Lux Lucet

The masonic “All Seeing Eye of Providence” as seen on the back of the U.S. one dollar bill. This same symbol is found on the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States.  Many of the founding fathers of America, George Washington included, were masons.  

And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

• Mark 3:6

Conspiracy theorist.  Few words in the English language are freighted with more negative baggage than these.  To be so labeled is to be verbally ostracized from polite society and to cease to be taken seriously as a thinker or writer.

In recent times, so-called conspiracy theorists have been accused of spreading fake news, denounced as Russian bots, and removed from major social media platforms as punishment for daring to disagree with official narratives.

And this isn’t something that has taken place in Soviet Russia or Communist China either.  The silencing of dissenting opinion has taken place right here in the good old US of A, the land of the free and the home of the brave.

The most recent push for censorship of dissenting voices can be dated to the fall of 2016.  On October 16^th, less than four weeks from the presidential election that saw Donald Trump shock the nation’s pundits by defeating favorite Hillary Clinton to win the White House, then President Barak Obama gave a speech in Pittsburgh in which he, “decried America’s ‘wild, wild west’ media environment for allowing conspiracy theorists a broad platform and destroying a common basis for debate.”   Obama went on to say, “We are going to have to rebuild within this wild-wild-west-of-information flow some sort of curating function that people agree to…There has to be, I think, some sort of way in which we can sort through information that passes some basic truthiness tests and those that we have to discard, because they just don’t have any basis in anything that’s actually happening in the world.”

What’s that again?  Did the President of the United States just call for a Ministry of Truth?  It certainly appears that he did.

On November 24, 2016, the Washington Post ran what has become a very well-known article among independent journalists titled “Russian propaganda effort helped spread ‘fake news’ during election, experts say.”   In that article was a link to a report by a shadowy group known as PropOrNot.  The report titled Black Friday Report:  On Russian Propaganda network Mapping, was supposedly, “a list of over 200 distinct website, YouTube channels and Facebook groups which qualify as Russian propaganda outlets according to our criteria and target audiences in the United States.”

So who’s behind the organization PropOrNot?  To this day, no one seems to know for sure.  Some think it’s the CIA, which seems a likely suspect to this author for at least four reasons.  First, the Washington Post is considered by some credible individuals to be a CIA asset.  For example, former Undersecretary of the Treasury Paul Craig Roberts, a man who once held a top secret security clearance, wrote in 2018 that when he was working as a Congressional staffer he was told in a briefing that the Washington Post was a CIA asset.  Second, the Washington Post article and the PropOrNot report essentially made the case that Donald Trump won the election because the American people were duped into voting for him by websites under Russian influence.  Third, Donald Trump was barely sworn into office when the Russia, Russia, Russian drumbeat started, resulting in the Mueller Investigation, which ultimately turned out to be an embarrassment to Mueller and his supporters, but not before it consumed two years of Trump’s first term in office. Fourth, the by now well-established fact that US intelligence was actively working against the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.  Much more can be written about the various intelligence agencies and their plots against Trump.  Indeed, there is likely a great deal of information that has not yet been made public.  But, in the estimation of this author, there is enough evidence of a conspiracy from the highest levels – both to deny Donald Trump the presidency in 2016 and, once that failed, to silence his supporters on the internet and to discredit Trump himself as a Russian agent – that the matter is settled beyond a reasonable doubt.

There was a time when this author would have hesitated to accept that so-called conspiracy theories could be true.  Only crazy people believe those things, right?  But after watching the 2016 election and its aftermath, in my opinion it is foolish to discount the possibility that events are not necessarily what they seem at first glance. As John Robbins noted, events do not explain themselves but must themselves be explained.  And if those who control the explanations – and here I’m referring to those in government, the media and academia – have hidden agendas, then it is hardly surprising that they would make use of what Plato called “the noble lie” to support those agendas.

Conspiracies in the Bible    

When considering the possibility that high-level conspiracies exist in the present day, it’s helpful to ask the question whether any evidence can be found in the Scriptures for such behavior.  The answer is, yes, there are examples of conspiracies in the Bible, and high-level ones at that.  In fact, it’s quite surprising just how many conspiracies there are in the Word of God.

Before examining the Bible for conspiracies, it is helpful to define the term.  According to Merriam-Webster, the verb “conspire” means, “to join in a secret agreement to do an unlawful or wrongful act or to use such means to accomplish a lawful end.”  A “conspiracy” is, “the act of conspiring together; an agreement among conspirators; a group of conspirators.”

On these definitions, I have compiled a list of conspiracy related passages in scripture.  This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but it should at impress upon the reader just how common conspiracies are in Scripture.  Here are some from the Old Testament.

• Genesis 37:18 – And when they [the sons of Jacob] saw him [Joseph] afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to slay him.
• 2 Samuel 11:14-16 – And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.
• 2 Samuel 15:12 – And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counsellor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.
• Nehemiah 6:10-12 – Afterward I [Nehemiah] came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea,, in the night will they come to slay thee. And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life?  I will not go in.  And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me:  for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
• Esther 2:21-23 – In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king’s gate, two of the king’s chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai’s name.  And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.
• Psalm 2:2 – The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed….
• Jeremiah 40:13-16; 41:1-2 – Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that werein the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, And said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not…Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah.  Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

The New Testament is not without its conspiracies.  Indeed, the four Gospel accounts can be read as an extended conspiracy by the Pharisees and Sadducees against Jesus and his ministry.

• Matthew 28:11-15 – Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.  And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.  So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. [Here is an example of an officially sanctioned, secret disinformation campaign, author.]
• Mark 3:6 – And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
• Luke 22:2-6 – And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people. Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.  And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them.  And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money.  And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude.

The New Testament records at least three conspiracies to murder the Apostle Paul.

• Acts 9:22-25 – But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ. And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him:  But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him.  Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket.
• Acts 20:3 – And there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him [Paul], as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia.
• Acts 23:12-22 – And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy.

As noted above, this is not intended to be an exhaustive list.  Strong’s Concordance lists 10 occurrences of the word “conspiracy”, one occurrence of the word “conspirator”, and 19 of the word “conspired”.  This does not take into account other examples where the idea of conspiracy is implied in the passage, even if the word itself is not used.  Some of these implied passages have been cited above.

Principalities, Powers and Rulers of the Darkness of this World

Writing to the Ephesians, Paul said, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, abut against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Ultimately, as Paul tells us, our enemies are not evil men, but the evil forces that stand behind them, namely, the devil and his angels.  Now who is the devil but the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning.   And given that their father is the devil, it should come as no surprise that unbelievers in places of authority would conspire to lie and to murder to advance causes that they think are in their best interest.

As Christians, we are not to mimic the behavior of these men, but we are called to be on guard against their evil deeds, including their conspiracies.  As Paul puts it, “we are not ignorant of his [Satan’s] devices.”

Part of not being ignorant of Satan’s devices is to be aware that his devotees among men will, in fact, engage in conspiracies of various sorts to achieve their goals.

This is not to say that all so-called conspiracy theories are true, but it is to say that they are not necessarily false.  We must pray that the Lord would give us wisdom as we evaluate the various circumstances in which we find ourselves lest we find ourselves in danger of being led astray by the devil appearing as an angel of light.