Deceiving and Being Deceived (Part 1)
I write frequently about deception, being deceived, and biblical warnings against it.1 Deception is so nefarious because, by definition, we don’t know when it has happened to us. It is more than a “white lie,” or even a bold-faced, brazen lie. Those are realities too. But a non-truth can be so effectively presented, so well planned, that we do not even realize we have been lied to—otherwise known as “deceived.” Distinct from a lie, deception is a fully-consumed distortion of reality.
Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.”
– John 24:4, NIV-1983
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
– James 1:16, ESV
Origination of Deception
Jesus said, “I am the Truth.”2
God is truth! Deception is something that is spawned fully separated from the character of God. As a deceiver, I’m aligned with one who is the antithesis of God. As one deceived, I am believing the father of lies. Neither of those is a good thing.
When [the devil] lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
– John 8:44b, ESV
What makes deception a possibility is the fact that it hosts and presents something we want to believe is true. We crave what the deception promises. It will make us happy. It meets a deep desire. It will free us from our trap. It will solve our problem. We will be fulfilled by it.
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
– Jeremiah 17:9, ESV
The world is rife with urgings for us to follow our hearts and our cravings. “Obey your thirst,”3 we are told and, more recently, “Listen to Your Gut.”4 From the Way-Back Machine, Burger King wants us to “Have it Your Way.”5 Even Jesus, in the series The Chosen, urges Nicodemus to look inside himself to resolve his confusion, asking him, “What does your heart tell you,”6 a question Jesus would never ask!
Biblical Examples of Deception
Scripture is refreshingly up front about the vulnerabilities of humanity. The Bible presents the best and worst profiles—each man and woman with their imperfections on full display. In this case, we see both the deceivers and the deceived.
Jacob
Right out of the gates, Jacob’s character is essentially prophesied to us in his name. “Jacob” means “supplanter,” or “heel-grabber,” and it proved to be an apt designation for him. His life is a clinic in the art of deception.
Jacob deceived his own father, Isaac, and was able to steal the blessing intended for his brother, Essau.7 Jacob further deceived his uncle Laban in a crafty deal to increase his herd of sheep.8 Ironically, Laban himself deceived Jacob when he substituted his daughter Leah in the place of the promised Rachel as Jacob’s bride.9
Ananias and Sapphira
In the fifth chapter of Acts, we read the account of a husband-and-wife couple who attempted a deception that failed. When the deception was uncovered, it was characterized as a deception not against people (as they intended), but against the Holy Spirit.10
The sin and deception of Ananias and Sapphira involved donating funds from the sale of a property, but misrepresenting the amount of the sale. They wanted the glory and status of generosity without the sacrifice of it. It cost them their lives and served as a warning to the church regarding the necessity of transparency.
David
The attempted deception of David, in 2 Samuel, demonstrates how far humanity is willing to go to “save face.” David’s infamous cover-up of his sin with Bathsheba far exceeded the sin itself. When David’s attempt to get Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, to be intimate with her failed (an attempt to make it appear Uriah was the father of the baby), David was willing to go so far as murdering Uriah to cover up his adulterous fling with Bathsheba. The deception and murder cost the life of David and Bathsheba’s child.
The Gibeonites
In Joshua 9, we read of the deception of an entire nation, and the deception resulted in execution of an ill-advised treaty. The Gibeonites used moldy bread and worn-out wineskins to deceive Israel into believing the Gibeonites had traveled from a far-off land.
Rather than consult God on the matter, the Israelites swore an oath to the Gibeonites, invoking God’s name in doing so, and were bound to the resulting treaty despite it being based on a deception.
… and more
Myriad similar examples are found throughout the pages of scripture. We see false prophets, false apostles, false weights and measures, false devotion, even examples of self-deception by believing we are more righteous than we truly are.
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
– 2 Timothy 3:12-13, ESV
In this life, we will never be free of those who wish to deceive us, and we must be diligent in guarding ourselves against the deceivers. Further, we must never be those who participate in the deception of others. This is something upon which God will never smile.
Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel.
– Proverbs 20:17, ESV
1. Matthew 24:4, Mark 13:5-6, 1Corinthians 6:9, 15:33, Galatians 6:7, 2 Thessalonians 2:3, James 1:16, 1 John 3:7
2. John 14:6
3. Sprite – 1994
4. Activia – 2020
5. Burger King – 1974
6. The Chosen, Season 1, Episode 7
7. Genesis 27
8. Genesis 30
9. Genesis 29
10. Acts 5:3
