The Genesis of Deception

Genesis 3:1 – "Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?"

Genesis 3:4-5 – "The serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die! For God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’"

Does Satan lie or deceive? Interesting question so let us understand it and the difference. 

Satan primarily deceives though lying is one of his tools. Lying and deceiving are closely related and often used interchangeably, but they have distinct nuances.

Lying involves making a false statement with the intention to mislead. Deception, on the other hand, misleads without necessarily lying - through omission of facts, or creating misleading statements which are not necessarily lies. It often exploits the other person's assumptions, expectations, or cognitive biases. It is more subtle—it involves twisting truth, creating doubt, and leading people astray (Revelation 12:9).

In short, deception is mostly based on an aspect of the truth, making it plausible, and difficult to detect.

That is exactly what the serpent did to Eve in the Garden of Eden. Satan didn’t just lie outright—he twisted God’s words to make disobedience seem appealing (Genesis 3:1-5).

He played on Gods command and advice, quoted God (as a question) and gave a plausible, attractive reason, at the same time not telling Eve of the consequences.

Deceiving is Satan's strategy. He does not go around making random false statements but uses our own weaknesses and plays on them.

Deception is a wider concept than simply uttering falsehoods. Satan's methods go beyond direct lies to include:

-Manipulation: Twisting God's words and intentions, as he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden. He didn't outright say God was lying, but he reinterpreted God's command and motives.

-Creating Illusions: Planting ideas and perceptions in people's minds so that we think we are the author and therefore start justifying it, even though it may be false. This procedure is called auto suggestion.

-Exploiting Weaknesses: Targeting vulnerabilities and desires to lead people astray. 

-Half-Truths: Mixing elements of truth with falsehoods, making the lie more convincing.

For these reasons deception is much more dangerous than lies - because it is much more difficult to identify, and Satan excels at it. It speaks to his cunning, his strategic approach, and the ultimate goal of causing people to embrace falsehood and reject truth.

What can we do about it?

For starters we need to understand the "why" and the "how" of Satan's deception.

Why does Satan deceive people?

Satan is the enemy of all righteousness and doesn’t want anyone to follow the Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He wants us to be miserable like he is (see 2 Nephi 2:27).

His target is God and Christ and their mission, and his way is through us people. The weaker and more fearful or impatient we are, the more we collaborate with Satan to defeat God's purpose. Think about that.

How does he deceive?

Eric B. Murdoch says - "Satan loves it when we feel discouraged. He wants us to believe that whatever is getting us down will be around permanently. But that’s just not true".

He works relentlessly to confuse us to believe that good is evil and evil is good (see Isaiah 5:20). To see examples of this simple fact, look around you and then find out what the Bible says about what you have seen.

Finally, how do we overcome Satan?

How do we not allow ourselves to become his tools to be used and thrown (you know where)?

First, we must decide in all honesty whether we want to become his tool. Somewhere deep down, are we willing to compromise, just a little, to achieve or attain something, just a little and willing to bend the rules, just a little? Is there anything that could make us give up on God, even for a brief moment or a day. Be honest. If the honest answer is yes, then we first need to work on correcting our own mindset and priorities. 

Second, focus on Jesus Christ: Jesus declared, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). Anchoring ourselves in Christ and his teachings is paramount.

We can't do this alone. Seek the Holy Spirit's guidance: The Holy Spirit is called the "Spirit of truth" (John 16:13) and helps believers discern truth from falsehood, even within ourselves.

finally, do we truly believe we are on level or more powerful than Satan by ourselves? Sorry. This is spiritual warfare, not the kind we read about in books, where strategy and plans come in handy and tanks and weapons and protective gear are required.

Being a spiritual war, we need to put on spiritual Armour, and we need spiritual weaponry. Therefore, put on the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18): This passage describes spiritual armor to withstand spiritual attacks, including deception. 

Use the Bible as your scale and weapon to refute lies and stand firm against deception, just as Jesus did when tempted in the wilderness (Matthew 4).

Lastly, understand that he makes us believe in the concept of 'me first' - that I and my so-called happiness is more important than people and even God. (For example, certain things which were completely taboo in the past have been justified today and included in the mainstream as "normal".)

When we prioritize our own desires above everything else, including people and Gods word, justified in our own minds, we are opening up ourselves to deception. The desire is ours; the justification and prioritization are obligingly provided by Satan.

To counter this, we need our daily dose of the spirit. We need the "spirit of God" to help us through it, giving us the power to see through deception, by staying rooted in prayer, scripture, and discernment.