Grace mercy and peace from God our father and Lord Jesus Christ.
In a question , you said the restrainer is the Holy Spirit. I beg to differ there , there isn’t anywhere where the restrainer is called or even referred to as the Holy Spirit or for that matter the church.
Please show me anywhere where this is. Cause I’ve been reading and studying it for 12 years and I’ve never read one time where the Holy Spirit is referred to as the restrainer . Please explain
You’re correct in saying that the restrainer in 2 Thes. 2:6-7 is never clearly identified as the Holy Spirit. But there is good circumstantial evidence to support this conclusion.
When speaking about the power holding the anti Christ back in verse 6, the Greek word is a neuter gender. But in verse 7 Paul uses personal pronouns of the masculine gender to describe the source of the power. By this we conclude that whatever is restraining the appearance of the anti-Christ has to be a living entity not a thing. And he has to be very powerful since according to verse 9 the anti-Christ’s appearance is a work of Satan.
Suddenly this living entity will be pulled out of the midst of the place where the anti-Christ is trying to appear (Planet Earth), freeing him to make his appearance. And from that point on, the power of the anti-Christ is unrestrained allowing him to do Satan’s worst.
So the restrainer is a living entity of masculine gender powerful enough to single handedly hinder Satan’s plans until the appointed time. This description eliminates most candidates that have been put forth.
For instance, some have said that it was the Roman Empire with its system of government and law, but the Roman Empire was not a living entity, and in fact the anti-Christ will come from a revived Roman Empire. Some have said Israel, but Israel will reject the anti-Christ and become his sworn enemy. Some have said it’s the government of man, but again government is not a living entity, and the anti-Christ will head the government of man. Some have said the Church, but the Church is always spoken of in the feminine gender as the Bride of Christ, and only derives her power from the Holy Spirit. Other candidates are similarly unqualified.
That leaves the Holy Spirit Himself and there happens to be Biblical precedent for both His restraining influence and His abrupt withdrawal before a world wide judgment. In Genesis 6:3 the Lord said His Spirit would not contending with man indefinitely , but in 120 years the judgment would come. This implies that the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from Earth before the Flood, just as He’ll be withdrawn before the Great Tribulation.