Let’s go back to the end of last week and talk some more about the end of the Age of Grace. We were talking about one of the judgments being the removal of the restrainer. I felt I was unclear in my explanation and in fact had lost a little bit of what I wanted to say.
2 Thessalonians 2:4-12 (NIV) He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
The Rapture of the Church (2 Thes. 2:1, 6–7)
Paul appealed to them to “calm down” on the basis of the truth he had taught them in his first letter: the Lord would return and catch up His own to meet Him in the air (1 Thes. 4:13–18). This is “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and “our gathering together unto Him” (2 Thes. 2:1). Not two separated events, but one great event that will occur suddenly and without warning.
Once the church is out of the world, Satan and his forces will unfold their program. The Day of the Lord is the period that follows the Rapture of the church. It will be a time of Tribulation for the people on earth: Satan and his hosts will be working on earth, and God will send righteous judgments from heaven. Revelation 6–19 describes this period for us.
Why is Satan unable to reveal his “man of sin” sooner? Because God is restraining the forces of evil in the world today. Satan cannot do whatever he wants to do, whenever he pleases. Our sovereign Lord is able to make even the wrath of man to praise Him, and “the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain” (Ps. 76:10). In 2 Thessalonians 2:6–7, Paul mentioned a restraining force that even today is helping keep everything on schedule.
Who or what is this restrainer? Paul told the Thessalonicans when he was teaching them personally, but he did not put this information in either of his letters. This restrainer is now at work in the world and will continue to work till it (or he) is “taken out of the midst” (literal translation of 2 Thes. 2:7b).
Notice that in 2 Thessalonians 2:6 Paul referred to this restrainer in the neuter gender (“what restraineth”), while in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, he used the masculine gender (“he who now hindereth”). The restrainer is a person who is today “in the midst,” but will one day be “taken out of the midst.”
Many Bible students identify this restrainer as the Holy Spirit of God. Certainly, He is “in the midst” of God’s program today, working through the church to accomplish God’s purposes. When the church is raptured, the Holy Spirit will not be taken out of the world (otherwise nobody could be saved during the Tribulation), but He will be taken out of the midst to allow Satan and his forces to go to work. The Holy Spirit will certainly be present on the earth during the Day of the Lord, but He will not be restraining the forces of evil as He is today.
In spite of its weakness and seeming failure, never underestimate the importance of the church in the world. People who criticize the church do not realize that the presence of the people of God in this world gives unsaved people opportunity to be saved. The presence of the church is delaying the coming of judgment. Lot was not a dedicated man, but his presence in Sodom held back the wrath of God (Gen. 19:12–29).
There are two programs at work in the world today: God’s program of salvation, and Satan’s program of sin, “the mystery of iniquity.” God has a timetable for His program, and nothing Satan does can change that timetable. Just as there was a “fullness of the time” for the coming of Christ (Gal. 4:4), so there is a “fullness of the time” for the appearance of Antichrist; and nothing will be off schedule. Once the restraining ministry of the Spirit of God has ended, the next event can take place.
So the explanation is that the part of “the restrainer” is the work of the Holy Spirit in restraining evil today, the other piece of the puzzle is the church. The church is actually, also part of the restraining of evil today.
Reminder: The church must be removed from its economy because during the Dispensation of Grace, the Bible teaches clearly that there are no distinctions between races of peoples or gender. Yet in Daniel's prophecy about the Tribulation as well as in Revelation Chapters 6 - 18, the Israelites are again dealt with as a distinct, separate, and special people.
After the Dispensation of Grace comes The Dispensation of Israel under Law (Part 2). Back to Daniel Chapter 9. After the two historical events that suspended this dispensation, Daniel gives us the criteria for restarting the big stopwatch. (for review see episode 12)
Daniel 9:27 (NIV) He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him
So Daniel says that when "He" signs a covenant or a treaty the stopwatch begins. Whose He? The previous verses tell us that he is the ruler who is to come. Other verses about this period of time help us identify him as the anti-Christ, or Satan's tool. At the signing of this "peace" treaty the stopwatch again begins. Apparently the temple is rebuilt and the sacrifice system has been re-instituted in Jerusalem.
There are several events that take place before the tribulation. The Antichrist who has been revealed at an earlier time will receive a mortal would, be miraculously healed, be indwelt by Satan, and take over the ten nations confederacy (Rev 13:3). These things are predicted in the book of Revelation and must occur ahead of time, for the Antichrist to get the power base he needs to sign a peace treaty.
This is a very interesting time period and combination of dispensations. On the one hand the temple has been rebuilt and the Israelites are once again returning to the old sacrificial system. On the other hand God calls out of old Israel 144,000 special witnesses (Rev 7:1-7) to tell the Israelites that the system they have instituted is no longer required, merely accept the work the His Son Jesus has done for them and they can be saved.
The culmination of this Dispensation is the Second Coming of Jesus.
The last economy is The Dispensation of the Millennium
The second coming of Christ to the earth ends "the time of Jacob's distress" and ushers in the Millennial Kingdom promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob's descendants. There will be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all believers. Only believers will enter this kingdom. Satan will be bound for a thousand years. Jesus the Messiah will rule over the whole earth and set the atmosphere of the world system with righteousness.
Isaiah Chapter 11 (NIV) A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD— and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.
He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish, and Judah’s enemies will be cut off; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.
They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west; together they will plunder the people to the east. They will lay hands on Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be subject to them.
The LORD will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven streams
so that men can cross over in sandals. There will be a highway for the remnant of his people that is left from Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from Egypt.
Isaiah 65:17-25 (NIV) “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. “Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a a hundred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands. They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.
Amos 9:8-15 (NIV) “Surely the eyes of the Sovereign LORD are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth— yet I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob,” declares the LORD. “For I will give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground. All the sinners among my people will die by the sword, all those who say, ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’ “In that day I will restore David’s fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,” declares the LORD, who will do these things.“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills. I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God.
Micah 4:1-8 (NIV) In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken. All the nations may walk in the name of their gods; we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.
“In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. I will make the lame a remnant, those driven away a strong nation. The LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever. As for you, O watchtower of the flock, O stronghold of the Daughter of Zion, the former dominion will be restored to you; kingship will come to the Daughter of Jerusalem.”
Zechariah 14:16-21 (NIV) Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain. If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The LORD will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
On that day HOLY TO THE LORD will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the LORD’s house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar. Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD Almighty.
The people of this economy are believers who come through the tribulation. As their children grow and multiply, there is evidence of their unbelief and judgment for these unbelievers is swift and terrible.
Revelation 20:7-10 (NIV) When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
At the end of this dispensation God has kept all of his promises to Israel. His program for ordering the world is at its conclusion.
Time ends. (But not the events)
A clear philosophy of history from God's viewpoint emerges out of these economies. Man is tested under all kinds of conditions throughout the dispensations. The first dispensation begins with a perfect environment and the last ends with a perfect environment. Man fails in all environments, which demonstrates that environment is not the problem. These economies show that the only answer is to be born again by faith so that man is changed from within. Then he masters the environment about him by God's enablement through faith.
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