The command to John in Revelation 1, verse nineteen gives the key to the book of Revelation. Understanding revelation is dependent upon using the key.
Pre tribulation, mid tribulation, or post tribulation rapture?
The timing of the rapture is established by determining who the restrainer of 2 Thess. chapter 2 is. We know that this restrainer is what is keeping darkness, evil, and the antichrist from coming into full power. Common views as to his identity are the principle of law and order, the Roman Empire, Satan, the Jewish State, God, the Holy Spirit, the church in which the Holy Spirit dwells.
Who is the restrainer?
We know that the principle of law and order cannot be the restrainer because the removing of the restrainer is what will establish complete lawlessness. 2 Thess. 2:7 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.
We also realize that the Roman Empire is not the restrainer because it has ceased to exist since the middle of the 4th century AD.
Satan is not the restrainer because why would he restrain himself? Matt. 12:26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
The Jewish State cannot be the restrainer because it will exist during the tribulation. The Jewish State will not be taken out of the way. The time of Jacob’s trouble, the Jewish State’s trouble, will begin when the restrainer is removed.
Jacob’s trouble” is a prophetic term rooted in Jeremiah 30:7, describing a future period of intense suffering for Israel followed by divine rescue. This concept is connected with broader end‑times tribulation passages in Daniel and Matthew.
The last 3 views as to whom the restrainer is are actually one. The restrainer is God, the Holy Spirit, and the church in which the Holy Spirit dwells. When the restrainer is removed, 2 Thess. 2:7, the church in which He dwells goes with Him. This is rapture!
How can the Holy Spirit be removed from the world?
The Holy Spirit is one of the persons of the God-head. He is omnipresent. He is everywhere at the same time. How can He leave the world? He came at Pentecost as the permanent In-dweller of the church and of every believer. This is true. But before Pentecost He had been with believers. After Pentecost He has dwelt in them. After Pentecost the Spirit remains forever in believers of the Church Age. John 14:16.
If the Holy Spirit is the restrainer, then, He will leave the world just as He came into the world at Pentecost. The church in which He dwells will leave with Him. The Holy Spirit will still be working in the world but similar to before Pentecost. He will still be convicting people of sin and encouraging them to put their faith in Christ. Multitudes of people will be saved during the tribulation period. Rev. 7:9-14. These people are not members of the church though, but will still be part of God’s glorious kingdom.