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DECEIT has been used throughout the ages to
MISLEAD, to CONCEAL one's actions, to CHEAT, to TRICK, or sometimes to
give a FALSE IMPRESSION.
DECEPTION is accomplished by someone acting in
one way, but having another purpose in mind.
Although the act of DECEPTION is generally viewed
in a bad sense, it was also used at times to accomplish God's purpose
in protecting His people or in destroying their enemies.
In 2 Corinthians 6:8, the apostle Paul tells us
that at times believers may use deception in a good sense: "as
deceivers and yet true".
Let ' s look at some of these GREAT DECEIVERS in
the Word of God to find out WHO they were; WHAT they did to deceive;
WHEN their action took place; WHERE it occurred; and WHY they used
deception.
SATAN .....
The very first DECEIVER in the universe about
whom we learn was Lucifer. He rebelled against God's authority and
became known as "that old serpent", the "Devil", and "Satan, who
DECEIVES the whole world". (Revelation 12:9)
In eternity past, Lucifer decided that he would
make himself just like God:
"For thou hast said in thine heart, I WILL ascend
into heaven. I WILL exalt my throne above the stars of God; I WILL sit
also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. I
WILL ascend above the heights of the clouds. I WILL be like the most
High". (Isaiah 14:13,14)
Under the permissive will of God, Satan beguiled
Eve into violating the only command that God had imposed upon her and
Adam, and she ate of the forbidden Tree of the Knowledge of Good and
Evil and became a sinner. Adam saw what she had done, and he also ate
of the fruit of the tree so that he would not be separated from his
wife. As a result, everyone who is born into this world is born with a
sin nature.
The Lord is allowing Satan to deceive all of the
nations of the world until the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ. At
that time, he will be bound and thrown into a bottomless pit for the
1,000 year reign of our Lord on this earth:
"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having
the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
And he laid hold of the dragon, that old serpent,
which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and
cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon
him, that he should deceive the nations no more, til the 1,000 years
are fulfilled, and after that he must be loosed for a little season".
(Revelation 20:1-3)
During the Millenium, Jesus Christ will be ruling
on the earth in perfect environment. Children will be born during
those years, and no one will die except in the case of capital
punishment.
Before his final judgment, Satan will be set free
to deceive those who will be born during the 1,000 years:
"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan
shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the
nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to
gather them together to battle; the number of whom is as the sand on
the seashore.
And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and
compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city, and fire
came down out of heaven and devoured them.
And the devil that deceived them was cast into
the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet
are, and shall be tormented day and night, for ever and ever".
(Revelation 20:7-10)
ABRAHAM .....
Abraham was called the "friend of God", and he
stands out as a man of great faith in Hebrews 11:17-19. After obeying
the Lord when he was told to leave his country and go to a place where
the Lord would lead him, Abraham used deception to protect himself
from the Egyptians:
"There was a famine in the land, and Abraham went
down into Egypt to find food. Just as they were about to go into the
land of Egypt, Abraham said to his wife, 'Sarah, I know that you are a
very beautiful woman, and when the Egyptians see you, they will
capture you and kill me, because they will think you are my wife.
Please tell them you are my sister so that I may live!"' (Genesis
12:10 13)
Abraham's plan worked out just as he had
anticipated. Sarah was taken into Pharoah's house to become one of his
wives, but the Lord was displeased, and He troubled Pharoah's
household. Then Pharoah discovered that Sarah was Abraham's wife. He
sent for Abraham and said to him, "Look what you have done to me by
lying to me about your wife! Now, take your wife and leave us in
peace!"
Abraham could have saved himself and his wife a
lot of grief if he had trusted the Lord instead of using deception to
save his own neck!
ISAAC .....
Isaac was the son that the Lord had promised to
Abraham and Sarah. Like his father, Isaac was also a great man of
faith, but he too used deception in the same way that Abraham had
done.
There was another famine in the land, and Isaac
took his wife Rebekah, his servants and his flocks and went into the
land of the Philistines. When the Philistines asked him about the
beautiful woman who was travelling with him, Isaac said, "She is my
sister", and they spared his life. The king of Gerar discovered that
Rebekah was actually Isaac's wife, so he sent for him and said, "Go
and leave us alone before the Lord punishes us because of your
deception". (Genesis 26:1-16)
JACOB .....
Jacob was the youngest one of twin boys that were
born to Isaac and Rebekah. He was a farmer, and his brother Esau was a
hunter.
