I discovered something interesting. In Tim Lahaye's book, Revelation: Illustrated and Made Plain, on page 112, Lahaye explains why he doesn't believe the Holy Spirit is the restrainer referred to in 2 Thessalonians 2: 7.

Two things interested me about this. For one, Lahaye uses the passages from Joel 2:28-29, and Acts 2: 14-21, to show that the Holy Spirit will still be at work regarding salvation in the tribulation period. If you recall, these are the same passages that I recently used to explain why I believe the church may go through the tribulation.

The second reason, Lahaye says the three kings, the ones that the Antichrist will subdue, are the restrainer that Paul was referring to in Thessalonians. If you've been following my commentaries, you know that I've been suspicious that the EU's so-called "big three," France's Jacques Chirac, the UK's Tony Blair and Germany's former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, might possibly be the three kings subdued.

Now, isn't that interesting?