Strong Delusion

This is a repost from my Facebook page I Don’t Care If Anyone Reads This. This was from three seperate posts.

A lot of people believe Satan is bound after the 1,000 year reign of Christ. I believe Scriptures don’t teach that Doctrine. I’m not going to get into chilaism and this 1,000 year reign of Christ but I do want to talk about the binding of Satan. Those who take this chain that Satan is bound with as being  literal have to do a lot of jumping through hoops (or chain links). This can also be said with a 1,000 year yet future reign of Christ. I personally see the parallel with 2 Thessalonians and Rev 20. With that said, I heard an interesting theory that Satan is bound by truth. Truth is mentioned throughout 2 Thessalonians 2 and contextually it does make some sense.

Before we go on to the scripture. I want to point out that there are different theories as to who or what the restrainer is. Pre tribbers will tell you that the restrainer is the Holy Spirit and that He is gone AFTER the restraint is lifted. They use this to prove their pre “seven year” trib theory. I don’t buy that theory as far as them trying to provetheir point. Some other theories on who the restrainer is are Michael the Archangel, God, Jesus who holds the keys and some other theories that I don’t want to get into. I want to look at a theory that I heard recently about the restrainer being truth.

2 Thessalonians 2

5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time 7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie 12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 13  But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

We see that because those who rejected the love of the truth, they are not saved. It is because of this that they are given a strong delusion that they should believe a lie. We know this truth is Jesus and it is His salvation for us. And the lie comes from Satan, the father of lies. The lie is that Jesus is not God and that He was fully a man with no deity find in Him. This is what I believe to be the great lie. And every reign known to man rejects this idea that Jesus was GOD. Now Apostasy means literally, a defection from the truth and is the feminine of apostasion, bill of divorce. Do you remember Israel became a harlot and God gave her a bill of divorce. Jesus according to the Law had to die so that He could then marry the ecclesia. Is this falling away and strong delusion associated with Judaism and defecting from the truth. There are those in the Hebrew Roots movement and Torah Keepers movement who want to tell us Jesus is not God in the flesh and prior to His death on the cross He was 100% man. This is untrue and one should be labeled a heretic once they are put on notice and don’t repent. 

Now we know this, according to Rev. 20 Satan is bound from deceiving the Nations. Take into account what Louis Lyons says to me about this deceiving. “It helps if we consider the condition of the nations before Christ came. Were they godly?  Were there large portions of men and women in those nations that were seeking after God?  Were there large numbers from every nation seeking to join themselves to Israel to be saved?  The answer is no. But consider the condition of the nations now that Christ has come. Are they godly?  They’ve been a lot more godly for the past 2,000 years then they had been in the previous 4,000 years before Christ came. Do I think that the binding of Satan is coming to an end and the nations are starting to become more hardened against the gospel?  Yes. I think that the nations are starting to be deceived again. This could just be because I live in the United States, and that’s how things seem in my own experience, or it could be true. But regardless of our current day, before Christ came there were no large numbers of people from the nations seeking to be part of the people of God because they were deceived. But now that Christ has come, many people from all nations are joining themselves to the true Israel because they are no longer being deceived.” (Louis Lyons)

I connect this Rev 20 event of Satan being released to the 2 Thessalonians event of the restrainer being taken out of the c way so Satan can indwell in this future man of sin. The reason as to why Satan is being restrained and he is bound with chains is so the Gospel can be preached to the ends of the Earth. We know for a fact Satan is still capable of affecting and deceiving personal lives. But with that said, he cannot hinder the Gospel being preached. I would suggest the more you see truth being taken away in this world, like we see today, that will be a clue that we are getting closer to the restrainer being taken out of the way. We are starting to see today where evil is called good and good is called evil. We may be leading up to the restrainer being taken out of the way. 

In John 16:13 we see Spirit of Truth as another name for the Holy Spirit. “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” Essentially this Spirit of Truth is Jesus and the Father. Are we seeing the restrainer being represented as the Triune God?

So we see the antithesis of this Spirit of Truth, it is the spirit of error. Remember, the Truth – the real Truth shall set you free. This is Jesus.

