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Believers Accept Compromise At Their Peril

by Dr. Henderson Ward  
4/12/2016 / Christian Living

Satan is a liar, always has been, always will be; and you need to remember that. He excels in wrapping his lies in layers of truth, so that the unwary will swallow the pill without evaluating the consequences. Satan invented craftiness, deceit and subtlety are his main weapons, and even when he comes as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8), the roar is camouflaged to sound innocuous and beneficent until you are trapped.

Compromising with the enemy, with evil of any kind, is plainly wrong, and because many believers do not distinguish clearly who the enemy is, they are likely to fall into the clutches of those who seek their destruction.

Take, for example, the case of Samson and Delilah, as told in Judges 16:1-21.

The moment Delilah engaged in conversation with Samson, as to the source of his strength, was the moment sampson began to compromise. Samson should have desisted from such talk, especially after Delilah called the Philistines to capture him each time. Finally, he gave in, "And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; That he told her all his heart..." (Judges 16:16-17)

It is wise to remember that Satan does not care how you fall from grace, as long as he gets you to fall, and the sooner you fall is most appealing to him. The merchants of evil care greatly about one thing in particular, your destruction, and like an invading army will use all they possess, every dirty trick at their command, to defeat you.

Take, for instance, the very sad case of a godly, and decent, prophet who was deceived by a renegade prophet into disobeying God, and in so doing lost his life, as told in 1 Kings chapter 13.

The renegade prophet was charming, generous, showed lots of brotherly solidarity and empathy, but he was wayward, unreliable, a deceiver and a liar. He cleverly mixed half-truths with lies in a sickening combination that bamboozled the true prophet, and caused him, the true prophet, to disobey God by accepting food and accommodation; although God had expressly warned him not to do so.

The true prophet was devastated to learn that the renegade prophet, whom he obviously trusted as a fellow believer and seer, had deliberately deceived him, but, like Samson, it was too late, and on his way home he met a terrible death. He was killed by a lion. When believers compromise with evil, it is just a matter of time, before the consequences are evident.

Satan is the master of "wedge theory", he is an expert in sliding the thin edge of the wedge into the small crack, and by infinite patience, and guile, manipulate the small crack into an ever widening breach; so huge that he can easily get in and do his dirty work.

Jesus cautioned believers with these words, "And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch." (Mark 13:37), and because believers need to be aware of the array of approaches of the enemy seeking the destruction of their souls, these words take on a chilling significance.

It was precisely because Moses was watchful, that he did not fall into the trap, that Pharoah so cleverly set for keeping the Israelites in captivity. Pharoah was really clever in crafting some tempting compromises, and Israel's freedom would have been jeopardised had Moses agreed to any one of them.

Observe the appealing compromises Pharoah offered to Moses.

1. And he said, Tomorrow (See Exodus 8:10)

When the frogs were all over the place, and Moses came at Pharoah's request to intervene, Pharoah was asked when, "And he said, To morrow." (Exodus 8:10)

The truth is that, philosophically, tomorrow never comes, and Pharoah was playing for time, he was procrastinating. When things are to be done now, when now is compelling, then to procrastinate is a devious compromise.

Pharoah did not want to let the Israelites go, and even with the repulsive frogs all over the place, he still dragged his feet, perhaps hoping that Moses would be taken unawares and abandon his mission.

This same procrastinating spirit must surely have led to the perdition of King Agrippa, who, when under conviction by the Holy Spirit under Pauls's powerful testimony said, "... Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." (Acts 26:28)

For King Agrippa, that salvation moment was lost, he never became a believer, as far as is recorded he never again spoke to Paul, and from that day was never heard of again.

2. Sacrifice to God in the land (See Exodus 8:25 )

Anyone who thought that Pharoah was going to be an easy push-over would be someone with little knowledge of Egyptian affairs, and even less knowledge of the formidable Pharoahs.

Egypt was a mighty regional power at this time, and Pharoah knew that if Israel was allowed to sacrifice to God in the land they would be under the constant surveillance of his military, and at the slightest provocation, his army would swoop down, surround them, and take them back into captivity.

So often, when believers compromise with evil, they foolishly mistake the compromise as helpfulness and fall into the enemy's trap, so cleverly set for them. When the wicked offer to do you a favour, it is likely that they are planning on doing some monkey business. Satan does not give believers something for nothing, but we can be fooled, "...for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:14)

3. Ye shall not go very far (See Exodus 8:28)

Pharoah was trying to play Moses like a fiddle; allright then, I will be reasonable, you can all go, I am too kind for my own good; but don't go too far. What Pharoah might have thought, but did not say, was that he knew the Israelites would be tempted to walk the short distance back to Egypt if they were close by, and if they encountered the slightest dissatisfaction.

Pharoah knew Israel well, and the subsequent events all through the desert was ample proof that if Moses had accepted Pharoah's compromise, then the closeness of Egypt to the assembled Israelites would have been irresistible. Even when they were far away, very often the irritable, quarrelsome Jews still wanted to return to Egypt.

Just like Lot, who could not resist the blandishments of the nearby city of Sodom, who in fact left the plains where he was living, and went and resided in the city, so too believers who compromise with evil are apt to be enticed away from the path of righteousness.

4. Go now ye that are men (See Exodus 10:11)

You must hand it to Pharoah for his dogged persistence and ingenuity, because having tried a few times and failed, he produced quite a whopper. This was quite a master stroke. He was trying to show Moses how even-handed and accommodating he was by saying, look chaps, I'm not as bad as you think, I'll let the men go, and they can have as much time as they want, but leave the women and children here.

Pharoah most certainly knew that if the men travelled to the farthest corner of the world, they would come back to be with their wives, and children. This was not a superficial compromise, but a shrewd one, meant to put Moses on the spot, and even cause rebellion in the Jewish camp. What would the Jewish men say if they heard that they were to be given quality time off to go as far as they liked, and Moses flatly refused that offer.

The Bible says, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matthew 6:21). Believers will be less inclined to go back to their old haunts if they rid themselves of all that would drag them backwards; the old life is gone, and with it should be gone all the worldly attachments as well.

5. Let your stocks and your herds be stayed (See Exodus 10:24)

Pharoah's cupboard was almost bare, but he had to give it a last try, to see if he could finally get the better of Moses. Pharoah offered to let all the people go, men, women and children, but leave everything else behind. There was no way that the Israelites would abandon all they worked for, and possessed, so Moses answered, "Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come thither." (Exodus 10:26)

Had Moses accepted any one of the compromises tendered by Pharoah, Israel in all likelihood would have remained captive in Egypt, languishing as a minority within greater Egypt, and never rising to anything greater than an ethnic subset of the Arab diaspora. Moses was right all along; by refusing to compromise.

For good reasons Moses is held in high esteem as a role model for believers, and a hero of faith for all time, and believers should follow his example of not accepting compromises.

Enough said.

Books by this author you may wish to read.

THINGS EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD KNOW (e-book)
Volume 1 Five tough facts to be faced
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YX5NSI

STAND UP TO THE DEVIL (e-book)
Volume 1 You must first identify him
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005BQVLSS

BASTARD: A STORY OF REDEMPTION(e-book fiction)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006OF3SD6

ONE MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT ON GOD'S CLOCK (Hard copy)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002X78D16

ONE MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT ON GOD'S CLOCK (e-book)
http://tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-60799-630-9

Dr. Henderson Ward received his Doctor of Divinity in theology, with distinction, from Masters International School of Divinity, USA, where he is currently a post-doctoral fellow. Dr. Ward's career involved pastoring, evangelism, and teaching. Copyright 2017

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