In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 we read, "Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
"Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 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 (the antichrist) will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
It is obvious in the passage that the Thessalonians were troubled by a letter purportedly from Paul that claimed the Day of Christ had come. (In other translations, such as the ESV or NET, it is translated as Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is spoken of throughout scripture and called by many names. In Revelation 6:16 it is called the Wrath of the Lamb.) The Thessalonians were "shaken in mind and troubled" by this report. Paul wrote to assure them that the letter was not from him and the claim was false. They were not to be shaken. Paul goes on to explain that the Day of Christ (the Tribulation) had not come. It is obvious that the letter they received contradicted what Paul had previously taught them. So what does this tell us? Why were they so shaken by a report that the Day of Christ, the Tribulation, had come, and how did that relate to the gathering together? To some extent, we have to put two and two together.
The interpretation that makes the most sense to me is that the Thessalonian believers thought they had missed the "gathering together" (the rapture). They believed the Tribulation (the Day of Christ or the Day of the Lord) had come -- or was at least at hand -- and that obviously contradicted what Paul had previously taught them. Paul wrote to assure them that the letter was untrue and not from him. They had not missed the "gathering together" because they were not witnessing the events of the Tribulation or the "Day of Christ." Then he goes on to remind them what the "Day of Christ" would look like. Since they weren't seeing any of those things, they could be assured that they were not in the Tribulation and had not missed the rapture.
But what about verse three? If Paul had taught, and was teaching, that the church would not be raptured until after the "man of sin" was revealed, then why were the Thessalonian believers concerned that the "Day of Christ" had come and the "gathering together" had not occurred? They should have expected it if that was what Paul had previously taught. And if Paul were teaching in verse three that the church would not be raptured until after the antichrist was revealed, and the Tribulation was under way, then doesn't he contradict himself in verse seven when he says that the lawless one will not be revealed until after the restrainer is removed? If not for those questions, this would be a very straight forward passage. If not for those issues, I could confidently claim that the church will be here when the antichrist is revealed.
However, the Thessalonians were upset, and the passage does talk about a restrainer and says the restrainer will be removed before the antichrist is revealed. Those two facts cover this passage in a question mark. But as Peter said, some parts of Paul's letters are hard to understand, 2 Peter 3:16.
So, who or what is the restrainer?
Angels are powerful, and some argue the restrainer is an angel, but I don't believe it will be an angel. Michael, the most powerful angel in scripture, disputed Satan for the body of Moses, but would not even rebuke him. (Jude 1:9). At the end of this age, Michael will rise up to defend Israel. "At that time Michael, the great prince who stands watch over your people, will rise up. There will be a time of distress such as never has occurred from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people--everyone whose name is found written in the book--will be delivered." (Daniel 12:1.) Clearly, the restrainer is not Michael since he is not removed. Gabriel is a powerful angel, but he could not withstand the Prince of Persia; only Michael was powerful enough to overcome that principality, Daniel 10:13, but we've already seen that Michael will not be removed. The activity of angels are stepped up at the end according to scripture, not removed. An angel will preach the gospel during the Tribulation. (Revelation 14:6.) They will execute many of the judgments during the Tribulation, and we see numerous angels involved in world affairs throughout the book of Revelation. So angels do not appear to be candidates for the restrainer. They appear to be more active in human affairs than ever at the end. Not removed from them.
I believe the restrainer is either the Holy Spirit or the Church empowered by the Holy Spirit. Nothing else makes sense. Only God is powerful enough to restrain the ultimate supernatural evil. Fallen man can't do it. Man is manipulated by evil -- not in control of it. In addition, this "mystery of lawlessness" has been restrained since Paul's day. That also rules out a mortal man or the shifting seats of government. Those things are temporary. Again, that leaves the Holy Spirit or the Church. If the restrainer is the Church, then the Church will be taken away before the antichrist is revealed. If the restrainer is the Holy Spirit, then the Church will still be taken away before the antichrist is revealed because we are assured He will never leave us. Jesus promised in John 14:16 that, "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever." Wherever we go, He goes. And vice-versa. Doesn't that contradict what Paul said in verse three? What is going on here?
