We live in a world of antithesis. There is a physical law that says "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." In philosophical terms, this means if there is life, there is death. If there is truth, there is a lie etc. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." Here is antithesis stated openly. If we love something, then we automatically hate the opposite of the object of our love. Proverbs 8:13 tells us some things to hate, "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate." If we have the fear of the Lord, we will, by definition, love their converses.
Application
To properly understand the Bible, we need to use what is known as applied theology.
If there is a God, then there has to be a devil. The word "devil" means adversary. He is the antithesis of God. The Lord Jesus said of him in John 8:44, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." Clearly, the devil is a liar. The Lord Jesus Christ, on the other hand, said in John 14:6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Since the Lord Jesus Christ is these three things, the devil would be the reverse. He would say, "I am the desert, the lie, and the death."
In presenting the opposite, we understand what the other is. The devil has his ten commandments also. Deuteronomy 5:6-21, "I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 7Thou shalt have none other gods before me. 8Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: 9Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, 10And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. 11Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 12Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. 13Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: 14But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. 15And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day. 16Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 17Thou shalt not kill. 18Neither shalt thou commit adultery. 19Neither shalt thou steal. 20Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. 21Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s." These are God’s Ten Commandments.
We know that the devil’s would be just the opposite. His would be 1. Thou shall have other gods. 2. Thou shall make graven images and bow down and worship them. 3. Thou shall take the Lord’s name in vain. 4. Forget the Sabbath day by desecrating it. 5. Dishonor your father and mother. 6. Thou shall kill. 7. Thou shall commit adultery. 8. Thou shall steal. 9. Thou shall bear false witness against your neighbor. 10. Thou shall covet everything your neighbor has. Is there a basis in Scripture for the above? God said to Adam in Genesis 2:16-17, "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." This is clear and emphatic. Breaking God’s command would result in death. The devil comes along and asserts in Genesis 3:4, "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die." One word, "not," changes a truth into a lie. In the same way, an omission of a word does the same thing. When did the devil begin telling the truth anyway?
Conclusion
The devil has tried his level best to change God’s world. He is the epitome of failure. The devil will use Scripture quoted out of context, if it furthers his ends. He attempts this with the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 4:6-7, "And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." By taking Scripture out of context, we can make the Bible say whatever we want to. The devil never could follow rules, especially those of grammar.
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