Because Esau was the eldest of the twins, he
should have received the inheritance and the blessings of the
firstborn son. However, Jacob saw his opportunity to steal his
brother's birthright by using deceptive means.
One day when Esau had been out hunting and became
extremely hungry. He found Jacob and went into his tent to ask for
help. Jacob was making some lentil soup, and Esau said to him, "Please
give me some of your lentil soup! I'm so tired and hungry that I'm
about to die!"
Jacob used deception and replied, "Certainly,
Esau, but first you must sell your birthright to me!"
Esau was so desperate that he agreed and replied,
"Look! I'm at the point of death! What good is my birthright to me
now?"
Under the permissive will of God, Jacob was
successful in gaining the firstborn blessings and birthright
privileges that resulted from his deception of his older brother.
JOSEPH .....
Joseph was a truly wonderful believer who
believed the promises of God throughout his 110 years on this earth.
The Bible states only one instance in his life when he failed to trust
the Lord and instead relied upon a man to help him. Joseph was in an
Egyptian prison when he asked a fellow-prisoner, the Pharoah's
cup-bearer, who was about to be released, to speak to the Pharoah on
his behalf. (Genesis 41:1,14)
Rather than being delivered as he had hoped, the
Lord had Joseph spend two more years in prison.
When he was 17 years old, Joseph's brothers sold
him into slavery, because they were jealous of him. Thirteen years
later, after he had suffered many trials and testings, Joseph became
the Prime Minister of Egypt.
Four years after Joseph was appointed to that
position, a serious famine occurred over a very widespread area that
extended into the land of Canaan, and Joseph's brothers had to leave
their homes and travel to Egypt to buy grain.
Joseph was overseer of all of the grain
storehouses in Egypt, and when he saw his brothers, he recognized them
immediately, but they did not know him ... after all, it had been
thirteen years since they had last seen him, and now when they looked
at him they saw him as an Egyptian because of his dress and and his
speech.
Joseph decided to deceive his brothers, for the
purpose of testing them in order to see if they were still jealous and
petty. He saw that they had become considerate of one another, and
then Joseph revealed himself to his brothers and said to them in their
Hebrew tongue, "You thought to do evil against me when you sold me
into slavery, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass what you see
here in Egypt today, so that He could preserve the lives of many
people".
(Genesis 50:18-21)
Joseph's use of deception was used wisely and for
a good purpose.
RAHAB ... (Joshua
chapter 2)
Rahab was a woman who lived in the city of
Jericho in the land of Canaan. She had a cloth manufacturing business
in her house that was located right next to the city wall. One night,
two men of Israel, whom Joshua had sent into Jericho to spy there,
came into Rahab's house and asked her to hide them from the king's men
who wanted to arrest them.
The Lord had promised the Children of Israel the
land of Canaan, and after Moses died, Joshua became the leader of the
Israelites. Joshua and his men had destroyed some of the cities around
Jericho, and sent two spies into Jericho to get information before
they attacked the city.
Rahab hid the two men among the stalks of flax
that were on the roof of her house and said to them, "We have been
told that the Lord has given all of the land of Canaan to the Children
of Israel and that He dried up the Red Sea for you when you came out
of Egypt. We also know that you have utterly destroyed the nations on
the other side of the Jordan River. My people are so frightened of you
that they have no more courage to fight against you, for the Lord your
God is God in heaven above and in all the earth!"
Suddenly, the king's men arrived at the door of
Rahab's house, and when she asked them why they had come, they
replied, "It has been reported to us that two spies of the Children of
Israel came into your house for protection. Bring them out to us at
once!" Then Rahab used deception in order to protect the spies, and
she replied, "Yes, two men did come here asking me to hide them. I did
not know they were spies, but I did send them away! I saw them leave
through the city gate just as it was getting dark, but I don't know
where they were going! Go after them now, and you will surely overtake
them!"
As soon as the king's messengers left to search
for the spies, Rahab went to the two she had hidden on her roof and
said to them, "I will help you escape from the city, but first you
must swear that when you take this city, you will spare my life and
the lives of all my family." The spies answered, "We will sware to you
that your life and those of your family will be spared when the Lord
delivers Jericho into our hands!" Then Rahab let them down the wall
with a heavy rope, and they escaped.
