JULY 20

BECOMING FROM THE MIDST

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, that the man of sin may be revealed, the son of perdition.” (2 Thess. 2:3)

With great desire we await the dawning of that new day, when His kingdom shall be established in the earth, and righteousness shall flourish in our land. Hence one watches for the fulfillments of the signs which point to the nearness of that time. Some signs are negative, some positive.

“Come a falling away…” Literally, the apostasy, the total desertion of principles or faith. Compromise is the order of the day, lawlessness the spirit of the times. We need not expand on this, it is happening everywhere. Along with this “falling away,” the man of sin must be revealed. But herein lies the glorious truth, that wicked one cannot be fully revealed until something else has also happened. “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.”(verse 6). Withholdeth – literally, hold down. There is a retraining force that holds the powers of hell at bay, so that they cannot release their full scope of power and havoc, until… ”For the mystery of iniquity (lawlessness) doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.” (verse 7).

Letteth – again the Greek word to “hold down,” or restrain, thus the clementson trans. “there is one who restraineth now, until he may become from the midst.” Where King James Version gives “be taken out” of the way, the Greek word is TO BECOME. Here is the positive counterbalance to all the negativity of the mystery of iniquity. There is that which is BECOMING FROM THE MIDST, it is now in the process of being formed and brought to maturity, and until it has fully become, all else is held in restraint.

The “tares and the wheat” are both growing to maturity, both in the process of becoming, and though He will “gather first the tares,” yet the final climax cannot occur until the SONS OF GOD HAVE BECOME FROM THE MIDST. Present restraints are in order for their protection, until God has finished His work in them, and then shall the end of this age be consummated.