Deceiving and Being Deceived (Part 2)
Last week, we took an introductory look at deception, both as the deceiver and as the deceived. This week we continue that study, beginning with a look at the linguistics involved, examining the concept of truth and how that is viewed by the current-generation Western world as opposed to that of the Ancient Near East (ANE).
Truth? What is Truth?
In the West, we tend to view truth as factual or propositional accuracy. These five things happened on this day and in this order. It is Sergeant Joe Friday, on Dragnet,1 saying, “All we want are the facts, ma’am.”
This is a viewpoint I fervently embraced for most of my life as a man with an exceedingly black and white worldview, an interesting reality for a man whose last name is “Gray.” For us in the West, we are primarily binary thinkers. A thing is true or it is false. The light is on or it is off.
To the post-enlightenment Westerner, truth has an almost clinical characteristic to it. It is propositional and verifiable. Truth hinges on a correspondent, provable or falsifiable property. The ANE man or woman holds a strikingly divergent view to that of the Westerner. I urge you not to the characterize the contemporary West’s take on truth as correct and the ANE’s as misguided. They’re just different!
When Jesus was standing before Pontius Pilate, undergoing a sham trial, Jesus and Pilate had an exchange regarding “truth.”
Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.”
– John 18:37-38, ESV
Pilate’s question is fair, albeit somewhat cynical.
Hebrew Truth
To the Hebrew mind, truth is not about factual accuracy, but about relational and moral reliability. Even as I type this, and as you read it, it is a difficult concept for us to grasp. אֶמֶת (emeth) is frequently translated as “truth,” simply because that’s the closest fit for our Western mentality. The root of the term, however, is found in the idea of firmness, stability, and faithfulness…not factual absolutes.
אֶמֶת is the same root from which Jesus draws when he speaks his duplet “Truly, truly I say to you…” It’s not the case that he is about to speak a factual accuracy but, rather, that he is about to say something faithful and reliable.
This is firm and stable. You can build on this rock!
אֶמֶת is the antithesis of what newscasters and politicians do when they “put a spin” on the events being discussed. They are masking reality with a cover story, leading consumers and constituents to believe something that is not fully aligned with reality.
ֱIn contrast to ֱאֶמֶת we have מִרְמָה (mirmāh), which is guile and deceit. This is one who holds ֱאֶמֶת with a relaxed grip in order to gain some advantage. We didn’t lie. We just “fudged” a bit on our taxes. Consider Abraham’s double deception when, twice, in cowardice, he represented his wife as his sister.2 That’s guile. That is deception. That’s מִרְמָה.
If we shift from Hebrew to Greek, we find the use of ἀλήθεια (aletheia). The Hellenists are slightly more aligned with what contemporary Westerners consider truth and falsehood, though not fully. And bear in mind that the Hebrew influence remained exceedingly strong throughout the New Testament era.
To the Hellenist, ἀλήθεια is something free from pretense. It is unmasked or unhidden. There is no veil in place. The actor is wearing no mask. So, to a Hellenist of Jesus’ day, deception is not so much the speaking an untruth but, rather, the hiding of what is true.
A Matter of Honor
In the ANE world, and even today in that same region, honor and shame are primary social drivers. Deception, while often viewed as legitimate when used as a tool of against an enemy or an outsider, was strictly forbidden within the the covenant community. It is this reality that made the kiss of Judas an exceedingly abhorrent betrayal.
Not only did Judas employ deceit to accomplish his goal of betrayal, he employed a sign of loyalty in doing so. In the Near East and Middle East, a kiss on the cheek or on the hand is a symbol of fealty and allegiance. It is a sign of submission to a teacher or a master. With his kiss, Judas didn’t just identify Jesus, he did so with the symbol of covenantal love as he deceived his own covenant community of disciples.
Deception within community is cancerous. It is leaven that spreads throughout the entire lump of dough.3 Recalling the Hebrew concept of אֶמֶת as stability, solidarity, and reliability, now consider the contrast of unreliability as ἀλήθεια is the wood-rot that threatens the integrity of the entire community structure.
