Blindness and Deception

And to make matters worse, have you ever wondered why so few Jews have accepted the Messiah during the last 2000 years?  It was because they were blinded, Romans 11:7.

⁷What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded

For the better part of 2000 years, Jews were blinded from the gospel.  They could not hear the message.  Before you jump to any conclusions, it is important to understand who blinded the Jews, Romans 11:8.

⁸(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

It was God that blinded the Jews.  Again, the gospel message was being limited by God.  It should be clear that salvation has not been available to all people at all times.

I want to show one last way the gospel message was limited, 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12.

¹⁰And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ¹¹And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: ¹²That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

God sent a strong delusion to these people.  Specifically, so that they would believe a lie.  They had no chance of accepting the gospel message.  I have shown 3 ways God, Himself, limited the gospel.  With all the deception that is in the world, how could the gospel be available to all mankind?

On one hand God is limiting the Gospel, on the other the devil is deceiving many others.  Yet in John 3:16:

¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

If God loved us, why did God allow so many to be deceived and therefore never accept or even hear the Gospel message?  Seems like they did not even have a chance.  If salvation was God’s purpose for the last 2000 years then both God and the Devil limited the Gospel.  Would God frustrate His own purposes?  Seems unlikely to me.

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