WHO RESTRAINS?

by J.M.MacLeod

Among the controversies surrounding the schedule of End Time events as revealed by Our Lord Jesus through his apostles, the question of 'Who', or 'What' it is that has the unenviable job of preventing the rise of Antichrist until his given time has not received much attention. It seems a rather insignificant piece of information in light of the other cataclysmic occurrences taking place in and around that time frame, and so, is often passed over with barely a second thought; else, it is deemed too ambiguous to decipher for the average Bible Student, seeing as there seems to be a dearth of clues in the context. But Paul, in his second letter to the church of Thessalonican Believers, hinged an important argument on this obscure detail as to why the End Times hadn't begun unfolding yet. Evidently, someone had stirred up the church at Thessalonica with false reports that the Antichrist was already in power and the Day of the Lord's Judgment come. This resulted in a state of confusion and bewilderment as to where that left them. Many of the things they had expected to accompany the Lord's return hadn't occurred, and they were thrown into doubt. Paul wrote, comforting them:

"Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy

comes first, and the Man of Lawlessness is revealed, the Son of Destruction,

who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God displaying himself as being God. Do you not remember that while I was with you I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be revealed. 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 that Lawless One will be revealed, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth, and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accordance with the activity of Satan, with all power, and signs, and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved."

II Thes. 2:3--10 NAS

Was what Paul knew, and verbally taught to the Thessalonians, and most likely other churches in his day, apparently left for the mere conjecture of succeeding generations of believers? Paul obviously knew precisely what force it was that restrained the Antichrist allowing him to be revealed only at the proper time, and not a second before. Of course, the Church down through the ages has often thought that it was under the persecution of 'the Antichrist', when in fact they were merely under the persecution of the spirit of Antichrist, acting out and practicing Satan's hatred in preparation for the final generation through the many despots who arose to power and greedily tried to dominate the whole earth in their own day. During these events believers have tried to shoe-horn various interpretations into eschatological passages, forcing them to fit in with their immediate and dire situations. And truly, it made little difference to the ones under the trial whether it was by the actual Antichrist or merely one of his 'Wannabes'. Their suffering in the flesh, and the resultant glory to be revealed accrue the same weight of honor before the Lord, for all such persecution is of the same evil spirit-- Satan-- as he maneuvers and manipulates all mankind to get his select Dictator to dominate the whole earth in his name.

Just what was this specific information Paul was privy to, and through him, the Church of his century, that it seems the Holy Spirit has now shrouded in a cloak of impenetrable mystery? Does it seem reasonable that the Holy Spirit would comfort the early Church with a revelation of this 'Restrainer's' identity, allaying their apprehensions and confusion by stirring those teachings up to remembrance, but withold it from us who are much nearer the realization of these things than our predecessors? Or, has the Lord indeed given us sufficient evidence, even in the above passage, so that we too may have this same assurance and comfort of knowing where we are in the Eschatological Time Clock as did our brothers in the First Century?

Many theories have been propounded concerning the identity of this 'Restrainer', from: the Church, to the Holy Sprit, to the Archangel Michael, and even the Roman Empire! All these guesses, however, lack contextual validation, and depend on nebulous, external hypotheses. In addition, one's flavor of theology tends to color the interpretation applied to the text in question: for instance, Pretribulationists ascribe the identity of the 'Restrainer' as being the Church and/or the Holy Spirit, for they choose to believe the Church has a ticket out of the turmoil of those days, and thereby wrongly use this passage as an anchor verse to 'prove' the Rapture of the Saints occurs prior to the revealing of the Antichrist. Since, they contend, the Holy Spirit is resident in the Church, when it leaves, so does He. In order to believe these unsubstantiated theories, one has to ignore the plain-language teaching given by The Lord Jesus Himself which clearly indicates the in-gathering of the Saints doesn't come until after the great tribulation of those days.

"But in those days, after that tribulation, the Sun will be darkened, and the Moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in heaven will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send forth the angels and will

gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven." (Mk 13:24--27 NAS)

Notice the use of the words 'after' and 'then' in the above passage. This is a sequential listing of events. 'After that tribulation'... will the Sun be darkened... and the moon not give its light..., and the stars will be falling..., and the powers of heaven will be shaken..., and then they will see... And then He will send....

Certainly Paul, as inspired by the Holy Spirit, wouldn't have taught anything contrary to what Jesus taught, so there must be an alternative explanation, one that reconciles these two accurate passages of scripture. And the very words of Paul's comforting reminder to the Thessalonian believers must include some clues to the mysterious identity of the Restrainer, for it is not easy to make even a purposely veiled reference without some supportive and explanatory language in the text so the readers will have a sense of the proper connotation.

