What is the difference between "sending somebody a delusion", and lying to them?
That is a good question. The obvious answer is that there is no practical difference. Therefore, is Paul implying that the heavenly Father lies or does Paul presume some other ”God” lies, implying more than one ”so-called God.” In context, he could be referring to the “lawless one” who claims to be “God.”
“the [first primal Adam in heaven] man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple [body?] of God,
proclaiming himself to be God.” (2 Thess 2:3)
which correlates with the same ”God of this [material] world” who blinds people from perceiving Christ. (2 Cor 4:4)
This just goes to show that unless one defines the word “God” then people end up talk past one another, —talking in circles. Paul clearly believed in many “so-called” Gods, but only recognized ONE true God.
“although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as
indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist,” (1 cor 8:5)
Clearly, the “God of this [material] world” is neither the heavenly Father or true God to Jewish-Christians in the first century. Unfortunately, Christian orthodoxy of the second century could not tell the difference and still cannot tell the difference, for this ”so-called God” has been identified by Christian orthodoxy as BOTH the Christian God and Satan throughout history of the church, whereas, the original founders of Christianity only identified Elyon as the true absolute good God. iOW, one of the “so-called gods” has turned against heaven when he fell to earth and deceived humanity into worshipping him in all his imperfections: jealousy, wrath, genocidal tendencies, lying, etc.
Look here,
(2:8) “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of
Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,
compare with,
“(2:11) “
God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,
Therefore, Satan =“God of this world”. Now ask yourself, who formed this material world according to scripture? Who tried to keep humans from knowledge or wisdom according to scripture? Who sowed thorns and thistles in the world so that humans might suffer and die? Who accuses and condemns humans for their sins? Answer: the same one who proclaims himself the only God.