THE ROOT OF DECEPTION

　

Back in 2009 I began to seek the Lord in earnest about the end times and the true interpretation of His word. I asked two things. The first was to understand the end of the age in the context of the Book Revelation. The second was to learn to understand the truth presented in the Bible. This meant to allow the entire body of scripture interpret itself rather than follow the traditions of men and church.

The Lord told me it was necessary to first understand history as written in the Bible. That took some time as I had to reacquaint myself with the history of the children of Israel from Genesis through 2 Chronicles (including the books of the prophets).

During that process I began to understand the concept of chastisement. I saw it on a national scale in God’s dealings with His rebellious people. Then I began to understand it on a personal level. God works with nations and individuals through chastisement or discipline. He establishes the rules, and we are to follow those rules, or face His discipline.

On a higher level, God has given us His written laws and we, as good citizens, are to follow and obey His those laws. The written Torah is still in force in the world today. It is based on the ten commandments and gives examples of how we are to treat one another in following those commandments. Really quite simple!

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Torah (first five books of Moses) and the rest of the Bible I began to see how nations and individuals were living lawlessly. A simple concept but I never really thought about it on a national scale. The world is lawless in the context of obeying the commandments written in the Bible. The world is lawless because we as individuals are lawless in context to the Biblical commands. It is incredibly simple!

We all do whatever seems right in our own eyes (Judges 21.25). Take marriage as an example. Modern courtship is practice for divorce. We go window shopping, pick someone we like, try it out for awhile, take it home, and when we get tired of it we go window shopping for another one!

Sometimes we make a mistake and get the someone pregnant. Then we marry some one for the wrong reason--or maybe we just don’t bother to marry so the breakup will be easier later. Before long we have dysfunctional families and relationships. We have totally ignored God’s written way of courting and waiting to get to know someone before committing to marriage. Lawlessness. Each small disobedience leads to dysfunction until we can’t cope with the compounding problems.

When we have our initial “born again” experience the first thing the Lord does is begin to get our disorderly house in order. He leads us back to becoming law abiding citizens of the Kingdom. Being “born again” opens our eyes to our former lawlessness. If it doesn’t then you better get on your knees and start asking God why your life is so out of order and full of problems.

Christians love to say, “We’re not under the law anymore.” That is the first great deception of our enemy Hasatan the adversary. If you believe that you are being deceived and are headed for believing the other deceptions which are coming upon the world.

Yeshua has saved us from the curse of the law. The law merely points out how incapable we are of totally obeying the law. We need a redeemer--a savior from the curse of the law--that law which points out our sinful nature.

The enemy would deceive us into believing we are “not under the law” in order that we continue to sin. Yeshua not only saves us from the curse of the law but He becomes our teacher of the law (Torah). If you are living in sin you are not living in the Kingdom of God.

The deceptions which are coming upon the church and the world are going to be very smooth and fraudulent. Deception is the act or state of deceiving. It is a trick, stratagem, ruse, hoax, subterfuge. It is never what it seems.

The primary deception in this world is that we are not “under the law” and can live anyway we want. After all, we have Jesus and He will forgive us. It is true He will forgive us, but if we are lawless we cannot experience the Kingdom of God in this present life.

If we love Him we will obey His commands (1 John 2.3-5). Yeshua taught the Torah. The sermon on the mount was instruction in Torah. We are to respect and treat one another the way we would like to be treated. There is a right way and a wrong way to live. The WORD of God has complete instructions.

Deception begins with lawlessness and a spirit of lawlessness. In Genesis 3 the serpent asked Eve, “Did God really say you shouldn’t eat the fruit of EVERY tree in the garden?” He twisted the word of God and created doubt in Eve’s mind. He deceived her by appealing to her senses. She saw it was good, pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired.

Eve, having free will, decided to disobey God’s simple command to avoid the one tree. She allowed herself to commit an act of lawlessness in direct conflict with God’s law. She allowed herself to be deceived by Hasatan’s smooth and twisted words. He took God’s command and twisted it.

Eve was not a student of the law. If she was, she would have recognized the deception put before her. She sinned against the creator because she was not sure of what God’s command was. She had not paid attention to what Adam had told her. She had not meditated on God’s word (instruction).

God had made Hasatan the most beautiful and powerful angel in His government. He was a covering cherub over the ark of God (Ezekiel 28). He was perfect in his ways until he decided to become lawless. Just as God has given mankind a free will, so he gave the angels free will. God cannot create robots that simply obey Him. He desires we obey from a heart of love. Therefore he gave his created beings free will to choose.

Hasatan became full of himself and full of rebelliousness towards his creator. He had the highest place in God’s government until he rebelled and became lawless. “I can run this government better then God” he said. I know better than the founder of this company, then my boss, etc, etc. He became lawless and insane with jealousy towards God.

He was cast out of heaven to this earth and has been wreaking havoc ever since. He has deceived the whole world (Rev 12.9) into following his lawless way. Ephesians 6.12 and forward explains that we are in spiritual warfare. He is the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2.2).

Hasatan is a broadcaster. He broadcasts his lawless through the air into our thoughts just like listening to the radio! Just as we are led by the Spirit of God, the world is led by the spirit of the power of the air.

We must protect ourselves from his lies and deceptions by having a thorough understanding of God’s written word. That is the whole body of scriptures--not just the New Testament--the whole body of scripture is for our instruction (2 Tim 3.16). We will then understand what God is broadcasting and discern which broadcast is true.

Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.

But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine…1 Timothy 1.5-10
The law protects us from criminals and crime. Are we criminals or law abiding citizens of the kingdom? Know and understand the law. This will protect us from deception. The root of deception is lawlessness. Those who are lawless will believe the lie. Those who are lawless will be used and manipulated by the enemy. Romans chapter one is a good place to begin to understand lawlessness. If we insist on sinning God will give us over to sin.

When we read the word we must consider the entire body of scripture before coming to conclusions. We must search for consensus in the word, for confirmation, and example. The church believes in many false doctrines of men. Many of us believe in things that are unscriptural. God wants us to get rid of these traditions of men and follow His ways.

Once you know the truth, the truth will set you free. If you are exposed to truth, and resist and deny that truth, you will become a slave to the lie and the deception. In the days ahead those who walk in power and truth will have allowed the Spirit of Truth, God’s Holy Spirit, gently teach and woo them back to God’s truth. They will shed the traditions of men and walk in God’s truth.

This small end time remnant will not be in it for themselves or for personal glory and recognition. They will be in it because of their great love for God and His truth. They will have allowed themselves to be taught in the disciplined school of the Spirit and will know their God and he will know them. They are called “Overcomers” and have overcome all the sin that besets them. They will have laid down their lives for God’s glory and purposes.

The root of all deception is our lawlessness. Until we fully lay down our lives at His cross and obey Him we are susceptible to deception. In upcoming postings we will discuss and dissect deceptions based on traditions of men and Hasatan’s false broadcasting network. Once you hear the truth you become responsible for what you have heard. Read at your own risk!