After the destruction of Jericho, Rahab married
Salmon, who was one of the spies she had protected, and the Bible
tells us she became the great-grandmother of King David, 1,400 years
before the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Matthew 1:5,6)
GIBEONITES ... (
Joshua chapter 9 )
Gibeon was a city which was situated close to
Jericho, and when the men of Gibeon heard how Joshua had destroyed the
people in their neighboring cities, Jericho and Ai, they devised a
plan by which they might be able to protect themselves by the use of
deception.
A few of the Gibeonites planned to look for the
Israelites and then represent themselves as ambassadors from a far
country. They took old worn out sacks for their provisions, filled
some wine skins that were old and torn, and loaded them upon their
donkeys. Then they put old, worn-out shoes on their feet and old,
tattered garments on their bodies, and went to Gilgal to wait for
Joshua and his men to appear.
Gilgal was not far from Jericho, and it was the
place where the Israelites had first camped after crossing the Jordan
River. When the Gibeonites saw that Joshua and his troops were settled
in their tents, they went into their camp and said to the men of
Israel, "We have come to you from a far country to make a peace treaty
with you."
Joshua asked, "Who are you men, and from what
country have you come?"
They replied, "We have travelled here from a far
country, because we heard how the Lord your God brought you out of
Egyptian slavery, and how He has destroyed all of your enemies before
you in the land of Canaan. The people in our country gave provisions
to us for a long journey and then sent us on our way to make a treaty
of peace with you. See! The bread in our sacks was freshly baked when
we left our home, and now it is dry and moldy! Also, these wineskins
were new and full of wine, but now they are cracked and torn, and the
wine has spilled out! Surely, you can see by our shoes and clothing
that our journey has been a long and tedious one!"
Joshua and his men had pity for the strangers,
and they gave food and water to them. Then, without asking counsel of
the Lord, Joshua made a peace treaty with the Gibeonites and promised
not to harm them.
Three days later, Joshua discovered that the men
were not from a far country as they had told him, but they were
actually from nearby Gibeon. However, because of the treaty between
them, Joshua spared the lives of all the people in Gibeon when they
fought against and conquered all of the neighboring cities around
Gibeon.
Then Joshua called the Gibeonites to him and
said, "Because of our treaty with you, your lives have been spared.
However, because you deceived us, you are cursed in our sight. You
will not be free to live peaceably among us, but you shall serve us as
bondmen. You will be required to cut our wood and draw water for us
all your days!"
It was a bitter price to pay for their deception!
EHUD ... (Judges
3:15-30)
After Joshua died, the Children of Israel did not
have a strong leader, so the Lord provided judges to rule them and to
lead them into battle against their enemies in the land of Canaan.
One of those judges was a man called Ehud, and
the Lord sent him to deliver the Israelites from their eighteen years
of servitude under Eglon, king of Moab.
Ehud was a left-handed man who used good judgment
in his deceptive strategy toward the Moabites. He fashioned a dagger,
18" long, with two very sharp edges. He hid the dagger in his clothing
upon his right thigh, took a few men with him and then presented
himself to King Eglon.
Eglon was resting comfortably in the parlour of
his summer house when his servants announced that the Israelite, Ehud,
had come to see him and that he had a gift to personally present to
him. The king said excitedly, "Bring the Israelite to me at once!"
Ehud sent his men away, and he went into the
house alone. The king was an extremely obese man, and as Ehud bowed
down before him, the king spoke to him saying, "Where is the gift you
have brought with you?"
Ehud replied confidentially, "I have come on a
secret errand that is for your ears only, your majesty."
The king responded by first turning to his
servants and saying, "Be silent! Leave us alone so that I may learn
what this man has to offer!"
The king's servants left the room, and Ehud
approached Eglon and said quietly and mysteriously, "I have a message
from God for you, your majesty!"
Eglon struggled to his feet, anxiously awaiting
Ehud's words. Then, in complete surprise and amazement, he saw Ehud
reach under his cloak with his left hand and bring forth the sharp
dagger and plunge it into his huge body!
Eglon fell to the floor with both the dagger and
its shaft fully enclosed in the fat of his belly.
Ehud was unable to remove the dagger, so he
escaped through a window and went to gather a small army with which he
defeated the Moabites.
After Ehud's successful venture in destroying the
king of Moab, the Israelites had peace for sixty years.
After that, Jael watched from her doorway, and
suddenly Barak appeared. She ran to him and said, "Come into my tent,
and you will see the man for whom you have been searching."
Barak followed Jael into the tent, and to his
great surprise, he saw his enemy, Sisera, lying dead in a pool of
blood. He had died at the hands of this brave woman, Jael.
