An Ill Wind Has Arrived

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

I recently read the following comments on a social network I frequent. They were made by a woman who appears not to be a Christian. She might be religious, but makes no claim to be a Christian. Read it to understand where she’s coming from and see what you think. I’ve left it exactly as she wrote it so be aware of the somewhat rough language.

Okay, lately, I’ve been grouchy and irritable. I have snapped at people online. I have pissed off a few friends and a few have pissed me off. (Luckily, I am keeping my cool at work and treating everyone professionally.) I can partly blame this on the heat, on my imprisoning poverty, the unrelenting pain of arthritis, and untreated major depression. I am doing the best I can to survive with what I’ve got and sometimes the burden can be overwhelming. However, I think it’s part of something even bigger than just me personally. There’s a malaise of some kind taking over the world. Terrorist attacks, toppled governments, shocking injustice, whacky weather… and politics that no longer promote a lesser evil. They ALL have dark motives. There is a feeling of hopelessness among family and friends, not just the British who are struggling to cope with Brexit, or the disappointed Bernie supporters here in the States. It seems something BIG, beyond what we can understand, is slowly leaking out, like dark ink from a broken pen staining our resolve. Is it just me, or are some of you feeling this, too. I don’t mean “Give up, end it all, and drop the bomb”. Nor do I feel (or believe in) the Christian concept of end times. It just seems there is a change in consciousness, a negative wind blowing. Something is pulling us down. It could also be the reason for so many celebrity deaths this year. I dunno. I just feel odd about the world now, as opposed to feeling hopeful when I was younger.

When people who are not Christians start to admit that things are not looking good, that there is an ill-will coming over the horizon and there is a general malaise or “feeling of hopelessness among family and friends,” that tells me that we are moving into seriously dark times.

This certainly lines up with what Jesus, Paul, Peter, and others have stated about the end times, or last days. Let’s be clear that biblically speaking, the last days began with the life of Jesus and extends to His second coming. But it is also clear that during these last days, things will become progressively worse. Not only will Satan be working overtime so to speak, but God Himself will send a delusion making it very easy for those who reject the truth to accept lies. Let’s look a few sections of Scripture that bear this out.

But understand this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, opposed to what is good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God. They will maintain the outward appearance of religion but will have repudiated its power. So avoid people like these. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Now in fact all who want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves. (2 Timothy 3:12-13)

The arrival of the lawless one will be by Satan’s working with all kinds of miracles and signs and false wonders, and with every kind of evil deception directed against those who are perishing, because they found no place in their hearts for the truth so as to be saved. Consequently God sends on them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false. And so all of them who have not believed the truth but have delighted in evil will be condemned. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)

The above three passages just scratch the surface really as they describe the way life will be as things progress toward the climax of human history, culminating with the return of Jesus physically to this planet. If we look at the passages carefully, we see how corrupt and evil many will be and become. The natural tendency of humanity in its fallen state will create people who will be totally wrapped up in themselves and their own desires. We are seeing this on a massive scale throughout the world and even in America.

Black Lives Matter (BLM) is actually a hate group, espousing racism based on untruths. However, the group receives a pass from the media because of the blatant cover-up by the media, ostensibly supporting its cause because it appears to be truthful, but is only politically correct. There are many proofs that what BLM preaches is simply the black version of the KKK, but to say this is not politically correct (even though it’s truth), so it is not said. When it is stated, those who say it are quick to apologize because they do not want to lose their standing in life.

Many things throughout the world are occurring now which are giving vent to the lies of the enemy and those lies are seen as truth. People are becoming people who have no self-control, are turning into savages, and who oppose all that is good and truthful. They are treacherous, reckless, conceited, and love pleasure instead of God. Lies are their friend and they live by those lies as they reject truth. Some even maintain some semblance of a religious spirit or nature as they might attend a church or quote from the Bible. It’s all a sham. Satan is using these people to further his goals and objectives. They are willing pawns in his game, but very likely do not understand that he is the source. Paul’s admonition when we see people like this – whether inside or outside of the church – is to avoid them. We should not befriend them because they exist in a vacuum of error. Certainly, we should try to reach them for Christ and pray for their salvation, but beyond that, we should have nothing to do with them. This is all contained in 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

We then read the short passage from the same chapter just a few verses later, 2 Timothy 3:12-13, and here we learn that people who give themselves over to evil go from bad to worse. They become completely swallowed up by the evil they live by. It controls them, not the other way around. Because it controls them, they take on more of the characteristics of that evil. It engulfs and overwhelms them, though surely they cannot see it because it is a gradual process. They are deceived and because of it, they keep on deceiving others. Hillary Clinton is a good example of this. She lies continually. She breaks the law but because of the people that protect her, nothing happens to her and she continues to go from bad to worse. She is in dire need of salvation, not our hatred. We need to pray for her that God will open the eyes of her understanding so that she might see the truth and receive His salvation. We have that obligation as Christians.

While I know that many Christians point to some of the imprecatory Psalms of the Old Testament where the Psalmist prayed for harm to come to his “enemies,” in all fairness, they lived in a different period of time and did not understand God’s grace as we understand it today because we have the entire Bible. We are living in the age of grace and because of that, it is our calling and obligation to spread the Gospel so that those who are enemies of God (not of us), will have the chance to enter into His Kingdom.

The third passage I’ve quoted from 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 tells us that Satan is working very diligently to spread his hatred and evil of all that is good. This will include persecution for the Christian. Notice also that God steps in her to actually help Satan by sending a strong delusion. This delusion will help those who reject the truth to embrace the lies of Satan. Why does God do this? Paul tells us at the end of verse 12: so all of them who have not believed the truth but have delighted in evil will be condemned.

There will be no question as to their allegiance if they continue on that path of rejecting God and His truth (which is the only truth). It will be very clear-cut and those who practice evil and deception will understand very clearly that they have lived a lie for their own personal gain. In doing so, they will have lost everything.

There is a global malaise developing throughout the world, created by Satan and his minions, and aided by the strong delusion that God will send. I personally believe that the delusion is blanketing this globe as it would appear that Satan is in the final stages of putting all the pieces together to build his global one-world kingdom that God is allowing him to build. This is taking its toll on the lost and more and more people will begin to experience what the person I’ve quoted above is experiencing. They have no hope without God in Christ.

We must pray for these people. We must evangelize the lost. We must be willing to tell them that there is hope in God alone.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective