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The spirit of lawlessness is unrestrained after the rapture:
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The work of the Holy Spirit restrains evil:
Isaiah 59:19 - ...When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.
John 16:7-8 - Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.
1 John 3:4-9 - Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
1 John 3:24 - Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
We see in the passages above, that in the "dispensation of grace," the Holy Spirit restrains evil through conviction. In the "dispensation of the Law," God restrained evil through the Law and the Holy Spirit convicting people through the prophets (Zechariah 7:12). In the "dispensation of judgment," evil will go unrestrained (2 Thessalonians 2:5-10). Therefore, the restraining work of the Holy Spirit will be suspended during the "dispensation of judgment":
2 Thessalonians 2:5-10 - Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 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, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
http://www.trackingbibleprophecy.org/rapture.php#restrains
Restrainer taken with the Church:
A few sections back, we discussed that the "restrainer" in the following passage is the Holy Spirit:
2 Thessalonians 2:5-10 - Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 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, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
The Holy Spirit has sealed believers until the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13-14). If the Holy Spirit is "taken out of the way," so must the Church. The saying goes: "If you take the restrainer, you take the container." The rapture event will take the restrainer "out of the way."
http://www.trackingbibleprophecy.org/rapture.php#restrainer
Email: amy@trackingbibleprophecy.org
Website: www.trackingbibleprophecy.org
Also consider the four winds in Revelation:
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Revelation 7:1 - "I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree."
The use of "four winds" in Scripture is generally used to denote a global scope:
Jeremiah 49:36 - Against Elam I will bring the four winds From the four quarters of heaven, And scatter them toward all those winds; There shall be no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go.
Ezekiel 37:9-10 - Also He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live." ' " So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Daniel 8:8 - Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven.
Daniel 11:3-4 - Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven...
Zechariah 2:6 - "Up, up! Flee from the land of the north," says the LORD; "for I have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven," says the LORD.
Matthew 24:31 - And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Mark 13:27 - And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.
Only the passage in Daniel shows the "four winds" as something other than a collective term used for the four cardinal directions:
Daniel 7:2-3 - Daniel spoke, saying, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other."
The four great beasts are the four empires (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome), or the four horns God used to exile Judah (Zechariah 1:18-21). God used the "four spirits" in judgment and conquest of each succeeding empire (Zechariah 6:6-7). The word for "spirit" in Hebrew is "ruach," and in Greek "an'emos," which can also be translated as "wind." The Greek Septuagint translates "spirits" in Zechariah 6:5 as the same Greek word translated "winds" here in Revelation.
In other words, the "four winds" in Daniel and Revelation are the same as the "four spirits" in Zechariah, which are the four horses in Revelation 6, as shown in the Zechariah study. Therefore, John sees the four angels restraining the "four winds," which are the four horses before they ride out in judgment, which supports this chapter being an interlude that begins before Revelation 6, as discussed in the last section.
http://www.trackingbibleprophecy.org/revelation7A.php#1b
*** In other words, the 144,000 Jewish servants are sealed before the 1st Seal is broken. ***
Email: amy@trackingbibleprophecy.org
Website: www.trackingbibleprophecy.org
But if the Holy Spirit is "removed" from the world, how will people receive the gift of faith and be led to salvation? Isn't it the Holy Spirit that moves us towards redemption? So if there is no Holy Spirit, how can others be saved?
I've heard others say that the "restrainer" is Michael the angel who protects Israel and that in the middle of the tribulation he is called up to heaven to kick satan out of heaven and it is at this time that the AC is revealed and commits the abomination of desolation b/c Michael is not there to stop him. This makes more sense to me. I feel like the Holy Spirit is still going to be around, but I could be wrong on that too. The Holy Spirit can exist outside of our bodies, so just b/c we are taken doesn't mean that he is....does it?
*** In other words, the 144,000 Jewish servants are sealed before the 1st Seal is broken. ***
But I thought Revelations was chronological....why would that be in the 6th seal if it happens before the first?
I actually have a slightly different interpretation than Amy. I believe Revelation is highly chronological except for some parenthetical chapters. I think the 6th seal is when the Jewish evangelists are sealed which means the first 6 seals could serve as the gap between the rapture and the 70th week. But it's not set in stone, and I actually vacillate between this theory and the theory that the trib could occur right after the rapture.
I've heard others say that the "restrainer" is Michael the angel who protects Israel and that in the middle of the tribulation he is called up to heaven to kick satan out of heaven and it is at this time that the AC is revealed and commits the abomination of desolation b/c Michael is not there to stop him. This makes more sense to me. I feel like the Holy Spirit is still going to be around, but I could be wrong on that too. The Holy Spirit can exist outside of our bodies, so just b/c we are taken doesn't mean that he is....does it?
