As we start at the beginning and read through Genesis, we don’t get very far before deceitfulness comes into the picture: the serpent deceived Eve, wanting to sway her trust in God (Genesis 3). In Genesis 6:5 during the days of Noah there was no reverence or fear of the Lord: “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” Abram, out of fear instead of trusting God, deceived Pharaoh regarding his wife Sarai (Genesis 12). And he did it again to the King of Gerar (Genesis 20). Isaac later followed suit and deceived the King of Gerar regarding his wife Rebekah (Genesis 26). Rebekah helped Jacob deceive Isaac to make sure Jacob got Isaac’s blessing instead of Esau (Genesis 27). Then Laban deceives Jacob, Jacob deceives Laban, Rachel deceives Laban, and on and on deceit continues down through history. I wonder how much we expect people to be deceitful – seems such a normal part of life. Proverbs 26:18-19 says, “like a maniac shooting flaming arrows of death is one who deceives their neighbor and says, ‘I was only joking.’”
What does it mean to deceive? Defraud, cheat, swindle, mislead; intentional misleading of another (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia). Looking at these scenarios we see selfishness, fear, pride, pursuit of our dreams our way, lack of reverence for God and His Sovereignty, wavering trust in God’s faithfulness. And we lose sight of God’s goodness in His people (note: I’m not saying believers are perfect).
So where do we go with this? I mean, God warns us that the heart is deceitful and beyond cure; who can understand it. Praise God He can! He searches the mind and heart; He knows us! (Jeremiah 17:9-10) I love how all throughout God’s Word He continues to show us the truth about ourselves AND show us that He is the unchanging steadfast answer – the Way, the Truth and the Life, allowing us to come to Him through Jesus. He is the cure!
And where do we go with this? We stay in the Word, reading God’s truth to know Him more, to see His heart, to meditate on and soak in His truth, to understand His guidance in our lives and the best way for us to live. When we don’t stay in God’s Word, “the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and desires for other things come in and choke the Word, making it unfruitful” in our lives (Mark 4:19). Let us encourage one another and keep each other accountable in this spiritual battle, with gentleness and love, building each other up so that sin does not easily beset us. May we listen and obey as God guides us away from deceitfulness and into His truth. “Let us throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2