Part 3: The "He" Of 2 Thessalonians 2:7
By Ed Tarkowski

The "what" restrainer in verse 6 IS THE TRUTH THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT MAINTAINS IN THE CHURCH. This restrainer is a working combination of three things: The Holy Spirit and the truth resident in a faithful Church. The stronger the Church is in the truth, the less power the mystery of iniquity has to work. But, the Scriptures tell us that a day will come when the Church will begin to not listen to the truth, resulting in the mystery of lawlessness having greater power to work and to bring about a full-fledged apostasy. The restrainer, then, in verse 7 is the Holy Spirit who continues to work to maintain the truth in the Church which in turn then holds down the apostasy and therefore the coming of the man of sin:

2 Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed,

The "what" (v. 6) restrains the tearing down of all that is called God and is worshipped. For the second (verse 7, "he"), we must understand what "the delusion" is that God sends and why He sends it.

Satan heads the working of the mystery of lawlessness by the counterfeit signs and wonders, to bring the apostasy to the point where the man of sin can be revealed:

2 Th 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2 Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

Timothy warned of these things to come:

1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
1 Tim 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Many in the Church don't or won't love the truth and therefore reject it, and it reaches a point where it will no longer listen to the Holy Spirit, as described in the above Scriptures, and therefore actually cooperates with the working of lawlessness. God RESPONDS BY SENDING "them strong delusion." What does this mean that God "sends them strong delusion"? How does He send it? The word "send" is defined as:

2:11 {And for this reason God sendeth them} (kai dia touto pempei autois ho qeos). Futuristic (prophetic) present of the time when the lawless one is revealed. Here is the definite judicial act of God (Milligan) who gives the wicked over to the evil which they have deliberately chosen (#Ro 1:24,26,28). {A working of error} (energeian planes). Terrible result of willful rejection of the truth of God. {That they should believe a lie} (eis to pisteusai autous twi yeudei). Note eis to again and twi yeudei (the lie, the falsehood already described), a contemplated result. Note #Ro 1:25 "who changed the truth of God into the lie" (Robertson's Word Study).

From KJV Greek Lexicon, we read:

to send
to bid a thing to be carried to one
to send (thrust or insert) a thing into another

2 Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie [that Antichrist is God]:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth [that Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh], but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

The gist of these word meanings is this: BECAUSE they refuse to listen to the Holy Spirit and believe and maintain the truth, God sends them a delusion which proliferates the apostasy. God isn't tricking them by sending the delusion that adds great power to the working of the mystery of lawlessness. They have refused the truth and God's injecting the delusion into the Church only brings out what is already in the hearts of many. The Holy Spirit will continue to present truth to the Church until the very end. It is many in the Church who depart from His truth that causes God to send them a delusion that sets up the entrance of the man of sin, followed later by the Jesus' return. We cannot blame God because He sends delusion into the Church. If its members maintained themselves in the truth, these delusions would have no effect. The problem is with the Church, not God.

The working of the mystery of lawlessness will have accomplished its purpose, enabling Satan to now have what he wants through the Antichrist:

Revelation 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? . . .
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Part 1: The Less Truth There Is, The More Apostasy Is Present
Part 2: The "What" Of 2 Thessalonians 2:6
Part 3: The "He" Of 2 Thessalonians 2:7
Part 4: That They Should Believe A Lie
Part 5: Nothing Is Removed In 2 Thessalonians 2:7
Home Page