Does the Bible teach that Jesus will rapture His people before the Tribulation? This is a series of Studies on the question, "Will the rapture be before the Tribulation or before the Wrath of God?
"PRE-TRIB. OR PRE-WRATH? Section Four
Matt. 24:1-51
OH! WHERE DID YOU GO?
It should be noted that there are those who teach that the Holy Spirit will be removed
from the earth altogether during this seven year period. They use as a proof text
Second Thessalonians 2: 6,7: ’’And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed
in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will
let, until he be taken out of the way" (KJV)
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This is how it reads in the New Scofield Bible: "And now ye know what restraineth
that he might be revealed in him time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work;
only he who now hindereth will continue to hinder until he be taken out of the way. "
Some teach of this passage that the Holy Spirit will be removed when the churches are
removed at the beginning of the tribulation. Further more, they say the restraining force is
the Lord’s churches which are empowered by the Holy Spirit and as long as the Holy Spirit is in the world the antichrist can not come. If this is true, it does set up an entire series of contradictions that is very difficult to be understood. If a person will examine the entire book of 1 Thessalonians, he will find that the very subject at hand is the coming of Christ at the end of the tribulation.
Second Thessalonians chapter one gives a person two places where the "WHEN" of the
second coming is pin pointed. In 1:7 it reads, ’’And to you who are troubled, rest with
us, WHEN he shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking
vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ; . . . "
No one could possibly interpret this "WHEN" at any other time than at the end of the tribulation. Then again in 1:10 it reads, "WHEN’ he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed)in that day."
Here again, it must be the coming of our Lord at the end of the tribulation. If He will
be "admired in all them that believed," since all that believe will not even be saved until
the end of the tribulation, (for there will be a multitude of people saved during the
tribulation) this coming can not be at the beginning of the tribulation period.
Now, we come to 2 Thessalonians chapter two. The Apostle Paul, first reasons that
two things must take place before Jesus will return. He says that Jesus will not come until:
(1) the falling away takes place (the apostasy);
(2) the man of sin must be revealed, the son of perdition. Since the son of perdition
(the antichrist) will not be revealed until the middle of the tribulation, it stands to
reason that the church will be here at least until after the middle of the tribulation.
It does not make a great deal of sense to think of Paul saying "Jesus will not come until
after the antichrist is revealed but the church is raptured three and a half years before the
antichrist is revealed." How can the church be raptured three and a half years before Jesus
comes? It just does not harmonize with what the rest of the Bible teaches. Hear again, if
you say that there is a coming before this coming, please show me where the Scripture
teaches it.
The evidence of the existence of the Holy Spirit during the Tribulation period is so evident that I can’t even begin to understand how some would deny his ministry during this time when God’s people will need His comforting power more than ever.
WHO IN THE WORLD IS
DOING THE RESTRAINING?
I have tried to point out that the Holy Spirit will be very active during the tribulation period. I do not believe nor does the Bible bear out the teaching that the Holy Spirit will be removed from the earth during the 7 years of tribulation.
That doesn’t answer the question of who is the one restraining the antichrist from
coming forth? Let me print the verses of 2 Thess. 2:3-8, "Let no man deceive
you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come the falling away first,
and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, Who opposeth and exalteth
himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he, as God, sitteth in
the temple of God, showing himself that he is God Remember ye not that, when I was
yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what restraineth that he might
be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who not
hindereth will continue to hinder until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that
wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and
shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. "
There will be someone or something that will hinder the coming of the antichrist. Who
or what will it be? I have always been taught that the Bible is its own best commentary,
and I do most certainly believe that. Why can’t we let the Bible answer the question for
us?
Before we let the Bible tell us who the one is who is doing the restraining, we need first to look at a phrase that is used in verse 7. The phrase "taken out of the way" is translated from the Greek phrase "elt mesou genetai" "elt" is the Greek preposition "out of’; "mesou" is the genitive for of the noun "mesos" which means "the midst or of the middle of’; (this word is used in Matthew 10:16 and is translated "as sheep ’in the midst’ of wolves;" it is also used in Matthew 13:25 and is translated "among", in other words "an enemy had sowed the tares in the midst of the wheat:" it is used in Matthew 14:24 and is translated "the ship was now ’in the midst of the sea; the Greek word "mesos" is used 60 times in the Greek New Testament and it always means "the middle or the midst") The verb "genetai." is the 3rd person singular aorist Subjunctive form of the verb "ginomai." which means "to come into existence". The actual translation of the phrase is "that he might come from out of the midst". Now, the phrase "to come forth out of the midst" is the key to understanding who it is that is holding back the antichrist.
If we turn to the book of the Revelation, to the actual place where the antichrist does
come forth, we will see who it is that lets the antichrist come from out of the midst. In
Revelation 6: 1,2 it reads, (before reading these two verses, it should be noted that almost
every fundamental Bible scholar that I know believes that Revelation 6: 1,2 is the coming
forth of the antichrist). Now, let’s look at the two verses, "And I saw when the Lamb
opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beast saying, Come !. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had
a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
The phrase "come and see" in the King James Translation is unfortunately a bad
translation. The words "and see" are not found in The Greek New Testament. Only the
word "come" is used. It is from the Greek verb -erchomai- which means "to come"
However, in Revelation 6: 1 it is a verb written in the second person singular present
imperative. That means that it is a simple command "You come".
So, here is the answer to our question. Who is it that will restrain the antichrist until
he comes from out of the midst? It is this living creature. He is the one who will give the
command for the antichrist to "Come" and the antichrist will not be able to come from out of the midst until this living creature by the Lamb’s permission does so.
Also, we need to take a closer look at the meaning of the phrase "out of the midst".
God has always chosen the words He uses very carefully. They will give us His message if we will just listen to them. Why did God say, "He will come from out of the midst"? Look at Revelation 13. Here again we have the coming of the antichrist and the antichrist system. How are we told they will come? And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, . . . ." (Rev.13:1 a)
Notice, that the beast is coming from out of the midst of the sea. It certainly seems
like Bible truth to say that it will be this living creature that will issue the command for the antichrist to come and when the command is issued the antichrist will come from out of the midst of the world system and from among the people of the earth.
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CENTRAL BAPTIST CHURCH
PASTOR: Larry Jacobs
email: LarryJ713@aol.com
Web Site: cbcbedford.com
