Wisdom in the Age of Deception and Corruption

There are three sources of deception that stand out today with regard to current events: false prophets, false politicians and false news programs. When the apostles asked Jesus about the signs of the end of the world, his first subject was deception. This subject launched a chapter's worth of detailed prophecies intended to contrast the events of the last days with other periods of history: “Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you.” (Matthew 24.4)

The Apostle Paul in his letter to Timothy predicted great deception: “But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived.” (2 Timothy 3.13 NLT) In Matthew 24.37 Jesus prophesied the last days would be like the days of Noah, that were filled with corruption: "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6.5)

When my wife and I found out about the chemical weapons in Crimea’s Black Sea, we felt this was one of many confirmations of God’s will for our family to begin a process of moving to the U.S. In coming to visit the U.S. I noticed how people often choose to defend certain TV programs or a broad view of patriotism rather than taking a careful approach to testing information, no matter where it is from. I love the freedoms we still have in the U.S. and the fact that many people are quite honest. At the same time, there is a great need for discernment today.

False Prophets

The false teacher Harold Egbert Camping made another prediction about the specific day the rapture of the Church would occur. This time it was May 21, 2011. This was really quite interesting because Jesus said we would not know the day of the rapture: “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mark 13.32)

Harold Camping did fulfill prophecy in two ways: firstly, by being among the many false prophets predicted and secondly, by giving a reason for people to mock the rapture, as foretold: “First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” (2 Timothy 3.3-4)

False Politicians

Politicians are notorious for bending the truth. But there is such a level of deception today that a conscious and deliberate approach of critical reasoning is required to cut through the spin, hype and fraud. President Obama was repeatedly asked by the U.S. public to present a copy of his long-form birth certificate because his father was from Kenya and there was doubt as to whether or not he was a natural-born U.S. citizen, as required by law for the presidency. Obama said he would bring transparency to government but did not respond to requests for an official long-form birth certificate until Donald Trump threatened Obama's reelection success.

The U.S. government posted Barack Obama’s alleged long form birth certificate on one of their websites April 27, 2011, at this link. The image is described as a PDF file and the implication is that it is a PDF file made from a scan of the original birth certificate. However, there is no embossed seal apparent anywhere on the document and there is a white halo around most of the lettering. At the Department of Motor Vehicles a person couldn’t get a drivers license using the birth certificate that was scanned here. But the most convincing evidence that this is probably a forgery is the recent discovery of text kerning in the document. In three places kerning is used, a computer technique not available when Obama was born. This technique was made popular by computer desktop publishing software.

Dr. Jerome Corsi exposed this evidence in his new book "Where's the Birth Certificate? The Case That Barack Obama Is Not Eligible to be President" and the evidence is outlined in the video embedded above. You can see the kerning in the original government-posted birth certificate with your naked eye as you zoom into the image. We'll see if the mainstream media picks up on this recent discovery or just ignores it, as it does with many important stories. Barry Sotero, Barack Obama, whatever his real name is, does not seem to be very concerned.

False News Programs

Look at the slogan for Fox News. It says "Fair and Balanced." In February 2003, a U.S. court ruled that mainstream news, and Fox in particular, enjoy a constitutional right to lie. Two journalists were fired from Fox News because they did not want to lie about the health hazards of Monsanto's milk production product Posilac. It seems Monsanto pressured Fox to lie about the health hazards of hormones injected into cows in order to produce more milk. The two journalists sued Fox News and won. But then Fox turned around and sued the journalists and won. The court ruled that Fox is not required to tell the truth and so the journalists were an exception to whistleblower protection laws. Then Fox sued for legal costs. Then the journalists sued to have Fox’s license removed for false advertising.

Fox advertises “Fair and Balanced” news while bowing to pressure from hazardous corporations such as Monsanto. Is there a legal precedent for this type of civil rights issue? Yes, we do have a right to free speech, as long as it doesn't cause death. If it’s illegal for a person to lie and yell fire in a crowded public movie theater, why is it legal for mainstream news outlets to lie about products shown to increase the chance of developing cancer? In the first case, a handful of people may be trampled. In the second case, populations around the world, millions of people become susceptible to the possibility of a slow death from cancer.

The labeling and banning of genetically modified foods is common throughout the world. But in the United States many people do not even know what genetically modified food is, thanks to our mainstream media and thanks to the Monsanto - FDA revolving door approval process. On March 30th, 2011 a group of farmers, businesses and organic agricultural organizations in Canada and the US filed a lawsuit against Monsanto for protection against the aggressive and unscrupulous business tactics Monsanto utilizes. This story has been noted in  mainstream news, hasn't it? Not likely. The reason other mainstream news organizations don't jump on this story is because they are basically in the same boat. Alternative news sources, however, are not as easily compromised by big business and the government.

Conclusion


People are being led astray by false doctrines, false documents and by fatal policy decisions because there is a general lack of discernment and a whole lot of deception. If we are apathetic about truth in our age of deception, we will suffer unnecessarily. I’m glad that the scriptures are solid and reliable when correctly interpreted. And I’m glad God does increase our sense of discernment as we abide in Him and His word:

“A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.” (Proverbs 22.3 NLT)

“In that day he will be your sure foundation, providing a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the LORD will be your treasure.” (Isaiah 33.6 NLT)

"In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." (Hebrews 5.12-14 NIV)

"but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good." (1 Thessalonians 5.21 NLT)