“And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie …” (2 Thess. 2:11, NKJV)
What is at times misread regarding the spirit of perversity is that Isa. 19:14 explicitly makes clear that the LORD was responsible for sending the spirit of deception, and thus the LORD has brought about this deceptive path. How is it possible that God can send these spirits? (See for instance also 1 Kings 22:23 – “Therefore look! The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours …”) How does this work?
We are going to be taking a rather wide detour in the process of answering this question, but it is of utmost importance to understand God’s sovereign position in this matter.
Our starting point is the Scripture we started off with. Quoted in its entirety, we read the following: “And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thess. 2:11-12). This section is the conclusion of a long case Paul makes about the nature of society before the second-coming of Jesus, and the apostasy, or the losing of faith. This is (inaccurately) seen as something which will only take place right at the end of the world, just before the second-coming, and is always linked to the (so-called) coming of the (so-called) Antichrist – “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” (verses 3 & 4).
A dictionary definition of apostasy is more illuminating in this context: “An abandonment of what one has professed; a total desertion, or departure from one’s faith or religion.” (Webster).
By perverting what is written here, for instance through embroidering upon theological content (especially through what is not written there), various Charismatic end-time preachers have used this section from Paul’s letter to explain particular timelines surrounding the (so-called) rapture, amongst other elements. Try to focus on what is written here, and to not be seduced by the “cunningly devised fables” (2 Pet. 1:16): “And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thess. 6:6-12).
In the following teachings we will examine this apostasy further, and thus get to the root of why it is God that sends the spirit of perversity to man.
- Selah: Explain the term apostasy to someone.
- Read: . 7
- Memorise: 7:89
