DECEPTION

Time with Jesus - Saturday, 19 January 2013

Hi all,

Being deceived is one of the hardest things we experience in life. Husbands deceive wives so they can have an affair. Wives deceive their husbands by hiding expensive purchases so that he doesn’t know. Children deceive parents by telling them they will be with a friend; then they go to a party. It’s not new. But when the truth comes out, which it nearly always does, the pain and recriminations are horrendous. It seems to be Satan’s favourite tool. Today’s meditation deals with deception.

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Saturday, 19 January 2013			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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INTRODUCTION			DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	Deception
By way of introduction, Phyllida and I acknowledge we have been divorced (Phyllida 1976; Jim 1981) and subsequently married. This is the backdrop to the topic of deception and the associated meditation. Deception is perhaps the greatest tool in Satan’s armoury. It seems to be his specialisation. The deception of Eve in Genesis 3 introduces us to the fall of man. There is a sense in which the effect of deception is the focus of God’s attention throughout the Bible to the end of the Book of Revelation. Mother Eve was deceived. Adam was not. I’ve tried to see if I could possibly find some excuse for what he did. Did he love her too much? I’ve tried to work out some reason why he seems to have stood there like a spectator. Personally I can find no reason why he just stood there and looked on while Satan deceived her. Sadly, it seems that he was just a copycat. Like many husbands today, he went along with his wife no matter what. It’s possible that she had never been told God’s instruction to Adam not to eat the fruit of that particular tree. Her comments to Satan could suggest that she had no clear understanding of the implications. Be that as it may, the fact is He was not deceived. He knew what he was doing but did it anyway. So what else is new? The Bible has a number of classic deceivers. Abram, Jacob, 10 of Jacob’s sons, Joseph in Egypt; Moses birth, Joshua; the list goes on and on. Today, deception is rife. The best comment I’ve heard about this is the question, “Would you buy a used car from Jacob?” Mind you, if that’s your comment about Jacob, what about dear old uncle Laban. He was Jacob’s mother’s brother. Furthermore, It’s likely that Laban had tried to pull a couple of similar tricks on Rebecca before she went to Canaan to marry Isaac. Certainly her departure from her brother’s influence suggests that it was not just the prospects of being Isaac’s wife that attracted her. She seemed thrilled by the prospect of getting away from him. So what had he done? We don’t know. Jesus deceived no one. He was sinless. He is the only person who could truthfully state: - 30 I'll not be talking with you much more like this because the chief of this godless world is about to attack. But don't worry--he has nothing on me, no claim on me. John 14:30 MSG If He might be accused of anything; it would be allowing Satan and his forces to crucify and “kill Him”. Three days later Jesus was raised from the dead! Satan had bitten off more than he could chew! He found he had a severe case of indigestion! Think about this for a moment. Did Jesus deceive Satan into thinking he had won? Not really. He went to the cross legitimately. He was condemned in accordance with the wiles of men. The Jewish leaders wanted Him out of the way. He threatened their “status quo”. They were the ones in charge and they wouldn’t put this aside for anyone, not even God! They enjoyed the respect of the people. They liked being deferred to by the people. It massaged their pride. If the same masses deserted them in favour of Jesus, they would lose face. They had to get rid of the “Galilean upstart” before the whole world went after Him. From Satan’s perspective, his enemy was being dealt with and would soon be trapped in his kingdom. He was due for a very rude awakening. Jesus experienced victory by surrender. He let the devil do his worst. Throughout the entire experience, Jesus was fully in control. He could have stopped everything with one simple command. He didn’t. He knew the future of humanity was riding on His actions. The only way to defeat death was to “die” and swallow it whole. That’s what He did. Today’s meditation looks at deception. What happened and some of the implications. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on Him the sins of us all. Isaiah 53:6 NLT 21 He (Noah) drank some of its wine. It made him drunk. Then he lay down inside his tent without any clothes on. Gen 9:21 NIrV 11 As Abram drew near to Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai, "Look. We both know that you're a beautiful woman. 13 Do me a favour: tell them you're my sister. Because of you, they'll welcome me and let me live." Gen 12:11 & 13 MSG 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come closer so I can touch you and make sure that you really are Esau." 24 "But are you really my son Esau?" he asked. "Yes, I am," Jacob replied. Gen 27:21 & 24 NLT 33 Because they defied GOD yet again, Moses exploded and lost his temper. Psalm 106:33 MSG 14 So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the LORD. 15 Then Joshua made a peace treaty with them and guaranteed their safety, and the leaders of the community ratified their agreement with a binding oath. Joshua 9:14-15 NLT 5 David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 1 Kings 15:5 ESV 39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Heb 11:39-40 ESV 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Rom 324 ESV 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6 ESV 32 But remember, says the Sovereign LORD, I am not doing this because you deserve it. O My people of Israel, you should be utterly ashamed of all you have done! Ezekiel 36:32 NLT	Deception’s not acceptable, no matter who it’s by. We may think we must do it. It’s better not to try. “Sarai is my sister”. Is just what Abram said, It’s true, to His half sister, that Abram had been wed. But it was a deception and Pharaoh wasn’t pleased, He put her in his harem and his “wives” became diseased! He found they couldn’t reproduce and Sarai got the blame. So Abram had to leave with her, far richer than they came! The arch-deceiver Jacob, tricked everyone he could; He paid his uncle Laban a lot more than he should. He only wanted Rachel, but he had been deceived. The fact he married Leah, was hard to be believed. So Laban added Rachel. He worked for seven more years. With two wives and two mistresses! He would be close to tears! Perhaps the “best” deception that ever has been told, Is of the men from Gibeon. The thing they did was bold! They loaded up their donkeys, with very old stale bread. “We’ve travelled from so far away” is what their leader said. “We’ve heard about your exploits and what your God can do; So we have travelled from afar to make a pact with you. We’d like a firm agreement to always be your friend. So can we cut a covenant on which we can depend?” Now Joshua and his people did not ask God’s advice. And so they cut a covenant; they did it in a trice. Then, found out that the Gibeonites lived only just next door. But they were in a covenant which they could change no more. For it was done and settled. The Covenant was cut. They didn’t want to keep it. They nearly did their “nut”. And they would have to live with it, throughout the years ahead. They forced the men of Gibeon to serve till they were dead. Then, some years in the future, when Saul became the king, He tried annihilation, to end this problem thing. But he forgot the covenant and it was still in place. So seven of Saul’s offspring with death itself were faced. Each one of them was butchered and their bodies left to rot. Perhaps Saul had forgotten it, but Father God had not. He never will forget it. Time doesn’t wipe away, The terms of any covenant. They’re still in place today. And this is why a husband and wife are next of kin. It goes back to the covenant that they have entered in. So do not let deception destroy your marriage bond. You cannot dump each other because you are not fond, Of living as a couple, before the Lord Most High. You cannot break a covenant no matter how you try. But Jesus might forgive you, repentance is required. You never will repeat it, is what you’ll find desired. Jim Strickland  Written 19th January 2012