Weapon 1: Deception

Deceive, "to mislead by a false appearance or statement; delude". Delude means, "to mislead the mind or judgment of; deceive". Deception is the first weapon we see Satan use. In Genesis 3 he enters the scene of a perfect creation, in the disguise of a serpent. He begins talking to a woman and the first recorded line of Satan is "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"

Right away he begins to lead the creation away from God by presenting a question that begins to convince Adam and Eve that God is keeping something from them, that He is holding them back. Eve responds to his question "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" Eve has now misquoted God. Satan has done his work.

God had given them freedom to eat from any tree in the Garden (Genesis 2.16). God had never told them not to touch the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, simply not to eat of it (Genesis 2.17). Eve said they would die, but God had said that they would surely die (Genesis 2.17). In these statements Eve has taken away from God's generosity, making it seem like their right to eat the fruit of the garden, not as a privilege from God. She adds restrictions to what God has instructed, making God seem restrictive. She has taken away from the severity and surety of God's word; He means what He says, and His authority is absolute. Deception leads us away from the truth of God. It leads us away from the good that God has for us, because we become convinced that it is not the best. That is deception.

Satan works through deception gradually, giving partial truths. We see this same tactic with Jesus temptation in the wilderness. In Matthew 4.6 Satan quotes Scripture to Jesus, trying to get Him to throw Himself off of the Temple, proving Himself to be the Messiah of Israel. It sounds great, Jesus jumps, angles catch Him, the priests realize that He is the Messiah, they make Him King and He never has to go near the cross. But Jesus knows that a ministry based on miracles and wonders is doomed to fail. People's faith only lasts as long as the miracles do, and when it gets hard they are gone. We see throughout Jesus' ministry that He refuses to give Himself to people who only want Him for His miraculous power (John 2, 6). And Jesus responds to Satan's weapon of deception in the same way we are to. Jesus counter attacks with the Truth of Scripture.

God has given us the Belt of Truth to surround ourselves with. It is truth that keeps us from being mislead, and truth that keeps us focused on the true words of God. We battle deception with truth. We have the Breastplate of Righteousness to cover our hearts. Righteousness is protection from the relationship with God. It covers our bodies, front and back, and guards the relationship with have with God so we aren't lead astray. We have the Sandals of Peace. They give us sure footing as we follow God's plan for our life. We have the Shield of Faith, to protect us from all of Satan's deceptive lies. God has given us the Helmet of Salvation to cover our head. Salvation guards our minds and gives us assurance that we belong to God. We are protected from deception by the knowledge of salvation. Finally, we have the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. This is the same weapon Jesus used, and that Eve failed to use. No lie, no deception, can stand against the truth and authority of the Word of God.

Deception is a powerful weapon, and it is only the first one in Satan's arsenal. But God has armed us for battle, and has given us the tools to block, and counter attack this weapon.

Peace be with you