bible-truths.com/forums

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Need Account Help?  Email bibletruths.forum@gmail.com   

Forgotten password reminders does not work. Contact the email above and state what you want your password changed to. (it must be at least 8 characters)

Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Satan deceives, God blinds  (Read 4436 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

DuluthGA

  • Guest
Satan deceives, God blinds
« on: August 01, 2007, 10:47:54 PM »

Hello  :) ..... This topic came up tangentially in another thread.  I brought it up there briefly and now I would like to follow through on it a bit more, inviting any comments from you all.  It started with Ray mentioning the following at the ’07 Nashville conference, P. 2 of the transcript "Where Did Jesus Come From.”

“… Satan deceives and God blinds.”

A couple of years ago, this would have been a very new and startling concept for me that God actually has a direct or an indirect hand for that matter in spiritually blinding people.  Oh for a long time I had gotten the idea down pat that Satan was a deceiver... after all, it would be hard to miss the plain words of Rev.12: 9… “Satan, who deceives the whole world.”  But it has only been a couple of years of reading Scripture with Ray’s insights that have helped me grab hold of the notion that God Himself blinds those He chooses, so I’d like to explore this a little bit, if not for my own edification but perhaps the interest of others as well.  [All verses CLNT unless otherwise noted.]

I was surprised to learn there is an equally direct statement in God's Word that refers to His own spiritual blinding of the multitudes spoken by Jesus Himself in Luke 8: 10.  This verse echoes the prophecy given in the Old Testament in Isaiah 6: 10.  Here are both verses:

Luke 8: 10     Now He said, "To you has it been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, yet to the rest in parables, that, observing, they may not be observing, and hearing, they may not be understanding." [Also stated in Matt 13: 13-15, Mark 4: 11-12, and John 12: 40 mentions this very prophecy given by the prophet Isaiah.]

Jesus uttered those words in fulfillment of this O.T. prophecy:

Isaiah 6: 10   Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. [KJV]

The following verse lets us know also that God does directly send what has been translated variously as strong delusion, misleading influence, working of error and deception; the Greek = plane = mental straying/error.

2Thes 2: 11   And therefore God will be sending them an operation of deception, for them to believe the falsehood,

Another verse that points at God directly causing not only spiritual callousness but a spirit of stupor:

Rom 11: 7-8   What then? What Israel is seeking for, this she did not encounter, yet the chosen encountered it. Now the rest were calloused, even as it is written, God gives them a spirit of stupor, eyes not to be observing, and ears not to be hearing, till this very day.  [Other translations render “spirit of stupor” as spirit of drowsiness, slumber, deep sleep, or sluggish spirit.  Others render “calloused” in verse 7 as blinded or hardened.]

I believe the next verse implies that it is Satan who is “the god of this eon or age” and that he does some blinding as well; Greek = tuphloo = to make blind, to blunt the mental discernment, darken the mind.  This is not surprising as that would go right along with the job of deceiving he’s been given (by God) to do:

2Cor 4: 4      in whom the god of this eon blinds the apprehensions of the unbelieving so that the illumination of the evangel of the glory of Christ, Who is the Image of the invisible God, does not irradiate them.

And there are several N.T. verses that indicate or imply our own hearts, our own selves have calloused and blinded us.  This too, I believe, would also imply God's indirect hand.

Eph 4: 17-18      This, then, I am saying and attesting in the Lord: By no means are you still to be walking according as those of the nations also are walking, in the vanity of their mind, their comprehension being darkened, being estranged from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the callousness of their hearts,

2Pet 1: 8-9   For your possessing these and increasing is constituting you not idle nor yet unfruitful in the recognition of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  For he in whom these are not present is blind, closing his eyes, getting oblivious of the cleansing from the penalties of his sins of old.

1John 2: 11   Yet he who is hating his brother is in darkness and in darkness is walking, and is not aware whither he is going, for the darkness blinds his eyes.

