Who is the Restrainer?
There seems to be a debate on who is the restrainer spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 2:7. Some think it is Gabriel, others think it is another angel and yet others believe it is the Holy Spirit. Me? I think it is the Angel Michael. In 2 Thes. 2:7 says “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.” Those who believe it is the Holy Spirit do so b/c they believe once the believers are resurrected the Holy Spirit will not be on earth any longer. Sadly enough believers will be here during a good portion of the 70th Week. You can read my basis here http://turbosthoughts.wordpress.com/2009/07/10/pre-wrath/. The other issue with the Holy Spirit is it doesn’t restrain evil. You cannot find anywhere in the Bible where it restrained evil. It is our conscience so to speak. The Holy Spirit may tell us something is wrong, but it does not restrain it. The other issue that arises is for those who accept Christ during the 70th Week. For the pre-trib’s that believe it is the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way then what about those who accept Christ during the 70th Week? Don’t all believers receive the Holy Spirit? If the Holy Spirit is removed then how can new believers receive it?
So if it is not the Holy Spirit who can it be? I am going to go with Michael. Daniel 12:1 says “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” This verse fits perfectly with the Pre-Wrath viewpoint. Michael the restrainer is removed/stands up and their is a time of trouble/great tribulation. Then everyone found written in the book of life shall be delivered/resurrection/rapture/gathering together.
Are there any other reasons I might think it is Michael? Michael is mentioned in helping restrain evil in Daniel 10:10-14 and in 10:21 as well.
So there you have it. Just like Pre-Tribulation can only be true by using pre-conceived ideas, believing that the Holy Spirit is the one restraining can only be shown as true through pre-conceived ideas.
Until next time…Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord!
Except ask ANY person whom grew up with the Hebrew language, and they will say that Michael is standing up to fight, NOT to stand aside.
Next, there is almost as many ideas about 2 Thes 2 as there are people that read it. It is a difficult passage because there seems to be a phrase missing. And some Greek text say “day of Christ” while others say “day of the Lord.” However, a careful reading will still give away Paul’s intended meaning. It is as if Paul wrote this in code, so that ONLY those that had heard him teach would understand. I suspect her wrote it like that so that if a Roman read it, they would not understand.
Notice his phrase in verse 6: “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.”
Darby put it: “And now ye know that which restrains…”
Weymouth put it: “And now you know what restrains him”
Youngs literal: “and now, what is keeping down ye have known”
How could we now know? What is Paul saying? He is saying that he just TOLD us!!! But he told is in a manner that was coded – so he had to leave this hint, so people would read closely.
If we go on a little more we read:
“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.”
Noah Webster put it: “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now restraineth will restrain, until he be taken out of the way.”
So we know that the antichrist cannot be revealed until who or what ever is restraining is “taken out of the way” or removed. (Weymouth says “is removed.”
Remember, Paul wrote “and now you know” what or who is doing this restraining. Therefore, all we have to do is back up from verse six, and see what or who gets “removed” or is “taken out of the way.”
Verse 5:
5Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
Nothing removed or taken out of the way here. Back to verse 4.
4Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
No “restrainer” is removed or taken out of the way here. Back up to verse 3.
3Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
This is the tricky verse, where Paul could have written it much clearer. Is something removed here? First glance seems to be a departing from faith. But read it in the Geneva bible:
3 Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a departing first, and that the man of sin be disclosed, even the son of perdition,
Hmmm. A departing (taking out of the way) (removing) and then the man of sin is revealed. So Paul DID tell us who the restrainer is but kind of coded it – and then left the hint, “so now you know…” Please keep in mind, before the King James was published, departure was the accepted translation for apostasia.
So who has “departed?” Who is taken out of the way? If we go back to the first verse, Paul starts with “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him.” Therefore, it should be clear that it is the church that is “taken out of the way.” This idea makes more sense out of this passage than any other way of looking at it.
So how is the church a “he” or masuline? It is very simple: we as humans have NO power over the devil. But the anointing – that is the Holy Spirit in us and upon us – does. So when the church goes up, so does every human that is anointed with the Holy Spirit!
Of course there will soon be other believers, but not the massive amount of anointed believers that are taken up.
lecoop
lyle.cooper@cox.net
So based on your opinion the Holy Spirit is limited b/c there will be fewer believers in the world after the rapture. I disagree. The Holy Spirit is not limited by men. The church is not raptured prior to the mid-point of the 70th Week. That is what Paul is telling the Thessalonian church. They will not be gathered until the apostasy happens and the man of lawlessness is revealed. Revealed is not appearing on the scene, but actually knowing who he is. This is not the anti-christ, but Satan at the mid-point. According to Daniel 9:27 it happens at the mid-point of the 70th Week. You have to look at many verses in the Bible to get a full understanding. You cannot look at a few verses and make a stance. How does it compare to other scripture?
You are also looking at things with a pre-conceived thought. The rapture occurs prior to the 70th Week, which it does not. God is not trying to trick you as it seems based on your words below. Also day of Christ or day of the Lord are one in the same. Paul says don’t be deceived by others saying the day of the Lord has already come (tying the day of the Lord and the rapture together – even th emajority of Pre-Tribs believe this) two things must happen first, the apostasy and the revealing of Satan.
You say that
“3 Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a departing first, and that the man of sin be disclosed, even the son of perdition,
Hmmm. A departing (taking out of the way) (removing) and then the man of sin is revealed. So Paul DID tell us who the restrainer is but kind of coded it – and then left the hint, “so now you know…” Please keep in mind, before the King James was published, departure was the accepted translation for apostasia.
So who has “departed?” Who is taken out of the way? If we go back to the first verse, Paul starts with “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him.” Therefore, it should be clear that it is the church that is “taken out of the way.” This idea makes more sense out of this passage than any other way of looking at it.
The problem is in other places in scripture it states this as the falling away of believers. 1 Timothy 4:1 states “But the Spirit explicity says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.”
Also when you go the Greek, falling away in the KJV is ἀποστασία which translates to apostasia. Apostasia means falling away, defection, revolt, forsake. Not depart. What do you think is happending today? It is the fallling away from God’s word. People accepting of the sins like homosexuality, other Gods, not speaking from the entire Bible (only the good stuff), the other religions that include Jesus but add to the good Word, the removing of God and the Bible from any and everything including schools, courthouses, and such. You have the President stating how Jesus prayed with Mohammed (sp?). This is the apostasy. Men are falling away from God’s word and/or twisting the meanings of it.
Thank you for the input but I believe your analysis has a few holes.
jon <
Thanks for the post.
In my upcoming prewrath book I will have a substantive section on this.
Just to let you know how well accepted the Michael thesis is: After C. Nicholl published his ground-breaking journal article in 2000, the major Thessalonians commentaries that have been coming out since then have agreed with his thesis. Even Greg Beale’s commentary on Thessalonians agrees with this.
In addition, before his article came out in 2000 there have been no less than a dozen articles written on who is the Restrainer in the 80′s and 90′s. But there has not been any Academic articles written on this question the past decade since his article. The reason for this is because Nicholl’s thesis is cogent and other scholars recognize now that Nicholl has discovered the truth on this traditional enigmatic question.
It is not that scholars before him have not proposed Michael as the Restrainer (about 6-8 scholars have in the past 100 years). It is that Nicholl discovered the smoking gun, which is that Paul in 2 Thess 2 was citing the exact text from Daniel in the LXX. Further, he discusses how in early Judiasm it was just understood that Michael had a restraining role.
Alan