“And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 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. And then the lawless one will be revealed.” (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8)
In Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, he teaches about end times, the Antichrist, and the Day of the Lord. He also teaches in verse six about something restraining the coming Antichrist. However, he does not specify who or what it is.
His lack of information has caused much speculation. Is it a government? The continued preaching of the gospel? God’s providence? Israel? The church? An angel? The Holy Spirit? Something else?
Satan holds great power. Therefore, we can logically conclude that whatever is restraining the Antichrist and his final apostasy must be something or someone more powerful than a mere human or an angel. Only one can fill this lofty role—God Himself.
Using His supreme sovereign power, God will not permit the Antichrist to come and take power until a pre-determined, appointed time, when “lawlessness” will overtake a certain man to do Satan’s diabolical will.
However, only a few years later, at the midpoint of the Tribulation, God will take His restraint “out of the way” (v7). At that time, the fullness of the Antichrist’s evil spirit (that is, the identity of the one who embodies Satan’s spirit) will be revealed.
To be clear, God will not physically remove the Antichrist but force him to step aside for 1,000 years (Rev 19:7). He will not lose his power just yet. At some point, God will allow it again, thus allowing Satan an opportunity to make war against Him. But we have the assurance that the King of the universe is fully in control and will ultimately and eternally cast Satan and the “lawless one” into the lake of fire (Rev 20:7-10).
No one is more powerful than the Lord God of heaven. He alone controls Satan, when he will be allowed to imitate God (see verse four), and when he can perform the “abomination of desolation” (Dan 9:27; Matt 24:15-16) before the great Day of the Lord. But we know one thing is absolutely certain—that God will be overwhelmingly victorious.
