I have heard of many many people who have
taught various teachings on 2 Thes 2:6-7 which at
best is cryptic since we are left to interpret what Paul
meant.
|
2Thess
2:6
|
And now ye
know what withholdeth
that he might be revealed in his time.
|
|
2Thess
2:7
|
For the
mystery of iniquity doth already work: only
he who now lettethG2722
[will let], until he be taken out of the way.
|
The question is, what was Paul seeing,
and is there evidence in the structure of Scripture that
helps us see what he was describing?
I have heard teachings saying the
restrainer is either:
1.
Church
2.
Holy Spirit
3.
Michael the Archangel
4.
Unknown
People who interpret it as the church, do
so believing that the man of sin cannot be revealed until
after the rapture of the church. Although I would have
to admit that the evidence for the pretribulational rapture
is not conclusive enough to prove 7 years of bad luck to
everyone left behind. Even the “seven” years is an
interpretation of a single text. Every other
text only indicates “time, times, and a half of time”, “42
months”, or “1260 days”.
People who interpret it as the Holy
Spirit, do so believing that He is the ultimate restrainer
of evil. The conclusion is also based on
reasoning that once the rapture happens and the church is
gone, that it is 7 years of bad luck to those left
behind. If you happen to get “saved” during the
seven year tribulation, consider yourself lucky because the
Holy Spirit will not be here convicting sinners to
repent. But I consider this a poor
interpretation because NO ONE can get saved UNLESS the Holy
Spirit draws them to repentance.
#3 is actually fairly interesting because
people who have rejected the first two possible
interpretations are grasping at straws for a plausible
answer that makes sense to them. Personally, it
seems like with the 3 majority interpretations, that none of
them offer anything conclusive enough to say EXACTLY
who/what the restrainer is.
Do you know how many times I have looked
at this and come up empty handed? I have offered
my own thoughts in the past without any way to prove one way
or another who/what the restrainer was. But
today, I prayed asking God to allow me to walk on the path
that I could see how it is connected in scripture. To
my surprise, the answer came, and it was conclusive enough
for me to write about it.
Here is 2 Thes 2:7 in the
Greek. There are two sections.
|
Sequence
|
Word
|
Transliteration
|
Strongs
|
Parsing
|
Gloss
|
Gematria
|
|
1
|
τὸ
|
to
|
3588
|
T-NSN
|
the
|
370
|
|
2
|
γὰρ
|
gar
|
1063
|
CONJ
|
For
|
104
|
|
3
|
μυστήριον
|
mustērion
|
3466
|
N-NSN
|
mystery
|
1178
|
|
4
|
ἤδη
|
ēdē
|
2235
|
ADV
|
already
|
20
|
|
5
|
ἐνεργεῖται
|
energeitai
|
1754
|
V-PMI-3S
|
doth
work
|
489
|
|
6
|
τῆς
|
tēs
|
3588
|
T-GSF
|
*
|
508
|
|
7
|
ἀνομίας·
|
anomias
|
458
|
N-GSF
|
of
iniquity
|
372
|
|
8
|
μόνον
|
monon
|
3440
|
ADV
|
only
|
280
|
|
9
|
ὁ
|
ho
|
3588
|
T-NSM
|
*
|
70
|
|
10
|
κατέχων
|
katechōn
|
2722
|
V-PAP-NSM
|
letteth
|
1776
|
|
11
|
ἄρτι,
|
arti
|
737
|
ADV
|
he
who now
|
411
|
|
12
|
ἕως
|
heōs
|
2193
|
ADV
|
until
|
1005
|
|
13
|
ἐκ
|
ek
|
1537
|
PREP
|
out
of
|
25
|
|
14
|
μέσου
|
mesou
|
3319
|
A-GSN
|
the
way
|
715
|
|
15
|
γένηται,
|
genētai
|
1096
|
V-2ADS-3S
|
he
be taken
|
377
|
* Untranslated definite article.
Now, first let’s look at the word
translated “letteth” which is better pictured as one
who is grabbing on to something.
Greek Strong’s # 2722 = hold fast, seize,
kept, possess, lay hold, withhold, etc.
Notice that:
Phone # 2722
= CRAB
What a perfect picture of a GRABBER!
Webster’s Word # 2722 = ANTICHRIS'TIAN, a. Pertaining
to antichrist; opposite to or opposing the christian
religion.
This picture seams to follow the first
mention of Greek Strong’s # 2722
= Seize.
|
Matt
21:38
|
But when the
husbandmen saw the son, they said among
themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill
him, and let
us seizeG2722
on his inheritance.
|
Another picture is introduced by this
interesting pair….
