The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” [Genesis 3:12-13 (NIV)]
Just as we must not become stumbling blocks to others on their faith journey, we must be cautious of the stumbling blocks we encounter on ours. The Greek word usually translated as “stumbling block” was skandalon. It originally referred to the stick that served as the trigger for a snare trap but, eventually, scandalon developed two meanings. It was both a snare or trap that catches unsuspecting prey as well as something that trips a person and causes them to stumble and fall—in other words, a stumbling block. In both cases, the purpose of the scandalon is to catch its victim unaware!
In the guise of a serpent, Satan certainly didn’t look dangerous when presenting himself to Eve. Remember, this was before God cursed the serpent with crawling on its belly and groveling in the dust for as long as it lived and God had not yet declared enmity between mankind and snakes. To the naïve Eve, Satan probably seemed as cute, charming, and harmless as Martin the Gecko with the Cockney accent in Geico’s commercials!
Indeed, temptation is seductive and rarely does our tempter appear to be the adversary he or she truly is. The lovely Delilah didn’t look like a greedy schemer who would sell out Samson for 5,500 pieces of silver. It was Jacob’s loving mother who suggested he steal Esau’s blessing from Isaac and it was Abraham’s beloved wife who suggested he bypass God’s timing and bed Hagar. Job’s wife is the one who told him to curse God and die. When Peter told Jesus to refuse crucifixion, that temptation also came from someone Jesus loved and trusted.
If a scandalon looked as dangerous and deadly as it is, it wouldn’t be effective—the intended prey would flee in terror before succumbing to it. Satan is no fool; if he arrived at our doorstep looking like the deceitful conniver he is, we’d never let him in. Instead, he finds ways to use people, often those we’d least suspect, even people we admire or love, to act as stumbling blocks to our faith. A good snare is misleading and, with the right bait, deceptively attractive. If you ask a recovering addict, they’ll tell you that first snort of cocaine or heroin didn’t come from a wigged-out junkie in a back alley; it came from a friend!
Earlier this week, I wrote about not being a stumbling block to someone else’s faith. It’s not enough, however, not to be a scandalon. We must learn how to recognize those stumbling blocks that ever so subtly lie in our path. Not every bad idea comes from someone we think of as “bad;” many come from our nearest and dearest. Indeed, stumbling blocks and temptations usually come in a pleasant package and without a warning label. While Satan may skulk around like a hungry lion, he often looks a great deal like a cute innocent kitten. But, as any mouse caught in a trap would tell us (were he able), that bite of cheese isn’t worth it!
We must not regard who speaks, so much as what is spoken; we should learn to know the devil’s voice when he speaks in a saint as well as when he speaks in a serpent. [Matthew Henry]
Aside from Adam and Eve’s fig leaves, Scripture doesn’t tell us much about people’s attire. Both Matthew and Mark, however, specifically mention the unconventional attire of John the Baptizer—a camel’s hair garment and a leather belt around his waist. Rather than the luxurious fabric of woven camel’s hair we know today, it probably was a dressed camel’s hide. Moreover, since Scripture rarely refers to people’s diets, the mention of John eating locusts and honey is equally unusual. When the Bible’s writers veer from the norm, we should take notice and ask ourselves, “Why?”
In 1 Kings 21, we learn of Naboth, the owner of a vineyard adjacent to King Ahab’s palace in Jezreel. A choice piece of real estate, Ahab wanted it for himself and offered to purchase or exchange it for other land. Property, however, wasn’t to be treated as a real estate investment—it was to remain in the family to which it had been allotted. Because Jewish law prohibited Naboth from selling his ancestral land, he rejected the king’s offer. Angry at his neighbor’s refusal’s, Ahab acted like a spoiled child, took to his bed, and refused to eat. Upon learning the reason for her husband’s sulking, Jezebel hatched a devious plan. She arranged for false accusations to be made against Naboth that would result in his immediate death. Jezebel’s evil plot went as planned and, upon news of their neighbor’s death, she told Ahab the land was his and he took it for himself!
Thousands of years ago, God told Noah to build a boat the height of a four-story house, the length of one-and-a-half football fields, and with the storage capacity of about 450 semi-trailers. Without benefit of Home Depot or power tools, he managed to do it. What would happen if God gave Noah those same instructions today?
Jeremiah’s instructions to work and pray for the welfare of Babylon was a unique and completely unprecedented concept in the ancient world. Rather than praying for retaliation and Babylon’s collapse, God commanded them to pray for their Babylonian captors and work for the peace and prosperity of the land! Rather than rebels and a source of trouble and insurrection, the exiles were to become reliable and valuable members of the community. It seems they took God’s command to heart.
Devotions of the Heart 