Deception and the World
On this website you will read what I feel has been revealed to me about many of the Bible’s end time prophecies. I have spent a lot of time over the past 3 years studying and praying about these prophecies. As you read what is written here, you will find that I do not agree with many popular beliefs regarding many of the Lord’s prophecies. It has become clear to me that many of the popular interpretations of these prophecies are not correct. In fact, I will explain to you in later posts why I believe our spiritual enemy will use these popular prophecy beliefs against us.
There are many people in the world today who consider themselves well-informed Christians. They believe that they fully understand the prophecies and warnings given to us in Daniel, Revelation and other books in the Bible. They are now either sitting back waiting for these things to happen (a secret rapture, an evil world leader, 7 years of tribulation, a peace treaty between the antichrist and Israel, etc) or they are actively proclaiming to the world that they have all the answers – we all simply need to listen to them.
What if many popular prophecy scholars today have it completely wrong? What if they have let worldly pursuits cloud their judgment? What if they have become focused on the world instead of our Lord? What if our spiritual enemy has offered worldly wealth and glory to them as part of his plan to deceive the world and they have unknowingly accepted because they’re not as mature as they think they are? What if there isn’t going to be a secret rapture, one evil world leader (antichrist), or a 7 year period of tribulation when the judgments of Revelation will be poured out on the earth? What if I told you that none of these things are specifically mentioned in the Bible, but are simply interpretations – interpretations that I believe are not true. What if we’re not as smart as we think we are? Our self-righteousness has been used mightily by our enemy.
If things begin to rapidly deteriorate in the world and none of the popular interpretations of prophecy come true, what do you think will happen? There will be many people in the world who are going to feel very lost and alone. This is why I have been given this message. It’s time for all of us to change our focus from the world to the Lord’s kingdom. If you are someone who has been in the church for some time and have believed (as I did for many years) many of the popular interpretations of end time prophecy, you will need to open your mind to the truth and pray to the Lord for confirmation of what I’m going to tell you. If you are someone who has never been in church or read the Bible, now is the time to come home. You don’t need any biblical knowledge to start on your journey to know Jesus Christ and our Father. You only need a desire to know the Truth – a desire to know your Creator and His plan for you.
I fully expect that initially - many non-Christians and Christians alike will not want to believe what is written here. The reason is that the truth is initially going to be difficult to believe. You’ll understand as you read through this website. I want to make something clear from the beginning – there is no personal agenda here. I do not seek worldly power, glory or wealth. The world offers me nothing of real value. Everything in this world is temporary – the sooner we all realize this, the better. The Lord has changed me over the past 3 years and given me knowledge so that I understand what is happening and why. Everything I have is His. I am simply running the race placed before me. So, with that said, we’re going to begin with what the Bible has to say on the subject of deception and being deceived in our world.
Let’s start by looking at what Jesus had to say on the subject of being deceived in this world. I believe that many prophecy scholars are missing something very important that Jesus tells us about our current times.
Mathew Chapter 24 begins with the Disciples asking Jesus about the end times.
“As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.” (Mathew 24:3-4)
Jesus responds by warning us against deception. There will be many who claim to know Him and lead ‘many’ astray. Remember – many throughout the world are deceived.
“At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Mathew 24:10-13)
These are very strong words and they speak very loudly to us today. Notice carefully – ‘many’ turn away from true faith (we’ll discuss this in more detail later) and ‘many’ false prophets will deceive ‘many’ people. When Jesus says ‘many’, he’s talking about billions of people – and this includes many professed Christians in the world. Who are these false prophets? These are people claiming to be God’s teachers and preachers who are, in fact, leading people away from the Truth. They are leading people away from true faith in Jesus Christ. They are people involved with false religions and they are people who claim to be Christians, but are not true Disciples. They do not follow Jesus, but follow our spiritual enemy. They have infiltrated God’s true church (more on this later).
