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July 7, 2013 |
| The Spirit Removed | ||
During the old covenant God gave the Holy Spirit only to select people. These were generally people in authority over Israel and God wanted to have a closer relationship with them so that they might better serve him. We see this with the 70 people chosen by Moses to help lead and judge the Israelites. We also see it with King Saul and King David.
It was not until Pentecost that the Holy Spirit was given to all who accept and believe in Jesus. The Holy Spirit is a guide, comforter, teacher, and other things, but he is also a seal. In this context, a seal is a mark put on something to indicate a claim on it. This can also be called a pledge and in business transactions a seal or pledge would include payment of a deposit or of earnest money. There are many references to the Holy Spirit being a seal1. The verses below are from Ephesians 1.
13 For you also heard by him the word of truth, which is The Good News of your salvation, and you believed in him, and you were sealed in The Spirit of Holiness who was promised, 14 who is the pledge of our inheritance for the redemption of those who are living and for the glory of his honor.
The Holy Spirit also has a role in the lives of non-believers. In this verse from John 16 Jesus says:
8 "And when [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will correct the world concerning sin and concerning righteousness and concerning judgment;"
Most Christians are aware of this but few are aware that the Bible provides good reason to believe that the Holy Spirit will be removed someday. In this lesson we will look at what the Bible says about this
The first reference to the idea that the spirit of God will not always work to "correct the world" comes before the flood of Noah's time. God is watching the number of people on the earth increase and also their wickedness increase. From Genesis 6:
3 Then the Lord said, "My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years."
The NIV translation is the only one to use the word contend. Most others use the word strive. The image here is that the spirit of God struggles with mankind to lead him toward righteousness, but that this would not always be so.
It's a bit off-topic here but worth mentioning while we are on this verse. In saying "their days will be a hundred and twenty years", it appears God is speaking 3 truths.
Now we jump forward in time to Paul's time. In his epistles to the Thessalonians Paul provides the most detailed description of the second coming and the rapture that we see anywhere. In 2 Thessalonians 2 he says
6 And now you know what controls, that [the Man of Sin, the Son of Destruction] may be revealed in his time. 7 The mystery of evil has even now begun to work within, only if that which now controls will be taken from the midst; 8 And then that Evil One will be revealed, whom Our Lord Yeshua will consume with a breath of his mouth, and will destroy him by the revelation of his coming.
Nowhere in his writing does Paul say explicitly what or who it is that controls but he does say he had told the Thessalonians when he was with them. "Many have speculated as to the identity of the restrainer, naming the restraining force as
Whatever now restrains the Antichrist from being revealed in the fullness of his apostasy and evil must be more than human or even angelic power. The power that holds back Satan from bringing the final apostasy and unveiling of his Satan-possessed false Christ (the Antichrist) must be supernatural. It must be God's power in operation that holds back Satan, so that the "man of sin," "the son of destruction" won't be able to come until God permits it by removing the restraining power. The reason for the restraint was so that the Antichrist would be revealed at God's appointed time and no sooner, just as was Christ2, because God controls Satan. The Holy Spirit of God is the only Person with sufficient (supernatural) power to do this restraining"3
The reason there are so many different views on what or who it is that controls is largely due to a theological problem that it creates. How can the Holy Spirit be removed if he is our seal? Many use this as evidence for the belief in a pre-tribulation rapture. The idea is that the rapture must therefore come before the Holy Spirit is removed. But if the Holy Spirit is removed before the tribulation how can anyone be saved during the tribulation? But the Bible specifically speaks about opportunities for repentance during the tribulation4 and about saved people coming out of the tribulation, the 144,000 being the best example. Also, what would be the point of the two witnesses5 if salvation was not possible? This has caused some people to propose two raptures and similar wisdom of man. These questions have also caused people to interpret the Genesis 6:3 verse differently and to claim that Paul did not mean the Holy Spirit when he talked about that which controls.
Any person would think that removing the Holy Spirit from mankind would be considered an important event, especially by God. Therefore, if it occurs during the tribulation period it would be expected to be described in the book of Revelation. It is. But it is described in the symbolism used throughout Revelation. It is found in Revelation 7
1 And after this, I saw four Angels standing over the four corners of The Earth and holding the four winds, that the winds would not blow on The Earth, neither on the Sea, neither on any tree.
2 And I saw another Angel ascending from the dawning of the Sun and having the seal of THE LIVING GOD, and he cried with a loud voice to the four Angels to whom it was given to harm The Earth and the Sea,
3 And he said, "Do not harm the land, neither the Sea, nor the trees, until we seal the Servants of God on their foreheads."