Perhaps the greatest hindrance to ascertaining an accurate understanding of this passage lies in the interpretation of the Greek words 'to', and 'ho', which are usually translated as 'he'. According to Strong's Exhaustive Conc.

#3588-- 'ho', 'he' and 'to' in all their

inflections are the definite article (sometimes used, sometimes omitted), including the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.

Then there is a further reference to

#3739-- 'hos', 'he', 'ho'; probably a prime root or form of the article which can be translated as the relative pronoun-- who, which, what, that.

Admittedly, this writer is no Greek scholar, but if there is a possibility that Paul is not referring to a Person, but a thing, so that II Thess. 2:6 reads:

And now that which restrains, ye know...

(Interlinear Greek-English N.T. by George Ricker Berry) it behooves us to examine the second chapter of II Thess. in that light and see if some clues don't become evident. By replacing the 3rd personal pronouns with relative pronouns we see the possibility of 'that which restrains' not being a person (i.e. the Holy Spirit, or an angel) or a group of persons (i.e. the Church), but some tangible or intangible 'thing' which is placed as an obstacle in the way, preventing the ascent of the Antichrist; and Satan cannot get his chosen man to ascend to power until this inhibitor is totally and completely removed. Are there evidences in the passage of exactly what this 'thing' being removed is?

Paul writes of 'The Mystery of Lawlessness' being already at work so as to allow the ascent of the 'Man of Lawlessness', and until 'that which restrains' is removed, the Man of Lawlessness cannot usurp God's throne (on earth) and pretend to be God. When that 'thing' is removed, the road of lawlessness will be paved and the Age of Lawlessness reach its zenith in the person of Antichrist. The secret plan (mystery) of Lawlessness is to undermine this 'Restrainer', wearing it away until it is effectively taken away from their midst and can no longer be a hindrance to Satan's agenda. Nowhere in the passage does it mention that God is the one taking 'that which restrains' away. To find exactly what Lawlessness is, we look again to Strong's and find

# 458 & 459 -- anomia, illegality, violation of Law (specifically Jewish Law)-- lawless, without law.

Literally then, the word Paul used means 'Void of the Law' more so than other words commonly used in translating this passage, such as 'Iniquity' or 'Rebellion' or 'Wickedness' which, while carrying the general idea, do not express the apostle's precise and fuller meaning.

The result then, when this 'thing' which restrains is finally removed, is the arising of the Antichrist-- the 'Man of Lawlessness'. We can make the assumptions here then, that whatever was hindering the working of the 'Mystery of Lawlessness' can be identified by (1) what happens at its removal; and (2) by its antithesis.

At this Mysterious Restrainer's removal a kingdom of world-wide Lawlessness is established, where the rule is: anything goes except what is godly and true and just. Wickedness on a scale not yet seen by mankind will corrupt and defile, deception will blind and bind all mankind who have not loved the Truth, and violence against those who hold the truth dear will crescendo to a feverish, world-wide, murderous pitch. All godly influence, that is, whatever God has revealed as being good for mankind through His Law, will be removed.

As for the antithesis-- isn't 'Lawfulness' the opposite of Lawlessness? So then, might 'that which restrains' be something as simple and overlooked as the Law! Specifically the Jewish code of law given by Moses, including the rules of the priesthood and animal sacrifices? Some may argue that there is more likely to be a universal decline of law and order that will accompany the rise of Antichrist rather than the cessation of the Jewish Laws of Temple worship and sacrifice, especially since Israel presently doesn't even practice these laws. Perhaps, but consider, Man has been sytematically exchanging the Law God revealed to Moses for inferior laws which do not accomplish even the shadow of righteousness. Man-made laws inspired by Satan will have no restraining force against Satan's plan of global dominion, but will fool mankind into thinking he still has law and order, lulling them with a false sense of security much as the Pharisees in the days of Jesus' first advent had created their own system of Law built upon the precepts of man, casting away the heart of the Law God inspired, though carefully maintaining the outward forms so that no one caught on that the Law no longer restrained wickedness of the heart. When wickedness secretly occupies the heart, it is only a small matter for it to soon gain control of the manifested external as well.

