Who do you think the restrainer was/is?
One end-times speaker once said that when Yasser Araffat would be taken away, we would see the works of the Antichrist.
The Bible said the restrainer is hindering the man of lawlessness from being revealed. The Bible called the restrainer a "he" (not "they" or "it" - but "he"), and the Bible said he was already restraining the man of lawlessness from being revealed.
So he (the restrainer) can't really be someone alive today - nor somebody still to come in the future - because that would make the guy about 2000+ years old!
The restrainer would have been taken away by his own natural death, if not sooner. And seeing Paul said that the man of lawlesness would be revealed once the restrainer would be taken away, doesn't it follow that the man of lawlessness must have been revealed in the first century or thereabouts?
Some prophecy 'experts' ignore that Paul said the restrainer was already restraining, and claim he is a future figure.
But if he's a future figure, then up until now there's been no restrainer. Why then wasn't the man of lawlessness already revealed?
Plus, the man of lawlessness is said to sit in the Temple of God - but the Temple existed only up until AD70. Even if Israel constructs a replica 'temple' in the future, it couldn't be called the Temple of God - because under the New Covenant, God isn't into commissioning the construction of temples anymore.
So if the Temple of God, and the man of lawlessness, and the restrainer were likely first century realities - what Scriptural relevance did Yasser Araffat - or 21st century gas prices, or such thing - have, as far as end-times prophecy goes?
Unless there is another way to interpret the relevant passage of Scripture.
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