The Rise of the Antichrist, Part 1

And so you know what holds him back, so that he will be revealed in his own time. For the hidden power of lawlessness is already at work. However, the one who holds him back will do so until he is taken out of the way, and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy by the breath of his mouth and wipe out by the manifestation of his arrival. (2 Thes. 2:6–8 NET)

Paul stated that someone or something is hindering or keeping the Antichrist from rising to power, and the Antichrist will be unable to rise to power until this person or this entity is “taken out of the way.” These words of Paul have given rise to numerous theories as to what he was talking about. The basic meaning is clear, that the world political conditions must be right — a “perfect storm” so to speak — in order for the world to turn to this Man of Lawlessness or Antichrist. But precisely what Paul was referring to he did not state.

The Roman Empire? In the early Christian centuries it was thought that perhaps it was the Roman Empire itself that was preventing the rise of the Antichrist. The rule of law, the cohesion of the Roman Empire, etc., all contributed to the benefit of society. But if the Empire would be broken up, then the conditions would be ripe for the rise of the Antichrist. Constantine, the Roman Emperor, in fact, in 324 A.D., moved the capital from Rome to Constantinople (Istanbul today), vacating Italy and leaving a void. Those interpreters who saw the Pope as the Antichrist, argue from history that the decline of the civil authority of Rome was replaced by the Roman Catholic Church. The absence of the Emperor from Rome allowed the church to rise in political power.

The True Church of Jesus Christ Compromised? Another interpretation is that this is a reference to the “Church Invisible,” or the true believers in Christ. The power that prevents the Antichrist from rising is most certainly a spiritual power, not a political one. Albert Barnes wrote:

The supposition which will best suit this language is, that there was then some civil restraint, preventing the development of existing corruptions, but that there would be a removal, or withdrawing of that restraint; and that then the tendency of the existing corruptions would be seen. It is evident, as Oldshansen remarks, that this resisting or restraining power must be something out of the church, and distinguished from the antichristian tendency itself.

Though Barnes argues that the restraint must be civil or political, he also states that it must be something “out of the church,” something that is the counter-proposal to the Antichrist’s program. One interpretation is that the church will virtually cease to exist due to the lack of faith. Liberalism will weaken the faith until a tipping point comes in history, where the moral voice of the church is virtually silenced. In Verse 3 of this chapter he mentioned the “falling away” or rebellion of the Christian community. (See also 2 Tim. 4:3–5 and Luke 18:8.)

The True Church of Jesus Christ Raptured? This is one of those passages that gives support for the doctrine of the Rapture — the sudden removal of the church before the Great Tribulation. This is my preferred interpretation.

What if God removed all true believers from the earth? In the aftermath of such an event the moral voice of the church would be silenced, the voting voice of the Christian public in democratic lands would be no more, and the restraining influence of the Christian public voice and conscience would be gone. Christ called us the “salt of the earth” (Matt 5:13), meaning that we have a preservative effect on human society.

The Lord said that two shall be in a field, one taken the other left, two shall be in bed, one taken and the other left (Luke 17:34–36). Suddenly and instantly true believers will be removed. “We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet” (1 Cor. 15:51–52).

So are we living each day, each minute, in anticipation of the Lord’s secret return to snatch believers from the earth? Do we speak up for the right? Do we look for the establishment of justice and order? Do we share the gospel with others? We believers have an important role to play in daily life.