The Restrainer and the Coming of the Son of Man
 

I would like to share some interesting thoughts with you about the subject of 'the restrainer'. This has seemed to cause so much confusion in the church with at least three different positions been taken in respect to who the identified person actually is. Let's be clear, we cannot just dismiss this because we actually need a restrainer due to evil in this world that has fallen. It is equally important to know who this person is and how He opertes - otherwise we may find ourselves on the wrong side of the restraint. So who can it be?

 

An Angel? No this 'restrainer' cannot be an angel because of the hierarchical arrangement of the angelic world. Arranged in levels of responsibility and authority by God Himself, there is no lower ranking angel that can restrain Satan for he is too powerful and it would mean that angels had to step beyond their realm of authority to do so.  Satan himself is described by God as the anointed cherub that covers – He was, in his pre fallen state, probably the top angel. No other angel can possibly restrain his plans during this age as he is designated a role of authority by God. He has many followers who 'smother' the earth with their influence and are everywhere. All angels are, however, bound by space (they can only be in one place at a time) and could only therefore 'restrain' one evil angel at a time. The restraint of evil is far more than this and therefore even an army of angels could not truly restrain evil as the bible describes it to be.

 

Could it be the church? This view is promoted a lot by pre-tribulation rapture theorists and is a widely held view today. But is it true? Well the church is in decline and evil is on the increase in the nations where the decline is occurring, so on face value it appears it might be a good bet. But on closer examination of what scripture means the arguement for the church as restrainer dissolves. Evil includes in its grasp those who have never heard the gospel and do not go to church (otherwise why do we evangelise?), so the church having no impact in their society has no part in the restraint of the evil in these parts of the world. No - this idea is the invention of overactive imaginations in preachers who desperately want the pre trib rapture to be true.

 

So is it God? Well only God is stronger than all and can be everywhere all the time. Only God can truly claim to be able to control everything. So is there any evidence in the bible for God as the restrainer - Yes! In fact God is most definitely seen as restrainer in Gen 6 prior to the flood:

  And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years (Gen 6:3)

 

Here we see God seeking to deter sin in mankind by the Holy Spirit's enlightening power and working through conscience. We also see Him in charge of this restraint as He determines that the flood will be delayed only 120 yrs. Only God can make these sort of statements.


We can also see this function of restraint in Gen 20 where Abraham/Abimelech meet:

  And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife. 4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? 5 Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this. 6 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.

In both these situations it is the Spirit of God who restrains and controls people and events. God is sovereign and guides the passage of history, holding all thigs in His hands. So the restrainer of evil can be plainly identified from scripture as being the Holy Spirit. Now hold this thought and follow me down another track for a moment and then we shall join some ideas together.

Another picture in scripture of the Holy Spirit is that of a seal. Now a seal signifies two things:

1) Ownership – it identifies the owner of anything
2) Authority  - it proves or authorises the sealed item

In the past ages Kings used seals on their letters/instructions to ensure their writings were properly respected and also to ensure they carried full authority. Without the seal they meant nothing. So is there a place where ownership and authority are seen and demonstrated by use of a seal? Yes there is, but before we look at that let's just consider one more fact.....

In the Thessalonians passage the Restrainer is actually said to be moved out of way - and NOT removed from the earth:

 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way (letteth and let are archaic words for hinder, obstruct, restrain)

So we can understand this to mean that the restrainer is actually present in, standing in, and working in the midst of the events of life and blocking the growth of evil to hinder antichrist from fulfilling the goal of world domination. Only after the restrainer is taken out of the way does the coming of Antichrist follow. Is there anywhere else can we see this idea in scripture? The phrase 'taken out of the way' implies an outside agency being responsible for this action of removing the restraint, and is often misunderstood. So can we see in scripture where the restraint is removed from antichrist? Yes!

 

Pulling it all together! The book of Revelation helps us to finally clear up the issue of the restrainer for this book clearly shows the release of Antichrist. As said previously it is in fact the Holy Spirit who restrains evil because He guides and controls history according to Gods will and plan. But let us restate here again and understand that His removal 'out of the way' is nothing to do with the rapture of the church. We elevate ourselves too highly if we think we are the sole restraint of evil in this world because the Holy Spirit is present in us as the church.  We are just one instrument in God's hand to influence the world and assist in the restraint of evil – our witness plays a big role in countering evil in society - but we are not the done deal. Evil is mysteriously still restrained even where the church does not exist. This is the work of our Omnipresent God.

So what is the restrainer actually restraining? I would say He restrains evil spirits and evil men from bringing to pass the fulfillment of Satan's ultimate plans. These plans are the last events on earth of this age where we will see the rise of the wicked one who rules over all on earth for a set time. Satan deceives and drives mankind along to fulfill his plans, but God restrains the madness and these things cannot happen until God allows them to happen. That is why we see many plans of the wicked one being frustrated during history (Hitler, etc). In reality the world has sought to unite and oppose God many times in the past, and is seeking to unite even as I write this - but God alone has authority over history and has chosen the timing of the final events to usher in the Kingdom of His Son.

In the book of Revelation in chapter 5 we see the Lamb holding a sealed scroll. In chapter 6 we see Him opening that scroll. On this scroll are written the last events of this world that God Himself has chosen to allow to end the age, and which lead to the establishment of Christ's Kingdom - and they are sealed with the seal of God. They cannot occur until God gives authority to break the seals. The scroll forms a document that gives title of rulership over the earth to the one worthy to open the seals and bring an end to the current situation. Only the Lamb can open them for He alone is worthy of true rulership under God on earth – He is a righteous man. No-one else is found worthy for all men since the fall are in themselves unrighteous. As we saw earlier the Holy Spirit is God's seal and the scroll is sealed with a sevenfold sealing, meaning cannot be read until that seal or restraint is broken. This can only be done with authority from the Father and only the Son is given that authority. When the Lamb breaks the seals we clearly see a series of real events unfold beginning with the release of Antichrist – the white horse and rider. The restraint is taken off the spirit of Antichrist and he is given free reign to bring to conclusion the works of evil. Then follows war, famine, disease, etc. The rest of the book of Revelation is showing how all of these events actually work out. We see Antichrist rise, war, destruction of greenery, cosmic events, etc. The church is still present and witnessing/being martyred until Rev 14:14 when:

   And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe            

Here 'One like a Son of Man' the reaper comes in the clouds and reaps the earth. It is an angel that brings word from the throne to Jesus that 'the time is come...'. This is our removal from the earth (or rapture) when Jesus following His Father's will comes for His people.

This, I believe , is the truth about our future and the removal of restraint from the power of evil. Only when God the Father decides it is time will the Lamb be given the scroll and then the end will come. Until then the restrainer will continue with His work, and Jesus words will hold true when He says that NO man knows the day or hour; no angel nor even the Son. Only the Father knows that time. Until He is given the scroll and He breaks the power of restraint all things continue as they do. Some will protest about the comments I made concerning angelic authority and will cite Rev 20 where a single angel from heaven restrains Satan. I would respectfully remind the questioner that a massive shift in authority in the heavenly realms took place in Rev 11 and 12 where the whole order was given to Christ for His rule, and NO place was found in heaven for Satan. His heavenly authority was removed and he was confined to earth - so any angel in heaven may now restrain him with God's authority to do so.