Deception Run Rampant
By Tom Gilbreath
When Jesus spoke of the days leading up to His return, He repeatedly warned against deception. In the tribulation, deception will be worse than today, but it’s already bad enough. This is one of those areas where people respond, “But that’s just part of the human condition. People lie because it is their nature to lie. They’ve lied since the beginning.”
This ignores two things — the downturn in human morals we see around us, and the downturn in human morals foretold in Bible prophecy (2 Timothy 3:1-7). Growing godlessness will yield an increase in deception. As people increasingly reject God’s Word, they reject truth. God cannot lie, so to reject Him is to reject the truth. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am… the truth.” To reject God the Son, Jesus, is to reject truth. Today’s widespread turning away from God means turning elsewhere. There are basically two choices —God’s side or Satan’s. Those who choose Satan choose the father of lies.
But even if people stayed exactly the same, deception today would still be at an all-time high. That’s because we have tools for deception that no generation before us even dreamed of. Starting with the printing press, technology has amplified the human ability to lie. In the 20th century, books became easy, newspapers proliferated, radio came into its own, then television appeared. All this media gave advertisers a way to hawk their products as they always had done, but to audiences of millions rather than dozens.
In the 21st century, newspapers may be dying, but, sadly, they are also still lying. They set the news agenda for broadcast media and for social media. People have gossiped with their neighbors for thousands of years, but now they can share that gossip with the whole world. Religious and political deceptions have exploded in the last few years.
The consequences are catastrophic. Hitler’s propaganda machine deceived the German people of the 1920s and 30s. It resulted in the bloodiest war in human history. In the decades following Russia’s communist revolution, the Bolshevik deception destroyed countless lives around the world.
Today, deception is also having severe consequences. It sends gunmen to schools and congregations. It topples governments, and ruins lives. In 2002, Venezuelans bought the lies of a charismatic communist leader named Hugo Chavez. He nationalized industries in order to fund social programs. The same socialist/communist lie has been destroying nations for over a hundred years. Venezuela was beautiful and prosperous when Chavez took over. His deceptions turned it into a ruin.
Sometime after the rapture, the Antichrist will rise to power… and he will do it using deception.
What is the answer when you’re not sure who to trust? 2 Timothy 3:13-17 presents the problem and then the answer. “Evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
You may not have had the privilege of growing up knowing scripture, but you can turn there now. God’s Word is ever true. It gives direction to your life (Psalms 119:105) and a solid foundation (Matthew 7:24-27) for all that you do. These are good days to get into the Bible (or back into the Bible) deeply and joyously.
