Has God Lifted His Hand of Restraint?

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.
2 Thessalonians 2:7

I got an email today that sent me straight to my Bible. The author of the email wondered if it was possible that God was withdrawing His hand of restraint. I found the premise incredibly interesting and so, I am putting my Jeremiah study down for a bit to look at 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 to see what Scripture says about God's restraining hand, what that means, and what happens when it is lifted.

Let's talk first about why Paul wrote this letter to the Thessalonians. It is clear from the first two verses in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 that these people had received word or a letter of some kind, (not penned by an apostle), which was causing them to be anxious and worried that they had somehow missed the Lord's return. Paul is writing them to soothe those concerns and to basically let them know that if he has written them he will have personally signed the letter. In fact, he makes a point of mentioning at the end of the letter that all his epistles are signed by him (2 Thessalonians 3:17).

Paul then goes on to explain the signs of what will happen before Jesus returns. So let's look at those things one by one.

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God,
showing himself that he is God.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, NKJV

What Happens First?

• A falling away - or apostasy. This is not in reference to general unbelief in God throughout the world. This is specifically in reference to apostasy within the church. How do I know this? Jesus warned about it happening and it is discussed several times in various epistles of the Bible. (1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; Matthew 24:10-12; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; 2 Peter 3:17; Hebrews 3:12; 2 Peter 2:1; Acts 20:28-30).
• The man of sin is revealed.  The NIV calls this man the "man of lawlessness" and The Complete Jewish Bible phrases this verse as: "The man who separates himself from Torah has been revealed." This is quite a literal translation of the text, but in truth a man of "lawlessness" would be someone who had separated themselves from the the Torah, because it is in the Torah that we find the laws of God. I find this very interesting, because we are at a crucial juncture in church history where Christians are actually separating themselves from the Bible in general. The Pounce Foundation, a Christian market research organization suggests that 82% of Christians only read their Bibles on Sundays. This is very alarming and incredibly sad. Some don't study it at all and others change the words (or ignore them altogether) to suit their own agendas. If the man of sin is someone who condemns the Word of God, then we are closer than ever to having him revealed. 
  

What is holding back the man of sin?

I've read different commentaries on this and the following are some of the current theories. It is thought that:

• Paul was referring to the Roman Government, who at the time, were restraining Christians from spreading the Gospel.
  
• The church was preventing the rise of the man of sin or Antichrist, until believers are removed by the Rapture.
• The Holy Spirit is preventing the rise of the Antichrist.

One thing is clear, apostasy has begun in the church and that is the first sign. I'll look a little more at this next week, but for now, what do you think? Is God lifting His hand? Are we seeing the beginning of the end?