Delusion 

It's in the scriptures. The world is deluded on so many levels but in one great matter: men and women are now believing they are Gods. Not god's in the sense that the God Himself has called us god's but God's in the sense of God Himself.  Satan's sin was presumption and pride, envy and greed and arrogance. He was self decieved to believe he could and should be God's equal. Which is exactly the delusion that some very powerful men and women are under today. They think that they can perfect technologies which will be sufficient to control the material world in ways that only God is permitted to control it. They want to become creators and rulers of the material world.

Consider the science of genetics. Man is attempting to control the genetic process in plants, animals and in his own species. Genetically modified fruits and vegetables, genetically modified livestock and genetically modified human beings are more and more common today. Why would men and women want to do that? Are not our own lives, our natural lives, and our natural environment enough? 

*****

Alas we all face we all face death.  God has ordained this frustration for a purpose, for His own purpose, which ends in the blessing and the privilege of an endless life for those who trust His Son Jesus: the Messiah King of the Jews , the Savior of all who trust Him and the Lord of all. He is the Lord of all humanity, of all the Earth and of all created things. His called all He created very good on the sixth day.

But soon after the seventh day everything changed for man. Does not delusion come out of deception? And we see Eve in the garden deceived by Satan to eat the one fruit God had forbidden. But what of Adam? Some have said that Adam chose willingly to eat the forbidden fruit. But God had spoken to him personally forbidding it! Could it be that Adam was self deceived persuading himself that he should accept Eve's offer? 

Accepting it led to consequences for Adam and Eve. They were put out of the garden and into hard labor. They went from a state of security with God into a state of separation from God. In the garden they knew exactly what to do and they did it... until the subtle delusion of the pretender Satan overcame them. 

“Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all men, for that all sinned:--” ~ Romans 5:12 (ASV)

Cain was offended when God preferred his brother's offering of animals to his offering of vegetables. Cain was envious of his brother's blessing. God counseled him to rule over the sin forming in his heart and mind but he did not. And we have the first homicide in human history. Surely it was also the first war in human history. It seems quite likely that as Satan wanted to be God's equal Cain wanted to be Abel's equal.   God made it clear that Cain's intentions toward his brother were evil. God encouraged him not to carry out his intentions. But he did and did so in a flagrant rebellion against God's spoken word. 

*******

Until around the 16th century life was not so different than was experienced by the ancient world. But an "industrial revolution" began in the mid 1700's that changed the world. Along with this the basic sciences we know today began to grow rapidly. Chemistry was one such science  and a very important one.  Yet if it is true that we now have “better living through chemistry” we should know that many of our material blessings(?) had their beginnings in what is certainly an occult science and also a philosophic and spiritual endeavor. 

Alchemy

It's understandable that we have done much to make our lives easier in this world which still requires many to do hard labor. But men have pursued more lofty goals than mere labor saving inventions. What we call alchemy today is said to have begun as a pursuit of immortality in Egypt. In their ancient burial and mummification procedures  basic chemistry was discovered and developed.  Overtime and throughout the world the alchemists continued a variety of investigations. According to an article from the University of Bristol in the UK these investigators formed two groups around the 16th century. One continued in their pursuit of immortality and the other pursued only the science of chemistry. 

The article:

"Alchemy was born in ancient Egypt, where the word Khem was used in reference to the fertility of the flood plains around the Nile. Egyptian beliefs in life after death, and the mummification procedures they developed, probably gave rise to rudimentary chemical knowledge and a goal of immortality.

