God's strong delusion
“And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2Thess. 2:10-12).
This is not the first time God has brought a strong delusion. There have been many precedents throughout time.
“And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him.
And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And He said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.” (1Ki. 22:20-23).
God sent Satan to delude Ahab.
“Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far, burning with His anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue as a devouring fire:
And His breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.” (Is. 30:27,28).
This sieve of vanity to sift His people came from the Lord.
“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” (Jas. 1:13,14).
God will not tempt; but we tempt ourselves by departing from Him.
“Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.” (1Chron. 21:1). “The Lord … moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.” (2Sam. 24:1).
God allowed Satan to tempt David. Because of his pride of accomplishment and self-dependence, the Lord had to let Satan tempt the king to number Israel.
“The Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst Me against him, to destroy him without cause.” (Job 2:3).
Another case of pride, God had to allow Satan to tempt His servant Job.
“Know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you.” (Josh. 23:13). “And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.” (Jdg. 1:21). “Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.” (Jdg. 2:3). “And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He said, Because that this people hath transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto My voice;
I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:
That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.
Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered Me them into the hand of Joshua.” (Jdg. 2:20-23).
Because Israel chose not to remove the wicked inhabitants of Canaan, the Lord left them to be a temptation to disobedient Israel.
“Upon the wicked He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.” (Ps. 11:6).
“The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
The Lord is known by the judgment which He executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.” (Ps. 9:15, 16).
“Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.” (Prov. 6:2). “The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips.” (Prov. 12:13).
“And He shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.” (Is. 8:14,15).
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” (Jas. 1:22).
God will be a sanctuary for some and God says that He Himself will set the snare for others.
“To whom He said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.” (Is. 28:12 ,13).
God sent truth to cause scorners to stumble and be snared.
“I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord.” (Jer. 50:24).
The Lord laid a snare for Babylon, just as He had for Pharoah.
“Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves.” (Rom. 1:24). “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” (vs. 21). “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.” (vs. 28).
God gave them over to be tempted.
“And He said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” (Is. 6:9,10).
“And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” (Matt. 13:14,15).
“If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2Cor. 4:3,4). “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” (Jn. 3:19,20).
Christ took responsibility for blinding and deafening the people so that they would not be converted. The reality was that the people chose to abide in unbelief, which then gave Satan the access to their hearts, who led them into damnation.
“Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you.” (2Pet. 2:13).
They laugh and play in the delusions with which they have deceived themselves, “for this they willingly are ignorant of.” (2Pet. 3:5)
Taken together, we see in all of this that God is ultimately in control, “who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.” (Eph 1:11). He is in control, even if He allows Satan to deceive us or for us to deceive ourselves by turning away from the Law of God. In the case of Job, Job’s heart wasn’t perfect with God, but it was as perfect as his conscious choice would permit his heart to be. But, “the Lord looketh on the heart,” and He “knoweth them that are His.” (1Sam. 16:7;2Tim. 2:19). So He will order events; He will open the door for the devil to do his destruction, in order to wake His servants up again to righteousness and bring them to repentance and humility and surrender.
The Lord waits a long time for the workers of iniquity to see the error of their ways. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2Pet. 3:9). He remains out of sight and out of human affairs to let them realize that only troubles come when they leave their Creator and protective Father to serve the life of self-indulgence which Satan offers them.
“Since thou wast precious in My sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.” (Is. 43:4).
God even allows Satan and his earthly agencies to oppress the faulty people of the Lord who are striving to learn obedience and service to Him. This will be a snare for most of Satan’s hosts, but some will turn to the Lord as they see the meekness and submission of God’s suffering people. They accept the persecution as their just due and their much needed discipline.
“I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His righteousness.” (Mic. 7:9). “And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” (Zech. 3:2).
The oppression purifies His disciples and makes them worthy of His salvation.
“And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.” (Lk. 18:7,8). “Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” (Dan. 7:22)
Simultaneously, as He delivers His persecuted people, He reveals Himself suddenly to the wicked oppressors.
“For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” (1Thess. 5:2,3).
“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matt. 24:30).
In the end, God offers unrestrained opportunity to the wicked to destroy His holy Law and His holy people. It is this that constitutes the final great delusion and makes them unprepared for His second coming. Today, atheism reigns supreme and the world has made our Creator God into a fiction. This has unleashed the ambition of the Vatican and its workers to overthrow the governments that stand for equality and justice. These workers of iniquity soon will make their big pounce upon the inhabitants of the world to control and enslave them. At that time human worth will mean nothing to all who join with Satan’s hosts to grab all the power and disipation and luxury they can. This last strong delusion will be the choice of the vast majority of the world’s population. It will put them fully as rebels against the government of God and worthy of His intense displeasure.
“Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:
And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.” (Is. 13:6-12).
“The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” (2Pet. 3:10).
“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” (Matt. 25:46).
