That day when Christ returns to defeat the antichrist and rule the earth is, throughout scripture, often called the "Day of the Lord". In II Thessalonians 2, the Apostle Paul instructed the believers that the antichrist has to be revealed before the Day of the Lord can occur. As he speaks of the rule of the antichrist, he says that something is holding the antichrist back until God's appointed time.

II Th 2:6-8
6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.
7 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.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. (NKJ)

Yesterday, I mentioned that I think this is referring to the power that civil laws have to restrain the efforts of the devil. The devil resists any authority other than his own selfish will. The terrorism, pestilence and disease of the early years of the tribulation period will make people more than willing to give up the liberties that are guaranteed by law in exchange for the security that is offered by a leader who promises to eliminate their suffering.

Some have suggested that it is the taking away of the Church which is the Body of Christ which will allow the antichrist to be revealed. However, this epistle was written about 52 A.D., and Paul did not reveal the institution of the Church which is the Body of Christ until about 62 A.D. The first hint of the Body of Christ was in I Corinthians 12 which was written about 57 A.D. With this point in mind, Paul said in verse 6 of II Thess 2 that whatever was restraining the devil was something they already knew about. Therefore, Paul can not be talking about the Church.

Is it possible that Paul was referring to the catching up of the believers of the tribulation period? That is not likely because that rapture will occur after the antichrist is revealed. Paul in this passage and the Lord Jesus in Matt 24:15 said that believers of the tribulation period should look for the abomination of desolation which is the time the antichrist is revealed. That would mean they can not be caught up before the antichrist is revealed. It is also true that the Jewish believers will be the primary target of the wrath of the antichrist after he is revealed.

It has also been suggested that it is the taking away of the Holy Spirit which will allow the antichrist to be revealed. But we know the Holy Spirit will be very active in the lives of the believers of the tribulation period especially after the antichrist is revealed.

Therefore, it seems most reasonable that Paul is referring to the power of civil law. In their Bible commentary, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown quote Olshausen who said:
. . . the power that has restrained the man of sin from his full and final
development, is the moral and conservative influence of political states.
They also quote Alford who said:
. . . He who (now restrains) refers to those who rule those (political states) by which
the great upbursting of godlessness is kept down.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

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http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/
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http://www.jeditime.blogspot.com