"By 332 BC, Alexander the Great had conquered Egypt. Greek philosophers became interested in the Egyptian ways. Greek views of how matter is made up of the four elements of nature - Fire, Earth, Air and Water, were merged with the Egyptian sacred science. The result was Khemia, the Greek word for Egypt. "When Egypt was occupied by the Arabs in the 7th Century, they added 'al-' to the word Khemia and al-Khemia meaning 'the Black Land' is now seen as a possible origin for the word alchemy. The Greek word khumos, meaning 'fluid' has been suggested as an alternate origin for the word alchemy, there is as yet no consensus on the matter. It is unfortunate that more is not known about this early period in the history of alchemy. In 391, invading Christians burned the great library in Alexandria, destroying many relevant works. "Alchemy was also developed independently in China by Taoist monks. "The monks pursued both the outer elixir and the inner elixir. The former being minerals, plants etc. which could prolong life, and the latter being the use of exercise techniques, such as Qigong, to manipulate the chi or life force of the body. "Like China and Egypt, India developed alchemy independently. They had beliefs similar to the Chinese, in that they used external and internal methods to purify the body and prolong life. "In their work the Indians invented steel and long before Bunsen and Kirchhoff's work, realised the importance of flame colour in the identification of metals. "The introduction of alchemy to the west came in the 8th Century when the Arabs brought it to Spain. From here it quickly spread to the rest of Europe. "The Arabian belief was that metals are made up of mercury and sulfur in varying proportions. Gold was seen as the perfect metal and all others were less perfect, an idea popular among western alchemists. It was a very popular idea indeed, that these lower metals could be transmuted into gold by means of a substance known as the Philosophers Stone. "The Stone is also believed to be able to confer immortality, the Chinese name for it being the Pill of Immortality. "In Europe, alchemy led to the discovery of manufacture of amalgams and advances in many other chemical processes and the apparatus required for them. Eventually, by the 16th Century, the alchemists in Europe had separated into two groups. "The first group focussed on the discovery of new compounds and their reactions - leading to what is now the science of chemistry. "The second continued to look at the more spiritual, metaphysical side of alchemy, continuing the search for immortality and the transmutation of base metals into gold. "This led to the modern day idea of alchemy."

http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2002/crabb/history.html

*******

Alchemy
noun
al·che·my | \ ˈal-kə-mē  \

Definition of alchemy

1: a medieval chemical science and speculative philosophy aiming to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold, the discovery of a universal cure for disease, and the discovery of a means of indefinitely prolonging life

2: a power or process that changes or transforms something in a mysterious or impressive way… the practitioners of financial alchemy that transformed the world of money in the 1980's …— Gordon Williams

3: an inexplicable or mysterious transmuting

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alchemy

NOTE: the syllable “trans." Today the transgender phenomena is in high gear even while it is now rejected as unhealthy physically and psychologically by the doctors who first promoted it.

*******

Alchemy – In many ways a precursor to modern chemistry, alchemy was generally considered to be the science of turning one thing into another thing through physical and chemical processes (in its literal interpretation) or refining something (like the soul) into a better or more perfect version (in its metaphorical usage). 

https://digitaloccultlibrary.commons.gc.cuny.edu/glossary-of-terms/
This is a mild definition. 

*******

As we approach the 31st of October with it's infamous reputation we might think about what is happening today in the field of alchemy as opposed to that of chemistry and of science generally. Although alchemy is usually seen as a benign fore runner to modern chemistry we have to admit sadly that the sciences, including chemistry, are being applied to some very evil ends today. We are or should be reminded every year that Satan is a real being who leads about a legion of fallen angels with the goal of destroying human life. It is ironic that the men are pursuing the goal of immortality through an occult science which is certainly promoted by Satan while he would kill them if he could. But he is satisfied with men and women who remain spiritually separated from God. Truly immortality is the domain of God and His gift to those who have received His Son as their Savior.  Through faith in God by His Grace we will live forever. What science is doing today is too often a "way that seems right to a man which ends in death."

Is it science, biochemistry or bio-alchemy?

The discovery of DNA in 1958 led to an explosion of genetic engineering in the 1970s. By 1974 the National Academy of Sciences proposed a moratorium on genetic engineering experimentation.  But the case for medical cures outweigh the warnings of eugenics and germ warfare. And now in 2021 we have experienced germ warfare. 

In vitro fertilization experiments were carried out in 1878 ! The first successful reports of IVF were reported 75 years later.

In 1981 scientists(?) transferred the gene of a rabbit into a mouse genome. The result was what is called the first "transgenic animal." In 1986 the first recombinant vaccine for humans was approved. In 1988 the first genetically modified crop of corn was planted in the United States. In 1996 a sheep was cloned. By 2000 a  genetic "map" of a human being (genome) was drawn. The body parts of babies aborted are being sold to supply tissues for medical(?) research. Cures for disease, growing body parts from stem cells, transhumanism and who knows what else people are being paid to research and develop. What was once an ethical controversy is now carried on without care for the danger of it's lawlessness, or it's absurdity or it's stench to the highest heaven. 

In the early 1990s I read a report of a group of elites whose intention was to reduce the earth's population to a few million people and to increase the length of human life to 500 years or more. This utopian vision is unlikely to succeed but it is no surprise that men and women would dare to dream and work for such a world.

What is the great delusion found in the Bible? Who is it sent to and why did God send it? When did He send it?

