2 Thessalonians 2
We are walking in today: ENCORE! ENCORE! Avoiding the Strong Delusion--The Way That Seems Right
As we saw in our previous teaching, “Enduring As Seeing Him Who Is Invisible,” Moses gives us a two indicators of walking by faith:
By faith he [Moses] forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible. (Hebrews 11:27)
We discussed the first indicator of faithfulness, now we will look at the second indicator of faithfulness that Moses gives us — forsaking Egypt!
The Worldly Wisdom of ‘Egypt’
In Scripture, ‘Egypt’ is a term that speaks of the spiritually dark wisdom of this world, and its false values, false practices, and false gods. This is what Moses forsook and abandoned!
If we desire to walk by faith with The Most High Elohim, then we will follow Moses’ example by forsaking the worldly wisdom of this world — forsaking the world’s false values, false practices, false religions, and false gods!
As we grow in our faith, we will encounter many things that would try to hinder our walk of faith with the heavenly Abba. One of the greatest hindrances to our faith is to feed upon Spiritual Mixtures. Spiritual Mixtures combine truth with counterfeit. Spiritual mixtures are the deceptive, worldly wisdom systems of ‘Egypt.’ Spiritual mixtures mix Truth from The Most High’s written WORD [the Bible], with the dark wisdom of this world.
Spiritual mixtures cause us to put our confidence in man-made twistings of The Most High’s Word. Spiritual mixtures cause us to trust in the false gods of false religious systems. This is the ‘spirit of Egypt’ (Isaiah 19:1-17). It brings about divisions in the Body of Messiah because it promotes and idolizes the dark wisdom of this world rather than honouring and respecting the pure Word of The Most High.
The frightening thing about spiritual mixtures is that they appear to be right:
There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25).
This verse is given twice in Proverbs, and it should be a double warning for us!! The many pathways and practices of the so-called ‘wisdom’ of this world appear to be good, right, and wise. But in reality, they are deceptive pathways, and result in curses and death!
The apostle Paul expressed a clear warning regarding the nature of counterfeit, spiritual pathways:
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled [deceived] Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3)
This verse describes for us what these spiritual counterfeits do. These subtle, beguiling teachings from Satan corrupt us, and rob us of the simple truth of The Most High’s written Word! These spiritual mixtures contain the corrupt widsom of this world, and they lead downward to death. They are earthly, soulish (sensual), demonic (James 3:15).
Satan is capable of transforming himself into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), so his deceptions can allure anyone who desires spiritual insight. Have we ourselves become beguiled — captivated and deceived, and led away from the simplicity that is in Messiah? We should never underestimate the ability of Satan to duplicate religious truth or experience. We must avoid the notion that sincerity equates truth!!
It is crucial that we learn The Most High’s written Word for ourselves, because it is the source of authority and truth for all our beliefs and actions. When we know and obey The Most High’s Word, then we will know the truth, and thereby, we will not be led down into the destructive bondage of a ‘spiritual mixture!’ What may SEEM to be right, what may be popular; what “everyone-else-is-doing!” is often a ‘way’ that appeals to our carnal nature, appeals to our own soulish, human wisdom and desires.
What may ‘seem‘ to be right is appealing to many! The Scriptures confirm this: “Broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are which go into destruction in this way” (Matthew 7:13).
Counterfeit Wisdom
Many Born-again Thirsty Souls do not realize the dangers of embracing a spiritual mixture, and are therefore following other ‘gods.’
Instead of following the true, Almighty--The Most High, and His wisdom [The Most High’s written WORD], many are searching for eternal wisdom, but are looking in the wrong places! They are doing what seems to be right, what feels right to them. But they are falling prey to popular, counterfeit, spiritually dark wisdom —the wisdom of ‘Egypt’ — the wisdom of this world.