As with all of Revelation, understanding comes from understanding the symbolism.
Blowing wind is interpreted to mean strife. But in this case the wind is not blowing nor is there any mention that the angels are about to let it blow. Therefore wind has a different meaning here, a meaning where the wind causes harm by not blowing.
We see Jesus use wind in a way other than strife in the book of John and it is used elsewhere this way. This particular reference is one of the very clever statements that Jesus makes but because it relies on words that have two meanings it cannot be fully translated. It comes from John 3 where Nicodemus is struggling to understand what Jesus is saying about a man being born again. The translator's notes follow in red.
Our Lord used three words with double meanings: Rukha (Spirit or Wind), Nshaba (Breathe or Blow) and Qala (Voice or Sound). The verse could be translated, "The wind blows where it will and you hear its sound…", but He obviously speaks in spiritual terms here, using "Rukha" twice; the second reference is obviously "Spirit" and it seems inconsistent to use it in two different ways in the same sentence. Nevertheless, it is understandable that Nicodemus was confused by this statement.
8 The Spirit breathes where he will, and you hear his voice, but you do not know from where he comes and where he goes; thus is everyone who is born from The Spirit."
Therefore we understand that the wind the angels are holding back is the Holy Spirit
The sea is a symbol for the restless people of the earth. They have no rest because they do not have God. Therefore they are not God's people.
It's a bit off topic but it's important to understand that the First Beast of Revelation, the False Prophet, comes from the Sea.
Both earth and land are used in the verses above. They mean the same thing and are symbols for God's people. They are the opposite of the sea. People are either land or sea.
Trees are commonly used with grass, but grass is not mentioned here. They both grow on land and symbolize God's people but the trees symbolize the leaders of God's people. These would be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers6. Trees are used in Revelation when God wants to say something specific about the leaders of his people.
Continuing from the off topic note about the Sea above, it's important to note that the Second Beast of Revelation, the Anti-Christ, comes from the Land – from God's people.
I have no clue on this and I've searched in lots of places. I'm sure there is meaning in it though.
The phrase "on the forehead" is symbolism for "in the heart' and it is used this way in various places in the Bible7. It refers to knowledge and understanding but more than head knowledge. It refers to knowledge that is internalized, put into practice, and has become part of the person.
The seal will serve the same purpose that the Holy Spirit served before but what the seal is remains unknown. We can see that it is heart knowledge but we do not have any greater understanding than that.
In the millennial period that follows the tribulation a new relationship begins between God and his people. It might be that we begin that relationship at that time.
It's worth mentioning that this chapter finishes with the sealing of God's people and chapter 8 begins with "about half an hour" of silence in Heaven. This silence may be related to the sealing process. Using the "1 day equals 1000 years" rule from elsewhere in the Bible, one half hour out of a 24 hour day would be equal to 21 years. That may be significant or not.
With the understanding of the symbols above it is possible to restate Revelation 7:1-3 in a non-symbolic way.
The Holy Spirit is about to stop striving with mankind, both non-believers and believers and even the leaders of the believers. But before this can cause damage a seal will be given to God's people in their hearts.
Based on this event being described in Revelation after the opening of the 6th seal and based on the generally accepted understanding of the timeline of the seals, God's people would be resealed just before or right at the start of the tribulation period.
From the verses in 2 Thessalonians we see that the Holy Spirit is removed so that Satan can succeed. It isn't clear why the Holy Spirit needs to be removed from Christians though. It seems reasonable to expect that the Holy Spirit would no longer be with us in the millennial period anyway, which would only be 7 years after the removal of the Holy Spirit. In that Millennial age God will rule directly on Earth and we will have new spiritual bodies. This seems to indicate that the Holy Spirit will not be needed as a guide, counselor, and teacher as he is now.
The prophet Jeremiah may be speaking of this age in Jeremiah 31 when he says
34No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the Lord.
There is good evidence to indicate that the Holy Spirit will be removed and cease striving with mankind. God said such a time would come in Genesis 6:3. Paul said it would happen in 2 Thessalonians 2. And Revelation appears to describe but the removal and a new sealing.
I don't think we should see the removal of the Holy Spirit as a bad thing however. We will be sealed as God's people again and we know that each covenant God has made with man has been a better one. Therefore there is good reason to believe that this will be a time of gain, not a time of loss.
1 2 Corinthians 1:22, 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:30
2 Galatians 4:4
3 http://www.gotquestions.org/restrainer.html
4 Revelation 9:20, 16:9, 16:11
5 Revelation 11:3
6 Ephesians 4:11
7 Deuteronomy 6:6-8, 11:18