A very great delusion has entered the Christian churches. This is related to the teaching that the saved born again believers will be “raptured” from Earth and taken to heaven before the rise of the AntiChrist and the global beast system develops. They teach that believers will avoid any widespread persecution, tribulation, or afflictions.
I do believe that the Lord will return for the believers but in the Day of the Lord, at the end when Christ returns to judge the living and the dead. What I am talking about here is the timing of the “rapture” of the church, which will not be secret, but “every eye” shall see Christ’s coming. (Revelation 1:7)
The false concept of the secret rapture came from a Jesuit priest and later from John Nelson Darby and it forms part of the eschatological scheme known as futurism. Read Futurism: Jesuit deception of the church, Preterist, Futurist or Historical view of Bible prophecy and At the resurrection who is left behind?
Recently a brother in Christ told me about his pastor preaching a sermon where the pastor claimed those who teach that the church will go through tribulation are ‘doomsy’ preachers. I never had heard that word before. From numerous scriptures and from church history it is plain to see that the believers have suffered enormously under persecution. Hebrews chapter 11 alone teaches us that.
Then there is 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together to Him, 2 That you be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-2
From these verses it is clear that there is only one return of Christ and at that time all the saved are gathered up to Christ, meeting the Lord in the air. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17) The day of Christ is the day of the Lord. This is the same event we read at the end of time when God holds court and judges all both good and bad (Revelation 20:11-15). In all the parables Jesus taught the message was clear, when judgment came the righteous (good) are saved and the wicked are sent to hell. At the same event, not multiple events. There is only one return of Jesus Christ and it is coming soon.
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away [Greek: ἀποστασία apostasia] first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
The meaning of the Greek word apostasia is ‘defection from truth’. From this word we derive our English word “apostasy”. In that same sermon, when the pastor preached against ‘doomsy’ people, he claimed that this word (falling away) in the scripture here was evidence of the rapture of the church. I don’t know how apostasy can ever mean rapture. It just can’t.
The verse tells us that apostasy in the church shall precede the end-time arrival of the one-world dictator who we call the AntiChrist. He is the man of sin, Satan possessed and son of perdition, son of Hell.
Remember you not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now you know what withholds that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity does already work: only He [the Holy Spirit] who now lets [restrains] will let [restrain], until He [the Holy Spirit] be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that wicked one [Satan] 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 [the AntiChrist], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2 Thessalonians 2:5-9
Now we get into the main point of this discussion.
10 And with all deceivableness [delusion] 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.
2 Thessalonians 2:10-11
Here is strong delusion. The false teachers teach that the church will not suffer any tribulation or afflictions. They say the believers will escape. They cannot see any ‘beast’ system nor the implementation of the mark of the beast, which is designed to imprison us all in a digital prison of man’s own making.
What is this strong delusion?
It is as if a veil is covering the eyes of most of the world, and especially seems to be true among many in the church. Leaders of churches either promote the deadly experimental death shots or they are neutral, promoting free choice but not warning their members of the dangers of the shots and the concomitant global tyranny developing with the vaxxine rollout.
Why is that?
It would seem it is because God has sent strong delusion that they should believe a lie. Yes, this is from God! The devil might bring it but it is God’s work. Because of their unrepentant sin God has sent strong delusion. And as a result they continue their lives as if nothing unusual is going on.
This reminds me of the scene in the movie the Matrix. Morpheus offers to Neo a choice between a red pill and a blue pill.
Take the blue pill and continue in the ‘nice’ delusion of the fake world of the Matrix. Those who do take it are those who do not love the truth.
Take the red pill and wake up to the real world and become a soldier for Jesus Christ battling against Satan and evil that we see all around us now. You are a revolutionary at heart for truth and freedom in the Spirit.
Choosing the red pill means you want the truth and it is the Holy Spirit that brings us into all truth. (John 16:13) Thus you have the Holy Spirit. God also gives truth to some of the unsaved which He has chosen. Why is that? Perhaps they are given a chance to choose Christ.
I choose the red pill!
