Satan’s original strategy
The strategy of Satan has not changed in six millennia and we find his strategy initiated and clearly defined in the foundational book of Genesis. Genesis is so important because it can help us understand how to live and succeed right now as we transition into the very end of time as we know it. One of the biggest hindrances to success in our Christian lives is the strategy of Satan and it will be no different in the end. We learn about Satan’s strategy in Genesis chapter 3 but particularly Satan’s lie in Gen. 3:5 is of major concern because I have come to see that this lie will be the one that deceives many when faced with major decisions in the last 3 ½ years specifically whether to take the Antichrist’s mark of allegiance.
When Satan said, “..you will be like God..” it was a promise that would get anyone’s attention. What do many new age religions espouse as their ultimate goal? You shall be as gods! Hindus believe god is in everyone and everything and that ultimately one reaches the state of nirvana when a person becomes at peace and has union with their god Brahman. Buddhists also believe in the ultimate state of reaching nirvana (or an emptiness) after cycles of reincarnation. The new age movement also typically adopts a belief in a form of divinity that imbues all of the universe, including human beings themselves. There is thus a strong emphasis on the spiritual authority of the self.
Common translation error in Rom. 1:25
In Romans 1:18-32 the Apostle Paul describes how Gentile civilisations step by step regress by first rejecting and suppressing the truth of God by their wickedness and worshipping the creation rather than the Creator. Therefore God gave them over to their sinfulness and sexual immorality including homosexuality which always seems to be a harbinger of the imminent collapse of a society. Rom. 1:25 (NKJV) says that they exchanged the truth of God for “the lie” (note the singular). I checked 27 English versions and only two had “the.” Most of all the others have “a lie” as in the NIV, Rom 1:25. This is really important because the definite article “the” is in the Greek and is the correct translation. The indefinite article “a” is an incorrect translation because it means that this can be read to mean any old lie not a singular specific lie. What is “the lie”? It is none other than the original lie that Satan told Eve that if she partakes of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil then she will be like God, knowing good and evil. In other words she could be the master of her own destiny. This is the lie that has permeated mankind since the fall as proven by Rom. 1:25 and borne out by many religions. Satan tempted mankind with the lie that they can be their own gods and live for the creation rather than the Creator and in that, not suffer any consequences.
When people follow Satan’s lie they don’t realise that Satan is their master and the lake of fire is their destiny. Satan wants to deceive our minds too just like Eve and this will become almost unbearable as we move closer to the end. Hardly anyone will believe the truth and faith will be hard to come by (Luke 18:8).
The coming delusion is not the same as the lie
Amazingly in 2 Thess. 2:11 Paul says that “the lie” is going to rear its ugly head once again at the halfway point of the last seven years. A great deception or delusion is going to be sent to the world so that they will believe “the lie” (again the definite article meaning it is a specific well known lie). I had always thought that the delusion was the lie in verse 11. But the delusion is not the lie, rather it enables people to believe the lie. The lie is in fact the oldest lie in the book–You shall be like God! That is astounding because possibly what it means is that the Antichrist will tell people if you take my mark then you shall be like me and be as a god like me. And he actually does claim to be God when he comes and sits in God’s temple at the halfway mark.1 His first task will be to kill the Two Witnesses2 and then he will declare himself to be God.
The Antichrist will offer eternal life via his mark
And why will the world believe him that they can be like God? It is because I believe that the Antichrist will fool people in offering them eternal life if they take his mark. The reason is that he will tell people that he has conquered death because he is an historical person coming back to life, resurrected from history as one of the seven Gentile kings.3 The world will be absolutely astonished when they see this man come back to life and will believe him because of the delusion that is sent to believe this lie. My studies have led me to believe that that beast is none other than Adolf Hitler who was the 7th king, the dictator of the third Reich. If I am right then the world would be astonished to see him once again 80-90 years later and they would readily follow him having been deluded.
The lie that deceived Eve in the beginning will be the very same lie that deceives the unsaved world in the end. It seems like they will be offered the false promise of eternal life by the Antichrist only to realise that this is a false promise because of the agony of taking his mark. Eternal life can only be offered by the true God through belief in our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Listen to my sermon #5, “The lie,” in my foundation series in Genesis here to learn more about the strategy of Satan.
2 Responses
I think the delusion is already upon the world, perhaps not in its entirety but then it won’t be something that starts at midnight on a given date either. You just have to look at the response to the Covid-19 deal. The Bible teaches too “test all spirits” yet most people just accept what the government tell them. So where does the delusion begin and end? I feel it’s upon us now.
Hi Garth,
You are right delusion is upon us and getting worse but the powerful delusion that Paul speaks about in 2 Thess. 2:11 is a special and specific delusion sent upon the earth at the mid-point of the last 7 years. It’s purpose is specifically to delude people into believing “the lie” that I speak about above in my article. The lie isn’t the delusion as I previously thought but sent by God so that people in my opinion will take the mark so that they can partake of the “eternal life” offered by the beast.