But back again to God’s hand directly causing spiritual blindness… how else did those SCALES get IN Paul’s eyes…….????  ;D  G.O.D.  Yes??  So... I tend to agree with Ray on this matter, Satan deceives, God blinds.... as sort of a general rule of thumb.  :)  ;) :D

Shine the light of truth!  :-*
With joy, Janice

P.S.  Kat you were right after all as Satan is given to blind, just not that particular verse you had mentioned.  :) :)

« Last Edit: August 02, 2007, 12:26:22 AM by DuluthGA »
Logged

musicman

  • Guest
Re: Satan deceives, God blinds
« Reply #1 on: August 02, 2007, 01:20:36 AM »

But strong delusion is deception.  I don't think that it would be wrong to suggest that while Satan is the instrument of destruction that God is the engineer of it.  After all they are shown to do the same things.  Take what I previously learned from the composer man in his 15 minutes of spiritual dung.

God and Satan provoke David

1 Chronicles 21:1
And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
2 Samuel 24:1
And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, go, number Israel and Judah. (Same instance)

The Composer of spiritual swill went on to say God=Satan.  But he nailed those two scriptures above.
Logged

pylady

  • Guest
Re: Satan deceives, God blinds
« Reply #2 on: August 02, 2007, 02:17:43 AM »

Hi Janice,

Most of mankind does not realize that "an experience of evil hath God given to the sons of man to humble him thereby." Eccl 1:13

nor do they know  that "...the creation (that would be them and us) was subjected to futility not of their own will but because of Him who subjected it, in hope."  Romans8:20

nor can they understand "For God has shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all." Romans 11:32

Why can't others, even many who study the Scriptures, see what so plainly speaks to our hearts and minds?

He tells us He has cast a veil over the nations to bring about spiritual darkness.  But He also tells us He will remove this veil. 

    Is 25:7  "And He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over
                all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations."

But in Jesus the veil is being removed:

    Matthew 27:51  "And behold the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top
                            to the bottom..."

In this age the veil has been removed from the elect, the spiritual darkness has become spiritual light.  And thru the body of Christ the veil will be removed from the rest of mankind.

What an absolute wonderful gift from the Father to those who are given this understanding in this age.  We do not have to stumble around in the dark, but our paths, though very rocky, are lit by the wonderful light of His Son, our Lord!

But for the nations that do not have this blessed insight, I think it is a mercy on His part that He has blinded them.  For how terrible would it be to know you cannot on your own please God, and you must live a life of sin, and in the future face His wrath. 

And Isaiah goes on to tell us what will happen when God removes this veil of spiritual darkness from the nations

  Is 25:8 "He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away
             tears from off all faces..."

When He removes this veil of deceptive spiritual darkness it will bring joy and happiness to all mankind.  Oh, if only they knew!

I don't know if that adds anything to what you were saying.  Just what I thought when I read your post.   thank you for bringing this up.

   Christian love,

                Cindy :)

Logged

DuluthGA

  • Guest
Re: Satan deceives, God blinds
« Reply #3 on: August 02, 2007, 05:12:22 AM »

THANKS A LOT MUSICMAN AND CINDY FOR BOTH WISE AND ELOQUENT WORDS....

Musicman, that was the darndest two verses I have ever seen put together... AND... you're right... strong delusion is not just blinding... it can be and is deception.

I felt it all thoughout writing my post... that I was sort of talking out of both sides of my mouth on this...  and here, thanks to you, I see it even more clearly....

Shall I say it out loud?  God the Author of All... deception, delusion, spiritual blinding... then throw in being made hardened and calloused... vessels of dishonor...  ooooh, that about wraps it up for me right now.  THANKS!  :o

Cindy, you composed a very beautiful and uplifting breakthrough of it all for us.  Many thanks!!  :D

I will praise Him no matter what!  ;)
Joy, Janice
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up
 

Page created in 0.04 seconds with 20 queries.