I want to take a closer look at Matthew 24. The Olivet discourse as it is known is perhaps the most startling prophetic chapter in the Bible. Coming from the lips of our Lord Himself, Jesus revealed to us the climate of the end times. As we approach these fantastic times in human history, I believe it is really important to get a full grasp of what we can expect to see. I’m going to start at Matthew 24:4 today. This comes right after the disciples of Jesus ask Him three questions:
“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” ~Matthew 24:3
So if we break down the three questions, we have:
1. When will these things be? (The destruction of the Temple)
2. What will be the sign of Your coming?
3. What will be the signs of the end of the age?
As Jesus begins to answer these things, keep in mind of a couple of my presuppositions. First, I do believe Jesus was not talking strictly to the Jews in Matthew 24, but also to the gentiles. This is because we see an echo of many of these concepts in Luke and a mirror of the events He describes later in Matthew 24 in the Book of Revelation. Secondly, there is just no denying that what Jesus says in the following verses is a direct reflection of the world we live in right now. So let’s dig in. The first thing Jesus says in reply to the question is:
“Take heed that no one deceive you.” ~ Matthew 24:4
The word for “take heed” is the Greek word blepo (ble’-po). The word encompasses three different forms of meaning; physical sight, metaphorical sight, and a geographical sense. In a physical sense, ble-po means “to see, discern, of the bodily eye; with the bodily eye: to be possessed of sight, have the power of seeing; perceive by the use of the eyes: to see, took descry; to turn the eyes to anything: to look at, look upon, gaze at; to perceive by the senses, to feel; to discover use, to know by experience.” In the metaphorical sense it means, “to have (the power of) understanding, to discern mentally, observe, perceive, understand, discover; to turn the thoughts or direct the mind to a thing, to consider, contemplate, to look at, to weigh carefully, examine.” And in a geographical sense it simply refers to a sense of places like a mountain or building.
The “heed” that Jesus wanted us to take, in my personal opinion, is all of the above definitions. It implies some very significant things. First, we will physically see some form of deception. Now deception is a huge theme when revealing end times prophecy. The many authors of the New Testament all warn against a massive end times deception that I believe, is going to involve what many will believe are Extra-Terrestrials. It is something that we are going to be able to tangibly experience. While if it is true, and ETs appear in mother-ship UFOs all over the worldin an undeniable mass disclosure, then we will not only see the deception in action with our own eyes, but we will certainly need to have spiritual and mindful discernment.
The metaphorical description of the word ble-po is very important as well. We must be able to discern, perceive, examine, and most importantly, have the power of understanding when these things begin to happen. Many people are going to be confused. This is what LA Marzulli calls, “a game changer.” It is going to cause everyone to re-investigate their current worldview, no matter what it is. The atheist will certainly liken this to say, “evolution is true!” The new agers will mostly say, “our saviors have arrived.” Others who don’t really have any dog in the hunt will simply be excited, confused, scared, or all of the above. Unless the body of Christ is aware of the small group of watchmen whom God has brought up in these last days, they will certainly have a spiritual crisis.
Now I know this is a sweeping generalization, and in reality, most folks will probably fall into various categories. But what will most definitely change the paradigm will be when these entities speak to us and tell us about our own human history. This will undoubtedly be a moment in human history where EVERYONE will stop to listen to what these beings have to say.
The next part I want to dig into is the word for “one” used here. Often times in the English translation, it refers to a person rendering it, “no man.” The way this word is translated in the Bible is very interesting. It is most often translated into the English as the word “certain.” However, it does translate it as “any man” 55 times and “man” 34 times.
The Greek word here is tis (tes). It means “any one, some one, a certain one or thing.” This made me stop for a moment and speculate. On one hand, the Greek implies a person as is rendered into the English, but it also means “some one” and “certain one” which causes for speculation. Since the questions were about the return of Jesus and the end of the age, we would assume that Jesus is talking about the Antichrist. But isn’t it odd, that the definition of the word also implies “a certain thing”? If we use that rendering, we could translate this line as, “Take heed that no certain thing deceive you.”
