During the time leading up to America’s Civil War, the United States was torn in two. Today’s division is not like that. This is not a time of breaking in two, but of splintering into thousands. We see the results in churches, families, courts, legislative bodies, political parties, businesses, and social movements. Former allies have now gone to war with one another. It’s as if Satan himself opened a great can of itching powder and cast it on the world. In this case, the itching powder has a name — deception.
American conservatives are fighting one another over the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. One conservative media group is openly split between those who believe America should stand with Israel, and those who believe Israel is committing “genocide” against Palestinians. The irony is that, through their Hamas and PLO leaders, Palestinians have long called for genocide against Jews. Sometimes at great risk, Israeli Defense Forces have shown repeatedly that they desire to target only militants and not civilians.
Notice the relationship between deception and division. “Divide and conquer” often means “deceive and destroy.” Jesus told us that Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44). The Lord also told us that Satan knows a house divided against itself cannot stand (Luke 11:17-18). Satan is all about destruction through deception (Genesis 3).
In Matthew 24:4, Jesus began His famous Olivet Discourse about the last days by saying, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” During His discourse, He repeated that warning several times. Lies are not new, but a special kind and level of deception must characterize the time leading up to His return.
Today, deception has been mechanized and digitized. One person with one small, pocket-sized telephone can compose a lie and spread it to millions instantly. Lies have been around for a long time, but they have never before been so easy to create, replicate, and disseminate. Lies and fake news permeate the social landscape. Sometimes they are big, baldfaced lies like saying Israel is committing “genocide.” At other times, the lie may be a subtle rewording of a real quote. But whatever form they take, lies are everywhere. And the father of lies is loving it.
In Matthew 24:7, Jesus specifically warned of splintering societies. He said, “nation shall rise against nation.” The Greek word translated “nation” is “ethnos” from which we get the English word “ethnic.” He was warning us about intense divisions between people groups of all kinds. These divisions are not a one-and-done kind of thing. A group divides, then the two resulting groups have divisions, and on it goes. Like nuclear fission, the chain reaction of divisions can lead to massive explosions.
For years, I’ve said that before Jesus returns something will happen to the United States so that it will cease to be a global power. I was thinking of obvious disasters along the lines of nuclear war or economic meltdown. I didn’t think our nation would be buried by a giant mudslide of lies, but that’s what’s happening.
Bible-believing Christians have what the world needs. In a time when it gets more and more difficult to find anything or anyone you can trust, we preach Jesus — the One who boldly proclaimed in John 14:6, “I am… truth.”
