Our children around VBS time sometimes sing a song that begins with: “The Devil is a sly old fox…” The Apostle Paul talks about combating the “wiles” of the Devil (Ephesians 6:11-13). I hear that word and always think of Wile-E-Coyote. “Wiles” are “strategies employed to trap someone.” The Looney Tunes character used all manner of ACME products to try and capture the Roadrunner. The Devil has his own arsenal of tricks he employs to try and trap us. There’s a reason he sometimes appears as “an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). It wouldn’t make much sense for us to see him as he really is; we’d run behind the legs of Jesus like frightened toddlers hiding from a scary animal at the zoo. The Devil uses deception to lead us away from Jesus, and one of the deceptions he uses is an apathy toward righteousness.
In other words, while the Devil’s ultimate goal is to get you to sin, he’s not philosophically opposed to you doing righteous things here and there. He’s not offended by goodness the way God is offended by wickedness. I’m studying the wisdom literature books this year (Proverbs-Ecclesiastes) and recently found this text from Proverbs 4 that highlights the difference between Satan and God in how they view things that are against their nature…
For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.
(Proverbs 8:7-9)
The words here are spoken by “wisdom,” which, in Proverbs, is depicted as a woman with thoughts, feelings, and words to share. Here, she promises us that her words are righteous. They must be: They come from the mind of God, and everything wicked is abomination to God. Therefore, every wicked word is abomination to the lips of wisdom. Furthermore, the wisdom that comes from God’s mouth only contains righteous words. There is nothing perverse or “froward” (crooked) that He will ever say. God will never say one thing and mean another, and unlike the Devil, God doesn’t play games or try to trick people. He’s forthright, and lays out all the knowledge you need to be right in His sight. He makes it plain and obvious, and then leaves it to you either to obey or reject Him.
The Devil, on the other hand, seeks to mislead you. The Devil wants to trick you. The Devil will gladly tell you some truth, to lull you into a false sense of security. He is not revolted by truth; he uses it, twists it, and treats it like bait to draw in his prey. Then, when he has you hooked, the devil will substitute truth for lies so smoothly and so subtly that you won’t even realize the change has occurred. God, however, speaks no lies.
The Devil can speak true things: That’s a concern.
God cannot lie: That’s a comfort.
~Matthew