1 John 4:1-6

“1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. 4You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”

Now here is an interesting excerpt from a paper I had come across that was saying God Himself was the restraining force. It’s an interesting view that I had never heard on the “restrainer”. To “shut the womb” or “to make barren” in the OT is literally to “restrain”. This is an interesting paper from 1977 that ties in Isaiah 66 with 2 Thessalonians 2. It brings together the restraining, birth pangs and the Day of the Lord. I had also found a interview with Michael Heiser (after reading this paper below) who also mentioned this paper and agreed with Roger Aus on who the restrainer is. It context of scripture and the parallels it makes a lot of sense. Isaiah 66:9 “Shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth? says the Lord; shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb? says your God.” Here are a few excerpts from his paper.. “The Hebrew for “shut” in “shut the womb” of ν 9 is, “to restrain,” “to retain,” “to hinder,” “to stop,” “to shut up,” “to keep away,” “to detain,” “to rule over.” It is important to note here, first, that it is God who is the subject of the verb “restrain” (v 9).” “The author of 2 Thessalonians used Isaiah 66 as the main background for  his portrayal of Jesus’ final coming in 2 Thessalonians 1, and also in 2:4. He then employed the term κατέχβιν in 2:6-7 because it was a direct translation, not a paraphrase (the LXX’s “to make barren”), of the verb ΊΧΙ7, meaning “to restrain,” a term he knew from Isa 66:9 and needed for his explanation of the delay of Jesus’ return. It also fit the setting of his letter eminently, for it too was associated in the Greek bible with birth pangs, tribulation and the Day of the Lord. Finally, there even was LXX precedent for God as ó κατέχων.” “While other passages from the pseudepigrapha, the NT, patristic and rabbinic writings also point to God as he who “restrains” or “keeps” the primeval monsters or the Messiah until the end time, the latter a motif quite similar to that found in 2 Thess 2:7, they have for the most part been dealt with in detail elsewhere and need not be surveyed here. It should also be noted that the patristic writers Theodore of Mopsuestia and Theodoret of Cyrus expressly state or assume that God is “he who restrains” in 2 Thess 2:7. These passages, especially those which speak of God’s “keeping” the Messiah until the appointed time, supplement the probability given in the above interpretation of Isa 66:9 that the ó κατέχων phrase in 2 Thess 2:7 should be interpreted theocentrically.” “The author of 2 Thessalonians, whether Paul or a member of his “school,” writes in 2:5 that the addressees know what is restraining Jesus’ return, his Day. Even if they had not been instructed as to the exact identity of ó κατέχων, they could have understood it in the Greek text by reasoning that if they are already acquainted with the neuter το κατέχον, God’s plan that all men be saved, the masculine form ó κατέχων would be directly related to this, that is, the restrainer is God.” “The above interpretation of the κατέχβιν motif in 2 Thess 2:6-7 does not solve all the difficulties inherent in the text. There are too many variables in these verses to attain any absolute certainty. Nevertheless, the solution offered above has two major arguments in its favor. First, it means that το κατέχον and ό κατέχων are intimately related. God, he who now restrains the Day of the Messiah, does so because of his plan or will that the gospel first be brought to all men. Secondly, it is based on an OT text, Isaiah 66, which is employed elsewhere in 2 Thessalonians. The author then employed imagery from the same OT chapter for his description of the restraining factors in 2:6-7.” (GOD’S PLAN AND GOD’S POWER: ISAIAH 66 AND THE RESTRAINING FACTORS OF 2 THESS 2:6-7 By ROGER D. AUS) 

You can find this article on my google drive. (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwuUBwTrZu4qUjBpdThVZTZwVDQ/view?usp=drivesdk)

Now let me throw this in the mix about this string delusion. 

I had never looked at the Greek for the phrase “strong delusion” of 2 Thessalonians 2:11 and I saw this. I thought that this was pretty interesting. I always took it at face value and I guess I shouldn’t have.

The word for ‘strong’ is ἐνέργειαν (energeian). This word is used seven times in the NT and always refers to superhuman power whether it be GOD (5x) or Satan (2x). Its used in 2 Thessalonians 2:9 for the working of Satan’s power.

Energeian is “(“divine energy”) typically refers to God’s energy which transitions the believer from point to point in His plan (accomplishing His definition of progress).” 

We get the english word energy from this obviously. Now what is interesting is that occultists and new agers believe, for example, Saturn puts off an energy or can I say a vibration. By using Saturnian symbolism it projects a Saturn vibration through it…sending its energy to those who are susceptible to it. The Arch of Triumph I believe is also doing this through its symbolism.

Now the word for delusion in the Greek is πλάνης (planēs) and its used 6x in the NT and referenced in 1 John 4:6 as the spirit of error. This is the feminine noun form of the word planaó (lead astray, decieve) and “is the root of the English term, planet (“wandering body”). This term nearly always conveys the sin of roaming”.

So did you catch all that? The strong delusion can reference a energy caused by a superhuman entities (if I can say it that way). And delusion (according to this definition) is something that causes you to error and wander from the Truth.  And “is the root of the English term, planet (“wandering body”).

I personally think this “strong delusion” is a culmination of denying and wandering from the Truth i.e. The Gospel of Jesus. But in context of your post, it does look like this “strong delusion” can refer too this “spherical earth that roams” that maybe just puts out the same energy and vibration to those who believe the lie, just like Saturn does. Maybe this particular strong delusion was a set up to make us believe any lie if we can believe this one first. This sets us up for the spirit of error.

Just a thought…