Can the elect be deceived (Matthew 24:24)?

By the tribulation the devil will seek to crush and exterminate the elect. But this is not all, as verses 21 and 22 show. There will be at that time a special number of false Christs and prophets appearing, by whom he hopes to seduce the elect. He would accomplish it, "if it were possible." Thank God, it is not possible. The true saints will know that the real Christ is not going to hide Himself in some corner, so that men have to say, "Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, He is there." He will shine forth in His glory at His coming, and every eye shall see Him.

Mothers with unborn children or with little ones will experience greatest distress, and if in winter, this would add to the ordeal. This is the time of "the great tribulation," with its greater affliction than has ever been or ever will be, a time so awesome that no flesh should be saved unless the days were shortened. For the sake of the elect (those elect for blessing in the millennial earth) the days will be shortened, however. This is in contrast to the great lengthening of "the dispensation of the grace of God" far beyond what anyone would have imagined in reading the Old Testament prophecies.

Just as during the present dispensation (v.6) false christs and false prophets will arise, even showing signs and wonders so convincing as to deceive (if it were possible) even the elect. The qualifying clause "if it were possible" evidently infers that they would be deceived if it were not for the protection of the grace and power of God. For God has decreed that the elect will not be carried away in spite of their being so close to it. At this time the chief of all false christs, the Anti Christ, will entice great numbers "with all power and signs and lying wonders" (2 Thess.2:9). Believers however have no excuse for accepting such deception, for the Lord has forewarned them of its subtle character, and their protection is in His Word.

In a word it is the final and terrible tribulation of the Jews guilty of having rejected their Messiah, but whose deliverance will then take place in grace, those who are written in the book, for God has an elect people, and for their sakes the days shall be shortened. But in these last days we again find false Christs and false prophets encouraging the unbelieving with the hope of deliverance. They shall give signs and wonders so that if it were possible they would deceive the very elect. But these God will keep. The Lord warns them to believe none of them. They had His account of His coming; it would be sudden and unsuspected as a flash of lightning, where the object of judgment was there it would be, as the unseen bird of prey appears unlooked for where the carcase is. It is an allusion to Job 39:30. The shortening of the days I apprehend to be the confining them peremptorily to the 1260, whereas man's will and passions would carry them on indefinitely. But the Lord would come as a thief in the night and close it all.

Verses 23-26 need not be confined to the last three and a half years, however. No doubt through the entire seven years men claiming to be Christ will foist themselves upon the public, some showing great signs and wonders, as will be true of the anti-christ, the man of sin (2 Thess.3:12). In fact, even today there are many antichrists (1John 2:16). Even the elect must be on their guard, for the deceptions of such men are most plausible. The elect here are of course the godly elect of Israel. But the Lord has forewarned them, so that they have no proper excuse for being deceived.

Now, I confess this is the strongest intimation to me, that the Lord was not contemplating his heavenly, but his earthly people. When by his Spirit, in the apostles afterwards, he comes to speak of his heavenly ones, he distinctly tells us that the saving of the flesh was, and could be, of no account; for that flesh and blood could never inherit the heavens. Saved flesh must be for the inheritance of the earth. The elect of this verse are, I surely conclude, the Lord's earthly remnant.

The elect are again spoken of in verse 24. And there they are presented as being preserved from the deceits of false Christs. I do not say that such words respecting them would necessarily determine them to be an earthly people. No. I believe, from Rev. 13, there will be many heavenly men exposed to deceits in that day, and in like manner preserved from being deceived. But having already established "the elect" of this chapter to be earthly, it is natural to continue in the one thought about them. And beside, the character of deceit here, signs and wonders connected with the assertion of Christ being in the desert and in the chambers, seems to address itself more plausibly, if not exclusively, to a remnant preparing for the earthly places.

(1.) The first point to which I call your attention is found in the 5th, 23rd, and 24th verses: "Many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." (v. 5.) "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." (vv. 23, 24.) Now let me ask you, Supposing that any one at any time should go to a Christian and say, Christ is in such and such a place, could he be in this manner deceived? Does not every, even the most uninstructed, believer know where Christ is, that He is at the right hand of the Father in heaven? If, moreover, a man were to come amongst believers, doing great signs and wonders, and offering these in proof that he was Christ, would he succeed in deceiving the saints? Why, many scriptures would at once be present to their minds contradicting his claims, since all know that they will never see their Lord until either they depart to be with Him, or He comes to receive them unto Himself. On the other hand, suppose for an instant that such a temptation were presented to the Jews who do not believe that their Messiah has ever come, and who are still expecting His advent, and you will see at once their immense liability to such deception. We cannot therefore but regard this description as applying to God's ancient people, and not to the church.

"The Most High" is a millennial title. I have often wondered whether in the millennium there will not be seventy nations. There are more than this number now. Then Jerusalem will be the capital of the world. "It is called the city of the great King," and He will have absolute sway from one end of the earth to the other. The devil will have tremendous power when the Holy Ghost is withdrawn. The Lord is preparing that "generation" for the bitterness of that day, as well as warning them of the false Christ, etc. During the Lord's public ministry there was a terrible display of Satanic power. The Lord was overcoming him, binding him by obedience and dependence, and then spoiling his goods. If it is almighty power it is almighty at all times and everywhere. Satan's power is great, and can be divided. Some of his power is in heaven and some on earth now. He is to be expelled from heaven with his angels and cast down to the earth, his power will be united and concentrated here below. So "there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." There is something very sweet in the Lord's gracious care of the elect. He will not allow them to be deceived.

in Rev. 13:8. All the dwellers upon earth will worship the Beast but those whose names were written from the world's foundation in the Book of Life. He will deceive many, but not "the very elect" (Matt. 24:24). Thus in earth's darkest hour, when the greatest lie of the ages is being eagerly believed, God will preserve to Himself a testimony here. There will not be wanting those who will fearlessly maintain the rights of Christ in the presence of men's pretensions and who will confess, at all cost to themselves, that the sole ground of their confidence and hope is the precious atoning Blood.

The development of a new national sentiment by a large number out of Israel must necessarily create considerable stir. One of the first results will probably be the revival of what is now dead in the heart of Israel, expectation of the Messiah; and there will be the fraudulent pretence of many ambitious men who will present themselves in that character for the acceptance of the Jews, which has before been a danger to that people, as Josephus tells us. There will also be "false prophets," and many will he entrapped by these imposters, but the godly are elaborately cautioned against them. And at the time of the end (vers. 23, 24) when Satanic power is rampant, they will exhibit great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, the very elect. The elect here are the elect of Israel, not, of course, of the church. But while the mass of the Jews are in darkness and at the mercy of these delusions, the remnant are instructed that the coming of Messiah will be like lightning shining from the east unto the west. It will be (1) from heaven, (2) public and unmistakable, (3) glorious and terrible. They will know, therefore, that any report as to the Messiah being here or there, in any earthly locality, must necessarily be false.

But it is clear that the Lord Jesus supposes considerable danger for the disciples here. In fact, being Jewish, not Christian, they might be deceived by the cry that He was here or there on earth; whereas no Christian could be in such danger. But the Jewish disciples were exposed to it. They were looking for the Lord's coming to the earth; they knew that the Lord's feet should stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives.