Restraint Removed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

God is restraining the man of lawlessness, and his vast army, until the appointed time. Once the restraint is removed then the lawless one and his Arab-Islamic army will have a green light to invade Israel with the intent of annihilating the Jews. But Jesus will return and lead a heavenly army to defeat the invaders at Armageddon. In my book, Right At The Door, I explain this in much greater detail. 

So, just what is it that God is using to restrain the onset of Armageddon? The “restrainer” description is strikingly similar in II Thessalonians 2:7-8, in Revelation 9 :13-16, and in Rev 16:12-14. So similar that it is only logical to assume that they are all speaking of the same strategic event in the development of the last days. Paul’s account speaks of a person restraining, probably God himself. The sixth trumpet prophecy describes it as angels at the Euphrates restraining the invasion. And the sixth bowl prophecy describes it as the Euphrates River drying up for the armies to invade. These are all the same event with a slightly different description.

Way back in my seminary days, in a New Testament Greek class, the collective interpretation of II Thessalonian 2:7 was that the restrainer to be removed was speaking of the church being raptured, and the Holy Spirit being taken out of the world during the Tribulation period. No one thought to correlate this passage with the sixth trumpet and the sixth bowl, despite both of them talking about restraint being removed and the invasion beginning.

History is always the best interpreter of prophecy, and I believe that the restrainer is rather clear to be seen. Israel is surrounded by Arab enemies. These enemies have a determination to destroy Israel – al-Qaida, Hamas, Houthis, Hezbollah, Iran, ISIS, Taliban, and others. The one thing that holds them back from full on invasion is the threat of America coming to the defense of Israel. As strong as Israel may be, militarily, they could not stand up to their Arab enemies were it not for the USA ready to help defend them. The Arab nations fear the USA military more than anything (see Rev 13:4, “Who is like the beast? Who can make war against it?”).

 America is the restrainer. When America is destroyed then there will be no deterrent to invading Israel. The 8^th beast will eliminate the 7^th beast, by some sort of fiery cataclysm (Rev 18:16-18; cf. Dan. 7:11)). The 8^th beast will then be able to wreak havoc for “one hour”, primarily against Israel (Rev 17:12-16). But they will be defeated by the Lamb, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

There you have it. The restraint that keeps the Arab alliance from invading Israel until God’s appointed time is the military strength of the USA. When America is destroyed then there will be no deterrent. The end of the age is drawing to its conclusion, rapidly. Don’t expect a rapture to rescue us from trial and tribulation, rather get prepared for the destruction of America and for Armageddon to ensue.