Lies, Deception, and Evil: Fooled by the Snake (again)

This article talks about:

• Deception from Eden to Modern Times
• Personal Responsibility
• Spiritual Growth Through Challenges

-By Tzvi Daniel-

“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” – Genesis 3:13

Chavah

We could arguably be comforted by the fact that, if one of the first people to ever have lived, was fooled by a lower being, how could we not be deceived at least to the same degree?

Adam and Chavah lived in Gan Eden, before the presence of the Creator of all and yet fell prey to the deception of the snake.

From the serpent in the garden, who beguiled Chavah, to the “deceiver of the whole world" in Revelation 12:9, mankind has been and continues to be challenged by that which seems to stand in opposition to the truth.

We could deduce from this that the author/s of the Scriptures want us to be aware that this reality permeates our existence. We come into this world in the purity of paradise, but it doesn’t take long for that purity to be stained by our propensity to gravitate towards that which is contrary to the deepest purpose of our soul.

And it kind of makes sense that if the Creator wants us to choose that which is good, we will be “seduced” by the opposite, for us to exercise the gift of free will that we were given. Have you imagined before what the world would look like if evil didn’t exist? What would then be the merit of choosing good?

Lies and Deception in the Modern World

Similar to the Biblical narrative where Adam and Chavah are confronted and tricked by falsehoods, we come into this world and are quickly faced with the same kind of challenges. From the early, formal, institutionalized education that seeks to promote an agenda in tune with the interests of the State, to the bombardment of TV programming and ads that pursue profit at any cost, our fragile and malleable minds are subject to the hardest challenges.

With the advent of the internet in modern times, we have fallen prey to some of the most ravenous schemes of mind control ever devised. Social media sells young people (and old alike) an illusion of a standard of beauty to envy, prototypes to hate and attack, reasons to contend with our closest neighbors, and material goods to covet. We could argue that these human qualities already existed in us but were simply given an outlet to be expressed and exacerbated.

Another internet-related ailment of society was manifested through pornography. An adult-rated theater that never ends to quench human lust. The human brain sees no difference between the real thing and pixels on a screen, and the bodily need for pleasure and reproduction has tricked most of us into harmful addictions that are challenging to beat.

Those that understand the game and seek to control human behavior, have gained, and continue to do so, from our weaknesses and apparent mindlessness. Our own governments, presumably instituted by us to protect our rights and interests, have hijacked control and manipulate public opinion through sheer propaganda. The illusion of two-party systems put to evidence that they are nothing more than two wings of the same bird.

The examples are too many to list, and for the sake of not exposing any one specific country, I will not list any particulars, but this includes all countries with centralized government authority. And anyone can do their research, from reputable revisionist historians to respected investigative journalists, to be challenged on historical facts we always thought to be correct.

Heck, in the last few years, we could see with our own eyes and hear with our own ears how those in charge sold out our God-given rights to Big Pharma, executing an impeccable plan of divide and conquer to have us fight against each other, and never realize who the real enemy was.

I know, I know, most people haven’t awoken from their slumber yet, but an increasing number of them have begun to question ‘official’ narratives. Concerning this, we also have the global interests, where transnational, unelected organizations chart a future for humanity based on their own values, which, needless to say, are not godly, and in many cases, are probably in opposition to everything godly, such as the premise that there are too many people in the world (overpopulation) and that we should act in unison to avert this “risk”. 

Interestingly enough, you might think that believers would realize that this is in direct opposition to the first commandment ever given to Adam, reiterated to Noah, to “be fruitful and multiply”, but the propaganda is so overwhelming that oftentimes people miss it.

Through “reproductive health” (i.e. abortion), wars, the promotion of homosexual practices, and “gender care” (i.e. chemical castration) to name just a few, those in positions of influence carry out their plan to decrease the world population.

Notice how most of these tactics may be presented, packaged, and sold as something more enticing than it actually is. Like the fruit from the tree, it will most assuredly not end up being worth it.

Many people will sign off many of these claims as conspiracy theories, but a quick Google search will educate them on the very real nature of it, such as the US National Security Study Memorandum of 1974, written by Henry Kissinger, on the Implications of Worldwide Population Growth for U.S. Security and Overseas Interests. 

Considering all these elements that are outside of our control can turn our landscape grim really quick leaving us hopeless, angry, or fearful, which can put us in a situation of paralysis, fight, or flight, which will most certainly not aid in our spiritual development.

Lies and Deception we Self-inflict

It is a natural human tendency to look for causes outside of ourselves to ascribe responsibility for our current state of affairs. It is indisputable that extreme cases, such as people born into slavery or victims in a war-torn country left orphans, are justifiably in an underprivileged position to face the challenges life throws at them.

But even many in such situations have found it within themselves to not view this life from the position of a victim but rather to use their pain to propel them to do something extraordinary. For most of us, though, the case is not that extreme. And yet, many of us will tell ourselves (and others) a story that might allow us to remain inactive and wallow in our mediocrity.

The exact same situation may present itself to two different people, and one will rise above it and become stronger and more competent as a result, while the other one will feel oppressed, victimized, and get depressed from it. What is the difference between the two? The story in their head.

Just as the proverbial angel and demon on each shoulder, each of us hears a whisper coming from somewhere that will entice us to do something bad against our best interest or encourage us to do something good despite our most basic instincts. Biblically speaking, these could be God vs Satan, or the Holy Spirit vs the flesh, etc. But they truly exist in the mind and heart of every human, regardless of their belief system.

