MALWARE IS MALICIOUS SOFTWARE DESIGNED TO STEAL, DAMAGE & DESTROY INFORMATION AND IT POSES A GREAT THREAT TO INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS OF OUR DAY. MALWARE IS EXPERTLY CRAFTED & CAMOPHLAGED FOR HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT UNDETECTED FOR LONGER PERIODS. ORGANIZATIONS, BANKS, COMPANIES CONSTANTLY TRAIN AND RAISE AWARENESS OF THEIR EMPLOYEES FOR SAFE GUARDING AND TIGHTENING INFORMATION SECURITY. BUT TODAY THE FOCUS OF THIS ARTICLE IS NOT, MALICIOUS SOFTWARE (MALWARE) BUT RATHER ON “SPIRITUAL MALWARE.”
WORD OF GOD CONSTANTLY WARNS US TO BE ON OUR GUARD AGAINST THE MALICIOUS INTRUDER WHO COMES TO US IN VARIOUS DISGUISES TO STEAL, KILL AND DESTROY OUR LIVES, FAMILIES, CHURCHES BY INSTALLING MALWARE IN OUR HEARTS. THIS SCHEME OF DECEPTION RUNS THROUGHOUT THE STORY OF THE BIBLE, ALL THE WAY FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION. AGE TO AGE TRUE SERVANTS OF GOD DISCERNED AND COSTANTLY PREACHED, TAUGHT , WROTE AND WARNED PEOPLE OF GOD OF SUCH DECEPTION. LET’S DIVE IN.
01. PAUL FIGHTS REDIRECTION MALWARE
Paul warns Timothy of a particular time when multitudes of people make a choice (out of their free will) to abandon the Truth and passionately chase Myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 says,
“For THE TIME will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine (Biblical teachings). Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the TRUTH and turn aside to MYTHS.”
Let’s dig into the Scripture and find out the meaning of the words TRUTH and MYTH. The Greek meanings of the words are as below.
MYTH
3454 MÝTHOS – A FALSE ACCOUNT, POSING TO BE THE TRUTH; A FABRICATION WHICH REPLACES WHAT IS ACTUALLY TRUE.
TRUTH
225 AL?THEIA – IN ANCIENT GREEK CULTURE, (AL?THEIA) WAS SYNONYMOUS FOR “REALITY” AS THE OPPOSITE OF ILLUSION, I.E. FACT.
As you can see the danger of MYTH (A false account, a fabricated story) is that it disguises itself as the TRUTH and pose as the TRUTH. MYTH is a malicious redirect masterfully designed and installed by the enemy to divert people away from the TRUTH. WHY IS THE ENEMY SO COMMITTED FROM THE BEGINNING TO DRIVE PEOPLE AWAY FROM THE TRUTH BY INSTALLING MYTHS? How do we fight these malicious redirects, Myths? InfoSec world provides us with a good solution, that is “TO VIEW THE SOURCE.”
Let’s go to the SOURCE, scripture and try to understand the concreate meaning of TRUTH from a Hebraic perspective to understand it’s significance and implications, so that ultimately we will be able to discern TRUTH from MYTHs.
THE TRUTH | THE WHOLE TRUTH | NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
FIRST PICTURE OF TRUTH | EMET | ?????
TRUTH, EMET contains the first, middle and last letter of the Hebrew alphabet indicating that truth involves all things from beginning to the end. Truth is knowing the whole story from the beginning to the end, if we consider only a part of a story we end up giving a wrong judgement.
TRUTH IS THE WHOLE STORY
THE ENEMY IS DEDICATED TO HIDE THE WHOLE STORY OF THE BIBLE FROM THE PEOPLE OF GOD, BY DIVERTING OUR ATTENTION TO FEW CATCHY VERSES, IDEAS AND CHARACTERS FROM THE BIBLE. WHEN WE BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND THE WHOLE STORY FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE END, WE BEGIN TO EXPERIENCE THE TRUTH AND NO MYTH OR FALSE TEACHINGS CAN PENETRATE US ANYMORE.
2ND PICTURE OF TRUTH | EMET | ?????
????? | EMET – TRUTH
? STANDS FOR GOD
??? | MET – DEATH
Every Hebrew word has a pictographic meaning. In these letters that make up TRUTH the first letter aleph (?) stands for God. When we dissect the truth and remove God from the truth, we end up with another word MET (???) that means DEATH. When we try to remove God from the picture we end up with death.