Why would the Law of Moses be of any particular significance in this, the Age of Grace, when mankind has been removed from the necessity of keeping the Law through the shed blood of Messiah Jesus? And how could the Law be considered as a Restrainer, keeping Satan and his prodigy at bay, seeing as Satan himself used the Law to his own benefit to destroy mankind? These questions must be satisfied if the Law is to be considered as a candidate for the identity of the Restrainer.

To begin, we need to understand what God's purpose was in giving the Law. In the beginning, God did not give an official law to Adam and Eve, but merely a single restriction -- refrain from acquiring a knowledge of good and evil. Satan deceived and tempted, and all mankind fell beneath his spell while still in the original members of our species. God in his mercy, substituted an animal sacrifice on the behalf of Adam and Eve, to both interpose innocent blood-- albeit inferior, animal blood-- so they could remain in the body of flesh for a temporary lifetime; and so they could see and lament the consequences of their disobedience. They had never had any experience with or exposure to death before, and for the first time, vividly saw the price of their acquired 'education' in all its grisly horror in the form of the slain animal God used to temporarily pay the interest on their debt. Along with this exposure came the certain knowledge that such a fate also awaited them. But this did little to deter mankind from following their baser instincts which now not only knew the difference between good and evil-- but much preferred evil for its quick, intense, though fleeting pleasures. Within ten generations mankind had become so corrupted by their exposure to this 'higher education' that they were filled with violence. They were actually destroying themselves. Satan's own nature of murder and mayhem spilled over into his captive heirs, causing them to imitate their new spiritual father- the god of this age. Satan's intention in lying to mankind was to murder them--by forcing God's hand of retribution and judgment against His beloved creatures. Satan's plan was to get an indirect form of revenge against God (since he, himself could not get directly at God) by causing God to destroy the very crown of creation-- mankind. Satan's hatred for God had to settle for a lesser target, not unlike the Kuwaitis when they were finally liberated by the USA, who couldn't get revenge on Saddam Hussein personally, because he was far removed from them, so, they settled for stabbing and shooting Saddam's image-- mere portraits of the Iraqi strongman. The rebellious Lucifer grossly overestimated his own power and underestimated his Opponent, finding himself even incapable of directly striking out at God. So, he settled for striking out at God's image-- mankind, and in that Spoiler's attitude hoped to salvage at least a minor victory by striking at the heart of God, that is, causing Him pain by forcing Him to destroy the race of Man whom He loved and planned to bless eternally with His abiding Presence. Thus, Satan fathered rebellion and disobedience in mankind, then stood back to watch the fireworks, assuming God, in fairness, must deal as harshly with mankind as He dealt with Lucifer and his rebellious horde. He had been removed from God's light and truth, indeed, from God's life-sustaining Presence, and ever since has dwelt in chains of darkness in a living death. He also angrily awaits the final disposition of his case when all evidence against him is in, and he and his spirit (and human) followers are sentenced to the eternal Second Death. That God had an alternative plan to rescue mankind caught him unprepared, but not without recourse.

Failing to immediately incite God's fiery, destructive wrath against mankind initially in the persons of Adam and Eve, Satan and his dis-graced minions set about eroding Adam's descendants' sense of morality and conscience, bringing the 'Crown of Creation' into such a despicable, vile condition that by Noah's generation, they were brutalizing and victimizing one another to death. Satan was certain that if God didn't soon move in judgement, mankind would obliterate themselves anyway, and the Creator would lose His intended objects of eternal blessing, and His word would fail-- showing Him as something less than Omnipotent and Omniscient, and therefore unsuitable to sit in judgment on Satan and his followers!

But, Noah and his immediate family found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and again Satan was foiled, though all the rest of mankind was judged as unfit to inhabit the world any longer because of their corrupted lifestyles. God's promise of eternal blessing hung by a thin, eight-fold strand of humanity, and with it, the dependability of His word.

Finding themselves still under condemnation after man again flourished on the face of the earth, the Devil and his demons set about once again to accomplish the erosion of humanity's morality, trying yet again to incite God's wrath against mankind in full measure. He inculcated in man's fallen nature vile patterns of deviance and perversion, expressly intended to offend the Diety. False religions sprouted, demons claiming themselves to be gods by direct revelations to sin-bound men; using man's fallen cravings to defile and degrade them, so that what had once been created so nobly in His image had become a rebuke and mockery to Him, having fallen to more closely resemble the image of the Rebel. It was a war of attrition carried on in the battlefield of 'Mansoul', God's heart patiently bearing the pain of having to punish and condemn sinful mankind; Satan constantly beseiging man with ever increasing depravity in each succeeding generation, challenging God; God responding with limited judgmental actions such as disease, famine, calamities or wars to cause men to consider the error of their ways and turn to the Truth. It was a war in which Satan seemed to have all the advantages, and it seemed just a matter of time before he was able to manipulate all mankind by their fallen natures, getting these beings who were originally created in the image of the Creator to worship and declare fidelity to him, the Rebel. Satan would have his revenge by stealing the hearts of those God loved, causing by deception their destruction at God's Own hand. And God's promise would fail. There would soon be no men left who remembered the Lord and His righteous ways. All men everywhere would be under Satan's control and snared in his evil, destructive scheme. What choice would God have but to bring swift, irreversible judgement?

