A six year old boy and his father once traveled down the Danube
River, and at the close of one day they stopped at a cloister. The
father took the boy into the chapel to see the organ. It was the first
large organ he had ever seen. His face lit up with delight. He asked
his father if he could play it. The father complied and went to fill
the great bellows. The boy was too small to use the stool, and so he
pushed it back and stood on the pedals. Suddenly the silent chapel
was filled with deep tones, and the monks who were just then eating
their supper dropped their knives and forks in astonishment. Their
organist was right there with them, and so they ran to the chapel,
but when they looked up into the organ loft they saw no one at the
organ, and yet its harmonious tones continued to flow forth in
thrilling power.
“It is the evil one!” cried one monk. “No, it is a miracle,” said
another. A third monk boldly climbed the stairs and found the small
boy treading from pedal to pedal while playing on the keys above
with his little hands. The boy was John Wolfgang Mozart, one of
the greatest musicians that would ever live. This story is of interest
because it illustrates the difficulty that men have in interpreting the
unusual and mysterious. Seeing no evidence of a person at the
organ, the monks came to the conclusion it was either the devil or
God. Only the man who could see the situation up close could come
to a conclusion that was certain and not just a matter of conjecture.
So it is with the passage we are studying in II Thessalonias.
Only those who were addressed by Paul could see the situation from
the vantage point that would give them perfect understanding, for,
after all, it was written to clarify their minds. They were like the
monk who climbed the stairs. They had heard Paul explain these
matters in detail in person. We are like the two monks below trying
to guess which is the most likely explanation for what we hear and
see. The result is, just as the monks came to opposite conclusions, so
men have come to opposite conclusions in interpreting what Paul
has written here. This means humility must characterize any
interpretation of this passage. We must be ever open to new light,
but meanwhile, with what we have, we must seek to understand
Paul’s message.
In verse 5 Paul reminds them that he told them these things
when he was with them. They were Gentiles with no knowledge
about God’s plan for the world. Paul had apparently gone over
these matters of the end times in detail with them. They had the key
to what he writes here in their memories, and so in verse 6 he simply
says, “And now you know what restrains.” Unfortunately, Paul’s
confidence was only in them, and not the rest of the Christians in
history. For we were not there to hear him, and so we are not
certain at all. What we do know for sure is that they knew what it
was that was restraining the lawless one in their day. This tells us a
great deal. It tells us that the man of sin is no mere historical person
or power, but is definitely supernatural, for he existed in the first
century. He is Satan incarnate in man like Jesus was God incarnate
in man. Satan’s last attempt to conquer will be by counterfeiting
God’s method.
He is under God’s control all along. He cannot even come unto
the stage of history until God says the time is ready. God has a
power in the world that is restraining Him from coming. The big
question is, what is that restrainer? There are those who say it is the
church and the Holy Spirit. Both are needed to account for the
restrainer being called by a neuter in verse 6, and a masculine in
verse 7. The church is the instrument, and the Holy Spirit is the
person in control holding back the man of sin. It makes sense, for
Paul says that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against
principalities and powers. The church is restraining the power of
Satan by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is why the church is the
light and salt of the world. As long as the church does its task, the
man of sin cannot take over. This is the battle of the ages, and Jesus
said that the gates of hell would not prevail against His church. The
Gospel would be preached to every nation, and then would come the
end.
The Amillennial idea is that this restraint of the man of sin is
the same as the binding of Satan for the 1000 years, or the total
period of the age of grace. The church and Christ reign in history
until God’s plan is completed. Then comes the final test with the
great falling away, and then Satan is let loose to deceive the nations.
He does so with his man of sin and lawlessness who gains world
power and deceives all who love not the truth. Christ then comes
and this great imposter is destroyed. This interpretation appeals to
me because it accounts for so many things in the Bible, and it is so
simple. I cannot assure you it is a certainty, but as I compare it with
other views it seems far superior. But lets look at some other views.
B. B. Warfield, the great Presbyterian scholar, feels that the
restrainer is the Jewish state, and it was restraining the power of
Rome against the Christians. This view does have some support, but
Rome’s power was restrained by the existence of Judaism. Judaism
was a legal religion in the Roman Empire, and the Romans thought
of Christians as a movement within Judaism, and so they were not
persecuted as they would have been had they not had this shelter.
When Judaism fell in 70 A.D. The Christians were then on their
own, and they met real trouble. The Emperors called themselves
God, and they demanded worship just as the lawless one is to do.
There was also a falling away. This would be a sound interpretation
except for the fact that Jesus never came to destroy the Emperor.
There is no room for a spiritual interpretation of the second coming
here, for the whole context clearly reveals the literal coming and
judgment.
What about the opposite view that Rome is the restrainer, and
that Judaism is the one restrained. This view also has support, for
Paul was saved several times by the power of Rome from being
killed by the Jews. Christians had protection from the Jews just
because the Romans would not tolerate lawlessness. The Roman
power of law and justice kept the hatred of the Jews from destroying
the church as it did her Lord. The day will come, however, when
the reign of law in the world will be taken away, and lawlessness will
reign. A Jewish ruler will be revived by Satan and gain world
power. The temple will be rebuilt, and he will proclaim himself God
and deceive the world. This view reads a Jew into the place of being
anti-Christ, but there is no basis for this.
A third view which is the most widely held from the earliest
days of the church is like the second, but does not make the Jews the
source of the anti-Christ. They say that the restrainer is the Roman
Empire. The early Christian writers almost all agree on this. The
early Christians prayed for the Empire to last, for they feared that
when it collapsed the man of sin would come. The New Testament
abounds with exhortations to pray for leaders and to live a life of
peace. The breakdown of the law and order of the Empire would be
the beginning of the end was the Christian conviction. It was
Roman power that seized and executed the false Christs that
appeared on the scene.
If it was Rome, it would explain why Paul does not mention it in
a letter to be read in public. These believers were already in
tribulation. If they started reading in public ideas about the fall of
Rome they could easily be charged with treason or rebellion. Paul
does say that the restrainer would be taken out of the way, and the
Romans would not have cared to hear this idea being expressed.
The Reformers say it was the Roman Empire, and when it was taken
away the Papacy began, which they say represents the man of sin.
The Pope is the anti-Christ in this view, and it has been a popular
view of Protestants. This was part of the warfare between
Protestants and Catholics, but no where in history has a Pope
proclaimed himself God, as did the Roman Emperors.
I accept the Roman Empire as the restrainer, but in the sense
that it was the maintainer of law and order. When it fell the
principles of law lived on, and even today much of the law of our
land goes back to Rome. The spirit of law has gone hand in hand
with the church in building Western civilization. The church has
preserved the law and justice of the Empire, and where the church
goes, there goes law and order. This is then the restraining power
that keeps Satan’s hands tied so that he cannot get his man of
lawlessness on the stage of history. When the church has done its
task and God’s time comes, law and order will collapse, and in the
anarchy that follows Satan will be allowed to guide his man of sin
into power. It is not important that we know for sure all the details,
but it important that we be busy fulfilling the Great Commission.
