WHY GOD SENDS A STRONG DELUSION
Things happen for a reason and we are here to discover that reason and learn from it. Scripture tells us to “test everything” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) and “Test the spirits to see if they are from God” (1 John 4:1-6). In contrast to Islam where Muslims are adjured not to ask questions (Surah 5:101) but just blindly accept everything “because Allah wills it”.
This Post is going to provide a lesson on what a “strong delusion means”. So Muslims in particular pay attention because you might learn something.
First the thematic passage by Paul:
“[7] For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one now restraining will do so until he is out of the way, [8] and then the lawless one will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of His mouth and will bring him to nothing with the brightness of His coming. [9] The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan’s working, with all kinds of false miracles, signs, and wonders, [10] and with every unrighteous deception among those who are perishing. They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth in order to be saved. [11] FOR THIS REASON GOD SENDS THEM A STRONG DELUSION SO THAT THEY WILL BELIEVE WHAT IS FALSE, [12] so that all will be condemned — those who did not believe the truth but enjoyed unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:7‭-‬12 HCSB).
The “strong delusion” here spoken of by Paul is an End Times signal sent by God in circumstances where the world is in a state of Godlessness, denial, rebellion and resistance to righteousness and God’s word and His will. It is sent to people who are already “perishing … because they did not accept the love of the truth in order to be saved.” (V 10)
Although this prophecy by Paul is End Times specific we can see all around us the same principle applies in response to entrenched Godlessness everywhere.
The sexually deviant are given over to their desires and they find plenty to say about how it’s not lifestyle choice it’s genetic in order to excuse themselves. They are under and have been given over to the same delusion. (Romans 1:24-31)
And the principle is nothing that Paul invented.
Isaiah speaks of it:
“So I will choose their punishment, and I will bring on them what they dread because I called and no one answered; I spoke and they didn’t hear; they did what was evil in My sight and chose what I didn’t delight in.” (Isaiah 66:4 HCSB)
We find it in the way God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.
“But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. [4] Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I will put My hand on Egypt and bring the divisions of My people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.” (Exodus 7:3‭-‬4 HCSB)
If it seems unfair that God would hand people over to Satan on the one hand or harden their hearts on the other, we need to examine the passage to see why God would do this.
Why would God harden Pharaoh’s heart just so He could judge Egypt more severely with additional plagues?
First, Pharaoh was not an innocent or godly man. He was a brutal dictator overseeing the terrible abuse and oppression of the Israelites, who likely numbered over 1.5 million people at that time. The Egyptian pharaohs had enslaved the Israelites for 400 years. A previous pharaoh — possibly even the pharaoh in question — ordered that male Israelite babies be killed at birth (Exodus 1:16). The pharaoh God hardened was an evil man, and the nation he ruled agreed with, or at least did not oppose, his evil actions.
Second, Pharaoh hardened his own heart against letting the Israelites go: “But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart” (Exodus 8:15). “But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart” (Exodus 8:32). At least four times Pharaoh hardened his own heart, before God hardened it. As the plagues continued, God gave Pharaoh increasingly severe warnings of the final judgment to come. Pharaoh chose to bring further judgment on himself and his nation by hardening his own heart against and ignoring God’s commands.
It could be that, as a result of Pharaoh’s hard-heartedness, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart even further, allowing for the last few plagues and bringing God’s full glory into view (Exodus 9:12; 10:20, 27). Pharaoh and Egypt had brought these judgments on themselves with 400 years of slavery and mass murder. Since the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and Pharaoh and Egypt had horribly sinned against God, it would have been just if God had completely annihilated Egypt. Therefore, God’s hardening Pharaoh’s heart was not unjust, and His bringing additional plagues against Egypt was not unjust. The plagues, as terrible as they were, actually demonstrated God’s mercy in not completely destroying Egypt, which would have been a perfectly just penalty.
Romans 9:17-18 declares, “For the Scripture tells Pharaoh: I raised you up for this reason so that I may display My power in you and that My name may be proclaimed in all the earth. [18] So then, He shows mercy to those He wants to, and He hardens those He wants to harden” (Romans 9:17‭-‬18 HCSB).
From a human perspective, it seems wrong for God to harden a person and then punish the person He has hardened. Biblically speaking, however, we have all sinned against God (Romans 3:23), and the just penalty for that sin is death (Romans 6:23). Therefore, God’s hardening and punishing a person is not unjust; it is actually merciful in comparison to what the person deserves. The bottom line is we are only alive by God’s grace.
Muslims are under that same hard heartened state of delusion. Islam is very definitely in the same category of denial of truth and resistance to God. How is Islam able to flourish and grow at the rate it does? Because God has handed Islam over to Satan with whom it first was spawned and has let him spin his web of transparent delusion. Muslims live under the strong delusion that the Bible message was somehow corrupted when there is no foundation for it at all and that one of the most depraved degenerate men who ever lived could be a holy prophet of God.
As Paul says: “[3] But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. [4] In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:3‭-‬4 HCSB)
Atheists led by Richard Dawkins are living under the strong delusion that there is no God and the universe and life happened and evolved by chance. God already ordered a semblance of evolution in His creation for this very purpose in advance.
Wherever there is Godlessness you will find people living under hard hearted delusions. God has handed them over to it. He respects human choices. If we choose against Him He will give us reasons to justify our choice and harden our hearts against Him. That is not unfair, it’s the perfect justice of a jealous God working out His purposes and displaying His divine wrath. And make no mistake it’s the action of a wrathful God exercising judgment. God’s wrath is not only going to be unleashed at the second coming. It is already here and was already in evidence long before Paul wrote these words:
“For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,” (Romans 1:18 HCSB)
The first thing to notice is that the word “is revealed” is the very same word and tense as in the preceding verse 17. There “the righteousness of God is being revealed.” Here “the wrath of God is being revealed.” In both cases, it is a present tense, continuous action. In other words, it is happening now, not just in the future. There is a day of wrath coming (Romans 2:5, 8–9; 5:9). But in advance of that final outpouring of wrath, God’s wrath is also present. And the delusions He sends are one evidence of His wrath.