But God foiled Satan's plan again, calling out Abram, and through him, a destined nation of people who would learn of Him through a code of behavior which would be their religious, cultural, social and civic constitution. God revealed Himself to certain men He designated as prophets, and set them apart to be the voice of conscience to the nation, keeping the nation and its leaders in line with His Law.

Remember, Satan's desire is to kill mankind through two methods-- incurring God's wrath, and the natural consequences of depravity. He is a murderer from the beginning, and the weapon he used to kill Adam's race was the Lie. Through the Lie, Satan taught man to hate God, and mistrust Him, and to openly imitate his own rebellion against God by declaring arrogant independence from Him, heedless of the consequences.

By Moses' day, human history was again in decline: perverted sexuality was decimating mankind with disease; plagues were rampant; wars cut off generations of young men in their prime; crime victimized the weak and feeble-- in short, Satan's plan was close to realization once again, as it was in the days of Noah. Then God revealed another surprise part of His plan-- The Law. The Law was introduced as a deterrent for His chosen people, preventing them from copying the destructive ways of the demon-possessed heathen surrounding them. As Israel-- the inheritant descendants of Abram-- obeyed God's Law, the destructive process of sin and death prompted by Satan was slowed substantially, and Satan's prospect of winning his goal began to fade. Of course the Law could never re-establish man in right standing with God except on a temporary basis, but it did keep the lines of communication open between Himself and His Chosen People. The purpose of the Law was twofold: (1) To raise Israel up above all nations as a nation of righteousness before the other nations of the world, so that as they obeyed Him, He would be just in sending blessing on them, provoking the nations roundabout to jealousy and a desire to come under God's benevolence themselves. By Israel's obedience to the Law, all nations of the world would have been blessed, and Satan's plan thwarted. (2) To reveal to Israel and all mankind that even by something as noble as the Law, given by a loving Creator, man could never undo the damage done by original disobedience. Now that the knowledge of evil (as well as good) was coursing through their veins, mankind found that they lacked the resolve and power to consistantly do the right thing. Paul's letter to the Romans is a manifesto on the real purpose of the law, to wit, that it was not ever intended to bring mankind to righteousness, but rather to make him aware of just how unrighteous he and all his inclinations are. The Law came in, revealing how much of what man considered as natural behavior (due to the impulses of the flesh) to actually be sin. The people Moses led out of Egypt were perfect examples of this, for they had been slaves for four hundred years; theirs was a slave mentality. They even had to be told to not eat things like bats and lizards because they didn't know any better. They had to learn that their freedom from slavery in Egypt did not mean reckless abandon-- anything goes! They were responsible to still be under government-- The Law. But, when the people tried to obey God's Law, they found that satanic influence within them was quite strong, and the law became a vile thing because it condemned them for not being able to obey it. Yet, to disregard the Law was to invite severe consequences both as individuals and as a nation. So, a system of sacrifices was included in the Law to accomodate their failures.

So, Israel prospered by merely having the Law-- when they attempted to obey it. And when they set the law of God aside, they were punished. But the main purpose of the Law was to prepare them for Messiah, who would do much more than enforce the Law. The Law served as a schoolmaster to reveal to them how sin-hardened their hearts were, and that there was no way to completely return to God through the Law.

Satan managed to infiltrate the levels of leadership in Israel, continuing to weave his corruptive influence so that Israel left off following the Law and foolishly pursued the ways of the heathen, reversing the order God had intended. This being the case, the Law given to Israel was no longer a 'Restrainer' to Satan, nor to his working for mankind's destruction, so, Satan set about buying more time, or so he thought, by getting the 'experts' and theologians to change the content of the Law just enough so that it neither pricked Israel's conscience anymore in preparation for the Messiah's coming, nor did it set Israel apart from other nations except in superficial ways. Greedy, lusty, violent, dishonest, envious, strident, deceitful, gossips, malicious, arrogant, proud, rebellious, dispassionate, Theocidal-- men from all nations, including Israel, were the same inwardly, manifesting these works of their Adamic Nature, though outwardly maintaining ethnic and cultural differences-- even using these external variations to justify provoking hostilities, while remaining internally identical. Satan's workings again reached near-completion by the time of Rome's dominion of the known world. The Law of God had again been neutralized, it had failed in its ostensible purpose. Satan was no longer restrained by its power.