After that victory, the Israelites had rest from
their enemies for forty years!
DELILAH ..... (
Judges 16:4-31 )
Samson was the thirteenth judge over Israel, and
he judged the people for twenty years. The Lord gave him unusual
strength in order to defeat Israel's enemies, but his weakness for
women was his downfall. One of those women was a very beautiful
Philistine woman by the name of Delilah.
Samson spent a great deal of time with Delilah,
and the lords of the Philistines approached her with a proposition.
While we do not know the number of men involved, they each promised to
give Delilah eleven hundred pieces of silver if she would find out and
tell them where Samson got his great strength, and make it possible
for them to capture him.
The reward was very tempting to Delilah, so she
began to question Samson daily and asked, "Samson, what is the secret
of your tremendous strength? You are so powerful that no one can bind
you I"
Samson replied, "If they would bind me with rope
that has never been used, I would be helpless and as weak as any other
man. "
The lords of the Philistines brought new rope to
Delilah, and while Samson slept, she tied him securely, and then she
shouted, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!"
Samson awoke, and when he stood up, the rope
snapped as if it had been mere string!"
Delilah wept and said to him, "You don't really
love me! You have made a fool of me in front of my people with your
lies! Tell me truly where your great strength comes from!"
Samson did not reveal that information to
Delilah, but she was still determined to know the answer, and she kept
asking Samson night after night to tell her the source of his power.
Finally, Samson could no longer stand to hear her
questioning him, so he said, "I am a Nazarite, and my long hair is a
symbol of my devotion to the Lord God of Israel. I-fr my hair would be
cut, I would then be as weak as any other man".
This time Delilah believed he was telling the
truth, so she sent for the lords of the Philistines, asking them to
come at once with their rewards, and she would deliver Samson to them.
When Samson was asleep in her arms, Delilah
called for a man to cut Samson's hair. Then she shouted to him,
"Samson! The Philistines are upon youi"
Samson awoke and saw the Philistines ready to
bind him. He had no strength to resist them as before, so they bound
him with brass chains and took him to their prison house. There they
blinded him and made him grind corn in their prison.
The deception of beautiful Delilah cost Samson
his eyesight and eventually his very life!
SAMUEL ..... ( 1
Samuel chapter 16 )
Samuel was the last prophet in the Old Testament.
He was also a judge. He had anointed Saul as king over the Israelites,
because the people demanded that the Lord give them a king that they
could see.
Saul was not a satisfactory leader, because of
his continual disobedience to the Word of God. As a result, the Lord
chose another man to replace Saul, and He sent Samuel to anoint young
David, who was the eighth son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite.
Saul was still king, and Samuel feared that his
own life would be in danger if Saul learned about it, so Samuel said
to the Lord, "How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me!"
The Lord replied, "Go to Bethlehem, and take a
heifer with you. When the elders in the city ask why you have come,
tell them you are there to make a sacrifice to Me. Then call Jesse and
his sons to the sacrifice. I have chosen one of his sons to be the
next king over My people."
Samuel did as the Lord instructed, and David was
anointed by Samuel in the sight of his family and the elders of
Israel, although he did not occupy the throne until thirteen years
later.
The Lord's purpose in sending Samuel to Bethlehem
was to anoint a king, but He used deception in a good way so that
Samuel would be protected from Saul's wrath.
DAVID in disguise .....
( 1 Samuel 21:10-15 )
When David was fleeing from King Saul who wanted
to kill him, he decided to hide in the Philistine city of Gath among
Israel's enemies.
The servants of Achish, the king of Gath,
recognized David, and David became extremely frightened, in order to
deceive the king, David pretended to be a mad man. He scratched on the
doors of the city gate with his fingernails, and he let his saliva
fall down upon his beard.
When Achish observed David's unusual behavior, he
said to his servants, "Don't you see that the man is mad? Why have you
brought him to me? Did you think I needed to have a mad man in my
household?"
David found his opportunity to escape, and he hid
in a cave in the wilderness until his brothers and four hundred
fighting men came to help him get away from Saul.
DAVID, the hypocrite .....
( 2 Samuel chapter 11 )
About five years after David became king of
Israel, he got into some serious trouble with the Lord. He was not on
the battlefield with his army when he should have been leading them
against their enemy. Instead, he stayed in the palace and pampered
himself by sleeping until just before sunset.
When he arose from his bed, David strolled
through his garden on the roof of his house, and he saw a beautiful
woman bathing on a roof nearby. David enquired about her, and he was
told that her name was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.
