It’s already been a heavy prayer-soaked morning for us. We received news concerning our granddaughter in New York who is facing physical crisis and complications in the process of birthing her first child—and our first great grandchild—all in the wake of a case of COVID. Also, we received a message from my sister that her husband is in trouble, having experienced a debilitating seizure of unknown cause.
Wow! That means that the quality of deception being foretold will be so impressive and compelling so as to successfully hoodwink the majority of people occupying the planet at that time. (Do you think the COVID phenomenon might fall into that class?) Well, why not? Let’s be reminded that the highly refined art and craft of the kingdom of Satan is, in fact, DECEPTION. In stark contrast, the foundational theme of the Kingdom of God is TRUTH. I think that these two comparative facts are of huge value in helping us sort out the stuff of life and guide us on courses of action and belief that best conform to His righteousness.
Let’s remember Matthew 24 where the disciples asked Jesus how they would recognize the end of the age. And let’s remember Jesus’ first words of response to that question. He said, “Watch out that no one deceives you” (Matthew 24:4). Hmm. That can only mean that deception will be an elevated threat surrounding end times. Bear in mind that a person who is being deceived does not know he is being deceived. That’s what deception is! Duh! As in the well-known illustration, the gradually boiled frog simply did not know he was being boiled. That point serves to remind me that I need to be as alert and careful as I can to avoid being duped by any such deception. To do so, I need to employ a filtering standard for determining TRUTH and error that goes beyond personal or popular opinions, appearances, feelings, attractive rhetoric, or even the observation of supernatural phenomena. And that’s where God’s revealed written Word and His Holy Spirit that author, inspire, and illuminate it rise to be of utmost importance.
The second beast in our reading “performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men” (13:13). Viewing that kind of supernatural display through our best Biblical filter, an appropriate response would be to say something like, “So what?!”…or “Big deal!” Why would that response be appropriate? Because a miraculous display is not necessarily a guarantee of TRUTH. His Word is TRUTH (John 17:17). Jesus is TRUTH (John 14:6). And if there has ever been a legitimate place for dogma, I believe we have it right here and now. It has to be TRUE that our best protection from the aggression of deception is to embrace these TRUTHS with dogmatic perseverance.