Will it be the Holy Spirit? No, for He will be here all through the tribulation and forever (John 14:16; Acts 2:16-21; Revelations 12:17 with 19:10; Zechariah 12:10-13:1). Multitudes will be saved by the Holy Spirit during the tribulation, as now (Acts 2:16-21; Revelations 6:9-11; 7:1—21; 15:2-4; 20:4-6).

It is the church! (that’s us, who believe in Jesus as our risen Lord). The church (we) will be raptured before Antichrist comes and this is the only one of the hinderers of lawlessness that will be removed from the earth.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 “ 16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

It is believed that the church could not be referred to as he, because it is the bride of Christ; that the church is spoken of as a virgin, a woman, and that it is referred to by feminine pronouns.

On the contrary, the church is:

1. Not referred to by feminine pronouns

2. Never symbolized by a woman

3. Never called the bride of Christ (see Revelations 21:9-21 below).

“9And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

10And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

11Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

12And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

13On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

14And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

16And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

17And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

18And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

19And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

20The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

22And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

23And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

24And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

25And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

26And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

27And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.” Revelations 21:9-21

The church is called a man in Ephesians 2:15 “15Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;” and 4:13 “13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:”

And also the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 “12For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

13For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” And 1 Corinthians 12:27 “27Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” and Ephesians 1:22-23 “22And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

23Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” and also Colossians 1:18 “18And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” and Colossians 1:24 “24Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:”.

Because Christ was born a man, it would not be proper to compare His body to that of a woman or use feminine pronouns in referring to the church. Since the church is not a woman or a lady or even a virgin, nor a bride and is not referred to by feminine pronouns; and since the church is called a man and the body of Christ who is a man, the church can be referred to by the pronoun he.

The church is the only one of the three hinderers of lawlessness that will be taken out of the world. We must therefore, conclude that the he or the hinderer of lawlessness of 2 Thessalonians 2:7 must refer to the church being taken out of the world... (and as it is written) “And then” shall that wicked be revealed who will be destroyed 7 years later by Christ at His second advent (verses 7-8 of 2 Thessalonians 2).

Perhaps I can share what my bible says about the second advent in another series, because it’s another in depth study.

Another note on 2 Thessalonians 2:7: The church will continue to hinder lawlessness until the rapture. It’s us who do hinder the people who want to live by breaking laws. And when all of us who keep the laws are removed, then the Antichrist will be revealed. This is conclusive proof that the rapture takes place before Daniel’s 70th week and the tribulation of Revelations 6:1 and 19:21. According to Daniel 9:27, the Antichrist will be here for 7 years, for he makes a 7-year covenant with Israel. (It really says one week, so I don’t know where they get 7 years.) If he is here for 7 years, which will be the last 7 years of this age, and if he who hinders lawlessness refers to the church and is taken out of the way before he comes, then the rapture will take place before the last 7 years of this age and before the Antichrist comes at the beginning of those 7 years.