Sadly, many Thirsty Souls have not forsaken Egypt! They are feeding on one or more of the myriads of Spiritual Mixtures — the corrupted teachings of ‘worldly wisdom’ — the twisted thinking and false gods of religious systems.
Spiritual mixtures do two things: either they take away from, or they add to, the Scriptures. This is a direct and dangerous violation of the written Scriptures (see Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Revelation 22:18-19)
What does Abba have to say about spiritual mixtures?
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! (Isaiah 5:20-21)
These verses are a very good description of spiritual mixtures —
- mixing good with evil,
- mixing light with darkness,
- mixing sweet with bitter,
- mixing a little bit of the false with the true.
What does The Most High say about those who accept and embrace such mixtures? — “Woe unto them!!” Woe to them because they have rejected the pure truth of The Most High’s written Word, leaning on their own human understanding, trusting in their own imaginations.
It is complete foolishness to insist that our own human wisdom and understanding is greater than The Most High’s pure Word.
Those who refuse the superior authority of The Most High’s Word place themselves in dangerous territory. To rely solely on human understanding and man’s twisted teachings of The Most High’s Word makes our ‘own’ human understanding into our own fabricated ‘god.’ Such thinking is idolatrous! How could any one of us, as mere human beings, say, “I know better than my Creator!”?
King Saul’s Example
Consider what happened to King Saul when he refused to obey the Word of The Most High:
And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the The Most High thy The Most High, which he commanded thee: for now would the The Most High have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the The Most High hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the The Most High hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the The Most High commanded thee. (1 Samuel 13:13-14)
The prophet Samuel warned Saul, saying “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of The Most High.” King Saul had acted on his own wisdom and initiative, refusing to wait patiently to fulfill the Word of The Most High. From that moment onward, Saul was on a downward spiral.
King Saul never recovered from his lofty way of thinking about himself; he never truly repented for following his own carnal wisdom and desires. As a result, King Saul gradually became more troubled, more unpredictable, more angry and hateful. His understanding eventually became so dark that he sought for wisdom from a witch — a woman with a familiar spirit, a spiritist (1 Samuel 28:7-25).
Saul’s example is a warning for us today!
Rejecting the Word of The Most High is a very serious thing (1 Samuel 15:23). The dark and deceptive pathway that Saul chose led him further downward. Saul eventually violated The Most High’s instruction, by consulting a spiritist [a witch] (Deuteronomy 18:9-12; Leviticus 19:31). This was a grievous violation of the Word of The Most High, and illustrates the eventual outcome of those who embrace the worldly wisdom of Egypt!
Be Alert!
It is good to yearn for understanding of the things of Messiah’s eternal kingdom (see 2 Corinthians 4). Yet we must be vigilant to learn for ourselves, the true, undefiled wisdom that comes from The Most High’s written Scriptures! And then we must be willing to follow the simplicity of what The Most High’s written WORD actually says.
The wrong pathways are those that appeal to our natural, human understanding, pathways that ‘seem’ to be wise and right, but contradict the written Scriptures.
We need to be very guarded against accepting any spiritual ‘awakening’ or spiritual ‘fire’ or spiritual ‘wisdom’ that is a mixture of darkness and light. Receiving false spiritual enticements will cause us to stumble spiritually, bring curses into our lives, and prevent us from walking with Messiah, who is the true ‘Light of Life.’
We must love the Truth of the written Word of The Most High, so that we will avoid the strong delusions of spiritual mixtures (see 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12)!
Walking in Darkness
Yahushua Messiah tells us:
If a man walk in the night, he stumbles, because there is no light in him. (John 11:10)
Yahushua is telling us that if we are walking, or living our lives, in ‘the night,’ or in spiritual darkness, then we will stumble, because there is no light [no Truth] in us! Living in spiritual darkness causes stumbling!
Only by studying the Words of Messiah for ourselves [all the written Words of Scripture], with the enlightenment from the Holy Spirit — only by a firm commitment to obey The Most High’s WORDS, and none other — can we then begin to be alert to dangerous spiritual mixtures. This is key to avoid stumbling!
