There is a verse in the Bible that says that God will turn them over to believe the lie. Who are those He is turning over to believe the lie? Those people who refuse to turn to Him in repentance and faith.
They refuse to believe the truth.
What we are seeing now in this country is the revelation of the hidden works of darkness. What these people have been doing behind the scenes for years is now coming out in the light. Fortunately, there are still people in America who love the truth and are discerning.
The problem with perverted people is that they don't love the truth. It's not that they don't know the difference between the truth and the lies, but rather that they hate the truth and love what is false. It is hard to live in a society where people hate truth. They know the difference yet they love what is not true.
We have two main candidates running for office at this time. One of them will be our next president. It is interesting to note several things that have come out during this election. One of them is how the media can completely smear a person's reputation to the point that the majority of the people believe what is reported about the person. People do not take the time to do the research themselves to find out what is true and what is not. Another thing that is interesting is shown in the voter guide. I think on every major issue, the 2 presidential candidates had opposing views*.
We can see that the media has power to sway people in their thinking. But one thing the media has to do, if we want to be somewhat fair, is to present the facts that are true. If there are good things concerning the presidential candidate that the media doesn't like, they won't show them. The presidential candidate that the media doesn't like has done some very good deeds for people. But you will not hear about those because the media will not report them. But the media will report issues about people who claim to have been violated by the unfavored candidate. What those people didn't know was that Trump was too smart for them to get away with it. Their plan backfired. After the elections, Trump will take all those women who claim to have been sexually violated by him, to court. Also, it is interesting to note that once Trump announced that, we don't hear anything about it. If he were truly guilty of wrongdoing, he would have been penalized by now and would probably have to drop out of the race.
As you can tell, I am dead set against any kind of slander. God calls slander an abomination (see Proverbs 6). An abomination is very serious in God's eyes. In fact, anything that causes an abomination will be thrown in the Lake of Fire (see Revelation 21:8 KJV).
I have seen slander in the church. Many are being slandered today, simply because someone doesn't like them. The problem with slander is that the cases that are presented are plausible. They look real. But the Bible says to look at both sides of an argument before forming an opinion. (John 7:51, Proverbs 18:13)
Here is a very sad story recorded in the Old Testament concerning a man who had a vineyard, a king who coveted the vineyard, and a wife who pressured her husband to take his power as a king and get the vineyard that he so desired. This is a sad example of how slander works.
"Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. And after this Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.” But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food.
But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “Why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?” And he said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money, or else, if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” And Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now govern Israel? Arise and eat bread and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city. And she wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people. And set two worthless men opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, ‘You have cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.” And the men of his city, the elders and the leaders who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. As it was written in the letters that she had sent to them, they proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned; he is dead.”
As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” And as soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it."
Of course God did not allow Ahab to get away with it. Bad things happened to them because of their sin. But do you see how serious the sin of slander is? Naboth was accused of cursing God and the king. I wonder how he felt when he was being taken out to be stoned. I wonder what his wife thought when she found out what happened.
We need to continue to pray for our country. Our land needs healing. We need to listen to God and pray against the evil. We need to pray for the hidden works of darkness to be exposed, and that the truth will prevail.
We need to be careful to weigh whatever we hear on the news. Not everything is going to be the correct version of what happened. We need to be discerning and spiritually sharp. May God help us to be the people of God He wants us to be.
"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."
Exodus 20:16 ESV
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