Hebrew Strong’s # 2722 = Horeb
(The mountain of the Law)
Webster’s Word # 2722 = Antichristian
Hebrew Strong’s # 2710 = Lawgiver
Webster’s Word # 2710 = Anti-christ
Now… don’t stone me for heresy because
you don’t know where I am going on this. It just
so happens that HOREB is mentioned right BEFORE
Elijah.
|
Mal
4:4
|
Remember ye
the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded
unto him in HorebH2722
for all Israel, [with] the statutes and judgments.
|
|
Mal
4:5
|
Behold, I
will send you ElijahH452
the prophet before the coming of the great and
dreadful day of the LORD:
|
Now watch the allegory unfold in
Galatians.
|
Gal
4:24
|
Which things
are an allegory: for these are the two covenants;
the one from the mount Sinai,G4614
which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
|
|
Gal
4:25
|
For this Agar
is mount SinaiG4614
in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now
is, and is in bondage with her children.
|
The allegory continues…
|
Gal
4:29
|
But as then he that was born after
the flesh persecuted him [that was born] after the
Spirit, even so [it is] now.
|
HERE… we have a DIRECT reference to the
ANTI-CHRISTIAN nature of the LAW. Furthermore,
it follows the structure of the scripture. Notice in
Romans, Paul calls it the LAW of SIN and DEATH.
|
Rom
8:2
|
For the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law
of sin and death.
|
Look at the FIRST reference to Mount
Sinai…
|
Exod
16:1
|
And they took
their journey from Elim, and all the congregation
of the children of Israel came unto the
wilderness of Sin, which [is]
between Elim and Sinai,H5514
on the fifteenth day of the second month after
their departing out of the land of Egypt.
|
Notice that Paul in Romans talks about
the “mystery of iniquity”.
|
Rom
7:5
|
For when we were in the flesh, the
motions of sins, which were by the law, did
work in our members to bring forth fruit unto
death.
|
I can already tell that the more I look
at the Structure of the Bible, it continues to paint this
picture of the law being enmity of Christ.
|
Eph
2:15
|
Having
abolished in his flesh the enmity, [even] the law of commandments
[contained] in ordinances; for to make in himself
of twain one new man, [so] making peace;
|
The difficulty is that we have a picture
of the Antichrist in our minds that has been taught for
generations, and I am afraid that we may not see how complex
the picture is.
The whole issue about the “lawgiver”
actually came from watching the original Planet
of the Apes for the first time last night staring Charlton
Hesston. In the beginning, you are given
an introduction by the “Lawgiver”. Then
you have a movie who is played by the same man who played as
Moses in the Ten Commandments. I
remember how the word, “Lawgiver” struck me, and not
even knowing I would be writing about 2 Thes 2:7
today, I am given the word, “Lawgiver” again.
Interesting this picture…
|
Gen
49:10
|
The sceptre
shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiverH2710
from between his feet, until
Shiloh come; and unto him [shall]
the gathering of the people [be].
|
Now looking at Sequence 8-15 above when you add the Strong’s
numbers together:
3440 +
3588 + 2722 + 737 + 2193 + 1537 + 3319 + 1096 = 18632
Verse # 18632
= 4513 Verses
to Malachi 4:6
|
Isa
48:17
|
Thus saith
the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I
[am] the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to
profit, which leadeth thee by the way [that] thou
shouldest go.
|
Here if you look at the distance to Malachi
4:6 you have this:
Hebrew Strong’s # 4513 = Withholden
|
2Thess
2:6
|
And now ye
know what withholdeth
that he might be revealed in his time.
|
If you add the gematrias of Sequence
8-15…
70 +
1776 + 411 + 1005 + 25 + 715 + 377 = 4659
Turn that number and reverse it….
Verse # 9564
|
2Kgs
2:12
|
And Elisha
saw [it], and he cried, My father, my father, the
chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And
he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own
clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
|
Remember the 4513 you saw before?
You will see it again as the gematria of this verse:
|
2Kgs
2:14
|
And he took
the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote
the waters, and said, Where [is] the LORD God of
Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters,
they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went
over. Gematria = 4513
|
Notice the gematria of the verse in the
middle:
|
2Kgs
2:13
|
He took up
also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and
went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;
Gematria = 3733
|
Phone # 3733
= FREE
|
Rom
8:2
|
For the law
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me
free from the law
of sin and death.
|
2243 Verses
from the End
|
2Cor
3:17
|
Now the Lord
is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord
[is], there [is] liberty.
|
Greek Strong’s # 2243 = Elijah
Now the question still remains as to
what/who is the RESTRAINER?
I can’t answer that without truly
understanding the picture that Paul was
presenting. I understand we are looking at the
Abomination of Desolation when the “Man of Sin” is
REVEALED. The problem is that Abomination of
Desolation if it was allowed to be unchallenged by God would
prevent the two witnesses from emerging. At the
same time it has to be allowed to expose the man of
sin. So for a brief moment, the Word of God that
framed the Heavens will be pierced and the Universe will
begin to unravel in desolation. Hell will open
its mouth as the elements melt with fervent heat.
What comes afterwards is a
mystery. I can’t tell if the world will scramble
toward an arising antichrist being now allowed to fully
rise, or if I am looking at the aftermath after Christ
exposes the antichrist for his abomination and causing the
desolation as a judgment. I am leaning toward the
latter hoping that it is TRUTH of the presence of CHRIST
that exposes and reveals the sin.
If anyone wishes to discuss, I am open
for input.
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Blessings,
Wade Balzer
wbalzer@newjerusalem.org