In reading Gino's 5/04 post an earlier destruction of Mystery, Babylon? I found something that I hadn't noticed before in the verses below that shows that both the spirits of devils working miracles, and the Lord Jesus who comes like a thief in the night gathered the kings of the Earth together at Armageddon because the "HE" in verse 16:16 is referring to the thief of verse 16:15 who is Jesus Christ.
Rev. 16:13 "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon."
Zechariah 14:1-4 also says, "Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south."
In addition to the spirits of devils (demons) working miracles, the son of perdition, that Wicked one in 2 Thess. 2:8, uses the powers of Satan to create signs and lying wonders or lying miracles, and God also sends the unrighteous strong delusion so that they believe a lie as shown in the verses below:
2 Thessalonians 2:8-12, "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
Rev. 13:4 shows that the dragon (Satan) gives power to the beast who is also called the son of perdition and the Antichrist. And the 2nd beast (False Prophet) of Rev. 13:12-14, also "exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live."
How does the Lord going about sending a great delusion to the unrighteous so that they believe a lie because He is Holy, and we are not to deceive others. In fact, 1 Peter 2:22 tells us that Christ committed no sin and no guile (deceit) was found in His mouth. Well, of course, the Lord allows Satan and his spirits of demons to do these things because all scripture must be fulfilled, but I think part of the answer can be found in 1 Kings 22:19-23 and 2 Chronicles 18:21-22 when the Lord asks who will persuade Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And a spirit volunteers to be a lying spirit in the mouth of Ahab's prophets.
1 Kings 22:19-23, "And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee."
2 Chronicles 18:18-22, "Again he said, Therefore hear the word of the LORD; I saw the LORD sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. And the LORD said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one spake saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner. Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will entice him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the LORD said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do even so. Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee."
So God sends the unrighteous a strong delusion so that they believe a lie because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved in the following verses, and it could be done by God asking who will persuade the unrighteous who loved not the truth to believe a lie, and spirits volunteer to be lying spirits in the mouth of the Antichrist and False Prophet, and the unrighteous are also deceived by the lying wonders (miracles) that the Antichrist and False Prophet perform which are done by these unclean demons.
2 Thess. 2:9-12, "Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."