God’s Sovereignty the Antichrist and delusion – the following article goes back over some old territory in a slightly different way.
A familiar declaration…
A while ago I came across a set of comments. An individual asserted that the Great Tribulation was Antichrist’s wrath against Jews and Christians, not God’s wrath. They warned against relying on false pretrib teachings. And they encouraged prayerful study of God’s Word.
Recall what Rosenthal wrote in his book,
“To attribute the emergence of the Antichrist to God is obviously preposterous. It is to have a divided house – to have God opposing himself -and a house divided cannot stand.”
Unfortunately Rosenthal didn’t seem to have a firm grasp of God’s sovereignty, and sadly he influenced others. Yet as one writer has observed,
The apostle Paul refers to Satan as the ‘god of this world’ who blinds ‘the minds of unbelievers’ (2 Cor. 4:4). Yet elsewhere he attributes this blinding activity to God, saying, ‘Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false’ (2 Thess. 2:11); see also Matt 13:14-15) [compare with Luke 8:10].
What Paul wrote
Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word. 2Th 2:8-17
In summary
The emergence of the Antichrist and the delusion is due to God’s sovereign use of Satan. God will certainly use Tribulation to redeem Israel. Yet Paul explicitly states that Antichrist is sent by God as a delusion to the wicked who despise the truth. It isn’t “Antichrist’s Great Tribulation.” God is behind all.
Incidentally, this may have implications for understanding-interpreting Rev 3:10 and the nature of the “hour of testing.” See link below.
Maranatha!
Further reading
Antichrist, Nations and God’s Sovereignty
God’s Sovereignty and Revelation’s Seals
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