<p>2:11- see on 2 Thess. 2:7.</p><p><i>For this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie</i>- &quot;Strong delusion&quot; is literally the energy of delusion; just as God can work within the minds of believers according to His <i>energeia</i> by His Spirit (Eph. 1:19; 3:16-20), so those who refuse to believe have another spirit sent to work within them, deluding them into believing the lie. &quot;The lie&quot; refers to the &quot;delusion&quot;; and in the first century context, that delusion was the words of the Judaizers, framed as they are as the serpent in Eden and Cain who told the first lies (the same Greek word for &quot;delusion&quot; is used about the Judaizers who sought to delude the believers in Eph. 4:14; 2 Pet. 3:17; Jude 11 cp. Jn. 8:44). John contrasts a love of the truth (cp. :10) with &quot;the spirit of error s.w. &quot;delusion&quot;&quot;, which operated through the false Judaist prophets / teachers infiltrating the churches (1 Jn. 4:1,6). Psychological confirmation of disbelievers is a feature of God's working with men (Is. 6:9,10; Rom. 1:24-28), and God even sends false prophets or teachers as part of this process (1 Kings 22:22,23; Ez. 14:9; Job 12:16). This is what will particularly happen in the last days (1 Tim. 4:1), just as it did in the collapse of Christian faith which was seen in the run up to the events of AD70.</p><p>This passage explains clearly why the Bible is so confusing. God plagued the first century ecclesia with false brethren who could work impressive miracles; because &quot;they received not the love of the truth (they treated it as a hobby)... God shall send them strong delusion, that they might believe a lie&quot;. God deceived brethren in the run up to AD70- it's that plain. And the events of AD70 are typical of our last days. 2 Thess. 2 has many connections with the Olivet Prophecy, as noted on :3. The idea of brethren being deceived at the time of Christ's &quot;coming&quot; connects with Mt. 24:5,11,24 describing 'the majority' (Gk.) of the latter day ecclesia being &quot;deceived&quot;. 2 Thess. 2:11 says that this deception is sent by God because they refuse to love the Truth. The conclusion is hard to avoid: in our last days, the majority of us will be deceived because we don't &quot;love the truth&quot; - it's no more than a hobby. Whether we have yet reached that situation must remain an open question. God worked false miracles at the time of AD70, according to 2 Thess. 2:9-11. This means that the 'miracles' claimed by some false religions may be actual miracles; God allows them to be done because He wishes to deceive such people. &nbsp;</p><p>This same word for &ldquo;lie&rdquo; is used in :9 about &ldquo;lying wonders&rdquo;. This implies that the beast / false prophet / man of sin is somehow allowed by God to do the lying wonders; they will be sent by God to test the faithful. God deluded the unfaithful within the first century ecclesia into false doctrine and alienation from Him; and it seems, it we are interpreting correctly, that He will do the same in these last days.</p>