And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed
Good morning. And you know what (this word is neuter) restrains him (the man of lawlessness) now, so that in his time he will be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he (this one is masculine) who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way (actually midst, not way). I indicated the gender of these pronouns because there is debate as to who or what it is that restrains the man of lawlessness. There are those who say that the “he“ refers to the Holy Spirit, and that this indicates that the Christians have been raptured because “he”, the Holy Spirit”, has been taken out of the way; and so, there cannot be any Christians remaining. First: Vines Dictionary says that there is no word present that means removal; i.e. whoever or whatever the “he” is, is not removed. Second: the “he“ who restrains the antichrist does not have to be the Holy Spirit. After all, a “mere” Angel is the one who binds Satan for 1000 years. Third: as mentioned before (in reference to the words this generation shall not pass away until all these things take place could be translated “these things begin to take place”) the words translated “is taken out of the way” can be translated “begin to be taken out of the way”; so that the Holy Spirit is not completely gone, and hence, the Christians. Whew! Father thank you for taking care of the reader and his/her family. Continue blessing them richly every day.
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