“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. Then that lawless one will be revealed . . .” – 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8a (NASB)
The mystery of lawlessness refers to Satan’s counterfeit program of deception that is in opposition to God’s program of truth. It is by means of this program of lawlessness that Satan intends to bring to world power the lawless one: the Antichrist. However, the Antichrist will not gain full political and religious control until he wars against the ten kings and kills three of them (Daniel 7:24). The other seven kings will then submit to him. It is only when the last of these three kings has been killed, leading to a total submission of the other seven kings, that the Antichrist will be free to take over absolute global dictatorship.
In his letter, Paul reminds his readers that the mystery of lawlessness is already at work and is even then being restrained. The common assumption is that it is the Holy Spirit who is doing the restraining. Yet, the Scriptures never describe the Holy Spirit as a ‘Restrainer,’ or having any ministry of restraining. The task of restraining evil and lawlessness was given to human government under the Noahic Covenant in Genesis 9:1-17, and this basic doctrinal truth was reiterated in Romans 13:1-7. On one hand, human government is even now restraining lawlessness. On the other hand, the government of the last of the three kings will restrain the Antichrist until the middle of the Tribulation, at which point that lawless one will take over the Jewish Temple, declare himself to be god, and call all men to worship him (2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 13).
Ariel Ministries New Zealand
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