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He who now restrains will do so until He is taken
out of the way.
o God
described Himself as a God of mercy, a God who relents from pouring out His
wrath as men deserve (Ex. 34:6-7).
Jeremiah recognized this as he sat, weeping over Jerusalem in the days
of the Babylonians. In that terrible
moment he could still say, Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed
(Lam. 3:22). This restraint on
wickedness was predicted in the vision of Zechariah 5:5-11. The woman called “wickedness” was placed in a
basket by two angels. Then a heavy lid was
put on the basket and she was taken to the land of Shinar (Babylon). Note the last words of the chapter: when
it is ready, the basket will be set there on its base. Wickedness is restrained until a particular
time. Paul says that the restraint on
wickedness is necessary so that the man of sin … may be revealed in his own
time (2:6). In other words, God has
a plan and even the extent of evil must be checked until a particular time.
o How
does God restrain evil? In other words, “who”
or “what” is the restrainer? The passage
does not specifically answer that question.
However, depending on your translation, there may be some clues. For one thing Paul says the Thessalonian
believers know what is restraining (v6).
Another thing to note is the use of the personal pronoun “he” or “He”
(as the NKJV translates it). (You should understand that the Greek language of
the NT did not have upper and lower case letters. Use of upper case in English is at the
discretion of the translator.)
§ It
may be that it refers to a specific person, and that it may refer to the Holy
Spirit. Further, there are some who
believe it refers to the Church, the believers in whom the Holy Spirit
dwells. That would mean that when the
Church is removed at the outset of the day of the LORD that the Holy Spirit
would depart with them. The Holy Spirit
may have a ministry of restraining but we should not think that He is
absent during the tribulation period because Rev. 7 makes it clear that people
are saved during that time. That cannot
happen with out the third Person of the Trinity.
§ Others
believe the restrainer is the government.
That is, after all, the proper role of government as God has said (e.g. Rom.
13:1-6). It may mean that government
loses its ability or its will to maintain law and justice. There was a time in Israel when the prophet
could say the law is powerless, and justice never goes forth … therefore
perverse judgment proceeds (Hab. 1:4).
We see this from time to time in our own societies and perhaps that will
prevail during the day of the LORD.
o What
does this current period of restraint mean to believers? For one thing it tells us we have a merciful
God. That was Jeremiah’s point in
Lamentations 3. But for another thing it
means we have that much more freedom to go about the work of Christ in this
age. Paul seemed to have this in mind in
Romans 13:11-14. It is high time to
awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first
believed. The night is far spent, the
day is at hand. Therefore let us cast
off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in
revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no
provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. Remember that a great falling away of
professing believers will occur during this time. Let us not allow ourselves to be caught up in
the doctrines that promote materialism, hedonism and the pride of life. Rather let us be focused on our Lord and
serving Him faithfully until He calls us to be with Him.
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