“At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time.” (Mathew 24:23-25)
Once again, Jesus warns us of false prophets. He adds an addition piece of information here and I feel that it is one of the most important pieces of information given to us. In my years of attending church, I have never heard anyone discuss this – and I think I know why. In verse 24, Jesus tells us that these ‘false prophets’ will deceive ‘even the elect’. Who are the elect? These are God’s true children. They are His teachers, preachers and His true prophets. What Jesus is telling us here is that these false prophets are so deceptive, that they deceive even true believers. Why is this so important? Because it’s happening right now – to us. Our pride and our focus on the world has blinded us.
What we all must realize is that Jesus could obviously see into our future. He’s God – the 2nd person of the Holy Trinity. He could see exactly what would be happening in the world during our time – right now. Does He ever tell us that we would have it all figured out? No. What does He give us? Warnings. Time and again He warns us about deception. At a time when we should all be on guard against worldly and spiritual deception – we’ve allowed ourselves to be lulled to sleep. We are not heeding our Lord’s warnings. We have become self-righteous because we know it all – while the ‘beasts’ are taking control of the world.
What, in the world today, is Jesus warning us about? You will find, as you read through these posts, that Jesus is warning us about many things. He is warning us about the ‘beasts’ of Revelation 13. He is warning us about false religions and their leaders in the world today and most importantly, He is warning us about the condition of the Christian Church. Many of us in the Church today are not true Christians. Many of us go to church and read the Bible – but many have not truly repented. Many have not truly asked the Lord for forgiveness and therefore, have not been born again by God. They have been deceived into believing that living a secular, worldly life is A-OK and that they can ‘believe’ and be saved without really following Jesus. They have not overcome the world and therefore, cannot ‘see’ or ‘hear’ what is really happening in the world around them. Every one of us must take a very hard look at our lives and determine who we are really following. If you are like I was, you’ll find that you are not following Jesus Christ. You have allowed yourself to be blinded by our enemy. If you will ask God to come into your life, your life will begin an amazing transformation – and you will be able to see with a spiritual eye. You will begin to follow the One who is not seen by our physical eyes because you will be able to spiritually discern His will for you.
How exactly, are these ‘beasts’ of Revelation 13 deceiving even God’s true children? How is it possible that we cannot see what’s happening? The truth is that they are right in front of you everyday. They have even told us what they are planning to do – and very few are doing anything about it. Now that’s deception. This is what Jesus could see. This is why we received so many warnings. In addition to Jesus’ own words, the Book of Revelation is clear – these ‘beasts’ deceive the whole world – even the elect.
“And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth.” (Revelation 13:13-14)
“Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.” (Revelation 19:20)
You’ll learn specifics about how events in the world today relate to these prophecies as you continue to read through the posts on this website. You’ll begin to see how they have deceived you your entire life.
For now, let’s continue to learn about our true enemy and how he is deceiving the world.
Who does the Bible tell us is our true enemy? Who is really deceiving the world?
“So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9)
“We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19)
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)
The Bible is clear on this subject – Satan is the ruler of the world and deceives the whole world. He is our true enemy. You will notice that specific nations are not mentioned – he deceives the entire world. The United States is not immune to this deception. What you will learn is that the U.S. is actually playing a vital role in deceiving the whole world.
Who overcomes this world and its ruler?
“for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” (1 John 5:4-5)
Only those who are spiritually regenerated (born again) by God through faith in Jesus Christ overcome this world and its deception.
In the movie ‘The Matrix’, the main character (Neo) discovers at one point that the world he has lived in his whole life is a fantasy created to blind him from the truth. The parallels between that movie and our world are very similar. You’ll understand after you read everything here. You’ll go through the same transformation that Neo went through in the movie. I know I did. At first, your mind will reject the truth outright. You will say it’s not possible, it’s crazy, this can’t possibly be true. There’s no way I could be that deceived. I’m intelligent. I could see this coming if it were real. As you begin to realize that it is true and that you have been deceived on a global scale – you might just feel physically sick – just like Neo. You will probably even think at some point that you’d rather go back to being completely ignorant of what is happening around you. It would be easier this way – simply ignore the truth. Unfortunately, ignorance is not bliss.
