DECEPTION

  

                                                            DECEPTION

Genesis 3:1-5 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.  “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Deceive---(of a person) cause (someone) to believe something that is not true, typically in order to gain some personal advantage: "I didn't intend to deceive people into thinking it was French champagne" (Oxford Dictionaries)

We all know what deceive means but the reason I have articulated the meaning is to emphasize the part that says, “to gain some personal advantage.”  So deceit is not only saying something that is not true but doing it for personal gain.  That sounds very familiar now in the area of our culture and politics.

Satan not only deceived himself into thinking that he could be greater than God but he also deceived Adam and Eve into thinking that they could be like God.  I believe he tricked them into thinking that they would be gods themselves.  He was really stealing their identity.

How can we keep from being deceived?  I believe that we need to seek the truth.  Just because someone says something does not mean that it is true.  Just turn on the “fake news.”  People that deceive others have an agenda.  It appears that power and money are the two high ranking motives that fuel people’s hearts to deceive others.  The problem with deception is that it causes an avalanche of more lies and more deceit until only those blinded by their own deceit will find it very hard to accept the truth. Also, deception includes what is not said. 

What is Truth?   Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  John 14:6 (NIV)   When bank tellers are being taught how to detect counterfeit money, they are taught how to recognize the authentic money.  We need to recognize the authenticity of what we see and hear and read.  We also need to seek God’s wisdom and read His Word.  Those that choose to deceive like to change words to sound more palatable so as to hide the true meaning such as “a woman’s choice” (abortion); social justice (socialism); Planned Parenthood (abortion clinic), etc.

 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”   Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.  For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. Matthew 24:3-5 (NIV)

At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.  For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  See, I have told you ahead of time.  Matthew 24:23-25 (NIV)

Jesus very plainly states that one of the biggest signs will be deception in the last days before His Second Coming.  We are living in a world where there is deception on steroids!!  Our spiritual eyes need to be opened so that we can discern what is true and what is not.  With our modern technology it is much easier to deceive than in times past.  Also, our technology can change the outcome to suit its purpose or personal agenda.  I don’t have to go too far in giving you the example of the 2020 election!!

Satan has his agenda and he works through people.  He is the “father of lies.” Jesus rebuked those that were accusing Him of not being of God and Jesus said that they were the ones who were of the devil.

 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me.  Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.  You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.  Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!  Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?  Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”  John 8:42-47 (NIV)

“The Nazis frequently used propaganda to disguise their political aims and deceive the German and international public. They depicted Germany as the victim of Allied and Jewish aggression to hide their true ideological goals and to justify war and violence against innocent civilians.” (Holocaust Encyclopedia)

“Europe’s extensive railway network of the 1930s and 1940s played a key role in the Holocaust. The deportation of millions of Jews to concentration camps such as Auschwitz in Poland was carried out mainly via rail.

Jews from all parts of German-occupied territories were bundled on to these trains. This process was often referred to as “resettlement to the east” by the Nazi regime.

The victims – including women and children – would be told that they were being hauled to labour camps. In reality, these were death camps where the largest known genocide in modern human history would unfold.

Monday marked the 75^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops. At least 1.1 million people, most of them Jews, were murdered in Auschwitz.”  (Death Trains: How Jews were deported to Auschwitz, the most infamous Nazi concentration Camp--Times Now News January 28, 2020)

How does this apply to our lives now?  We need to take a stand for the truth, in whatever form that takes.  And we need to seek truth and have discernment so we are not deceived concerning anything we see, read, hear or experience.  Remember that the evil one always appears as an “angel of light”!