TRUTH MINUS GOD EQUALS TO DEATH
THE ENEMY IS DEDICATED TO REMOVE GOD FROM THE PICTURE SO THAT WE END UP WITH DEATH. ISN’T THIS WHAT HAPPENED WHEN ADAM & EVE DECIDED TO RULE THE WORLD IN THEIR OWN TERMS REMOVING GOD FROM THE PICTURE? THE RESULT WAS AND IS DEATH.
3RD PICTURE OF TRUTH | EMET | ?????
It is also an image of strong arms, probably the arms of a father supporting the helpless infant. So truth is not some Psychological or philosophical exercise or idea, but it is a firm relationship with the person of TRUTH. The truth is the relationship that upholds us, that sustains us. Truth is what sustains and uphold the whole creation.
TRUTH IS A RELATIONSHIP
THE WHOLE UNIVERSE AND HUMANITY MALFUNCTIONS WITHOUT THE TRUTH. THERE’S NO EXISTANCE FOR THE MAN KIND SEPARATED FROM THE PERSON OF TRUTH, THAT IS JESUS CHRIST.
Now we understand the deadly implications of seemingly harmless myths replacing the truth. If God created everything from truth from where did myth came into existence? For that we need to go back all the way to Eden.
02. A TROJAN HORSE IN THE GARDEN
God creates everything in TRUTH and the malicious intruder enters the garden, lays a skillful trap, a trap of deceptive words, A MYTH. This intruder deceives Eve through a fabricated story, a myth and she clicks on the wrong URL, the MYTH. Compared to the TRUTH, MYTH “seems” good for food, pleasing to her eyes, desirable for gaining wisdom and Knowledge so she choose the myth. But in Eve’s case it ended up a Trojan Horse leading to DISOBEDIENCE THEN TO DEATH.
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was GOOD FOR FOOD and PLEASING TO THE EYE, and also DESIRABLE FOR GAINING WISDOM, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Genesis 3:6
ENEMY’S MYTH - "YOU WILL NOT CERTAINLY DIE. YOUR EYES WILL BE OPENED. YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD. KNOWING GOOD AND EVIL."
MYTH BRINGS SPIRITUAL DEATH
There is a way that seems right to a man, but it ends in the way of death. Proverbs 16:24-26
GOD’S TRUTH - "YOU MUST NOT EAT FROM THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, WHEN YOU EAT FROM IT YOU WILL CERTAINLY DIE."
TRUTH BRINGS LIFE
THE ENEMY SPECIALIZES IN THE SUBJECT OF GLAMOURIZING AND DRESSING THE MYTHS SO THAT THEY SEEM SO GOOD FOR CONSUMPTION, APPEALING TO OUR SENSES, PLEASING TO THE EYES, ENTERTAINING, DESIRABLE IN EVERY WAY, SO IRRESISTIBLE THAT WE MAKE EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENTS WITH THEM, WE START LIVING IN IT BUT CLICKING ON THE MYTH ENDS UP IN DESTRUCTION.
We can see the same Trojan Horses throughout the biblical narrative. We can see a constant battle between True Prophets of God and False prophets and their teachings.
03. FALSE TEACHINGS ON THE LOOSE
Jesus also echoes the story of the garden of Eden in the “The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares” in Matthew 13:24-30.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
The Word of God repeatedly warns us about two versions even in biblical interpretations and these warnings are not to be taken lightly, as they seemingly appear the same. THE TRUE TEACHING is always a careful systematic study of the Scripture to dig deeper and discover the original intended meaning.
TARES - Eisegesis
The interpreter makes the scripture say, "What he wants it to say"
WHEAT - Exegesis
The interpreter makes the scripture say, "What God has to say"
Mathew 7:15 Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
SOMETIMES THE WRONG INTEPRETATION OF THE WORD OF GOD IS “SEEMS” WAY MORE APPEALING, INTERESTING, BENEFICIAL AND COMFORTING THAN THE CORRECTLY HANDLED TRUTH BUT THEY EVENTUALLY LEAD US ASTRAY.
04. JESUS FIGHTS PHARISAIC TRADITIONS
Matthew 16:6 “Be careful,” Jesus said to them.
“Be on your guard against THE YEAST OF THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES.”
Matthew 16:12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread,
but against THE TEACHING OF THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES.
LEAVEN (YEAST) OF PHARISEES: We all know what happens to the dough when yeast is added. Jesus calls the teachings of the Pharisees “leaven” as an illustration of how it changes the consistency of the dough. Pharisees added their own ingredients, human traditions to the Word of God and lead people away from the true Word of God by teaching people mere human rules. PHARISAIC IDEAS SOON BECAME IDEALS/IDEOLOGIES AND SOON TURNED INTO THEOLOGIES AND BECAME PART AND PARCEL OF PEOPLE’S LIVES/ FAMILIES/ CHURCHES/ CULTURES ETC REPLACING THE WORD OF GOD. Jesus confronts this Pharisaic malware throughout his ministry.
