RAPTURE AT SECOND COMING, PART #4: “RAPTURE, THE SECOND COMING, & THE RESTRAINER IN 2 THESS 2:1-8”
If you have not read the first three posts in this series, please do so, as it will help you understand my approach to the Scriptures that I use to evaluate the formulation of doctrines. In Part #2, I explained the Doctrine Test, which evaluates whether particular passages of Scripture teach a doctrine EXPLICITLY (without doubt, clearly stated), IMPLICITLY (easy to prove from Scripture, like the nature of Christ as both fully human and fully God), or SPECULATIVE (guessing)). In Part #3, we applied the Doctrine Test to three passages (Matthew 24:29-31, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, and 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10). I believe I proved from those Scriptures that all three EXPLICITLY teach that the Rapture of Christians (the Church) takes place at the Second Coming.
Today we will look at a passage where there are examples of both Explicit teaching (concerning the Rapture at the Second Coming) and Speculation (concerning the meaning of the Restrainer). The passage we are looking at is 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, where Paul writes to Christians in Thessalonica to clarify their misunderstandings concerning the Lord’s Coming (NT Greek, “parousia,” used generally for the Second Coming) and their being gathered to Him (the Rapture of the Church to meet Jesus when He comes). Here is the passage:
2 Thessalonians 2:1-8 “ Now concerning the COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST and OUR BEING GATHERED TOGETHER TO HIM, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For THAT DAY WILL NOT COME, UNLESS THE REBELLION COMES FIRST, AND THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS IS REVEALED, the son of destruction (perdition) 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? 6 And YOU KNOW WHAT IS RESTRAINING HIM NOW so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only HE WHO NOW RESTRAINS IT WILL DO SO UNTIL HE IS OUT OF THE WAY. 8 And then THE LAWLESS ONE WILL BE REVEALED, whom THE LORD JESUS WILL KILL with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing BY THE APPEARANCE OF HIS COMING.”
EVALUATION USING THE DOCTRINE TEST: For me, this passage is inescapably clear: Christians will meet Christ (be raptured) when He comes back (Second Coming), and He won’t come back until after the “man of lawlessness” (elsewhere called “the antichrist”) comes to power and deceives the world. Jesus will kill this man of lawlessness when He comes back. It is EXPLICIT: “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Second Coming), “and our being gathered to Him” when He comes (Rapture), that is not going to happen until AFTER the man of lawlessness has done his evil thing. When Jesus comes back and raptures the church, He will also at that time destroy the man of lawlessness. Does what I wrote seem repetitive? I guess it is, but I want to make sure you get this: Jesus comes back one time, at the Second Coming. And that is when the Church is gathered to meet Him. EXPLICIT.
Now moving on to apply the Doctrine Test to understanding the identity of the Restrainer, who holds back lawlessness and the man of lawlessness until the allotted time. This is interesting, because the Greek word used for the one restraining lawlessness is used here in two ways: one reference is a neuter participle, like a force, e.g. “you know WHAT is restraining…” (v.6), and the other reference is a masculine participle, e.g. “only HE who restrains…” (v.7). Although Paul may have told the Thessalonians who or what the Restrainer is (v.5), He did not tell us, either here or in any other passage. This has led to at least thirty speculations as to the Restrainer’s identity.
Three of the more prominent theories include: 1) the Roman Empire or Emperor, or more broadly, governmental authority in general; 2) the Holy Spirit; and 3) the Archangel Michael. One could advance persuasive arguments for any of these three. For example, it is a function of governmental authority to keep the peace and maintain order. When there is a collapse of governmental authority (as we seem to be witnessing in a growing number of cities across the USA at the moment, e.g. unrestrained rioting, the movement to defund police, disrespecting our flag, and rebelling against foundational values and principles, etc), we can’t help but see the expansion of lawlessness happening before our eyes. (Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue in our nation and world if the governmental authority of the United States of America collapsed, giving way to rampant lawlessness?)
Could the collapse of governmental authority be the Restrainer? Perhaps. But so also could the Restrainer be the Archangel Michael, who has power to restrain evil (see Daniel 10:13,20-21 and 12:1). The third prominent theory is that the Restrainer is the Holy Spirit. Might He be? Possibly. The point is, whatever we think the answer is, it is neither EXPLICIT (without doubt, clearly stated) nor IMPLICIT (easily provable from Scripture). We would have to conclude that our answer, whatever it may be, is SPECULATION (venturing a guess).
I want now to point out one example of a widespread use of this Scripture to supposedly prove the pre-Trib Rapture of the Church. We have already determined that, since this passage is not clear concerning the identity of the Restrainer, any viewpoint or theory we might advance will be SPECULATIVE. Now, watch this progression of formulating a doctrine based upon speculation. Speculation #1: “The Holy Spirit is the Restrainer.” I have read commentators and heard preachers who say things like, “The Restrainer is ‘obviously’ the Holy Spirit”, implying that anyone with any intelligence can see it. But as we have seen, that just isn’t the case. It is not in any way obvious or proven.
Next comes Speculation #2: “Since the Restrainer is the Holy Spirit, if He is taken out of the way, this means that the Holy Spirit must be taken out of the world.” Does our passage support this? No, it does not.
Finally, Speculation #3: Built upon the two other speculations, “since the Holy Spirit is taken out of the world, this must mean the Church is raptured at that time, because the Holy Spirit indwells the Church. So, we Christians are taken out of the world, too.” Does our passage support this? Again, no it does not.
We have seen that speculations can never be the basis for establishing doctrines. And yet here we see an argument advanced by many pre-Trib Rapture advocates based upon a speculation, which is based upon a second speculation, which is based on a third speculation. To compound the problem, those who use this SPECULATIVE argument to prove that the church is raptured before the Tribulation and the Second Coming of Christ either have to completely redefine or ignore what the Bible teaches EXPLICITLY in the same passage in the verses prior and after: namely, that the rapture does NOT happen until Christ returns and kills the man of lawlessness when He comes.
I hope by this time in our journey together that you can see the value of the Doctrine Test in evaluating the use of Scriptures to formulate doctrines. In my next posts, we will look at other Scriptures, such as 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (the last trumpet); questions about Christians, the Tribulation, and the Wrath of God; also, Israel and the Church in Revelation 7 (who are the 144,000?); and more. Stay tuned!