2Thessalonians 2:1-12  Now we beseech you, brethren, touching the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him;  (2)  to the end that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that the day of the Lord is just at hand;  (3)  let no man beguile you in any wise: for it will not be, except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition,  (4)  he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God.  (5)  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?  (6)  And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season.  (7)  For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way.  (8)  And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of his coming;  (9)  even he, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,  (10)  and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  (11)  And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error [a strong delusion, a powerful delusion, a delusional force, a working of delusion], that they should believe a lie (or the lie, ISV and YLT):  (12)  that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

From David Guzik,s notes on 2Thessaloniaans 2:

God will send them: In the end, the Antichrist is only God’s messenger. God has judgment to bring, and He will send ... a strong delusion through the Antichrist. God will not force this delusion on anyone, but those who do not receive the love of the truth will receive this strong delusion.

Specifically, God sends them the lie. This isn’t just any lie, but the lie, the lie that has enthralled the human race since Adam. This is the lie that God is not God, and that we are or can be gods.

It is worth repeating this: Specifically, God sends them the lie. This isn’t just any lie, but the lie, the lie that has enthralled the human race since Adam. This is the lie that God is not God, and that we are or can be gods.

This is the two part lie:
one: that God is not God, and
two: that we are or can be Gods.

Genesis 3:1-5  Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?  (2)  And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat:  (3)  but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.  (4)  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:  (5)  for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.


I don't think Satan himself believes the lie. He believed it once and was cast out of heaven, eternally condemned and sentenced to an eternity without God. There are many other lies which flow out of Satan's big whoppers. As well as the large number of false gods and their religious doctrines there are the very current atheism and humanism which deny God and are embraced by socialists and communists, evolution which denies God's as the Creator, and racism which advances the superiority of an ethnic group over other groups.  

2 Thessalonians 2:11

(ASV)  And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie:(BBE)  And for this cause, God will give them up to the power of deceit and they will put their faith in what is false:
(CEV)  So God will make sure that they are fooled into believing a lie.(ESV)  Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,
(ISV)  For this reason, God will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.

(KJV)  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:(TLV)  For this reason God sends them a delusional force, to lead them to believe what is false,
(YLT)  and because of this shall God send to them a working of delusion, for their believing the lie,

We need to learn from Adam and Eve and from Cain and Abel. We need to learn from Isaiah 14 . Isaiah 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, that didst lay low the nations!   And from Hebrews 3:13  but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called To-day; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin: 

Hebrews 3:7-19  Wherefore, even as the Holy Spirit saith, To-day if ye shall hear his voice,  (8)  Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, Like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness,  (9)  Where your fathers tried me by proving me, And saw my works forty years.  (10)  Wherefore I was displeased with this generation, And said, They do always err in their heart: But they did not know my ways;  (11)  As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.  (12)  Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God:  (13)  but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called To-day; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin:  (14)  for we are become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end:  (15)  while it is said, To-day if ye shall hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.  (16)  For who, when they heard, did provoke? nay, did not all they that came out of Egypt by Moses?  (17)  And with whom was he displeased forty years? was it not with them that sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?  (18)  And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that were disobedient?  (19)  And we see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief.

Believe God in Christ for He IS the TRUTH. Don't believe the lie that you are or will become a God like Jehovah God. Eve was allowed to hear the lie and be deceived and Adam to follow in the lie so that all men could make an INFORMED CHOICE between God and Satan, between THE truth and that lie.

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 

Choosing God in Christ we will be like Him. We will live without ANY sin. We will live forever.

1John 3:2  Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is.

Revelation 21:1-7  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more.  (2)  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.  (3)  And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God:  (4)  and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away.  (5)  And he that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he saith, Write: for these words are faithful and true.  (6)  And he said unto me, They are come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.  (7)  He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Revelation 22:1-21  And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,  (2)  in the midst of the street thereof. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.  (3)  And there shall be no curse any more: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and his servants shall serve him;  (4)  and they shall see his face; and his name shall be on their foreheads.  (5)  And there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.  (6)  And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true: and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly come to pass.  (7)  And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book.  (8)  And I John am he that heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel that showed me these things.  (9)  And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets, and with them that keep the words of this book: worship God.  (10)  And he saith unto me, Seal not up the words of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand.  (11)  He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still: and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still: and he that is holy, let him be made holy still.  (12)  Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to render to each man according as his work is.  (13)  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.  (14)  Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right to come to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.  (15)  Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loveth and maketh a lie.  (16)  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the morning star.  (17)  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come: he that will, let him take the water of life freely.  (18)  I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book:  (19)  and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.  (20)  He who testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus.  (21)  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. Amen.

https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/genetic-alchemy