My! I have to ask this a third time! I asked:



For you to simply repeat the same thing over and over again is unresponsive. You are simply quoting Scripture. I'm trying to ascertain your understanding as to what that Scripture means. It might mean that God is actively involved in sending a delusion, or deception. That is, God creates the deception, and then fools the target with that deception. That's one possibility.

Another possibility is that the person already had the deception, and God simply withdraws His Spirit, leaving the person to the deception they already had.

Which of these options do you see as being the case?

This theory doesn't work. This has God manipulating things in order to get a desired result. This manipulation is the very thing Satan accuses God of doing. If God actually did what Satan accuses Him of, Satan would win the GC, not God. God wins the GC by demonstrating that He is *unlike* Satan, not like him. The type of manipulation you are suggesting is something Satan would do, not God.

Look at what you're saying here:



If *God* puts the hatred in their hearts, then God is responsible for that action; God could never win the GC this way.



This sounds very similar to the following:



Here it is suggested that God's hatred of sin is the reason it is perpetuated. You suggest it God perpetuates it so that aspects of sin can be manifest, so that He can win the GC.

NOTE: Tom I hope this post answers your question:


I read what the Bible says about it literally. I see no need to spiritualize it, to not take God at His word. “Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved; and for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” Paul plainly explains why and what and the results – why God will do it and what He will do and the results. The same is true of the 10 horns. “For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.”

Just exactly how God will do these kinds of things, how He will accomplish them, is not clearly spelled out. Perhaps He will task evil angels with the work. Perhaps He will task holy angels. Or, maybe He will do it Himself. Just exactly how He will accomplish His goals and objectives is not the point, the point is it is God who will send the strong delusion, who will put it in their hearts to fulfill His will. He will not leave them to their chosen delusions; instead, He will send them strong delusions so “that” they will believe “a lie”. It is obvious from the context they will not have already bought into this particular lie. And, it is “because” they will have already sold themselves out to unrighteous pleasures that God will send them strong delusion. “For this cause God shall send them strong delusion.”

Revelation 16 seems to fit in here: “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” Verses 13 and 14. God may very well dispatch these unclean spirits to deceive those who will have rejected the seal of God in favor of receiving the mark of the beast, to deceive them with strong delusions so that they will believe a lie. What lie? I’m not sure. They will have already accepted the lies regarding the Sunday Sabbath. So, it might involve them thinking that if they can rid the earth of Sabbath-keepers God will restore peace and paradise.

Satan personating the return of Jesus would certainly help accomplish this goal and objective. Ellen seems to allude to this in the following passages. “As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. . . This is the strong, almost overmastering delusion.” {GC 624.2} “Only those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures and who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive. By the Bible testimony these will detect the deceiver in his disguise. To all the testing time will come. By the sifting of temptation the genuine Christian will be revealed.” {GC 625.3}

And, here's what she wrote about the death decree:

But not one is made to suffer the wrath of God until the truth has been brought home to his mind and conscience, and has been rejected. There are many who have never had an opportunity to hear the special truths for this time. The obligation of the fourth commandment has never been set before them in its true light. He who reads every heart and tries every motive will leave none who desire a knowledge of the truth, to be deceived as to the issues of the controversy. The decree is not to be urged upon the people blindly. Everyone is to have sufficient light to make his decision intelligently. {GC 605.1}

As the Sabbath has become the special point of controversy throughout Christendom, and religious and secular authorities have combined to enforce the observance of the Sunday, the persistent refusal of a small minority to yield to the popular demand will make them objects of universal execration. It will be urged that the few who stand in opposition to an institution of the church and a law of the state ought not to be tolerated; that it is better for them to suffer than for whole nations to be thrown into confusion and lawlessness. The same argument eighteen hundred years ago was brought against Christ by the "rulers of the people." "It is expedient for us," said the wily Caiaphas, "that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not." John 11:50. This argument will appear conclusive; and a decree will finally be issued against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, denouncing them as deserving of the severest punishment and giving the people liberty, after a certain time, to put them to death. Romanism in the Old World and apostate Protestantism in the New will pursue a similar course toward those who honor all the divine precepts. {GC 615.2}

PS - I should probably explain how I think the previous post deals with the topic of this thread. How and why God has hardened hearts in the past and how and why He will send strong delusions in the future speak to God's nature and character.

But by the time this happens they are already beyond hope, they have already committed the unpardonable sin. God isn’t doing anything that violates the rules of engagement. Putting the kind of hate in their heart that results in them hating and killing the whore of Babylon doesn’t violate their ability or freedom to do as they please. That is, just because God plants it in their hearts it doesn’t mean they have no choice. The same thing applies when God plants good thoughts and feelings, that is, it doesn’t mean they are holy and righteous. They must still decide to act on them.


It’s similar to why God didn’t immediately blot the evil angels out of existence the moment they sinned. He continues to give them breath to live long enough to demonstrate the hideousness of sin and rebellion. In so doing God is not perpetuating sin in the sense she describes in the quote you posted above. Putting hatred in their hearts, instead of destroying them, causes them to choose to fulfill God’s will in destroying the whore of Babylon. He will not make them do it; instead, they will choose to do it themselves.