I find this problematic, and this post is my effort to think through this problem. I'm not saying I have all of the answers to every question in scripture. I don't. No one else does either. (Though some claim they do.) As I always say, read the Bible for yourselves and pray that the Holy Spirit gives you wisdom, guidance, and understanding; but keep 2 Peter 1:19-21 in mind, "We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever brought forth by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
So, with that said, this passage means something specific. What is it?
First, I believe it's important to realize that the rapture, the events which precede the rapture, and the events that occur during the Day of the Lord -- from beginning to end -- are being merged in these opening verses. That's at least a seven-year time span, but they are all rolled up together like a ball of yarn in one short passage. Can the events, and the time between them, be unraveled? The Bible rarely sees time the same way men do. A thousand years are as a day or like a watch in the night to God. (Psalm 90:4.)
In verse one, Paul is speaking about our gathering together to Christ. I believe that is a clear reference to the rapture of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
In that first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul said: "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."
However, when we return to 2Thessalonians and read past verse one, we see that events begin to merge. Paul is moving between subjects. In verse one, he is addressing the return of Jesus for the Church. In verse two, he blends that with The Day of Christ -- or The Day of the Lord. (The Day of the Lord is revealed to be the Tribulation elsewhere, especially in the book of Revelation.) The rapture and The Day of the Lord are not the same thing though they are closely related. These verses move between these two events without any clear boundaries. Paul has to address both because it seems the Thessalonians believed they had missed the rapture and were in the Tribulation. In verse three we see that an apostasy has to come first and then -- at some point after that -- the antichrist will be revealed. I say "at some point after that" because the restrainer must be removed before the anti-christ can be revealed.
So, and this is an important point. We know that there is a time gap between the apostasy and the revealing of the antichrist in verse three because the restrainer has to be removed first. So, in terms of chronology, it is: Apostasy, removal of the restrainer, (which I believe might be synonymous with the rapture), and the revealing of the antichrist at some point after that. Verse three makes it sound as if the apostasy and the revelation of the antichrist are back-to-back events, but we know from verse seven that they can't be. The restrainer has to be removed first. We also see elsewhere in scripture that the antichrist is revealed three and a half years into the tribulation, but the apostasy precedes that by years. It begins before the Tribulation. So we already see that verse three is not strictly chronological and covers a period of years. The same can be said for the passage in general.
Regarding the apostasy, 1 Timothy 4:1 warns us that in the later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teaching of demons. In 2 Peter 2:1-3 we are warned about false teachers and those who follow them. It says destruction has been hanging over them for a long time. Jude 1:18 also warns about scoffers following their own desires and causing divisions. In 2 Timothy 4:3, Paul said the time would come when people would not tolerate sound doctrine, but would gather teachers to themselves to suit their own desires. These things would continually grow worse at the end, to the point where Jesus asked if He would even find faith when He returned, Luke 18:8. The point is that the apostasy gets worse at the end, and it does not happen overnight. It is something that is going on for a long time.
So I see a considerable time gap just in verse three alone of 2 Thessalonians 2.
There is a lot happening in the 2nd Thessalonian passage. In scripture, we often see events mentioned together that are actually separated by time, sometimes significant periods of time. We see this in the Olivet Discourse. Another example is found in Isaiah 61:1-2. In Luke 4:17-21, Jesus quotes from Isaiah 61:1-2a. He does not quote verse two in its entirety because only part of it was being fulfilled. The second part of Isaiah 61:2 would not be fulfilled for at least two thousand years. I think this passage from Paul may be similar to that. Just because the events are all mentioned at one time does not mean that they all occur at the same time -- or that they are even in order or strictly chronological. There are many precedents in scripture that support this statement, including the ones I have already mentioned. My point is that there is a period of time between the apostasy and when the man of sin is revealed. Just as there was a significant period of time between the first half of Isaiah 61:2 and the second half.