But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14 Whereto He called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 2:13-14
God chose you. He also is the one who made it so you can see clearly. You are not under any delusion because you have a love of the truth. Rejoice and give all the glory to God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Bible Science Forum 
19 responses to “Strong Delusion in the Church”
John,
It appears from a paragraph right near the start that you seem to be an odd one out from among average dispensational, premillennialists. It is almost certain you are of this persuasion, but the oddness is that most who are premillennial are ALSO pretribulationalists. But you seem to be posttribulationalist. This is the much much smaller percentage of typical dispys. This is good.
I could be wrong, but from your writings way way before the pandemic, it appeared to me you were a pretribulationist then.
I am not now however a dispy premill. I once was, around the 2005 timeframe, but on reading a book I found I had to change my views to Amillennialism.
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Vincent,
I don’t like all the labels but I am definitely not a dispensationalist nor any form of a futurist including anything with the word tribulation. Not pre-, mid-, post-trib. I have never been a pretribber, not ever. I only recognise the 1000 years of Revelation 20 as the church age, no period of a millennium at all. At the end of the church age according to Revelation 20 Satan is released from the bottomless pit for a short time, to wreak havoc on Earth, then Christ physically returns for the saved and then the great white throne judgment.
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Hello John,
So since we are in the church age right now does that mean Satan is currently bound in the bottomless pit and not prowling around like a roaring lion seeking who he may devour? I only ask as you mentioned that Satan will be released at the end of the church age. Just trying to understand, thank you.
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The idea of bound in the pit is not without him having power to influence people. But his power is attenuated by God.. But having said that, it is quite possible that he is now released and that is the reason why evil is now flourishing “off the scale”. As a result Satan is prowling and devouring like never before. But…“Neither give place to the devil.” Ephesians 4:27
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Amen! This clarifies it for me then. Very glad to know! I must have misunderstood one of your posts, and I am very glad that I am wrong to somehow have thought that you believed the millennium was something other than the church age.
All by the grace of the Lord! Thanks for your response.
I must confess that your overall response to the vaccine and related posts added to my incorrect thinking that your were premill. But that is another thread not immediately related to the context of this post.
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Just one more question. You mentioned that the strong delusion is connected to this vaccine – you wrote -‘What is this strong delusion?
It is as if a veil is covering the eyes of most of the world, and especially seems to be true among many in the church. Leaders of churches either promote the deadly experimental death shots or they are neutral, promoting free choice but not warning their members of the dangers of the shots and the concomitant global tyranny developing with the vaxxine rollout.’
So if Christians take this vaccine, do you believe they can still repent or will they stay under this delusion (continue to believe the lie) and ultimately be damned?
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I believe they can repent and not be damned. But also the more shots they take the more their neurological functions will be affected and the more difficult it will be for them to make rational decisions. After 8 shots they’ll either be dead or they will be a zombie that has no ability to repent.
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You may not agree with what I am going to say here. But I must state it nontheless in as unmistakable terms as I possibly can.
If a person is a Christian, a la Rom 8:9b, that has happened because the Father caused said person to be born from above, via the mediate work of Christ, and the immediate work with and by the Holy Spirit. BECAUSE it is the triune God, the Holy Trinity, that has done the saving, there is simply NO way the person can become “unsaved”! This is God we are speaking of, ergo, he makes NO mistakes.
So this is NOT an issue of repentance. I personally see absolutely NOTHING to repent of!
This is NOT to say there may not be some very deep devious work afoot to use this means of the vaccine to set the stage to more severe deceit in the future. But that simply does NOT matter.
A Christian, a la Rom 8:9b, will NOT, can NOT be damned for or by taking the vaccine. Period.
Neither will an elect but currently unsaved person ever NOT because saved. The triune God has ordained the time and manner of his/her regeneration. The taking of the vaccine is a utter non-issue.
This said, we must apply thought, prayer, and prudence to decide which vaccine we take. If we are capable of comprehending the posts on this site, then we have the brains and mind to apply said prudence.
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Vincent,
From my understanding of what you have written, I certainly agree with you. I have written on this before.
Then there is the issue of the vaxxines. I definitely believe that they are part of the technology that leads to the mark. But as I have always said and written, there is a definite clear choice by those unsaved who choose to follow Satan, those who take the mark. It is not technology alone as it can’t be. And the saved cannot do anything to lose their salvation, i.e. take the mark. They are already marked by the Lord. Nor can the elect who are not yet saved (temporally) as they are chosen from the beginning. The vaxxines could damage their bodies but that is a different issue.
