Puzzlers from Thessalonians II

Yesterday I gave you a passage from 2 Thessalonians -- 2 Thess 2:1-12. You may want to re-read it. My questions yesterday were about the pre-Trib Rapture concept and how this popular passage fits (or doesn't). The passage in question holds a second set of statements that I found interesting. I'll just list the text in question here, but remember the context -- the coming of the Man of Lawlessness:

⁸ That lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; ⁹ that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, ¹⁰ and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. ¹¹ For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, ¹² in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness (2 Thess 2:8-12).

This question isn't about the Man of Lawlessness. This one is about two puzzling aspects of this text.

Paul uses an odd phrase here. He references "the deception of wickedness for those who perish." That is, those who perish do so because they were deceived by wickedness. Clear enough. But Paul goes on to explain why they were deceived: "Because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved." It's an odd phrase. The Greek word is dechomai and is literally "to receive". It is contrasted with lambano which means "to obtain or take". The former is more passive than the latter. Paul is saying here that those who were ultimately deceived by wickedness were not able to recover from that deception because they were never given the gift of the love of the truth. Without that gifting, they had no love of the truth and couldn't escape the deception of evil.

As if that phrase isn't curious enough, Paul throws in a second concept that is even more difficult. "God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness" (2 Thess 2:11-12). Not only did these people not receive a love of the truth, but God sent a deluding influence. Wow!

Note, first, that it does not say that God deluded them. It doesn't say that God lied to them. It says that He sent a deluding influence. Second, I should point out that this isn't the first time God did this. In 1 Kings 22:23 we read "The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets." It's the same kind of thing. God didn't lie, but when a spirit in His presence offered to deceive Ahab's false prophets, God sent him.

For so many in our current Christian climate human beings are the "top dog". Human Free Will is the ultimate decider on the planet. Not even God will transgress that. And, while we sure could use some help, in the final analysis human beings possess within themselves all that is required to recognize, embrace, and place their faith in the truth. Aren't we special? But Paul here (and elsewhere) seems to disagree. He seems to think that humans lack a basic love of the truth and it has to be given to them. We like to think that God is obligated in some sense to His creation to save as many as possible because we are so special, but Paul says that God even perpetuates delusion in the case of those who are deceived by wickedness. "Now, look, God, that's not right. You're supposed to be trying to save as many as you possibly can. This can't mean what it says." Or can it? Could it be that our current Christian climate is wrong about humans, their ultimate Free Will, and God's intent to save as many as He possibly can? You decide.