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2Thess. 2:10-12).
This is not the first time God has brought a strong delusion. There have been many precedents throughout time.
“And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him.
And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And He said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.” (1Ki. 22:20-23).
God sent Satan to delude Ahab.
“Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far, burning with His anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue as a devouring fire:
And His breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.” (Is. 30:27,28).
This sieve of vanity to sift His people came from the Lord.
“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” (Jas. 1:13,14).
God will not tempt; but we tempt ourselves by departing from Him.
“Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.” (1Chron. 21:1). “The Lord … moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.” (2Sam. 24:1).
God allowed Satan to tempt David. Because of his pride of accomplishment and self-dependence, the Lord had to let Satan tempt the king to number Israel.
“The Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst Me against him, to destroy him without cause.” (Job 2:3).
Another case of pride, God had to allow Satan to tempt His servant Job.
“Know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you.” (Josh. 23:13). “And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.” (Jdg. 1:21). “Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.” (Jdg. 2:3). “And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He said, Because that this people hath transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto My voice;
I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:
That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.
Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered Me them into the hand of Joshua.” (Jdg. 2:20-23).
Because Israel chose not to remove the wicked inhabitants of Canaan, the Lord left them to be a temptation to disobedient Israel.
“Upon the wicked He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.” (Ps. 11:6).
“The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
The Lord is known by the judgment which He executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.” (Ps. 9:15, 16).
“Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.” (Prov. 6:2). “The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips.” (Prov. 12:13).
“And He shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.” (Is. 8:14,15).
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” (Jas. 1:22).
God will be a sanctuary for some and God says that He Himself will set the snare for others.
“To whom He said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.” (Is. 28:12 ,13).
God sent truth to cause scorners to stumble and be snared.
“I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord.” (Jer. 50:24).
The Lord laid a snare for Babylon, just as He had for Pharoah.
“Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves.” (Rom. 1:24). “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” (vs. 21). “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.” (vs. 28).
God gave them over to be tempted.
“And He said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” (Is. 6:9,10).
“And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” (Matt. 13:14,15).
“If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2Cor. 4:3,4). “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” (Jn. 3:19,20).
Christ took responsibility for blinding and deafening the people so that they would not be converted. The reality was that the people chose to abide in unbelief, which then gave Satan the access to their hearts, who led them into damnation.
“Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you.” (2Pet. 2:13).
They laugh and play in the delusions with which they have deceived themselves, “for this they willingly are ignorant of.” (2Pet. 3:5)
Taken together, we see in all of this that God is ultimately in control, “who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.” (Eph 1:11). He is in control, even if He allows Satan to deceive us or for us to deceive ourselves by turning away from the Law of God. In the case of Job, Job’s heart wasn’t perfect with God, but it was as perfect as his conscious choice would permit his heart to be. But, “the Lord looketh on the heart,” and He “knoweth them that are His.” (1Sam. 16:7;2Tim. 2:19). So He will order events; He will open the door for the devil to do his destruction, in order to wake His servants up again to righteousness and bring them to repentance and humility and surrender.
The Lord waits a long time for the workers of iniquity to see the error of their ways. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2Pet. 3:9). He remains out of sight and out of human affairs to let them realize that only troubles come when they leave their Creator and protective Father to serve the life of self-indulgence which Satan offers them.
“Since thou wast precious in My sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.” (Is. 43:4).
God even allows Satan and his earthly agencies to oppress the faulty people of the Lord who are striving to learn obedience and service to Him. This will be a snare for most of Satan’s hosts, but some will turn to the Lord as they see the meekness and submission of God’s suffering people. They accept the persecution as their just due and their much needed discipline.
“I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His righteousness.” (Mic. 7:9). “And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” (Zech. 3:2).
The oppression purifies His disciples and makes them worthy of His salvation.
“And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.” (Lk. 18:7,8). “Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” (Dan. 7:22)
Simultaneously, as He delivers His persecuted people, He reveals Himself suddenly to the wicked oppressors.
“For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” (1Thess. 5:2,3).
“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matt. 24:30).
In the end, God offers unrestrained opportunity to the wicked to destroy His holy Law and His holy people. It is this that constitutes the final great delusion and makes them unprepared for His second coming. Today, atheism reigns supreme and the world has made our Creator God into a fiction. This has unleashed the ambition of the Vatican and its workers to overthrow the governments that stand for equality and justice. These workers of iniquity soon will make their big pounce upon the inhabitants of the world to control and enslave them. At that time human worth will mean nothing to all who join with Satan’s hosts to grab all the power and disipation and luxury they can. This last strong delusion will be the choice of the vast majority of the world’s population. It will put them fully as rebels against the government of God and worthy of His intense displeasure.
“Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:
And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.” (Is. 13:6-12).
“The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” (2Pet. 3:10).
“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” (Matt. 25:46).
posted by David | 11:12 AM
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