“And the angel threw him [Satan] into the abyss
and shut it and sealed it over him,
so that he would not deceive the nations
any longer.”
Revelation 20:3
Revelation 20 teaches that Satan not only attempts to deceive you and I individually, but that he schemes to deceive entire nations. Due to COVID-19 and what was revealed through the November 3rd election, I believe that many of us will remember 2020 as the year that unprecedented deception came upon our nation.
COVID’s Contribution
In October pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church were put under a “thorough investigation” by the Los Angeles Public Health Department. What was the impetus for such extreme measures? Three of the 7,000 church members at Grace Community had tested positive for COVID-19. That’s not a typo. A total of three people tested positive, and public health officials, following their policy manual replete with further guidelines and restrictions, were compelled to investigate the situation for weeks, even though there were no new cases, zero hospitalizations, and zero deaths.[1]
In response to this government overreach, attorney Jenna Ellis explained, “It has never been the church’s position that it is only safe to hold services if no one ever tests positive, or for example, if no one ever gets the flu during flu season. Our position has been that LA County shutting down churches indefinitely amid a virus with a 99.98% survival rate . . . is unconstitutional and harmful to the free exercise of religion.”
The overall COVID situation in relation to civil liberties is considerably more distressing when one considers how few churches have stopped to seriously question their state’s policies and restrictions. Whether inside or outside the church, following an “all-powerful” government is an unwelcome place to be. Already in various states’ official guidelines, there are debilitating limitations upon Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings in private homes, as well as in church buildings.[2] If state governments can go so far as to restrict private residential gatherings and Christmas services, there will be no limit to the executive orders that will be made during future national crises.
But the worst part is not the loss of freedom, it is the that loss of freedom is largely taking place based on deception. Professor of Medicine at Stanford University Dr. Jay Bhattacharya explains the dangers of the current national deception in which we find ourselves: “The widespread lockdowns that have been adopted in response to COVID are unprecedented—lockdowns have never before been tried as a method of disease control.” After discussing disastrous lockdown outcomes, including the likelihood of an additional 130 million worldwide deaths due to starvation, Dr. Bhattacharya advocates for The Great Barrington Declaration (www.gbdeclaration.org). In agreement with scientists from Harvard University and Oxford University, this declaration reads:
Those who are not vulnerable [to Covid-19] should immediately be allowed to resume life as normal. Simple hygiene measures, such as hand washing and staying home when sick should be practiced by everyone . . . Schools and universities should be open for in-person teaching. Extracurricular activities, such as sports, should be resumed. Young low-risk adults should work normally, rather than from home. Restaurants and other businesses should open. Arts, music, sports, and other cultural activities should resume . . . .”
By mid-October The Great Barrington Declaration had been signed by over 43,000 medical and public health scientists, as well as medical practitioners.[3] Obviously, this is not a fringe group trying to push a political agenda. And yet, governors around the nation— including where I live in Michigan—are currently reintroducing lockdown measures on almost every facet of society highlighted in The Great Barrington Declaration. Even more deceptive, state governors and misguided scientists, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, are claiming to follow the science, while they themselves either misunderstand or are willfully ignoring the scientific data. Oddly, social media and the mainstream media seem more than happy to push these questionable decrees while simultaneously provide almost no platform for alternative viewpoints, including The Great Barrington Declaration and its signers.
COVID’S Second Deception
Due to the coronavirus, Americans were led to believe a strange narrative incessantly promoted over much of 2020. This narrative sounded a false alarm by declaring that if our polling procedures of the last 244 years were followed in the 2020 elections, vast numbers of people would contract COVID-19 while voting at the polls and likely die. As a result, many voters—possibly the majority—would decline to show up at polling stations to cast their ballots.
However, the science and the data have repeatedly confirmed at the CDC website, as well as other sources such as the thousands of doctors who signed The Great Barrington Declaration, that the overall recovery rate of those who contract the virus is 99.7 percent. Among the young and healthy, the recovery rate is 99.9 percent.
Although the risks of allowing mail-in ballots were explained in a 2012 bipartisan government study, this year state governments chose to move forward with mail-in voting because of the misguided pandemic concern described above. According to the New York Times:
There is a bipartisan consensus that voting by mail, whatever its impact, is more easily abused than other forms. In a 2005 report signed by President Jimmy Carter and James A. Baker III, who served as secretary of state under the first President George Bush, the Commission on Federal Election Reform concluded, “Absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud.”
On the most basic level, absentee voting replaces the oversight that exists at polling places with something akin to an honor system.
“Absentee voting is to voting in person,” Judge Richard A. Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has written, “as a take-home exam is to a proctored one.”[4]
Because of deceptions pushing our nation toward elections ripe for voting irregularities, today we find ourselves embroiled in alleged fraud, state recounts, extensive litigation, and an uncertified candidate positioning himself to be the President-elect.
Exposing Cultural Lies and Deception
In the current atmosphere, the way forward is for the body of Christ to confront every cultural lie with the truth of God’s Word. If we are waiting for the truth to come forth from the darkened minds of non-Christians, we have unwittingly succumbed to, and are now aiding and abetting, Satan’s deceptions. Paul told us, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them” (Eph. 5:11).
Considering our spiritual enemy’s recent brazen attempts to deceive our nation, we at Forerunners of America are lifting our game to be “salt and light” wherever and whenever possible. This is why we are developing a third channel at the FOA website to better deliver each day’s manna to you.
Already we have Culture in Focus with Timothy Zebell to provide the discernment and practical input necessary for you to become a more effective cultural influencer. This channel presents Timothy’s passion to use current events to equip Christians to better share the truth, especially the truth of the gospel. Soon we hope to finish a website redesign intended to make this channel more accessible.
We also have INSIGHTS with Dave Warn. Every other week I post videos and podcasts focused on God’s “now” message for our lives, churches, and nation. Often I am accompanied by guests and co-hosts, such as Than Christopoulos.
Than Christopoulos is in the process of joining Forerunners of America as a full time staff member. He is passionate to help Christians stand firm now and through the future difficulties that we will likely face. Like never before, we need to navigate our many personal and national challenges by knowing why we believe what we believe. So, Than is developing a new channel designed to help people stand firm. In the next few months, look for the launch of Exploring Reality with Than Christopoulos.
Far from despairing that we are living in the day when our adversary is doing everything possible to deceive the nations—including ours—let’s expose evil by bringing God’s truth into every situation. Let’s recognize that He is worthy of every difficulty that we face (2 Tim. 3:10–12; Rev. 12:11). And let’s believe that it is in the midst of trials and much evil that God may be pleased to usher-in the greatest harvest of souls you or I have ever seen.
Notes
[1] https://www.christianpost.com/news/la-county-clears-john-macarthurs-church-of-covid-19-outbreak.html
[2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-16/michigan-to-impose-a-three-week-partial-lockdown-to-fight-virus
[3] https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/sensible-compassionate-anti-covid-strategy/
[4] https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/us/politics/as-more-vote-by-mail-faulty-ballots-could-impact-elections.html