The Holy Spirit is not removed....the restraining power of the Holy Spirit through the Church is removed.
Email: amy@trackingbibleprophecy.org
Website: www.trackingbibleprophecy.org
But I thought Revelations was chronological....why would that be in the 6th seal if it happens before the first?
Revelation is chronological except for the interludes or parentheticals. I believe Revelation 7 is an interlude that takes us back before the Seals. As I discussed earlier, the "four winds" are the "four horses" in Revelation 6. We find in Zechariah 6 that these four horses are "spirits". In Hebrew wind=spirit, therefore, the "four winds" are the "four spirit" horses being restrained by the angels from riding out in judgment. That means, Revelation 7 is an interlude that takes us back to a point in time before the 4 spirit horses are released. Click here for my in-depth study on these four horses, and you will see that the horses of judgment in Zechariah 6 are the same as those in Revelation 6.
Email: amy@trackingbibleprophecy.org
Website: www.trackingbibleprophecy.org
But the 144,000 are called "firstfruits":
Revelation 14:1 Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. 3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. 4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. 5 And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.
This means they are the first ones saved after the rapture, being the first believers of the Tribulation harvest, which agrees with them being sealed before the 4 horses are released by the four angels in the Seal judgments.
Email: amy@trackingbibleprophecy.org
Website: www.trackingbibleprophecy.org
Sparkles, Amy has done a bang up job in my opinion answering these questions. Yes , the restrainer will no longer live in individual Christians as in the Church Age but His work is not done. It's just different. His presence in us seals us for redemption with that promise. When the Church Age is over He leaves taking those of us still alive with Him. After delivering us then His job assignment changes. He will still be around influencing . He will have the 144,000 to work with. Angels will make announcements in the Heavenlies. It's simply a different Age is all. Things will operate differently.
This is why we work so hard to reach people now because after the Rapture it will be much more difficult , there is no promise of safe delivery. Most likely new Christians will lose their lives in testimony for Jesus and refusing the AC's ultimatum ; demand for worship. Currently , the Holy Spirit is leading and guiding us inwardly, redeeming, maturing us spiritually, preparing us for our future and salvation. When we ask for Jesus to be our Savior He seals us with Himself. He is the promise that Trib Christians won't have.
Nevertheless, God has a plan for them. Imagine the spirit of lawlessness unrestrained. It will just be much more difficult for them. The better choice is to receive now.
Email: victorychanter@raptureintheairnow.com
Website: Rapture In the Air Now
Wow, Amy, I've never seen that from that point of view before. I've always wondered why the 144,000 are called the first fruits. Now it all makes sense to me. After Jesus died, many saints from the Old Testament were raised and appeared to many. They could very well be the initial harvest, culminating to the final harvest of the first fruits which is the 144,000! Wow, that really brings things to perspective.
It has long seemed to me that the way the Horses are presented signify things that we have always had being given sudden global power / authority. The emphasis truly is on the sudden provision of mobility that we know wander to and fro across the earth - Behold! A horse. The riders are secondary considerations in the breaking of the seals. We have always had war, disease, famine, and spirits of antichrist but they have been limited to regions, not global activity. Even the world wars didn't directly involve much of South America or Africa. These coming events will be global. Their provision at the hands of Yeshua amount to a sudden loosening of the leashes God has kept on them, aka the restrainer will stop restraining them. Instead of having many small antichrists here and there, we will have one Antichrist which will have global dominance, who's arrival will be rather precipitous.
One of the unique aspects of the Holy Spirit's current "job description" is that He continually intercedes for all the saints and helps us in our intercession for the world, in concert with He who reads the hearts of men. With the prayer support represented in the Church suddenly being removed, surely He who Restrains does drop the leashes holding back the dogs of the evil one.
Email: TxThom@raptureintheairnow.com
Wow, Amy! Awesome Job!!
Scripture interprets scripture.If it is not because of Daniel 8:23-25,9:27.and 11:21-23,we could have interpreted the white horse rider as a force that sweeps through the surface of the earth like some have suggested here.
But from the prophet Daniel,we learn that Anti Christ shall arise to his power swiftly and mightily.And he shall prosper and practise continually in the first half of the tribulation.And it does seem that there is no hinderance or stoppage in his rising to his power swiftly.
Daniel 8:23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
11:21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. 22 And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant. 23And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
And where else have we found his rapid ascension to the power,that is,his conquering shall be smooth and rapid?
Revelation 6:2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
"And he went forth conquering,and to conquer" is in line with Daniel 8:23-25,9:27 and 11:21-23.Having said this,I believe the white horse rider speaks of a person.