But I don’t agree that “The taking of the vaccine is a utter non-issue.” It is definitely an issue. This is the single biggest crime ever committed on humanity — global depopulation. Maybe your statement was confined to the salvation question? If so, I agree. But not in the wider context outside of that issue.
So, this leads me to those who say they are Christians but promote the toxic shots to their congregations and also appear to have no empathy for the unvaxxed. Some churches are now barring the unvaxxed from entering. These are those under the strong delusion and I am led to believe that they are the types Jesus spoke of in Matt 7:23.
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Dr. Hartnett,
I generally agree with you but this article is way off the mark. I understand you brothers down under are going through a lot but I can assure you that Bible-believing Christians who adopt a futurist, dispensational, pre-tribulation and millennium view of prophecy are NOT under the “strong delusion,” nor are they behind all the evil taking place in the world today. These views are well within the literal text of Scripture and are within the realm among which Christians can agree to disagree. The “strong delusion” in I Thes 1:11 concerns those who reject Christ, fall into lawlessness, and ultimately are swept into the Anti-Christ’s kingdom of deception. We believers need to stick together and not waste our efforts shooting at each other.
PS- any new insights into the starlight problem?
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I agree, that we can disagree on eschatology but really the deception is the big churches pushing the sorcery. TD Jakes has teamed up with Lord Fauci to push the death shots. Rick Warren has teamed up with the WEF Klaus Schwab to push the Great Reset, transhumanism and the so-called 4th Industrial Revolution. https://timetofreeamerica.com/renting-religious-leaders/
On the starlight travel time issue: it is most definitely solved.
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Sir, you say “Bible-believing Christians who adopt a futurist, dispensational, pre-tribulation and millennium view of prophecy are NOT under the “strong delusion,” ” but what if I told you that futurist dispensational eschatology is based on a completely false interpretation of Daniel 9:27? And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: … Dispensationalists say the “he” of this prophecy is the Antichrist. Christians and Bible commentators up to 1830 taught this “he” was none other than our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Calling a Messianic prophecy fulfilled by Jesus Christ a prophecy of the work of Antichrist in the unknown future is what I would call strong delusion. Attributing the work of Christ to that of Satan is blasphemous! It seems to me it’s mostly all Baptists and Pentecostals who are dispensationalists and futurists. They have been influenced by the doctrines of John Nelson Darby (1830) and C. I. Scofield and his reference Bible from 1909. These doctrines are not yet 200 years old! Bible commentators before Darby all taught Daniel 9:27 is a prophecy of the work of the Messiah. If you don’t believe me, just read the Geneva Bible notes about Daniel 9:27 and you will see.
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Well said, James. Futurist and dispensational eschatology is strong delusion.
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Dr. Hartnett (John),
As you have an interest in Bible prophecy and in mathematical subjects, I would be interested in your thoughts on the following which I noticed a little while ago.
On April 22, 2016 the “Bishop of Rome”, Francis, (a kind of “prince of the Romans”) signed the Paris Climate Agreement. This is a covenant with many and is scheduled to have an initial term, before being revisited, of seven years. 1,260 days after this (which is 3.5 times 360 days) on October 4, 2019 this same Francis held a meeting at the Vatican where he and other leaders of the Roman church honored, or perhaps worshipped, a South American idol. Three days later this idol was paraded inside Saint Peter’s Basilica (a kind of “holy place”).
I wonder whether these things may be the covenant and the abominations prophesied of in Daniel 9:27. Common sense would seem to say ‘no’, but God some times surprises us. Also these events seem in some ways to exactly fulfill the prophecy, especially with the time period being exactly one half of seven “prophetic” years. What are your thoughts?
in Christ,
Travis (Kopp), PhD (mathematics)
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Travis, I say no. I do believe the papacy is antiChrist, and also I note that the Reformers pegged him as the AntiChrist. My current approach to eschatology is like that of Martin Lloyd-Jones, called Historical: Spiritual. Under that scheme there can multiple interpretations of the same text depending on the time the reader is living. See
The book of Revelation in particular is interpreted in an historical manner but for each generation of the believers. This makes it relevant to all generations.
