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 will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. (2 Thess. 2:3-8)
The absolutely definitive signs of the (great) tribulation is the revealing of the Antichrist through the act of great apostasy, and the hard condition for that is the removal of the "restrainer", and that raises the question - who or what is the "restrainer"?
So far there're three most plausible answers - 1. the Holy Spirit, which has been suppressing the Antichrist's spirit, even though it's been at work since the days of apostle Paul. When the time comes, the Holy Spirit will be gone, Antichrist freed; 2. Civil power, specifically, national governments. Whne the Antichrist rises, national sovereignty will be surrendered to a global government, which will rule over the entire world; 3. the church and all church organizations, no good church left, all will be incorporated into the false religion of Mystery Babylon.
I think the answer is heavily affected by each one's eschatalogical view. If you're pre-trib, it'll likely to be 1 or 3; if you're post-trib like me, though, it'll likely to be 2. It all depends on how you identify of the "saints" in Revelation. If they're "new converts" - even though the whole world is deceived by the Antichrist, the original church is gone, then it might be 3, I personally side with 2, as I identify them as the remnant church, the great multitude specifically identified as the followers of Christ coming "out of the great tribulation" (Rev. 7:14). However, in most translations, the "he" and the "restrainer" are both capped, indicating the Holy Spirit, which doesn't really make sense, considering the prophecy, "it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh," (Acts 2:17).
The absolutely definitive signs of the (great) tribulation is the revealing of the Antichrist through the act of great apostasy, and the hard condition for that is the removal of the "restrainer", and that raises the question - who or what is the "restrainer"?
So far there're three most plausible answers - 1. the Holy Spirit, which has been suppressing the Antichrist's spirit, even though it's been at work since the days of apostle Paul. When the time comes, the Holy Spirit will be gone, Antichrist freed; 2. Civil power, specifically, national governments. Whne the Antichrist rises, national sovereignty will be surrendered to a global government, which will rule over the entire world; 3. the church and all church organizations, no good church left, all will be incorporated into the false religion of Mystery Babylon.
I think the answer is heavily affected by each one's eschatalogical view. If you're pre-trib, it'll likely to be 1 or 3; if you're post-trib like me, though, it'll likely to be 2. It all depends on how you identify of the "saints" in Revelation. If they're "new converts" - even though the whole world is deceived by the Antichrist, the original church is gone, then it might be 3, I personally side with 2, as I identify them as the remnant church, the great multitude specifically identified as the followers of Christ coming "out of the great tribulation" (Rev. 7:14). However, in most translations, the "he" and the "restrainer" are both capped, indicating the Holy Spirit, which doesn't really make sense, considering the prophecy, "it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh," (Acts 2:17).
