Hello Thomas,
God is not deceitful as you said, but Satan is, and the bible says he is a liar and the father of it.
Shalom is accurate in how Satan can appear as we have more than one description of him found in scripture. There are two sides to this creature...
II Corinthians 11
13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
again in Ezekiel 28...
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee....
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
Isaiah 14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Satan's true visage as a fallen angel is described in Job 40 as Leviathan, the dragon, the evil image that people consider the devil to be like and worse. However he is capable of disguising his appearance supported in the verses in Corinthians.
Deceitfulness is Satan's weapon of advantage and you can catch more flies with honey.
People are drawn by his deceits and false promises and appearances. It isn't difficult to recognize his hand at play in every avenue from schools to churches to correspondences on these threads. He needn't wear horns and a tail... he could be the minister at the pulpit preaching another gospel other than salvation by grace through Jesus Christ.
In Christ,
John
|
