Diabolos: Biblical Lying

“Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone’.” (Matthew 4:5-6)

The devil - diabolos in Greek, also meaning “false accuser and slanderer” - knows Torah.

In fact, it knows Torah so well that it can start, stop, and manipulate the text to convey a message wholly incompatible with Adonai’s ancient mitzvahs while making it seem “biblical”.

The devil chose to quote verses 11 and 12 of Psalm 91, a psalm of refuge traditionally accredited to the authorship of Moses during his 40 years of desert wanderings (an appropriate setting for this psalm). It sought to allure Yeshua with the described benefits of divinity at the expense of continuing his mission of overcoming the kingdom of darkness with light.

But Yeshua too knows the text. Torah is so inscribed upon his heart that he instantly recognizes the misstep of the bloodthirsty liar in front of him.

The devil stopped early, and surely Christ’s mind continued into Psalm 91:13.

“You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.”

While the demon-dweller attempts to thwart the plans of the Almighty and cunningly alter the trajectory of this prophetic psalm from its own demise towards a kind of spiritual insurrection, Adonai - the mighty and mysterious author - has written a story with an end of victory in mind.

In his weakness, Yeshua must have taken hold of the hope that this enemy would soon be conquered, shielding himself from the seduction of lies wrapped up in garments of provision.

Reading this text pokes at my own curiosity and self-reflection…

Where have I accepted counterfeit principles (ones laced with Bible verses) at the expense of divine truth? Where have I “Christianized” my own beliefs and practices and policies and culture while remaining at a distance from the ways of Shalom?

Lord, your word is the light unto our way. Would you lead our feet from the entanglements of deceitful paths.