In my reading through the Bible, I once again find myself marveling in the story found in the book of Exodus. I have now read through the Bible 43 times, and each time I am amazed when I come to this particular book (not that I’m not amazed at the reading of each book, but this one in particular). There are many things that make this book amazing to me, but for the sake of time and space I will focus on only one: deceit.

We find the subject of deceit very early in the pages of Exodus. Moses, as you will recall, had been commissioned by God to stand face to face with Pharaoh, demanding that he set the people of Israel free. This would prove to be an extremely costly for Pharaoh to do, since the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, serving the taskmasters in hard, demanding physical labor.

Moses goes to Pharaoh with God’s demand, but Pharaoh refuses to heed the command and hardens his heart against God and God’s messenger. This precipitates a series of ten miraculous plagues God brings against Pharaoh, which were displays of God’s omnipotence to both the Egyptians and the Israelites.

However, the interesting thing about the story is that the Egyptian magicians were able to duplicate the miracles God performed through Moses. When Moses and Aaron stood before Pharaoh initially, Aaron’s rod became a snake, and amazingly, the magicians of Egypt brought about the same result. Then, the series of ten plagues began. The first and second of those plagues – water turned into blood, and frogs throughout all of Egypt – were duplicated through the magicians of Egypt.

The point I want to emphasize is simply this: there is a deceiver who has been at work since the beginning of time, working tenaciously to blind the eyes of those who are seeking truth. We see it in Exodus, and all through the Bible. Satan, the devil, the archenemy of God and all things of God, is continuously and consistently at work, utilizing the weapon of deceit to keep people from the truth.

It all began in the Garden of Eden, where Eve was deceived by the subtle serpent (Satan in disguise). He (the serpent) persuaded Eve that the Word of God was not true, and offered her a very alluring alternative. That’s the way he works. He presents us with alluring temptations that are disguised as something worth pursuing. And, once the bait is taken, we are truly hooked.

Paul says it this way”

“Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”

2 Corinthians 11:14-15

Deceit is one of the most powerful weapons in Satan’s arsenal. He is always at work deceiving multitudes into believing a lie. He presents alternatives to the truth of God’s Word. He calls into question the absolute truths presented in Scripture, leading those who will follow into paths of deceit, destruction and death.

Just as we see in Exodus, and Genesis, and so many other instances in Scripture, multitudes have been duped by his extreme forms of deceit. There are so many examples of this in our contemporary American culture. Things that were once seen as sinful acts of rebellion against God are now viewed as the cultural norm.

As I shared last week, there is a huge difference between the world’s view of right and wrong, and the Bible’s view. Culture accepts certain practices as perfectly right, while the Bible says that those things are an abomination in the eyes of God. We hear of the big ones all the time: adultery, murder, rape, homosexuality, abortion, child abuse, spousal abuse, etc. Those acts that are viewed as less evil are sometimes overlooked altogether: lying, stealing, gossip, child neglect, spousal neglect, etc.

The deceiver begins to place questions in the minds and hearts of those who are susceptible to his guile. Once he has convinced some individuals that an action is not so bad, then a movement begins to change the culture to embrace the new “norm”. Society at first revolts against the introduction of a new cultural practice, but over time it is embraced by the majority. Once this happens, what was once right becomes wrong, and what was wrong becomes right.

It is obvious that the deceiver is working with all his might to wreak havoc in American culture. If there is no standard of right and wrong, then nothing can be right and nothing can be wrong. We then find ourselves in the cultural plight described in the book of Judges: everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Please understand that there is a very real enemy who is out to do as much damage to the human family as possible. One of his major weapons is that of deceit. The only was we can protect ourselves against his deceit is to know the truth, and then to stand with boldness on that truth. May that be true of each of us as we strive to represent the truth of God’s Word to the world.