If you will humble yourself, realize that you don’t know everything and pray for knowledge, wisdom, faith, strength, courage – and begin a relationship with our Father and Jesus Christ - God will transform you into someone who isn’t afraid. You will be set free from this world. He is looking for those who will allow Him to turn them into spiritually mature warriors. When the rest of the world is running away in fear and telling you to do the same, you will turn and face your enemy. You will fight when others fall. When your day of evil comes, you will stand. Why? Because the Lord will be with you – always.
If you are in a Christian Church today, then you know that Satan is the bad guy. You know that he is deceptive and evil. You know that he rules over this world. Does it make more sense that his plans would be widely known or that they are being done in secret – very deceptively? Will there be one evil world leader who somehow gets the nations of the world to join together as depicted in the ‘Left Behind’ books? In this deceptive world, does this really make much sense given that the Bible never points to one person as being the antichrist? Will the mark of the beast simply be the act of accepting a microchip implant or will there be deception involved with the mark as well? If you re-read Revelation 19:20 again (above), you’ll notice that those who have received the mark are ‘deceived’. Would the world even allow these things to happen (one evil ruler, chip implant as the mark) given that these prophetic scenarios are so widely known? Or does it make more sense that there is something very secretive, very deceptive going on in the world that will one day take control? In the light of the Lord’s Word, the truth is that billions of people are deceived by our spiritual enemy and because they have rejected the one, true God - their continued deception will eventually result in their eternal death. This lines up with what the Bible tells us about Satan and end time deceptions. This is not a fantasy created by a writer of fiction. This is the truth.
These are the questions that kept me up at night for a long time. I felt that something very important was going on in the world – but I had no real knowledge of it and wasn’t part of it. I came to the realization that what I was lacking was a real faith in Jesus Christ. I realized that I was truly deceived. I came to the startling conclusion that I had allowed Satan to blind me from the Truth. I realized that as long as I relied on myself, I was going to go nowhere. I would continue on the broad path to its tragic conclusion. So, I began to pray and asked God to come into my life and help me overcome the world and its deception. I searched for the Lord – and He revealed Himself to me. I asked – and received. I knocked – and doors were opened.
What I found - what was revealed to me after much prayer – is that the world is truly deceived – just as the Bible tells us it is. Something deceptive is going on right before your eyes. The devil is scheming against us – very deceptively – just as the Bible tells us he will do. He is the father of lies and therefore, his children in this world are liars. They lie because deception is part of the plan - a plan that is told to us by the Lord. Even though Satan wants to keep his plans secret, he (and those he controls in this world) cannot hide their plans from God. Those justified by faith in Jesus Christ know the Truth – they have overcome the evil one. They see through his evil plans because they rely on the source of all truth to guide them – the Creator of the heavens and earth. They are light in a dark world – and the darkness will not overcome them. While the world will tell you that there are many in the world today, I’m here to tell you there are few true believers. There are few who have entered through the narrow gate – just as Jesus tells us. I also believe this is about to change in preparation for the end.
These things no longer keep me up at night. I sleep soundly. Why? Because the Lord watches over me – and the Lord never sleeps.
He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;” (Psalm 121:3)
Why is wealth being taken from the United States? When you begin to view the world from God’s perspective - and not the world’s – you begin to truly understand. It’s really very simple. We have allowed ourselves to be deceived. The result is that our lives are squarely focused on the world and we have left our Creator. He’s getting our attention.
Friend deceives friend,
and no one speaks the truth.
They have taught their tongues to lie;
they weary themselves with sinning.
You live in the midst of deception;
in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,"
declares the LORD.
Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says:
"See, I will refine and test them,
for what else can I do
because of the sin of my people?
Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
it speaks with deceit.
With his mouth each speaks cordially to his neighbor,
but in his heart he sets a trap for him.
Should I not punish them for this?"
declares the LORD.
"Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?" (Jeremiah 9:5-9)
June 2006
