Prodical Warrior

Maybe you’ve also felt the tension in these verses. We’re trying to trust the Lord, and then we stumble on lines that sound like He misled someone. Or someone simply opposed to God makes lame excuses for not following Him. So, something in us tightens up. We want to worship the God who is true, not a god who plays games with words. So, let’s do this the right way. We’ll put the hard texts up front, we’ll put the clear texts up front, and then we’ll let Scripture interpret Scripture.

Passages That Sound Like God Deceives

“Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.” — Jeremiah 4:10

“Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?” — Jeremiah 15:18

“O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.” — Jeremiah 20:7

“Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee.” — 2 Chronicles 18:22

“And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.” — Ezekiel 14:9

“…God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” — 2 Thessalonians 2:11

Passages That Are Clear: God Cannot Lie

“God is not a man, that he should lie.” — Numbers 23:19

“…in which it was impossible for God to lie.” — Hebrews 6:18

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” — John 14:6

“Let God be true, but every man a liar.” — Romans 3:4

“God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.” — James 1:13

The Tension: Questions We All Ask

• If God cannot lie, why does Scripture say “thou hast deceived me”?
• Is God morally guilty when people believe what is false?
• How can God be sovereign over deception without being the author of it?
• Are these verses describing God’s character, or God’s judgment?

The Unshakable Foundation

We have to begin with what cannot move. God is holy. God is true. God is light. He is not crooked, not double-tongued, not shady. Whatever these “deceived” texts mean, they cannot mean God becomes a liar. If we make them say that, we’re not being bold, we’re being careless.

Here is the lens that keeps us steady: God does not lie, but God does judge. One of the most sobering forms of judgment in Scripture is when God gives men over to the very thing they keep choosing. God’s restraint is mercy. When He removes it, that removal is judgment. That is not God sinning, it is God letting sin run to its end.

Living in Deception: A Personal Reflection

This is not abstract to me. I’ve lived in a web of lies, my own and others’. And once you’re tangled up in deception, it gets hard to know what’s true anymore. You start categorizing lies: Big ones, little ones. You tell yourself you can tolerate the small ones, just don’t lie about the big stuff: adultery, cheating, betrayal. It’s like your conscience is trying to negotiate with darkness

But when you’re a liar too, that negotiation doesn’t cleanse you. It just trains you to tolerate what’s killing you.

God is not vague about this:

“These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue…” — Proverbs 6:16–17

“Lying lips are abomination to the LORD.” — Proverbs 12:22

“I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.” — Psalm 119:163

Living in deception is not just miserable. It is judgment shaped like chains. And at some point, if we keep rejecting truth, we shouldn’t be shocked when lying spirits start to rule the atmosphere of our lives. God doesn’t need to invent lies to judge a liar. He can simply withdraw restraint and let deception do what deception does.

But Here Is the Mercy

When we step into the light, God meets us there. Truth brings discernment:

“When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.” — John 16:13

Lying starts to taste foul. Even the “small” lies begin to crush us. That’s not proof you’re failing—that’s proof God is working on your heart. He’s pulling you out of the dark.

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” — John 8:32

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us…” — 1 John 1:9

Freedom doesn’t start with better performance. It starts with telling the truth.

Understanding the “Deceived” Texts

Let’s walk through them with this lens in place:

Jeremiah 4:10; 15:18; 20:7 — These are laments, not doctrinal statements. Jeremiah is bleeding, not writing a theology textbook. He is overwhelmed by the gap between what people expect from God and what judgment is unfolding. God records Jeremiah’s pain, but we don’t take that pain as a verdict on God’s character.

2 Chronicles 18:22 — This is God judging a man (Ahab) who loved lies. Ahab rejected truth, hated the prophet who told it, and surrounded himself with flatterers. God permits a lying spirit to work through men already committed to falsehood. That’s not deception in a moral sense. That’s judgment that fits the sin.

Ezekiel 14:9 — These people came to God with idols still in their hearts. They wanted affirmation, not repentance. So God gives them a prophet who mirrors their own rebellion. He judges the prophet and the people, exposing their motives. Again, this is courtroom language. It’s not about God tricking the righteous.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 — This is the clearest of all. The “strong delusion” is sent to those who refused to love the truth. They delighted in unrighteousness. They weren’t victims of confusion. They cherished the lie. God lets them have what they wanted.

So, Does God Deceive?

No, not in the moral sense. God does not lie. He is not a trickster. He is holy.

Yes, in the judicial sense. God can give people over to deception as judgment when they harden their hearts against the truth.

When we encounter hard passages, we don’t accuse God of moral failure. We don’t soften Scripture. We tremble. We slow down. We let the whole Bible speak.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD…” — Isaiah 55:8–9

That verse doesn’t tell us to shut off our brains. It tells us to stop pretending we’re the judge and God is on trial.

A Final Word of Encouragement

To the one who wants to walk in the light but feels how deep the old patterns go: God gives help.

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not…” — James 1:5

Ask Him for wisdom. Ask Him for a hatred of lies that goes deeper than performance. Ask Him to make you a man who tells the truth even when it costs, because a lie always costs more than it pays.

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding…” — Proverbs 3:5–6

Stay humble. Some of us have lived so long in deception that we don’t even recognize how twisted our instincts have become. But Scripture says the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of truth. As we repent, the light gets brighter. The excuses lose their grip. The lies start to sound like what they really are.

That is not condemnation. That is God restoring your senses.

Here’s the line I’ll leave with you:

If we will not love truth, we will eventually love a lie.

But if we will love the truth, God will make us free.

And He will teach our mouths to stop betraying our own souls.