Invoking the Name of God
Recall from last week, the example of the Gibeonites who used moldy bread and worn-out leather to deceive the Israelites into believing they has just travelled a great distance. The outcome of this deception was an ill-advised treaty between Israel and Gibeon.
The deception, however, was more nefarious than it first appears. Yes, the Gibeonites employed moldy bread and worn-out wineskins to deceive the Israelites, but they did something even more devious than that. The Gibeonites knew that, in the Hebraic culture, invoking the name of God in a covenant made that oath ontologically binding. A word spoken in the name of Yahweh became a physical, binding reality that could not be unspoken, even though the word was given in response to pretense and fraud. I have given you my word and my word is my bond.
Consider, then, how flippantly people of our culture say, “Oh, I swear to God…” Really? We must give great care when using an invocation like that. The sanctity of God’s name is not to be sullied by irreverent impudence. The Israelites knew this, and as a result, honored their unwise oath made in Yahweh’s name.
Satan’s Deceptions
Like the newscasters and politicians noted above, Satan is a master of spin, frequently including just enough truth to make something sound or appear legitimate, while including a poison pill in the mixture. Half-Truth, Two-Thirds-Truth, even Seven-Eights-Truth is still a deception, and untrue.
Example One: The Hyperbolic Question“Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”4
This is a classic “Straw Man” debate fallacy. The truth is, God said Adam and Eve could eat from every tree in the garden, save one. The Serpent re-framed God’s generosity and abundance as a restriction and a prohibition. And it worked! Satan made the ninety-nine percent “Yes” appear to be a one-hundred percent “No.”
Example Two: Almost-Truth“You will not certainly die…”5
This is the most dangerous deception because, in the immediate, physical sense, the Almost-Truth seems true. Adam and Eve didn’t physically die the moment they bit the forbidden fruit. The deceiver had redefined the terminology. Where God defined “death” as spiritual separation from himself and the onset of human mortality (both of which happened), Satan reframed that as immediate, physical death, and that didn’t happen. Satan was calling God a liar.
Almost-Truth is still untruth. I wish I could recall who said it or where I read it, but someone once told me that if he were Satan, he would not try to get “good people” to dive into filth and debauchery. Rather, he would create a false “Christianity” so close to the real thing that people would fully buy into it because they would not be able to tell the difference. A deception!
Charles Spurgeon is reputed to once have said, “Discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference between right and wrong; rather it is telling the difference between right and almost right.”6
Example Three: Mischaracterized Truth“…for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil….”7
There are two pieces to this deception. One is 100% true, and the other is 100% true…from a certain perspective.
Yes, Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened,8 and, yes, they did suddenly understand the difference between good and evil. But that second reality did not make them “just like God.” Like him in one specific respect, knowing good and evil? Yes. But the enticement, “You’ll be just like God,” was a bold-faced lie. We are not God. We are God’s image-bearers, having been made in his image,9 but that’s a far cry from what Satan was implying.
Similar to the Almost-Truth, the Mischaracterized Truth has been re-framed and redefined. Satan presented it as, God is holding back. He is selfishly holding out on you! The reality is that God was protecting Adam and Eve from something destructive and dangerous.
Everything God does is good.
The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.
– Psalm 145:17-19, ESV
1. Dragnet (a.k.a. “Badge 714” was a popular television program from 1951-1954, and later relaunched in 1967. The program also launched two feature films.
2. Genesis 12:10-20, 20:1-13
3. Galatians 5:9, 1 Corinthians 5:6, Matthew 16:6
4. Genesis 3:1
5. Genesis 3:4
6. The actual source of this Spurgeon quote is a mystery, but it likely originated his teaching on “almost” Christians and “almost” truths. In Spurgeon’s sermon “The Great Reservoir” (Sermon #191, 1858), he touched on the danger of things that look right but that are fundamentally flawed. 7. Genesis 3:5
8. Genesis 3:7
9. Genesis 1:26
