Hebraic Musing - Could you be Deceived?
(an April Fools Day message)
The word ‘deceived’ and its
variants appear about 70 times in our bibles.
Jesus himself expressed concern and frequently warned us not to be
deceived. Matthew 24 contains the
‘Olivet Discourse” in which Jesus is dealing with eschatology and one of His
final and desperate messages to his beloved disciples.
Note Yeshua’s expressions of
concern re ‘deception’ in Matthew 24:3-26 NIV
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount
of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us,"
they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your
coming and of the end of the age?" Jesus
answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will
come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. . . . 8
All these are the beginning of birth pains. Then you will be handed over to be persecuted .
. . 10 At that time many will turn
away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false
prophets will appear and deceive
many people. . . . 15 So when you
see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' . . .
. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look,
here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will
appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect —
if that were possible. See, I have told
you ahead of time. So if anyone tells
you, 'There he is…..’ do not believe it…
And here are three more familiar
examples of deceptions:
·
“Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things
with his instructor. Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A
man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from
that nature will reap destruction…”
Galatians 6:6-8 NIV
·
“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do
not be deceived…” 1 Cor.6:9
·
Lest you think deception is
New Testament only, consider a very early event for mankind. “Then
the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’"
Genesis 3:13
The bible is the Manufacturer’s
Operating Manual. Any other source of
information could lead to deception.
Other sources, while valuable, should not be allowed to take precedence
over the Holy Scripture itself. For
example, a minister recently told me of a lady that thanked him for studying
the bible and sharing an insightful teaching because that way she did not have
to read the Bible herself. What do you
suppose went through the minister’s mind?
Personally, I try not to read
more than one book by any one author and/or avoid focusing on one preacher,
evangelist, televangelist or commentary for fear of picking up and mentally
rehearsing an error that any one man might introduce. After my salvation experience, I became an
avid reader of Christian books. After
one year, the Lord spoke to me and asked “Are you going to read books about
me, or are you going to read my book?” For the next five years I read nothing but
the bible.
Points to Ponder
Who are the Saints that Satan wants to ‘deceive’?
Are you satisfied with the amount of time you are in
God’s own word,
instead of digesting someone else’s interpretation?
In what ways are we being deceived today?
Where do you get your news and entertainment?
Don’t be an “April Fool”.
“Don't be deceived, my dear brothers” James
1:16
Yosef a.k.a.
Joe Brusherd April 1, 2025 (April Fools Day!)
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages
exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith”
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)” Weekly “Hebraic Musings”
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