If we employ faulty reasoning to uphold our prejudices, God will hand us over to that closed mindset. Again we can cite Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist and perhaps the foremost expert in the field, who asserts that evolution is true. Therefore, because he says so it’s true. But examined more closely, it’s a fallacious appeal to authority.
Dawkins certainly knows about biology and espouses biology as proof for evolution, and can confidently tell us that it’s true, but that doesn’t make it true. What would make it true is the preponderance of evidence for the theory. But there is not a shred of proof for macro scale evolution. On the contrary the evidence from the genetic code of species suggests the opposite, whereby the integrity of individual species are protected and insulated against evolutionary changes.
Another example of a fallacious appeal to authority would be Muslims claiming that Islam is true because the Quran says so. Therefore it’s true. But that does not make it true. That statement must be DEMONSTRABLY supported with evidence and verifiable witness testimony. Without evidence it’s a circular self fulfilling argument.
WHY APPEAL TO THE QURAN IS A BASELESS APPEAL TO AUTHORITY
When we start to examine the Quran, what is so startling is the complete absence of any evidence base.
□ LACK OF WITNESS TESTIMONY
The Quran has no witness multiple testimony (or for that matter any witness) testimony.
Nowhere does the Quran satisfy the Biblical test that “a matter shall be settled on the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses” (Deuteronomy 17:6 & 19:15; Matthew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1; 1 Tinothy 5:19; Hebrews 10:28).
The Quran was written hundreds, if not thousands of years after the events for which it claims to be an authority and from a region which had no legacy and no locus to speak about them. Prophethood was given exclusively through the covenant line and was spoken to it’s people in the house of Israel.
□ BASED ON PLAGIARIZED SOURCES
The Quran is basically a poor copy from a hotchpotch of different sources mostly non canonical. This undermines its claims to be revelatory or sacred in origin. It has nothing new or original to say aside from verses of violence and subjugation of all opposition.
□ LACK OF PROPHETIC HERALDRY OR FULFILMENT
There is no prophetic content in the Quran and no prophetic fulfilment to support its only prophet. On the tests of the Bible the Quran’s sole prophet was a false prophet because he spoke of other gods, he did no signs nor did he have any record of prophecy fulfilment. Worse he was not consistent with what was previously revealed, falling foul of both the Bible (Deuteronomy 13:1-3) and the Quran (Surah 3:81). Moreover his depraved lifestyle and self serving agenda discredited his claims to prophethood. His moods and suicidal tendencies suggested a man possessed rather than divinely inspired.
□ LACK OF SIGNS
There are no verifiable miracles in the Quran to support its claims. We should at the very least have evidence for healing of the sort which validated Jesus testimony to be the divine Son of God. Muhammad was credited with none hence why the Quran had to come to his rescue and make excuses and declare Him “only a warner” (Surah 11:12)
□ LACK OF HISTORICAL SUPPORT
There is no evidence for the claims made for Mecca, claims of in uncrucified Messiah or for claims of Bible corruption. Historical scholars such as Ehrman are scornful of the Quran’s historical value.
The Arabs had no written history before Muhammad and the Quran is the first Arabic writing of any importance. On the surface this appears to bode well for Muslims who appeal to the Hadith literature to show that Allah was the God who inspired Abraham. However the Hadith is a very late compilation and isn’t present until 2 centuries after Muhammad lived. With dating of around the 800’s AD the Hadith is hardly a credible still less a contemporary source in verifying the life of Abraham, who lived almost 3000 years before.
Yet Islam continues to flourish in spite of its obvious flaws. How so? Because God has given over its adherents to Satan. He established and sanctioned all the strawman and other fallacious arguments which enable Muslims to justify themselves in their denial of who God is and what His purposes are. This is why it’s very hard for them to apostasize. Indeed the consequences and penalties for apostasy are built into the inertia of being given over to their heretical beliefs.
And again let it not be said that God has unfairly treated Muslims. God always glorifies Himself in everything He does. By giving over Muslims to Satan, He affirms the truth of His word. Islam is the proof of the truth of God’s word in the negative by its opposition to and denial of the Gospel, as the New Testament is proof of it in the positive. If the Gospel wasn’t true, Islam would have no basis or reason to exist.
I posted on how God is able to use Islam to glorify His name here:
m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=194112689385075&id=100063590342443
CONCLUSIONS
In short, another way of looking at delusion it’s in effect “self justification.” Where we don’t want God He won’t hang around. Where we harden our hearts against Him, He will harden them further with a strong delusion. And since the world has convinced itself God, at best is an irrelevance and a barrier to one world peace and order, He is quite entitled to let the world get on with it. We can see God’s providential hand being removed from the tiller everywhere we look. Whether it’s in moral degradation, increased persecution, wars and regional conflicts, corruption in high office, climate change, deforestation, increased storm severity, droughts and famines He who controls the winds and the waves is unleashing the chaos of unbridled Nature.
And Jesus predicted it all:
“You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these events are the beginning of birth pains. “Then they will hand you over for persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of My name. Then many will take offense, betray one another and hate one another. Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be delivered. This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:6‭-‬10‭, ‬12‭-‬14 HCSB)
MAKE NO MISTAKE: There are consequences for Godless living. Be careful what you wish for. God has allowed Satan to sift us. That can and does include sending a strong delusion to harden our hearts for persistent rebellion.
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