Like a madman shooting firebrands or deadly arrows is a man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I was only joking!” ~Proverbs 26:18-19
One day, I went to the house of Shemaiah, who was shut in at his home. He said, “Let’s meet in the house of God, inside the temple, and let’s close the temple doors, because men are coming to kill you—by night they are coming to kill you.” But I said, “Should a man like me run away? Or should one like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go!” I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me. Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, because of what they have done; remember also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who have been trying to intimidate me.” ~Nehemiah 6:10-14
Are you familiar with the story behind the book of Nehemiah? Just in case you need a refresher: Nehemiah’s grandparents, were part of the group of Jews who were carried off to Babylon over one hundred years earlier. When the first exiles returned from Babylon to start over in Jerusalem, evidently, at least Nehemiah stayed behind. Some of his brothers returned, but he did not.
Nehemiah eventually ends up with a pretty cushy job as cup bearer to the king. Think about it, he was paid to basically eat off the king’s platter to ensure that the king would not be poisoned. Now, granted, there are a few drawbacks to a job like this. You could die. But for the most part, you were treated very well because the king wanted you to stay on his side. It was in the king’s best interests to have an honest cupbearer. So, the benefits were pretty good.
The book begins with Nehemiah having a visit from his brothers who have returned from Jerusalem. When Nehemiah inquires as to how things are going back in the homeland, his brothers report that things are not well. It’s still a mess from one hundred years before. Especially, the wall that used to surround Jerusalem is still in shambles. This bothers Nehemiah so much that he wants to fix it. After much prayer, and with the blessing of the king, he gives up his cushy position to go back to Jerusalem to help them rebuild the wall.
The book details a lot of the struggles that Nehemiah faces while fulfilling the task. Of special note are two men, Tobiah and Sanballat, who are like the arch villains, coming up with all sorts of schemes to try to stop Nehemiah from meeting his goal.
I struggled with exactly what story from God’s Word would work best today to illustrate our proverb. There are other stories that would have probably required as much background, of men who were deceived, but I thought I’d settle on this one because, Nehemiah is an example of someone who saw through the deception, was not taken in, and stayed the course through the opposition.
“Like a madman shooting firebrands or deadly arrows is a man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I was only joking!” True, Shemaiah never did say, “Just joking,” but the attempt to deceive was real. The exact deception was to try to persuade Nehemiah to hide in the temple like a coward to save his life. Then, his enemies could point him out to his followers as all talk and no real faith in God to protect him.
In Ephesians 6, Paul says: “Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Eph. 6:16) Nehemiah used a shield of faith, gained through his close and obedient relationship with God, to be able to immediately discern the truth of the situation and extinguish the fire brands and deadly arrows intended to deceive that were headed his way.
Satan is the father of lies. Lies are always intended to deceive. They are never the words of a friend. In war, flaming arrows were used as a weapon from the outside to try to set structures behind the wall of a fort on fire, creating chaos on the inside and forcing those inside the fort to have to decide, “Do we save the structures or keep fighting those on the outside?” It is a strategy to deceive and distract. Satan is no different.
It takes being alert to see the fire brands coming and stamp them out as soon as they arrive. God helped Nehemiah to be alert. He stamped out the flame before it could leave a mark. Closeness to God will do that. Satan sends arrows telling us that we are worthless, and failures, and losers. He creates situations that make us angry or tempt us in other ways to sin. We need to be on to his game and know his deceptions for what they are, attempts to cause us to cower so that he can point us out and tell those around us that we don’t have as much faith as we say.
Even if there aren’t other people around us, our struggles and victories are being witnessed by the unseen world. When we are able to see through the deception and stamp out the flame before it can do damage, I can assure you there are victorious hallelujahs being shouted in heaven because another one of satan’s schemes has fallen harmlessly to the ground.
Just another word of caution needs to be addressed from our proverb today and that has to do with the second part of the verse. Sometimes, we can be the ones to send the flaming arrows, through sarcasm or gossip. We may use a touch of humor to hide a criticism in situations that should be dealt with more maturely. Remember, Jesus warns in Matthew 12:36-37, that we will be held accountable for every word spoken.
If we can be hurtful with our words, like flaming brands, we will have to answer for those words one day. To say, “I was only joking,” as a way of concealing your true message, is another form of deception. God wants us to speak the truth in love. Say what you mean and mean what you say. That’s a good way to keep the lines of communication open. No fire brands are needed. The only fire we need is God’s holy, purifying fire. That will burn up all deception.
Prayer: Lord of Heaven, guard my heart. Thank you for the shield of faith that I can wield to extinguish any fiery darts of deception. Give me also a pure heart behind the breastplate of righteousness so that I always speak the truth in love. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: Fear is a Liar
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