Well this opens up a whole new can of worms. But in context when we look at the following verses, Jesus is clear that He is talking about those who come in His name but are deceivers. But again, staying in line with the possible Great Deception of UFOs, is it possible that what Jesus wants us to take heed of, or be discerned of is an event, which is a thing, but also something that is going to be caused by a person, or “certain one” who could be Satan incarnate? Well, we can never say we know for sure, but certainly, as we look at the Word of God and filter it through what we see around us today, it begins to make sense in a whole new way.
We can be sure that deception will be the ultimate characteristic of the end times. Why would the first thing Jesus says in response be about deception if it wasn’t? This is because the one who will be manifesting as the leader of the prophesied One World Government, New World Order, One World Religion, One World Economy, is going to be the fallen cherub.
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” ~John 8:44 (emphasis added)
Man…. I am so glad to see you writing about this! Been thinking a lot lately about this whole “conversation” about the End Times, prophecy, antichrist, etc., and like you said, the real issue at stake is deception…
Seems like so many Christians who tend to feel like these issues shouldn’t receive “too much attention” get caught up thinking that talking about the “NWO” or the mark of the beast or UFO’s or whatever else are nothing more than concerns about mere physical or financial survival. The real, primary danger of deception somehow seems to get lost in it all. I don’t know if it’s just because the majority of Christians have bought into the whole mindset of things like the “Left Behind” series or what, (where they believe we’re all going to be raptured out before anything gets too crazy), but in any case, Jesus’ call to “Take heed that no one deceive you” seems to be largely ignored by Christianity as a whole.
I don’t know exactly why, but it would seem that most of those who still claim to believe in a real Satan, and even those who would say they believe we are indeed “close to the End”, don’t seem to be all that concerned about the prospect of being deceived themselves… For me, when I read things like “false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect…”, I find it to be one of the most sobering portions of all of scripture!
In the Marzulli interview you brought up a great point about how 9/11 was a perfect example of an event that just totally changed the paradigms of almost everyone on the planet. In a single day, things were put in motion that greatly accelerated our trajectory towards a world that fulfills what the Bible talks about in Revelation. Looking back, we can also see (if our eyes are open) how those events did not merely operate in a vaccum, but could only have had such a massive impact on the American (and global) psyche by being in the context of all the “preparation” that had already occured over the previous decades and generations. It is absolutely remarkable when you think about it, that an entire population containing millions of highly educated, technologically-familiar citizens could accept as fact a chain of events that completely defies even high-school level physics. We can clearly see how factual analysis and critical thinking take a back seat when they are brought into conflict with such deep-seated fundamental motivators such as the belief in the general goodness of mankind (and by extension the refusal to believe that anything so heinous could possibly be done by people working within our “freedom-loving” government…)
But as huge as 9/11 was, we also see that it was but a step in the broader progression, and not the “Great Deception” itself. I guess this is what just continues to baffle me when I continuously hear Christians say things like “You shouldn’t give the devil so much attention, talking about these things, as though he were more powerful than God…”. It just makes me sad, because it only seems to indicate that so many people do not take seriously just how mind-blowingly good Satan is at deceiving people. I mean, when you look at the expanse of history, and see how many false religions and “spiritualities” he has already helped bring about, all the massive indoctrination he has already succeeded in with things like Evolution, transhumanism, faith in our technological progress, and then realize that all of it is but a preparation towards a final, unprecedented, “Great Deception”…??? It’s almost too much to even fathom. Like you said, THIS is the thing that Jesus warns us about! THIS is the reason that we need to be paying attention, and trying to recognize what sorts of “layers” are now being laid down, in order to make the final preparations for the next, or even final “tipping-point event”. Not because we need to try and figure just how we are going to “survive the collapse” or whatever, but because we need to be humble enough to take Christ’s words seriously, and not be so arrogant as to think that we are beyond being deceived ourselves….
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