Yahushua tells us how to avoid walking in darkness:
Then spake Yahushua … saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)
Those who follow [obey] Yahushua, and His Words, will NOT walk in darkness! They will have the LIGHT of Life!
To follow Yahushua Messiah, is to walk in His path. To follow Messiah is to do what He did, and avoid what He avoided.
Spiritual Darkness is Very Dangerous! Spiritual darkness prevents us from seeing the incorruptible LIGHT and truth of Yahushua’s message! Spiritual darkness prevents us from recognizing the great importance of what King David said: “I have kept [guarded] the ways of The Most High, and have not wickedly departed from my Elohim!” (Psalms 18:21)
The Prophets: Isaiah, Hosea, Jeremiah
The prophet Isaiah gives us an important standard for Believers in Yahushua Messiah:
To the law [the Torah] and to the testimony [the words and life-witness of Yahushua and His Disciples]: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no Light in them. (Isaiah 8:20)
This verse teaches us that if we embrace a spiritual ‘wisdom’ from those who do not speak according to the complete Word of The Most High – both the Torah (the Old Testament), and the Testimony of Yahushua Messiah (The New Testament) – then it is a worldly ‘wisdom’ having NO light, thus NO truth! Those who reject the validity of the Torah and its importance to the New Testament have forsaken ‘the patience of the saints’: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of The Most High, and the faith of Yahushua” (Revelation 14:12; see also Revelation 12:17).
To have ‘No Light’ is to be in the darkness of ignorance, deception, and bondage! Receiving spiritual guidance that is not in agreement with the full counsel of The Most High’s written Word, is feeding on a spiritual mixture.
The Most High warns us further through the prophet Hosea, telling us that it is The Most High’s people who are ‘destroyed‘ because they lack the knowledge of Abba’s written WORD, and because they have rejected The Most High’s law [the Torah] (Hosea 4:6)!
The prophet Jeremiah gives us another warning, telling us that those who refuse to hear The Most High’s Words are those who walk in the imagination of their heart, and are actually walking after other gods — such people are ‘good for nothing!‘ (Jeremiah 13:10)
These are sobering warnings! We need to earnestly consider the seriousness of Abba’s warnings! (See also these warnings: Leviticus 18:3; 20:23; Deuteronomy 12:30-31; Isaiah 47:12-14; Jeremiah 10:2; Ezekiel 20:32.)
To avoid darkness and bondage, we must pursue spiritual guidance that is in complete agreement with all the Words of the Bible, because “ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of The Most High, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). The Most High’s written WORD is the only en-LIGHT-en-ment that is true and undefiled!
Testing Ourselves
The best thing we can do is test ourselves, and ‘see’ if we are keeping our focus on The Most High, and on His written WORD; test ourselves to see if we are trusting in twisted, man-made teachings rather than the pure Word of The Most High. We test ourselves by looking to see if we have forsaken Egypt, forsaken the worldly wisdom of this world.
Are we living our lives according to The Most High’s written WORD (2 John 1:6-11)? Are we following Messiah’s example, being humble and obedient to the Scriptures as He was?
Or, are we embracing defiled, soulish, worldly wisdom? Are we feeding on Spiritual Mixtures that are a little bit of truth, mixed with error [poison]? When we are feeding on error, we will not be following Messiah.
Are we committed to following the written Word of The Most High [the Bible]? Do we know the Word for ourselves, so that we can avoid the deceiving and destructive teachings of Spiritual Mixtures?
Are we loving Abba with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength by seeking HIS Word diligently, and then obeying it?
Forsaking Egypt is an essential step in learning to please the heavenly Abba, in learning to ‘walk by faith,‘ and in receiving the goal of our faith — ‘the salvation of our souls’ (Hebrews 11:6; 1 Peter 1:6-9)!