God had never intended the Law to bring righteousness, but only to reveal the lack of it. Then God bestowed his final surprise-- to the complete undoing of Satan's schemes and workings. Righteousness and peace with God was restored to the human race via the arrival of Messiah Jesus. He fulfilled the Law by living by the leading of the Spirit, exposing the corruptions man had added to it, re-including the excerpts man had removed, revealing the Law for what it truly was-- God's loving gift to a nation and world, in that it foreshadowed the arrival of Messiah, taking great pains to meticulously describe what Messiah would be and do so that when He appeared, His own would know and love Him. It took Jesus three years to get the populace aware of God's true character again after all the decades of exposure to Satan's lies through the rabbinic schools of 'permissive legalism'. Permissive legalism is a form of religiosity that maintains extreme external standards of separation and appearances of complying with God's will, but puts no premium on personal righteousness. It permits the flesh nature to remain unchanged all while outwardly adhering to strict ceremonial rites and regulations. And this Jesus abhorred, and taught against, exposing how Israel's leaders, over the centuries, had allowed Satan to again take God's word and twist it, threatening the ultimate destruction of Mankind. But Jesus had come not only to reinstate the Law, but to fulfill it and finally open a way for Mankind-- all Mankind, not only Israel-- to receive the power to live in accordance with God's Law, becoming living examples of the benefits of obeying God in an unbelieving, disobedient world.

Jesus temporarily laid aside His own Majesty and power, keeping only His own Essence of being God as He walked among men as a man, but led by the Spirit. And so, by the power of the Holy Spirit upon Him, He demonstrated righteousness as available to man-- if a way could be made for the Holy Spirit to come and permanently abide with man, empowering man to live by God's standards.

Meanwhile, Satan, not sure what God was up to, knew he had to confront Jesus, the Last Adam, and try to get Him to fall and succomb to his infernal persistance; or failing that, had to remove Jesus' example and teachings from the face of the earth. It may even be, that Satan, realizing Who Jesus truly was (even the demons cried out "We know Who You are!), and that as such He was virtually indestructible, never even entertained the thought that Jesus was going to actually die on the cross when he plotted Jesus' crucifixion, but rather expected Him to be so offended by sinful man's rejection and attempted murder of Him, that He would react in immediate judgment, bringing the world to a swift and devastating end.

'Which none of the princes (satanic spirits) of this world knew: for had they

known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory' (I Cor. 2:8).

Jesus died-- becoming the perfect sacrifice that permanently removed sin from Adam's race, for His blood was not inferior, like an animal's, but was fully efficacious, for it was sinless, human blood, and through that, Satan was disarmed. He lost the power to control mankind through his fallen flesh, for the First Adam was crucified in Jesus, and the power of the resurrected Christ was made available to all mankind, not through the keeping of the Law, but through obedient faith in Jesus the Messiah. Mankind was cleansed by Jesus' sacrifice so that the Holy Spirit could indwell them, empowering them to live according to godliness. Satan is not only restrained now, but overcome and judged. All that remains is for the victory to be made manifest, which will happen as the End Times unfold.

Meanwhile, Satan is busily trying to keep the human race in bondage by not letting them hear the Truth of Redemption, or even the shadow of the Truth of Redemption-- The Law, for even the shadow is dangerous to him and the Mystery of Iniquity. He is also preparing to cut his losses and settle for being responsible for only most of mankind's destruction, waging a war of deception and lawlessness, defiling mankind to unbelievable depths of depravity, knowing that as he incurs God's wrath upon himself, most of the world will likewise be condemned. He will have achieved his goal as stated in Isaiah 14, to make himself like the Most High, receiving worship and adoration, even if only for a very short time, and from depraved, deceived beings no longer fit to be called Man.