David sent for Bathsheba and committed adultery
with her. Apparently, David didn't give the matter much thought, but
several months later, the woman sent word to him that she was carrying
his child.
David didn't wish to have his sin of adultery
discovered, so he sent for General Joab and said to him, "Go and find
Uriah the Hittite, and bring him to mel"
Joab located Uriah among the soldiers at the
front, and brought him to David. David questioned Uriah about how the
battle was going and about Joab's handling of the men, and then sent
Uriah to his house. However, Uriah did not go down to his house to see
his wife, but he slept in the servants quarters in the palace.
When David heard about it, he sent for Uriah and
asked him, "Why didn't you go to your house last night?"
Uriah replied, "Because Joab and all of your
fighting men are sleeping in open fields. I am a soldier, and I could
not go to my house to be with my wife."
Then David served food and wine to Uriah and made
him drunken. Again, he ordered Uriah to go to his own house, but Uriah
went to the servants quarters as before.
David became desperate! He wrote a letter to Joab
and gave it to Uriah to deliver. When Joab opened the letter, he read,
"Set Uriah on the front line of the hottest battle and retreat from
him so that he may be killed!"
Uriah and some of David's best men died in the
battle that day, and Joab sent a messenger to tell David about the
casualties. Joab's instructions were: "If the king becomes angry when
you report the bad news of our losses, and if he asks why the men were
fighting so close to the city wall, tell him that Uriah the Hittite
was one of the casualties!"
When David heard the report that Uriah had died,
he said to the messenger, "Go back and tell Joab that he should not be
unhappy about his losses. The sword devours one man as well as
another!"
When Bathsheba heard that her husband was dead,
she mourned for him many days. After the mourning period, David sent
for her and she became his wife, but the things David had done greatly
displeased the Lord!
ABSALOM . . . . .
( 2 Samuel chapter 1 5 )
King David had half a dozen wives and a number of
sons, however, Absalom was apparently his favorite.
Absalom's half-brother Amnon committed a crime of
rape against Absalom's sister Tamar. When David did nothing to punish
Amnon, Absalom made a successful plan to have Amnon executed, which
was the law regarding rape offenders. Afterwards, Absalom fled from
his father's wrath and stayed three years with his mother's father,
Tairnai, the king of Geshur.
David longed to see Absalom, but, stubbornly, he
would not send for him.
Finally after much persuasion, General Joab
convinced David that he should have Absalom return to Jerusalem. David
sent for his son, but when Absalom came into the city, David said to
Joab, "Let Absalom go to his own house, but I do not want to look in
his face!"
Two years went by, and David did not fully
forgive Absalom. in Absalom's estimation, his father's half
forgiveness was no forgiveness at all, so he began to make plans to
retaliate against the injustice.
First of all, Absalom asked Joab to help him get
an audience with David, but Joab did not cooperate until Absalom
instructed his servants to set Joab's barley field on fire. Joab went
angrily to Absalom and said to him, "Why did you order your servants
to set fire to my barley field?" Absalom replied, "For two years I
have asked you to arrange a meeting between my father and me, and you
did nothing about it!"
Finally, Joab spoke to David, and Absalom was
presented before him. Absalom bowed down before the king, and David
embraced his son.
However, deep resentment had been building up in
Absalom's mind during the two years he was in disfavor with his father
and not able to see him face to face, so he made plans to overthrow
David's authority and set himself up as king of Israel!
By using deception, Absalom flattered and
expressed exaggerated concern for the problems of the people, and
during the next two years, he managed to steal the hearts of the
people. Then he gathered an army and prepared to carry out his devious
plot against his father
As soon as David got the news that Absalom had
assembled a great number of fighting men, and that they were planning
to attack Jerusalem, David fled from the city with some of his
faithful men.
Absalom and his men did attack Jerusalem, but as
he was fleeing from some of David's men, Joab found him and killed
him.
Absalom's deception cost him his life and made
King David very sad.
THE PRINCES OF PERSIA ...
( Daniel chapter 6 )
About five hundred years before Jesus Christ came
into this world, a great man by the name of Daniel was promoted to a
very high position in the powerful empire of Media-Persia.
When Daniel was a teen-ager, he was taken from
his home in Jerusalem to Babylon by the invading armies of King
Nebuchadnezzar. Because of his wisdom and dependability, Daniel was
promoted to positions of authority under three different world rulers.
