“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only HE WHO NOW LETTETH WILL LET, until he be taken out of the way. And THEN shall that Wicked BE REVEALED, whom the Lord shall consume WITH THE SPIRIT OF HIS MOUTH, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,”
( 2 Thessalonians 2:7-9 KJV)
This passage is telling us that once The Rapture happens and believers are taken off the Earth, the Holy Spirit will no longer RESTRAIN THE GROWTH OF EVIL through believers because we are no longer here. Once all true Christians are Raptured there will be NO BELIEVERS on the Earth for a period of time. This vacuum of time allows the Antichrist to deceive the world and take control without resistance, at first. However, that does not mean the Holy Spirit will have no ministry whatsoever in the Tribulation Period. Scripture shows us this is not correct, though some teach so.
Every Believer Has The Spirit Indwelling
Every believer has the Holy Spirit indwelling and those who become believers during the Tribulation period are also born-again believers. The New Covenant and Gospel of Jesus Christ is still true and promised to whosoever shall believe on Christ alone for Salvation – even for those in the Tribulation Period. The Holy Spirit will be working and the 144,000 Jewish evangelists from each tribe of Israel along with the Two witnesses, with great signs and wonders, will preach the Gospel. Is the Holy Spirit not working through these Tribulation believers?
“And I heard the number of them WHICH WERE SEALED: and there were SEALED an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.” (Revelation 7: 4 KJV)
⇒ Doesn’t The Holy Spirit SEAL Believers?
“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also AFTER that YE BELIEVED, YE WERE SEALED with that holy Spirit of promise,” (Ephesians 1:13 KJV)
However, even as it is now, the regeneration of a believer is the work of the Holy Spirit. Without God revealing to people, in or out of the Tribulation Period, that Jesus is the Christ, God in the flesh, no one is saved.
“He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for FLESH AND BLOOD HATH NOT REVEALED IT UNTO THEE, BUT MY FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN.” ( Matthew 16: 15-17 KJV)
Jesus said this to Peter BEFORE He was crucified and before the New Covenant started because it started at the death of Jesus on the cross (not at His birth). So this is how God drew people in the Old Testament and even now for all non believers. If the Spirit were not present during the tribulation, no one could be saved. But the fact is that a multitude that no one can number is saved during the tribulation including both Gentiles and Jews (Revelation 7:9–14)! Once saved they too will be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, they are not saved and they could not enter Heaven at their death.
Multitudes will come to Salvation by the preaching of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists and the Two Witnesses.
Those martyred for their faith in the Tribulation die and their newly created Spirits are seen in Heaven (Rev. 6:9-11) while the Tribulation continues on Earth and they will be resurrected at the Second Coming. No one without the Holy Spirit can even enter Heaven right? Those who survive the Tribulation Period who are believers will continue and start repopulating the Earth.
God Is Omnipresent
Our God is a Spirit and the Bible teaches us His attributes. One of God’s attributes is that He is Omnipresent; that is He exists everywhere and at all times.
“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. “ (Psalms 139:7-10 KJV)
“Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord. “ (Jeremiah 23:23-24 KJV)
“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. “ (Proverbs 15:3 KJV)
GOD IS SPIRIT and He is everywhere at all times. And so, He must be in the world during the tribulation as well. It is how the Holy Spirit operates that changes just as He has changed in how He operates from Old Covenant times to New Covenant times, from Old Testament times to New Testament times. God’s focus now turns from the gentiles and back to Israel as He promised He would do.
End Time Prophecy For The Tribulation Period Agrees
End Time Bible Prophesy even says the Holy Spirit will be working in the Tribulation Period – just differently than here in the Age of Grace we are currently living in.
“Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 39:29 KJV)
“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10 KJV)
Both show the Holy Spirit working in Daniel’s 70th week, also known as the Seven Year Tribulation Period. After the Rapture happens to believers here in the Age of Grace (The Church Age), The Day of the Lord, Daniels 70th week, begins. God now turns His focus on promises made to Israel and will fulfill them all and Israel will return to God.
The Holy Spirit will most certainly be working on the Earth after the Rapture but He will work as He did in Old Testament days to save all of Israel and as many people whosoever will receive the FREE GIFT of Salvation through the only atonement for sins, provided by Jesus The Christ, God in the flesh, who took the punishment for our sins to the cross and paid the penalty we deserved, IN FULL.
Much better to be saved here in the Age of God’s grace than to endure the Tribulation Period! It will be the worst time period in all of history. Natural disasters like never before seen. And an Antichrist leader that will make Hitler look like a choir boy in comparison.
