11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:11–12 (ESV)
The Apostle Paul described the Antichrist in specific terms. He is (1) a man of lawlessness; (2) the son of destruction; (3) self-exalting; (4) proclaims to be God; (5) is already working lawlessness; (6) is restrained; (7) will be killed by Jesus; (8) is empowered by Satan; (9) will do false signs and wonders; and (10) will use wicked deception for those who are perishing (2 Thess. 2:3-10).
Paul then shifted his attention from the Antichrist to those deceived by the Antichrist. These are they who do not believe the truth of God and also take pleasure in unrighteousness. What truth do these individuals reject? Romans 1:18-23 provides the answer.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:18–23 (ESV)
The truths the unrighteous reject are (1) the truth of God’s existence; (2) the truth of God honoring worship; (3) the truth of God centered thanksgiving; and (4) the truth of not worshipping idols. The consequence of such continued rejection of the Lord’s truth is increasing deception and wickedness. (See Romans 1:24-32).
The Lord does not sit idle. He brings increasing judgment upon increasing wickedness. Today’s text says God sends the unrighteous strong delusion. The verb sends (πέμπει; pempei) is a present, active, singular verb. God alone actively causes the unrighteous to experience strong delusion (ἐνέργειαν πλάνης; energeian planes). This refers to functioning error and deceit. It means to wander off the path of truth or reality.
The Lord does this so the deceived become increasingly deceived. Sinful rebellion against God does not remain stagnant but like a cancer, it grows in its expanding, destructive spread.
This is an example of an ever-widening gyre. This phrase refers to circumstances spiraling out of control. In the aftermath of the Easter Uprising of 1916, the Russian Revolution of 1917 and World War I (1914-1918), Irish poet William Butler Yeats wrote The Second Coming. In part, Yeats observed:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.
Why does God send this strong delusion. It is “in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” This refers to the final judgment (Rev.20:11-15) What sinners sow, they will reap (Gal. 6:7).
“The men of the end-time, who will harden themselves against the earnest exhortation to repent and to receive the love for the truth, will suffer the penalty of being hardened. God sends (i.e., will certainly send) them an “energy of (i.e., unto) delusion.” It will be a power working mightily within them, leading them even farther astray, so that they will believe antichrist’s lie,” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.[1]
“When Pharaoh hardens his heart (Ex. 7:14; 8:15, 32; 9:7), God hardens Pharaoh’s heart (Ex. 9:12). When the king of Israel hates God’s true prophets, then the Lord permits him to be deceived by placing a lying spirit in the mouth of other prophets (2 Chron. 18:22). When men practice impurity, God gives them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity (Rom. 1:24, 26). And when they stubbornly refuse to acknowledge God, he finally gives them up to a base mind and to unclean behavior (Rom. 1:28).”[2]
God command sinners to repent and receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here. Have a blessed day in the Lord.
Soli deo Gloria!
[1] William Hendriksen and Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of I-II Thessalonians, vol. 3, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 185.
[2] Ibid.
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