Deuteronomy 2:23

Verse 23. And the falsities which were in the intellect to its utmost boundaries, the truths which were by the science of truth from the Word, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead. [Note (verses 16-23).—This passage appears to describe the progress of regeneration in the truths believed, as verses 1-15 had described the regeneration of motives in the will, and shows how merely apparent truths, and even falsities, are turned to good account. Thus, for example, the falsity may exist in the mind from the letter of the Divine Word misunderstood, or from the doctrines of old and perverted Churches, that the Lord is a severe and arbitrary God of vengeance, who must by all means avenge sin even if the innocent suffer in the place of the guilty; and this false idea may be useful at first to hold sin in check by sheer terror, till the soul is prepared to receive the perception that nothing can exist with the Lord inconsistent with pure love and mercy towards both the good and the evil, which is the only conclusion the soul can arrive at when it grasps the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is the revelation of the character of God.]