Rampant Deception among ‘MAGA’ Christians

When Jesus’ disciples asked Him about the signs they should watch for which would announce His coming and the “end of the age,” He began with the following warning: “Take heed that no one deceives you” (Matt. 24:4 NKJV). When Paul later addressed the coming of Christ and “our gathering together to Him” (2 Thess. 2:1) he likewise warned, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, (2 Thess. 2:3 NKJV). The “falling away” of Christians was described by Jesus immediately after His initial warning about the potential deception of His followers (Matt. 24:4-5,9-13). Then the critical sign for which He commanded His followers to watch was “the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet” (v. 15, cf. Dan. 12:11-13), which Paul explained above as the revealing of the “Man of Sin” defiling the Temple of God. What Paul called “our gathering together unto Him,” Jesus had previously described as follows: “29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matt. 24:29-31 NKJV). According to Paul, expecting that “our gathering together unto Him” is before the revealing of the Man of Sin is to be deceived.

You would think that with such clear biblical warnings about Christians being deceived, and the fact that Paul leaned heavily upon Jesus’ Olivet Discourse in his own teaching about Jesus’ return, that modern Christians (especially pastors) would be clear-headed and biblical about the end-times, and would make very sure they have not been deceived themselves and are not deceiving those under their ministries. But alas, such is not the case. They have doubled down in their deceptions and are not fulfilling their duty as shepherds of Jesus’ flock, “to give them their portion of food at the proper time,” (Luke 12:42 ESV). In this passage Jesus said what He is going to do to those unfaithful shepherds (Luke 12:45-48). But what is going to happen to Jesus’ flock when the “rapture” does not materialize, and the events of the tribulation begin to unfold in rapid succession? We are very close now.

Yet the timing of our “gathering” to Jesus in relation to the tribulation is not the only mass deception associated with the pretribulation rapture. The ‘rapture’ doctrine is based on a “dispensational” framework which treats physical Israel as God’s ‘earthly people’ and the ‘Church’ as God’s ‘heavenly people,’ with completely separate destinies. Israel’s destiny is to inherit all of the Land God promised to Abraham as an everlasting inheritance in the Millennium. But the ‘Church’ is allegedly headed for heaven any minute now to remain there for all eternity. Because of this error, dispensationalist Christians, many of whom have President Trump’s ear (like Mike Huckabee and certain Evangelical pastors like John Hagee), encourage the USA to fully support Israel’s alleged right to claim all of the Land promised to Abraham, taking it by force if necessary, even while they reject Christ. They claim that the reestablishing the state of Israel by the UN in 1948 fulfills the prophecies of God’s regathering of Israel to the Promised Land, especially Ezekiel’s “Dry Bones” prophecy (Ezek. 37). Never mind the fact that God Himself interpreted this prophecy as referring to the resurrection from their graves when He restores them to the land (vss. 11-14), which occurs at Christ’s return after the “time of trouble,” (Dan. 12:1-2). These dispensationalist Evangelicals are willing to support Israel’s claim on all the land using the military might of the United States to accomplish it. They take God’s promise to Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you” (Gen. 12:3 NKJV) and misapply it to the modern state of Israel, claiming that God will “bless” America if we whole-heartedly support the Israeli state, but will curse us if we do not. But the promise was to Abraham personally, not the modern state of Israel. Dispensationalists like Huckabee and Hagee don’t mind merging their prophetic scheme with politics and military intervention which will ultimately be the very catalyst to bring about the end-time wars and destruction described in Revelation. It will lead to Israel’s ultimate acceptance of Antichrist as their deliverer. But who cares if Jews and Arabs get slaughtered in the process and seal their fate by taking the mark of the Beast? After all, Mike and his fellow dispensationalists are allegedly going to be raptured out of their padded pews and whisked off to heaven before the poop hits the fan! What does this unconditional support for the state of Israel say to the average Muslim living in the middle east about Christianity and the Gospel message to them? And what does it say to the Jews except that you don’t need to accept Jesus as the Messiah because you have full right to all of the Land, from the Nile to the Euphrates rivers, even while you hate Jesus! You are fine with just Moses and the “works of the Law.” Much of the MAGA movement consists of Christians who have embraced “Christian Zionism” which is the application of this system to politics. They have much blood on their hands.

Then we also have the opposite heresy showing its ugly head in the MAGA movement, Amillennialism, held by Catholics and most Protestants. This is the denial of Christ’s future reign on earth. The primary lie in this system is that the “Church” is “Israel,” Christ’s “Kingdom” is now in this age, and the natural descendants of Abraham have been permanently abandoned by God. All of the Old Testament promises of Israel’s restoration are allegories of the Church in the present age. Too bad for Israelis if they took the many prophecies literally about the restoration of Israel and Jerusalem, and the Messiah restoring the Davidic Kingdom! Many Christians who embrace this view tend to be very antisemitic, often claiming that the modern state of Israel is an abomination, Satan’s doing, and promote conspiracy theories that the “Jews” are not really even the physical decedents of Abraham, sometimes even siding with Israel’s enemies against their right to self-defense. “Influencers” who promote this theology in the MAGA movement include Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Matt Walsh, Megan Kelly, among others. They do not want the USA to help Israel in any way, even when their very existence is being threatened. They are content to let Iran nuke them out of existence. The Amillennialists’ message to Israel is that they have no business hoping for the Messiah or the restoration of Jerusalem and the Davidic Kingdom! They are living on stolen land.

Then there is a third Christian heresy among a significant number of MAGA Christians who also have the president’s ear. This is the “Christian Nationalist” movement popular among Charismatics. It holds to a post-millennial eschatology, that Jesus will only return after Christians take over government and social institutions and subsequently bring about peace on earth for a millennium by forcing it upon the world. We are to “rule the nations with a rod of iron” (Psalm 2:9) now as Christ’s representatives. The so-called “Seven Mountain Mandate” is a cornerstone of this movement, as is the so-called “New Apostolic Reformation.” This demonic movement has self-appointed prophets and apostles whom Christians must obey as Christ Himself. And yes, these are also among Trump’s top “spiritual advisors.” His personal “pastor” is the ultra-heretic Paula White, who claims to be a prophetess and apostle.

Christians who should know better are now being heavily influenced through social media and becoming disciples of these influencers, politicians, political pundits, and heretics, promoting them and their ignorant rantings, supposing that they are doing God’s work. Wake up, people! Please, disengage from all of this rubbish and promote Jesus Christ, His coming Kingdom, and the Gospel message while there is still daylight. Leave it to God to put the end-time players into position. Don’t get blood on your hands by pushing any of the above agendas or their spokespersons. Don’t get sucked into the political rubbish which taints the true message and misrepresents God, His Son, and His message. Please stop publishing this stuff or promoting “influencers” on your social media platforms which only diminishes your own Christian witness! Let’s all live out the Sermon on the Mount and let God move the chess pieces into place. He does not need our help to bring about the end-times! He needs us to accurately represent Him, His Son, and the message of the Gospel in humble obedience as we serve others and await His Son’s return. Do not make the mistake Abraham made with Hagar!