Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to 2 Thessalonians · About this commentary
A Powerful Delusion
2 Thessalonians 2:11-12
11 Because of this, God sends them a powerful delusion, that they should believe a lie, · WEB
God is said to send the delusion, and the verse before explains why that is judgment rather than entrapment.
Because of this, God sends them a powerful delusion, that they should believe the lie. The sentence is hard, and the words because of this are what make it bearable: the sending follows the refusal of verse 10. It is a sentence passed, not a trap laid.
Scripture describes this judgment repeatedly, and always in the same shape. God gave them up, three times over, to what they had already chosen Romans 1:24 Romans 1:26 Romans 1:28. Pharaoh hardened his own heart before it is ever said that God hardened it Exodus 8:15 Exodus 9:12. The judicial act ratifies a decision already made; it does not originate it.
Verse 12 states the ground of the verdict in two clauses, and the second is the sharper. They did not believe the truth, and they had pleasure in unrighteousness. The second explains the first. Where truth is unwelcome, disbelief is not a conclusion reached but a preference indulged, and that is precisely what the passage calls judgeable.
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