For every endeavor we set out to achieve, there is going to be a voice of discouragement inside our heads that will make sure we are aware of our inadequacies. For every good deed we carry out, a voice will remind us of the bad things we have done before. And so on.

It’s not hard to make the connection between this negative force and the snake that beguiled the woman in the garden. Is it a mere illusion? Could we say that it is not true?

The Purpose of Evil

One of the most popular arguments against the existence of God used by unbelievers, or maybe even a reproach to Him by some agnostics, is based on the fact that evil exists in the world. “If there is a God, then why would he allow X or Y?”

And it is not a bad question. If there really is a Creator, Who started off on a blank canvas, why would he create things that we deem negative, which, in turn, will end up generating harmful consequences to His own creation?

We must go back to where it all started. Because that negative force was there, whispering over the woman’s shoulder (or maybe inside her head), to entice her to do that which would bring about her death (not immediate, but eventual).

In Jewish cosmology, man is created with a good urge (yetzer haTov) and a bad urge (yetzer haRa’). They correlate with the spiritual and physical natures. A parallel idea is the one of this world (olam haZeh) and the world to come (olam haBa’), which do not necessarily correspond with periods or ages in historical or eschatological chronology, but a reality that exists right now.

On the same note, Yeshua proclaimed the Good News of the Kingdom that was accessible to people, contrary to what they thought, not by outward observation, but by understanding an inner spiritual reality (Lk 17).

The Creator gifted mankind with free will, and for man to exercise this gift, opposing forces must exist. What would be the merit otherwise, of doing something good if we were not tempted by evil? Or, a step beyond that, would we even have the motivation to pursue goodness and truth, were it not for the existence of evil and deception?

There would be no need for a Torah whatsoever, or a Messiah to guide us on the good path if there wasn't a propensity for man, or even the ability for him, to err on the side of evil.

The Concept of Satan in the Scriptures

There are a lot of believers that ‘blame’ Satan for all the bad things that happen in their lives or in the world. In Christianity, for the most part, there is this personification of what that negative force is. Although represented, as we have seen, by the snake in the garden, one may be surprised to not find the word Satan in the whole Torah. In fact, the only time the Hebrew word satan (שָׂטָן) appears in the first five books of the Bible is in Numbers 22 in the story of Balaam. And is not talking about a creepy red being with horns and a trident, but surprisingly, is referring to the angel of the Almighty.

"And God's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the YHVH stood in the way for an adversary (satan) against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him." (Num 22:22)

"And the angel of the YHVH said unto him, Why have you smitten your ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand (leSatan) you, because your way is perverse before me:" (Num 22:32)

We can see here that in the mind of the author of the Torah, satan did not have a capital S (figuratively, since there are no capital letters in Hebrew) and it refers more to an idea; a concept of an opposing or adversarial force.

Consider the following passages, which are talking about the same event:

"And SATAN stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel." (1 Chr 21:1)

"And again the anger of YHVH was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah." (2 Sa 24:1)

This is pretty striking. The terms YHVH and Satan were used here interchangeably. Some would consider that even blasphemous. Did Satan or YHVH "tempt" David to take a census? I would like to point out that the same Hebrew word (from the root סות) is used in BOTH cases, for "provoked" and for "moved". It can also mean "to instigate" or "to entice".

In the context of this passage, the point I am making is: David had to be "tempted." Does it matter if YHVH tempted him, or if it was Satan? Is Satan not just God's created tool? He only exists because the Creator wills it. You can see how the writers of Samuel and Chronicles did not seem to make a clear distinction here to accommodate Christian theology.

Note: In these cases and others, the word "satan" does not appear with the definite article ה. Meaning, it is not talking about "the" Satan, but merely "a" satan. There are at least two instances where the definite article does appear, speaking of a personified Satan, such as in the story at the beginning of the book of Job. But even then, the author transmits a clear understanding that Satan is not its own autonomous, independent power but rather a force subject to the Creator, unable to do anything outside of His will.

In Perspective...

We have seen the reality of how lies, deception, and evil exist in this world. It existed when God created everything and has existed in every generation up to our days.

We saw that there are actors in the world that purport evil and deception, but on the other side, we saw how it is also manifest in our minds.

It is clear in my opinion that these negative forces will not cease to exist as long as we live in this world, merely because they serve a purpose in Creation.

It would prove an impossible task to overcome this evil by physically killing all the bad people or trying to do away with all the devices created to keep us within the deception. Just like weeds, the powers of darkness will continue to sprout and manifest as long as there are people in the world because the source of it is found in the human heart.

There will be a day, in the Messianic Era, when this dynamic might change, and man will be prevented from operating in a paradigm opposed to goodness and Truth. But until then, we might benefit from understanding that through lies, we can find the truth, through darkness we can grasp what the light is, and through evil, we might find and operate in the ultimate good.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tzvi is an Argentinian-Israeli Jew who currently lives in North Carolina, USA. During his time in Israel, Tzvi worked in archaeology in the City of David and the Ophel area with Eilat Mazar. There, he developed a special interest in Biblical history and the Hebrew language. He currently teaches Biblical Hebrew to Spanish speakers online and co-hosts a successful radio show on a US based Messianic Ministry, speaking and writing articles on a variety of topics, ranging from the Hebrew language and Biblical history to current events in Israel and the world.