6:3 HCSB

3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years.”

Galatians 5:16–17 HCSB

16 I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want.

Gal. 5:16-17

If the Holy Sprit’s role in this world is to restrain sin and evil in this world and in our hearts, then by logical conclusion, He is working to restrain the full power of Satan from being exercised on this earth.

Finally, the Holy Spirit uses the Church, through its proclamation and portrayal of the Gospel in their daily lives as the instrument of His work in restraining evil in this time.

The Church has been the driving force behind almost every social change or improvement over the past 2,000 years. It is through its efforts that countless atrocious practices have been ended or prevented.

The Bible says that we are to be the salt and light of this world. We preserve it and bring show them how to live (). We are the temple of the Holy Spirit (; ; ).

In this light, the one who prevents Satan form completely overwhelming this world with his evil is you. All of us. The presence of the Body of Christ doing the work of Christ prevents this work from being as bad as it could be. Many people often wonder why God does nothing to prevent the evil that so often seems to dominate in this world. He did. He created each one of us, saved us through His son, and gave us the power to combat the forces of evil through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Now, Some might suggest that this means that the Church is the restrainer. However, without the presence of the Holy Spirit, we could not accomplish any of this. Without God, we can accomplish nothing. But with God, all things are possible. The presence of believers, indwelled by the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference.

However, the Rapture will change all of that. As hard as it is to believe, even as bad as things have gotten, our present age is called the age of restraint.

When the Rapture occurs, and all Spirit-dwelled believers are removed from the earth, so will the restraining work of the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that the Spirit Himself will be entirely gone, as some suggest. Some believe that because the Restrainer is removed, there will be no one saved during the Tribulation, because there will be know Holy Spirit present to do the saving. However, aside from the fact that last time we saw quite clearly that the Bible teaches that not only will people be saved during the Great Tribulation, it is necessary for the Bible’s prophecies concerning the Kingdom age to be fulfilled.

Imagine for a moment, how bad this earth will get when every instrument of the Holy Spirit is removed. No longer will there be believers in public office, restraining the legislation that will permit unparalleled evil form taking place. No longer will there be believers influencing civic affairs or law and order. satan will be able to take full control of this world through the governments and every other earthly power to unleash a time, the like of which has never before been seen. Literally, even with all our faults and failures, when the Church is gone, every earthly aspect of God’s goodness will be removed from the earth.

However, the Spirit’s return to Heaven will not be a complete withdrawal from the Earth. It will be more like a reverse Pentecost. Before the indwelling of the holy Spirit, expressed on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy spirit was active on the Earth, and even in man. The difference is that the Spirit would work in individuals, for a limited period of time. We see this in the ministry of the Judges, the Prophesying of the Prophets, the anointing of kings, and so on.

The Spirit will still be active in salvation of those who come to faith during the Great Tribulation. I believe it will be the Spirit who will empower the 144,000 Jews who will go out and preach the Word. The Spirit will still convict the hearts of those who believe and harden the hearts of those who reject the Word. However, He will no longer be indwelling people on earth as a permanent ministry.

If the Holy Spirit is the Restrainer referred to in 2 Thessalonians, then it means that the Church must be raptured sometime prior to the Great Tribulation, because as long as the Holy Spirit, working through the Church, is restraining the Anti-christ, he will never subdue this earth under his authority, revealing himself as he truly is. Only the Pre-tribulation view of the Rapture provides an explanation of Paul’s assurances to the Church at Thessalonica.