I have a headache and do not feel like writing this morning. So, I am going to present everyone with an excerpt from the New Interpreter’s Bible on 2 Chronicles 18:1-19:3 written by Leslie Allen. ”Should one lie if lying leads to a good end? This question makes us uneasy. Doubtless we would become even more uneasy at the suggestion that God might give false messages to prophets, to lure the recipient to his or her death. Yet, that is what we find in these chapters… Does the New Testament contain any parallels to the chronicler’s presentation of God’s punitive providence in 2 Chronicles 18:1-19? A close parallel may be presented in 2 Thessalonians 2:11: A fate reserved for those who refuse to love the truth and be saved is that “God sends them a powerful delusion, leading them to believe what is false” (NRSV; similarly NIV). If chapters 18–19 pose a problem, it is a biblical problem. “Can one trust God? Maybe, but only at the price of obedience and a genuine love for the truth, no matter how unpleasant that truth may be. Without these ingredients in one’s response to God, the divine lie remains a distinct and terrifying possibility.” This is an interesting issue what do you think?
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