The question so often asked is, who is the restrainer of 2 Thessalonians 2:6-9? Various views have been offered with a wide range of possibilities that add intrigue to the subject of Bible prophecy. Because the suggestions have been so broad throughout the long history of the church, the answer has often eluded all those who tried to interpret the prophetic Scriptures.
Some of the church fathers held that the restrainer was the power of the Roman Empire or some other form of law or governmental authority. Others thought it might be the moral restraining influence of the church itself. Many have held that it was the witness of the Christian who kept back the coming forth of the Antichrist. And finally, there are even those who ascribed the work of Satan as a form of restraint on the appearance of the evil personality known as the "man of lawlessness" or "the son of destruction" (v. 3).
Dispensationalists point to the fact that the restrainer must be a unique, divine individual who is quite capable to hold back the coming of the evil worker who will exercise great power and authority over the religions of the entire world (v. 4). This would certainly be the Antichrist as described by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-9. The Roman Empire would not qualify because it is in itself a terror on the earth, but too, the Antichrist will actually rule and control the revived Roman Empire and use it to extend his rebellious authority worldwide. Furthermore, John F. Walvoord writes, "the Tribulation period is revealed as an era of absolute government in which everything social, religious, and economic is regimented" by the new Roman power. (40)
In regard to the church Gerald B. Stanton says: "The church is at best an imperfect organism, perfect in standing before God, to be sure, but experientially before men, not always blameless, not always beyond reproach. Similar to human government, the church is being used of God to hinder the full manifestation of the Evil One in this present age, but he who effectively restrains is certainly not the believer himself, but the One who empowers the believer, the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 16:7; 1 Cor. 6:19). Apart from his presence, neither church nor government would have the ability to hinder the program and power of Satan." (61)
A closer look at the 2 Thessalonian 2 passage will help answer the question as to the identity of the one who restrains. In 2:6 the Greek text best reads: "and the thing now holding (him) down (or restraining him) you know, so that he (is) to be revealed in his own time." Verse 7 says: "for the mystery of this lawlessness is already working only until the one now holding (him) down (or restraining him) shall get out of the way." The Greek word katecho is a compound word coming from kata (down) and echo (to have or to hold). From this we get the thought "to hold down or to restrain." Katecho can have the meaning: To hold back from action, to keep under control, to deprive of physical liberty, as by shackling, or arresting a criminal. The restrainer then is preventing the Antichrist from "breaking out" until his appointed time, which would be somewhere during or just before the beginning of the tribulation.
In verse 6 to katechon is a neuter present participle, being translated "the thing now holding (him) down (or restraining him)," though in verse 7 the masculine present participle is used, ho katechon, and should be translated "the one now holding (him) down (or restraining him." This grammatical difference would certainly exclude the church because church is a feminine word in Greek. Some think the feminine gender in verse 6 refers to the Roman Empire while the masculine in verse 7 has to do with the Roman emperor. But this view is not plausible. While the word spirit (pneuma) is in the neuter gender, but when referring to the Holy Spirit the masculine pronoun is used. This is a common way of describing the Spirit of God in the New Testament. In John 14:26 the Spirit whom the Father will send in the name of Jesus is called the Paraclete (the One called alongside, the Counselor). The Paraclete is a masculine noun but the Spirit is a neuter noun. "The purposeful change in grammar emphasizes the personality of the Holy Spirit. There would be no reason to change from the neuter to the masculine unless the Spirit was understood to be a person." (Paul Enns, 249)
The point of the 2 Thessalonian 2 passage seems clear. The Man of Sin, the Antichrist, cannot come forth until this restraining power gets out of the way! By divine providence, and by all the evidence of the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit characteristically restrains and strives against sin (Gen. 6:3). The Spirit presently abides in the world in a special way in this age through the church. The failure to see the restrainer as the Holy Spirit is another sign of the inadequate understanding of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in general and His work in relation to the larger providential movements of God in human history. (John F. Walvoord, 44-45)
One objection to the Holy Spirit as the restrainer is the phrase at the end of 2 Thessalonians 2:7 that says: "until he is taken out of the way." Many argue that it does not sound right that the Spirit of God is taken away or removed. But is this what the passage is saying? The Greek word translated "taken" is genetai and is an aorist middle subjunctive from ginomai, a deponent verb. Such verbs appear in the middle or passive form but are still translated as active, meaning the subject (which in this case is the restrainer) is doing the action. "The deponent verb does not denote removal by an outside force but rather a voluntary act on the part of the restrainer." (D. Edmond Hiebert, 207) "To be taken out of the way" should better read "to get out of the way." (R. C. H. Lenski, 421) The Holy Spirit is going to move out of the way. He is not going to be taken out of the way.
When the Holy Spirit moves aside, or out of the way, "then that lawless one (the Antichrist) will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders" (vv. 8-9). The Antichrist will remain active throughout the seven year tribulation, but at the second coming of Christ, he will be slain and thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 19:20). Known as the beast in Revelation, the Antichrist who deceived many by "the mark" will be tormented night and day with those who worshipped him and his image (14:9-11).
While it is probably correct to say the restrainer moves aside at the time of the rapture of the church so that the "in his time (the Antichrist) may be revealed" (2 Thess. 2:6), more than likely the Holy Spirit is still on earth to bring people to salvation. While the church is here He is active as the power working within the believers. However, those who come to the Lord in the tribulation are not part of the body of Christ that is removed to glory at the sound of the trumpet. The sound of the trumpet is the signal for the rapture and the resurrection of the church (1 Thess. 4:13-18).
