Deception and the Bible – IOTW Report

Deception and the Bible

By Hal Lindsey

In Matthew 24, when Jesus taught about the end of the age, He began with a stark warning.  “See to it that no one misleads you.”  (Matthew 24:4 NASB)

Deception has been a primary part of human character since Adam and Eve sinned.  But it is worse today.  That’s partly because evil people tend to become more evil over time.  2 Timothy 3:13 says, “But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”  (NKJV) <snip>

Jesus showed the human condition without Him in John 8:42 and 44.  After some ultra-religious types told Jesus that they were children of God, He answered, “If God were your Father, you would love Me.…  You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.”  (NASB)

The devil and deception go hand in hand.  Satan is at war with God.  And in any military campaign, armies try to destroy their enemy’s command and control.  For Christians and the Church, God’s command and control comes primarily from the Bible.  It makes sense then that the devil works to diminish God’s word at every turn.  In an age of deception, expect the Bible to be attacked in every way possible.

One of Satan’s most successful ploys against the Bible has been to make Bible-reading subjective instead of objective.  In churches, seminaries, Sunday Schools, and Bible study groups across the land, people are being taught to read into the Bible their own feelings and prejudices.  Many Bible teachers don’t teach.  Instead, they ask questions.  They read a scripture, then ask, “How does this make you feel?” or, “What does this mean to you?”

But in reading anything, the first question should always be, “What meaning did the author intend?”  If we give other authors that consideration, shouldn’t we extend the same courtesy to God?

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12 Comments on Deception and the Bible

  1. Psalm 43: 1-2
    >>Vindicate me, O God,
    And plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
    Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
    For You are the God of my strength;<<

    Thank you God for hearing my prayers.

  2. Start spreading the News
    Start naming the Names
    Right through the very heart of it
    Unique Unork

    msNBC FOC aka “Front Of Camera”
    Ayman “Aye msHymens Mole” Mohyeldin
    Catch a random chunk, you’ll comprehend
    aka ‘IS IS DefenDoor Wheedle Washer’

    IS not msTolerant & msReasonable honey suckerling
    Purchased promotional IS’ism
    A mental marasmus menu?
    mrsFair mrsBalanced msFare msMitchell msVanity

    IS is knot only msFOC’ers upfront
    msWriters msProducers msWeavers
    See thru 23.97 msSyncers
    Oracle of backhouse NoSeeUhms Polis’h’ner uppers.

    DASH’ing off to “Blame America First”
    Bubbleheaded Breach Black Green and Blue Blondes
    Tele-Prompting everyday overnight
    Taking Taped Talk from 5 to 11

    Other Krazy Koinés (ON or\and OT)

    Mariana “Duct Tape Roof” Atencio
    4 LAtinAs tuned attenuation
    msUnivision msFusion
    La La La Cheerchurro As As As

    Lena Toys in the Koiné Attic
    Lena Run like Koiné Hell
    When you’ve seen One Lena
    You start to SEE them all.

    FOC These FOC’ers
    FOC These Writers
    FOC These Producers

    Decode Debate
    Decrypt Decide

    mrRIGHT

  3. We’ve heard this before. Back in 1970 and the book that made Lindsey a prophecy star, The Late Great Planet Earth. Lindsey, at that time, made a nuanced prediction that the “rapture” would take place in 1981—seven years prior to Israel’s 40th anniversary . . . obviously nothing of any biblical significance happened in 1981. I have a doctorate in theology, I read Greek, Latin, etc., and, as a daily Bible reader, I can say without a doubt that Jesus will return to earth as He stated in Matthew 24:36, but, “of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” So, unlike Lindsey, I do not, nor does anyone have a specific date, time or season. Whether it be blood moons, the Shemitah, widespread social duress, or whatever, we need to be cautious about what we hear and what we proclaim. We also need to keep in mind, “when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.” – Deuteronomy 18:22. And, I cannot state this more plainly, please, please stop “paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who reject the truth” (Titus 1:14).

  4. FYI:
    Speaking of deception, Jesus/Cheeses is the Greek name for the Savior.
    While he was on the earth, he was called by his Aramaic name Yeshua.
    Every Hebrew was bilingual because of captivity in Syria and Babylon, The languages of both places was Aramaic, Hebrew was used on the 7th day for assemblies.

  5. Extirpates, I sorta agree. Aramaic was used as a lingua franca in the Near East from the 6th century BC. It gradually replaced Hebrew as the language of the Jews who, by that time, and beyond, was in Babylonian captivity.

    Yashua is not an undisputed form, but due to the absence of Hebrew vowels (there is no “J” in Greek, Yashua’s Greek name begins with an iota – the name is transliterated IESOUS and sounds like ee-ay-soos) is variously rendered YESHUA or Y’SHUA or YAHSHUA. What ever proper noun we use, be assured, our Lord rejoices to have people of every tribe and language and nation (as spoken of in Revelation 5 and 7) address Him in the way of their own language: in Mandarin “YE-SU”; in Cantonese “YE-SOU”; in Taiwanese “YA-SAW”; in Hakka “YA-SU”; etcetera; etcetera; and, in American English, it’s okay to call Him “Jesus”.

  6. It never ceases to amaze me how true, accurate and on point the Word of God is……

    Almost like it’s God breathed, written by an omniscient and omnipotent being to His creation….

  7. Great article, Claudia. I try to catch Hal’s show on VTN Sunday nights. Don’t agree with everything he says, but he is in no way trying to deceive anybody. And he has a good handle on islamic jihad too, as shown in his book, Everlasting Hatred, The Roots Of Jihad.

    We all need to fine-tune our discernment, the deception is not going to go away.

  8. Hal could arguably be called a false prophet for his semi-predictions/date settings, but I wrote him off in 2000. Hal warned that people like the late Dave Hunt, who had said Y2K was a bunch of hype that would come to nothing (and turned out to be true) would all have blood on their hands when everything fell apart come New Year’s and people died in worldwide calamity. To this day, I have not heard where Hal ever admitted his bandwagon hype or apologized to Dave and the others he slandered.

    Hal has taught some biblically correct things over the decades but that class-less incident made Hal utterly unworthy of attention in my book.

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