On the subject of the last 7 year period of the book of Daniel I do not believe in futurism. That was an invention of the Jesuits to deflect the Reformers attention away from the papacy as the A.C.
See
That last 7 years ended with Christ’s death on the cross and the destruction of the temple.
On the topic of the “covenant” Daniel 9:4 tells us it is the covenant of promise (of salvation) between God and man which Jesus fulfilled on the cross. The word covenant means agreement and Daniel 9:27 does not state that the person ‘he’, which is actually Christ not the A.C., makes a covenant but instead fulfills a covenant. That is what Jesus accomplished on the cross.
Galatians 3:17 “And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.”
Meaning that the law of Moses, which came 430 after the promise to Abraham, cannot cancel that covenant with God.
Daniel 9:24 states what is to be accomplished at the end of the 70 weeks (Shabua in Hebrew) “… to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.” Only Christ can do that.
See also
and
Finally to understand that the covenant was an agreement between God and man we must look at the promises or covenants/agreements that God made with Israel/Abraham.
https://biblescienceforum.com/2014/08/03/the-seed-of-abraham-the-land-of-israel/
https://biblescienceforum.com/archives/bible-studies/gods-promise-to-abraham/
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Okay. Thank you for the in-depth reply!
I did not know your views on the “70 weeks” prophecy. Even among futurists in this regard, I think my suggestion would seem unlikely. I feel inclined to mention it, though, as approrpiate since with the 1260 day period, it does seem somewhat to fit Daniel 9:27
Thank you again for taking time to respond so fully!
Peace, Joy,
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Please read
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That’s a fair bit to read. I began to read the first article. As I alluded to in my first post, I do believe it is possible that the current “Bishop of Rome” may be the “man of sin” from 2 Thessalonians and I also believe that the Roman church teaches in part a salvation by works which would seem to be “another gospel”.
I have a question about the interpretation of Daniel that you mentioned, though. If the first part of Daniel 9:27 refers to Jesus, I assume that you consider the “middle of the week” to happen at the time of His death and resurrection. In that case what are your thoughts about Daniel 12:11? The “time that the daily sacrifice is taken away and the abomination of desolation is set up” mentioned there would seem to refer to the same event that Daniel 9:27 says would happen in the middle of the “one week / seven year” covenant. Then Daniel 12:11 mentions a period of 1290 days after this event.
In your understanding of the prophecy and of history, is there some event you believe that happened around 1290 days after Jesus’ death and resurrection that Daniel 12:11 refers to? If not, what is the meaning of this verse? Does it refer to the same event as Daniel 9:27? Also, what about the next verse, Daniel 12:12 which speaks of a period of 1335 days, an additional 45 days?
In my thinking these periods begin with the AntiChrist gaining much power in the world and by the end of the period, I assume, there will be believers in hiding or “bunkered down” somewhere and Daniel 12:12 is meant as instruction to them as when to leave their place of refuge.
(Please forgive me if the questions I asked are answered in some of the pages you have already referenced, I have not read through all of these.)
Thanks for the discussion.
Peace, Joy,
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It would help if you read the alternate eschatology I have listed in the references. It is historical interpretation not a futurist one.
In regards to Daniel 12:11 an historical interpretation is that the abomination of desolation (Rome idols) are brought into Jerusalem by the Romans soldiers with General Titus. Daniel 12:7 tells us that there is a significance to a period of time described by “time, times and half a time” wherein the holy people are scattered. Thus the “1290 days” could be related to that same time period. 3.5 years is 1278 days not 1260 days. So it could be that the use of the expression “time, times and half a time” is a way of approximating this period which could, in fact, be 1290 days.
Having said that it seems to me that Daniel 12 is meant for believers at different time periods. Verse 4 and 9 suggests it is for the time of the end, but that began with Christ. He said “it is finished” on the cross as he fulfills the covenant of God with man. But what follows in the verses after that could find application to more than one instant of time including the tribulation during the Jewish-Romans wars in the first century, and the coming tribulation that is coming. Verse 10 describes both the children of God being purified by affliction not escaping in some secret rapture.
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