Throne of Lies

The holiday movie, Elf, is a household favorite which I think gets funnier each year. I love the scene where Buddy encounters a department store Santa, who holds a young boy in his lap and asks what he would like for Christmas.

Buddy whispers loudly a number of accusations, hoping to take out the fraud, but my favorite is: “You sit on a throne of lies!”

As believers, we have a fierce enemy who sits on a throne of lies.

It’s no secret the kingdom of God is opposed. But do we really know our enemy? Do we realize just how intently he opposes us? There are other forms of opposition, but we, the kingdom of God, are often dense to how forces of darkness work around us.

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

It would be easy to spot if all his opposition was in-your-face obvious. But much more often, the enemy is subtle. Like the snake in the garden who spoke to Eve, he didn’t rock out demonic phrases or swallow puppy dogs whole.

He acted like a friend who was just concerned.

He wanted to make sure Eve was getting everything she deserved. So he encouraged her to take his advice because it would lead to something better than what God offered.

We know how that turned out. They had to leave the beauty of Eden, for a life of hardship. One of their own sons murdered his brother. They grew old and died. Their offspring grew steadily more murderous, and God finally wiped the whole of them out and started over again through Noah’s line.

That wasn’t all though. In all Creation, we feel the consequences. And we add to it each day.

Yesterday I sat through a seminar on human trafficking. I heard story after evil story. This back-alley wickedness is happening in our own city, and in yours.

But why? Because humankind did not obey God. We thought we had a better way. Because that roaring lion is also the father of lies (John 8:44). Because the enemy lied and Eve desired to have it all, the same way we desire to have it all.

Because this is what happens when sin is full-grown. After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:15

Now the lie has progressed in ways that make our stomachs ache.

It started subtly. But the lie yielded devastating results. His lies are always that way, if we listen.

I’m not saying the results will always be heinous or criminal. Sometimes he offers just enough deception to keep one of God’s girls down. I wrote about how the enemy held me back with his lying whisper, You’re not good enough, in this post and this post.

Today, I just want to encourage you to know your enemy. Be aware he is after you. The Bible calls him accuser, tempter, murderer, and ruler of the kingdom of the air.

He sits on a throne of lies, trying to lead the whole world astray…