The obedience of God's Law through His Two Olive branches-- a True Church, as led by the Spirit, and the restored nation of Israel participating once again in Temple worship and sacrifices-- threatens to be the Restraint keeping Satan from achieving his 'Man of Lawlessness'. That is why the 'Falling Away' is necessary for the final events to unfold. It is not the Rapture of the Church into the heavenlies which removes the Law's influence of righteousness, but rather Her falling away from the precepts of the faith and leading of the Holy Spirit which removes the last vestige of truth and godliness, allowing the Antichrist to arise unchallenged, almost unrecognized at first, to prominence--

...the one whose coming is in accordance with the activity of Satan, with

all power, and signs, and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish because they did not receive the love

of the truth so as to be saved."

When Antichrist is revealed to those still watching for his arrival, his chief act which will end all guessing will be when he sits in the Temple of God, showing himself as God. The necessity for there to be a re-constructed Temple is therefore, obvious. And for there to be a Temple for him to commit this act of desecration in, mandates the need for a restoration of the Levitical Priesthood and the resumption of animal sacrifices-- a reinstitution of the Mosaic Law for those Jews who refuse to see Jesus as the Fulfilment of the Law. In the last days Israel will rebuild the Temple and re-institute The Law, as the Church apostisizes and falls away. But Israel's attempts to appease God will be futile, for God will not recognize and return to a former method that was only in part, for the fullfillment has come, and if the antitype be rejected, the End of All Things is at hand. But, as Paul relates in Romans chapter Nine, God is not finished with Israel, but will cause her to finally recognize 'Him Whom they have pierced' as their only true hope, and will bow down to Him.

So, where are we in the Eschatological Clock? The Church has loosed herself from Her moorings in God's revealed Word, and is adrift in compromise, becoming inwardly identical to the world of men around her. Israel is re-established in Her land, but without faith as yet. Lawlessness encroaches on more moral territory every day, removing all God-given standards of righteousness from mankind's consciousness, replacing them with mere precepts based on 'relative feelings', and man's corrupt concept of 'fairness'; building to the final push for Antichrist to arise as the apparent savior of this polluted, despairing world.

Jesus brought the Truth to mankind, accepting all who seek it through Him. Satan has blinded the eyes of mankind so as to reject the Truth and believe the Lie through him. When the Jews re-establish Temple worship in Jerusalem, and the Political Church is compromised (no longer being Light and Salt, but only fit to be trampled on by men) Antichrist will arise to prominence, but not full power; for the re-instituted Law of Moses, shadow that it is, will still restrain him, for it calls man to accountability before a Holy and Righteous God, activating whatever vestige of conscience is left that hasn't been seared. Israel will make a covenant with death, and allow the one that appears to have such beneficial powers to persuade them to stop the animal sacrifices-- then Antichrist will assume his full and predestined position, no longer restrained by the presence of God's Law.

The Law preserved Israel from following the self-destructive ways of the heathen when Satan would have destroyed all mankind through the workings of depravity and judgment. The Law also provided for the recognition of the need of a Messiah Who brought Life through Grace and Truth, the anti-type of the Law, bringing life to all who accepted Him, justifying the condemnation of all who reject Him, so Satan's revenge is hollow at best.

Today we daily behold the unravelling of society; and it is a world-wide epidemic, not just limited to our nation. When the human brain is deprived of oxygen for over five minutes, it begins a process of self-destruction. There are cells called 'Free Radicals' that suddenly break loose and run amuck, destroying every other cell they touch, bringing death upon itself as well. Other cells release calcium deposits which further rigidify and kill the members and function of this amazing mass of cells God has created to rule our bodies. One of the things oxygen does, beside supply nutrients to the working brain cells, is to inhibit the destructive tendencies of these 'free radicals' and calcium producing cells. This is a shadow of what is happening in the society of mankind that was created to rule and govern the planet: The influence of the Holy Spirit (oxygen) through God's Word and His people is restricted, shutting off the human race from an inhibiting knowledge of God. People are springing loose from norms of behavior in unprecedented numbers, running amuck, killing and maiming at will, while governments feverishly labor to create new, rigid laws to control these 'free radicals', further hampering the functioning of mankind, bringing the species to the verge of ultimate destruction.

Once again Satan has brought humanity to the brink of annihilation, but the Mystery of Righteousness will rise above the Mystery of Lawlessness and release God's own into the glorious manifestation of the sons of God at the Only Begotten Son's appearing! But first, it is necessary for Israel to go full circle and return, albeit briefly, to the system of sacrifices that she herself voided when crucifying the only acceptable sacrifice for mankind's sin. Then the Man of Lawlessness will command all religions-- including revived Judaism, whom he will have entered some sort of pact with-- to put away their individual tenets and worship only him, and all that restrains Satan and the ephemeral reign of his Antichrist will have been removed from the face of the earth.