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Judith 11:13 "They have decided to consume the first fruits of the grain and the tithes of the wine and oil, which they had consecrated and set aside for the priests who minister in the presence of our God at Jerusalem—although it is not lawful for any of the people so much as to touch these things with their hands."

 

What Judith says to Holofernes here is not technically true, what the people had decided to do was surrender to the Assyrians if it did not rain within five days. (Judith 7:24-28, 30-31). It is true, however, that a decision to eat the consecrated first fruits would be a serious one, and something a devout Jew might find extremely concerning (although devout Jews would also remember the story of David and his men eating the Bread of Presence (1 Samuel 21:1-6)). Judith is deceiving Holofernes in order to save her people, something I explored in Is Deception Ever God's Will? and came to the conclusion that I don't think it is. Obviously, God wants me to think about that more, since He is bringing it to my attention again today.

 

Words that are true can be used to deceive. Under the law, the Jews were not to partake of the consecrated offerings, that is true. What is not true is that the people of Bethulia had decided to partake of them, nor is it true that if they had Judith would have betrayed her people to the Assyrian army (although that is really just a potential untruth, so I'm not sure if it counts). There are several things that make Judith's decepton work, it is like a perfect storm that only God could have put together, which makes me think maybe He did. First, the fact that Judith came up with the idea at all and was willing to entertain it is pretty amazing. It took tremendous wit, strength, and courage to pull off. Also, the deception (in combination with Judith's beauty) plays on Holofernes' pride. He wants to believe her, and her excuse is based in enough truth that he can excuse himself for doing so, maybe he even knows anough about Jewish practices that her lie is that much more convincing. 

 

Using the truth to deceive gives me great concern, however. There are times when I see that it works, in that it gets the desired result, but, as I said in 2021, it does not seem to me that it is ever the best course of action. A huge part of the pain and disunity we have experienced since 2020 has been due to deceptions based on truth. Nothing has ever made it more clear to me that deceptive truth is the perfect tool of the devil. Flat out lies are too easily discredited, a convenient twisted truth has a much longer shelf life. So long, in fact, it can become accepted to the point of dogma, as we are learning many of our widely accepted "truths" have been.

 

To me, the danger in that sort of truth-twisting outweighs the benefits. But then I think of Judith, and how she never would have accomplished what she did without her deception. I am realizing God must have been with her on this. Only He could have set the stage so perfectly. And Judith spent all of Chapter 9 in prayer, talking to Him about it, making sure He was on-board!

 

So when is it ok to do this? I think the answer is just like everything else, take it to God. If it seems a deceptive truth will accomplish His will against the enemy,  ask Him about it, and spend a good, long time discerning the answer. If He wills it, He will raise up just the right person to do it, at just the right time, and He will confirm this in prayer.

 

For the most part, however, deception is a tool of the enemy. It should be avoided unless it is abundantly clear that God is asking it.  Given my hesitation about it, and the temptation to use it to do my will, telling myself it is His, I would have to be especially careful if I think it may be justified, maybe spend more than even a full chapter in prayer about it first! This is not something God seems to use very often, and only against the true enemy, whose lies and pride have weakened him to be susceptible to it, but not if it is overplayed.