Please read Mark 7:6-13, the summary is given below.
TRADITIONS OF MEN
HOLDING ON to HUMAN TRADITIONS, To OBSERVE your OWN TRADITIONS, By YOUR TRADITION that you have handed down
COMMANDS OF GOD
LET GO of the COMMANDS OF GOD, SETTING ASIDE the COMMANDS OF GOD, NULLIFY the WORD OF GOD
WORD OF GOD CLEARLY SAYS THAT WE SHOULD NOT ADD TO THE WORD IN DEUTERONOMY 4:2, “YOU SHALL NOT ADD TO THE WORD WHICH I AM COMMANDING YOU, NOR TAKE AWAY FROM IT.” ADDING TO THE WORD OF GOD AND TEACHING AND TRAINING PEOPLE OF MERE HUMAN RULES, TRADITIONS AND SPIRITUAL FANTASIES IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED IN THE WORD OF GOD.
God gave His people a very interesting commandment, that is to GET YEAST OUT OF THE HOME ANNUALLY (Exodus 12:19), signifying getting rid of sin, spiritual fantasies, false teachings & traditions accumulated over the year. This practice compelled the people of God year after year to revisit their beliefs & traditions and hold on to the TRUTH of the Word of God.
CAN WE “BAPTIZE” PAGAN TRADITIONS AND “CHRISTIANIZE” THEM
Will God be happy if we borrow pagan worship practices and traditions, do a little bit of improvisation and Christianize them? Will God enjoy little bit of Winter Solstice & Saturnalia traditions from the Romans’ Sun god worship, little bit of Scandinavian Fertility God worship rituals, traditions of druids, traditions of Egyptian gods, Canaanite gods, Sri Lanka’s traditional Sun worship?
Deuteronomy 12:30-31 says, 30 ….BE CAREFUL NOT TO BE ENSNARED BY INQUIRING ABOUT THEIR GODS, SAYING, “HOW DO THESE NATIONS SERVE THEIR GODS? WE WILL DO THE SAME.” 31 YOU MUST NOT WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD IN THEIR WAY….
Jeremiah 10:2-4 says, “DO NOT LEARN THE WAYS OF THE NATIONS OR BE TERRIFIED BY SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS, THOUGH THE NATIONS ARE TERRIFIED BY THEM. 3 FOR THE PRACTICES OF THE PEOPLES ARE WORTHLESS; THEY CUT A TREE OUT OF THE FOREST, AND A CRAFTSMAN SHAPES IT WITH HIS CHISEL. 4 THEY ADORN IT WITH SILVER AND GOLD; THEY FASTEN IT WITH HAMMER AND NAILS SO IT WILL NOT TOTTER.
I think the answer is very clear, our God doesn’t want us to worship Him the way pagans do even if we try to give a little Christian twist to it and relabel it. True worship must be “In spirit and truth” John 4:24 not in myth or spiritual fantasies.
SPIRITUAL MALWARE OF OUR DAY - Can we detect them?
This season the greatest gift we can give our children is teaching them the TRUTH and keeping them away from the MYTHs. As Eve thought MYTH is good, pleasing to the eyes, entertaining, but ultimately it’s a lie that we have inherited from our forefathers, a fantasy camouphlaged in Christianity’s clothing.
“OUR FATHERS HAVE INHERITED NOTHING BUT LIES, WORTHLESS THINGS IN WHICH THERE IS NO PROFIT.” JEREMIAH 16:19
SELF ASSESSMENT: LET'S UNLEARN THE MYTHS AND LIES THAT WE HAVE INHERITED
BUT TEST EVERYTHING; HOLD FAST WHAT IS GOOD. 1 THESSALONIANS 5:21
There’s nothing like a SELF ASSESSMENT, self research, seeking and digging for the truth personally, let us start our personal researches and experiments. Please do this experiment along with the family members. It will be great to investigate the origins of the TRADITIONS that we practice and discern them in the light of the Word of God. In this way we will be able to eliminate MYTHs and hold onto the TRUTH.
WHAT ARE THE THE TRADITIONS/RITUALS THAT WE OBSERVE?
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE TRADITION?
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
HOW IS IT RELATED TO JESUS AND THE STORY OF THE BIBLE?
CONCLUSION TRUTH OR MYTH?
THEN YOU WILL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE. JOHN 8:32
Shalom!
Thilini Perera