Even if I were to deny that Paul was writing about two different topics in verses one and two -- the "gathering together" in verse one and the "Day of the Christ" in verse two -- or that there is a time gap in verse three, I still have to admit that the Thessalonians were confused and concerned about them. This passage wouldn't exist if they weren't.
In 2nd Thessalonians, the apostasy, the "gathering together", and the removal of the restrainer all blend together -- as well as all of the events that prove the world is in the "Day of the Christ". We learn that the antichrist will be revealed; he will desecrate the temple, deceive the world, declare himself to be God, and eventually be destroyed by Jesus Himself.
But, as we've already seen, before he is even revealed, there is an apostasy and the restrainer is removed.
Those who hold to a pre-wrath, mid-trib, or post-tribulation rapture frequently point to 2nd Thessalonians 2. They teach that believers will see the revealing of the antichrist and will experience the Day of the Lord. I understand their point. However, it leaves us with an uninspired Paul who contradicted himself. The Holy Spirit is not going to contradict Himself, but people contradict themselves all the time.
In 2nd Thessalonians, Paul begins with the "gathering together"; and, as we continue reading, we see that that event is preceded by an apostasy. We see that the "man of sin" is revealed, but that is preceded by the restrainer being removed. Then the believers are reminded of what the "man of sin" will do: he will exalt himself above God, desecrate the temple of God, and seek to prove that he is God. No matter how I try to deny it, I come back to this point: Paul was writing to assure the Thessalonian believers that since they were not seeing those things, they could not be in the Day of Christ. They could not be in the Tribulation. They had not missed the "gathering together." They had not missed the rapture.
Once again, the 2nd Thessalonian verses are transitioning between events: An apostasy, the "gathering together", the removal of the restrainer, the "Day of Christ", the revealing of the "man of sin", his Satanic rise, his deception of the whole world, his rule, his reign, and his eventual destruction by Jesus. That is the unraveled order and bulk of 2nd Thessalonians.
Perhaps the most important key to unraveling 2nd Thessalonians is that the "man of sin" will not be revealed until the restrainer is taken out of the way. If the restrainer is the church, then the church will be taken away before the "man of sin" is revealed. If the restrainer is the Holy Spirit, then the church will still be taken away before the "man of sin" is revealed because we are promised the Holy Spirit will never leave us.
It certainly appears to me that the Thessalonian believers were being assured that they had not missed the rapture because they were not seeing the events of the Day of the Lord. They were not in the Tribulation. I believe that assurance is for us also. Believers will not see all of these things because, 1) either we are the restrainer, or 2) the restrainer is the One who dwells in us. Either way, I contend that we will be taken away -- raptured -- before the antichrist is revealed and before the Day of the Lord begins. As I said, there is a lot going on in this passage. It covers at least a seven-year time span; it is not in strict chronological order; and it does require some unraveling. However, I believe it not only teaches a pre-tribulation rapture, I believe it demonstrates that the teaching was there from the beginning and not added centuries later.
I know there are a lot of non-Christians (and a growing number of Christians) who mock Bible prophecy and would disagree with everything I've written. Many Christians take Bible prophecy seriously, like I do, and see this passage through a different lens. There might be a dozen different interpretations online, and I have just added mine, but these prophecies have specific meanings. We can't all be right, and pride can easily convince us that we're not the one who is wrong. So, I once again remind my readers, study the Bible for yourself, (which I suspect you do), and ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom, guidance, and understanding.
Of course, it is to be expected that people mock these things and deny them altogether. We are warned about that too. "First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. "Where is the promise of His coming?" they will ask. "Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation." (2 Peter 3:3.) So don't let the scoffers bother you, and if they scoff, remember that Jesus commanded us to love -- not tear people into sarcastic shreds.
I will end with this. I believe in a coming seven-year Tribulation. That's obvious from this post. However, I do not believe the Tribulation begins until the Trumpet Judgments begin. The Seals are not part of the Tribulation.
But, I've already covered that elsewhere.