Forsaking the ways and systems of this world will thoroughly test us! — testing our resolve to follow our Saviour, Yahushua Messiah! Forsaking Egypt will test our willingness to endure rejection for the sake of honouring our Saviour!
- The central, core error of many Spiritual Mixtures is a denial of the deity of Yahushua Messiah , and His sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection for the remission of our sins. If we are involved in any spiritual ‘wisdom’ or system that embraces this error, then our eternal salvation is uncertain! We should question whether we have truly become Born-again (John 3:3-21)!
It takes time, commitment, and determination to learn Abba’s Word for ourselves, and to forsake worldly wisdom, by genuinely obeying The Most High’s Word. Will we remain true to His Word? Will we be faithful to His Word, even in the small matters? Will we forsake Egypt, regardless of the difficulties?
Understanding The Most High’s written Word and Truth requires us to be somewhat ‘mechanical’ in our approach. Without a lot of emotion or commotion, we simply seek Abba everyday, by reading/studying the Word of The Most High [the Bible], and praying each day — praying for the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and praying for a willing and obedient heart. Little by little, we will begin to know what is truth, and we can repent of any involvement with spiritual mixtures, and we can avoid what is false.
Walking In Darkness: Indicators
What are some clues, some indicators that we may be walking in a pathway of darkness — that we are embracing a spiritual counterfeit, feeding on corrupt, worldly wisdom?
- In the spiritual realm, the Bible is the standard of that which is straight — that which is true! Anything that departs from the Bible is false. Whether it departs by little or much is relatively unimportant. Some of the subtlest deceptions are those that appear to differ only a little from the Bible!
Here are some links revealing additional Indicators of Walking in Darkness:
We can see that a little bit of darkness is often more dangerous than complete darkness! The pathway of a spiritual mixture is a dangerous and hazy pathway.
Those walking in a spiritual mixture – those who embrace a spiritual system that mixes worldly, soulish, even demonic wisdom with the Truth of The Most High’s Word – they are more inclined to cling to their own ways, their own imaginations, rather than to repent. The little bit of spiritual darkness has deceived them, and it prevents them from seeing that they have gotten off Abba’s pathway! They are not even aware of their delusion, which is alarmingly strong!
The strength of one’s delusion begins with a refusal to love the truth of The Most High’s Word:
And then that Wicked one will be revealed … whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore The Most High sends them a strong delusion, so that they would believe a lie [what is false], in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12)
As this Scripture passage teaches us, it is The Most High Himself who sends a strong delusion to those who refuse to love the truth — to those who refuse to love the simple truth of The Most High’s WORD!
That is a frightening thought!! A frightening truth!!
May each one of us earnestly pray for, and always seek to have, the LOVE of the truth!
Avoiding the Way that ‘Seems’ Right
Once we become Born-again as followers of Yahushua Messiah, our deepest heart’s desire is to learn Abba’s written Word for ourselves, so that we can love Him by obeying Him! Born-again Believers delight in the Saviour, Yahushua, and strongly desire to walk according to The Most High’s written WORD, to walk worthy of Him (1 Timothy 4:10; Colossians 1:10)!
If we would avoid the strong delusions, avoid the forbidden counterfeits, the false gods of this world, and thus grow in genuine faith, then we must begin to follow Moses’ example — we must forsake Egypt, forsake the worldly wisdom of this world.
Abba’s ways are not according to human ways or thoughts. We must be determined to follow the written Scriptures, and not deviate from them! We need to cry out for The Most High’s help to walk with Him as we seek the wisdom and understanding that is in agreement with the written WORD of The Most High (Psalms 119:169).
By loving the truth of Abba’s written Word, by seeking Abba with all our heart, then, by His mercy and grace, we can avoid the delusion of spiritual mixtures — we can avoid the way that ‘seems’ right!
Shema Selah--we must study and seek the Most High for ourselves to find HIM and be removed from every mixture and deception that we have inherited!!
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