Those rulers were Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar of the Chaldean
empire, and Cyrus the Great of the Media-Persian empire.
Cyrus the Great set Darius the Mede as governor
over the kingdom, and Darius set 120 princes over the provinces, along
with three presidents. Daniel was one of those presidents.
The Princes of Persia became very jealous of
Daniel, and they devised a way to attempt to destroy him by means of
deceiving Darius.
They went to Darius and appealed to his pride by
saying, "All of us have consulted together and decided that you should
establish a royal statute and make a firm decree that if any man asks
a petition of any God or man except you personally for thirty days, he
should be cast into the den of lions".
The plan appealed to Darius, and without giving
it much thought, he signed the decree, and it went into effect for a
thirty day period.
Daniel was aware of the decree, but he did not
change his daily habit of praying to the Lord three times a day.
Instead, he went into his house and knelt by an open window where he
could easily be seen, and he offered his daily prayers to the Lord as
was his custom..
The Princes of Persia watched Daniel and happily
reported his actions to Darius. Darius was truly sorry that he had
signed the decree, because he was very fond of Daniel, but he was
forced by law to carry out the order to have Daniel cast into the den
of lions.
The Lord protected Daniel from the lions, and
then Darius ordered those who had accused him to be cast into the
lions ' den.
The Princes of Persia lost their lives because of
their treachery and deceitful attempt to destroy Daniel.
JUDAS ISCARIOT .....
( Matthew 26:47-56 & John 13:26-30 )
The record of deceivers would not be complete if
we did not include Judas Iscariot.
At no time was the Lord Jesus Christ deceived by
Judas, because He is Omniscient, or all knowing. Jesus knew that He
had come into the world to be the substitute for all sin, and for
three years He repeatedly told the twelve disciples, who accompanied
him wherever He went, that He was going to die, and that after three
days He would be raised from the dead. They just couldn't seem to
understand, and one day Jesus said to them, "Let this sink down into
your ears ... the Son of Man shall be delivered into the hands of
men!" (Luke 9:44)
Judas was the one who would betray the Lord, but
the other disciples were not aware of his deceit and treachery until
Jesus was arrested.
The night before His arrest, Jesus and the twelve
disciples were enjoying a Passover feast together. Suddenly, Jesus
announced, "Verily I say unto you, one of you shall betray me this
very night."
Naturally, they wanted the Lord to identify the
betrayer, and when they asked Him, Jesus said, "It is the one to whom
I shall give the last morsel of bread after I have dipped it in the
sauce, and He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. As soon as
Judas received the bread, Satan entered into him, and Jesus commanded
Judas and said, "What you are about to do, do quickly!" Judas left
immediately, and it was night.
None of the others understood why Jesus said that
to Judas. Some thought that because Judas was the treasurer and
carried the bag of money that Jesus sent him out to buy more food or
to give something to the poor.
Later that same evening, Jesus took the eleven
into the Garden of Gethsemene. Judas knew they would go there after
the Passover meal, and he appeared with a band of men and officers
from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying lanterns,
torches and had weapons in their hands.
Before arriving in the garden, Judas had
instructed them by saying, "I will identify the one you should arrest
with a kiss". Then Judas approached Jesus and said to Him, "Master,
master", and kissed him.
Jesus knew what was about to happen, and He
stepped toward the men and said, "Whom are you seeking?" They
answered, "Jesus of Nazareth!" Jesus replied, "I am He!" As soon as he
said those words, the officers stepped back and fell on the ground.
Then Jesus asked them again, "Whom are you
seeking?" They answered as before, "Jesus of Nazareth". Jesus said, "I
have told you that I am Jesus of Nazareth. Take me, and let these
others go their way."
As the officers advanced to arrest Jesus, Peter
quickly drew out a sword which he had carefully hidden under his
cloak. He struck the servant of the high priest with the sword and cut
off his right ear. Jesus turned to Peter and said, "Peter, put your
sword away! Should I not do the will of My Father?" Then the soldiers
bound Jesus and led Him away to the judgment hall.
Later, when Judas saw that Jesus was condemned to
be crucified, he was extremely sorry for what he had done. He took the
thirty pieces of silver back to the chief priests and elders and said,
"Take this money! I have sinned by betraying an innocent man!" They
replied, "What is that to us? What you have done is your own problem,
not ours!" Judas threw the thirty pieces of silver on the temple
floor, and then went out and hanged himself! His deceitfulness did not
profit him!
THE END
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