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b) 2 Cor 11:13–15: Paul exposed the scandalous nature of the “false apostles” and “deceitful workmen” in Corinth who challenged his position as an apostle.[1]
Unfortunately, successful con men often assume religious personas to pursue their selfish ambition. However, their narcissism and superior attitudes ultimately reveal that they masquerade as people sent by God.[2]
One pertinent document, entitled “The Life of Adam and Eve,” was written during the first century AD. This fictitious work describes the lives of the couple after their exile from Eden.[3]
It says, “Eighteen days passed. Then Satan grew angry and transfigured himself into the brilliance of an angel and went off to the Tigris River to Eve.”[4]
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Another apocryphal work gives this account of the fall according to Eve:
And the devil spake to the serpent saying, “Rise up, come to me and I will tell thee a word whereby thou mayst have profit.”
And he arose and came to him. And the devil saith to him, “I hear that thou art wiser than all the beasts, and I have come to counsel thee. Why dost thou eat of Adam’s tares and not of paradise? Rise up and we will cause him to be cast out of paradise, even as we were cast out through him.”
The serpent saith to him, “I fear lest the Lord be wroth with me.”
The devil saith to him: “Fear not, only be my vessel and I will speak through thy mouth words to deceive him.”
And instantly he hung himself from the wall of paradise, and when the angels ascended to worship God, then Satan appeared in the form of an angel and sang hymns like the angels. And I bent over the wall and saw him, like an angel.
But he saith to me: “Art thou Eve?”[5]
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Since Satan can fashion himself into an “angel of light,” we should not be shocked when his followers disguise themselves as “ministers of righteousness.”[6]
Image via Wikimedia Commons
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Read 2 Cor 11:13–15. Why must we be on guard for false teaching in our churches? How can we protect ourselves from falling prey to con artists and deceptive teachers?
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Go to Chapter 7: The Seed of the Serpent and the Seed of the Woman (Genesis 3:14–15)
[Related posts include Falling for Deception (2 Cor 11:2–4); Serpents in the Ancient Near East (Gen 3:1); A World-Altering Conversation (Gen 3:2–5); Succumbing to Temptation (Gen 3:6); Their Eyes Are Opened (Gen 3:7); Hiding from God (Gen 3:8); A Day of Reckoning (Gen 3:9–13); and Ancient Literature]
[Click here to go to Chapter 6: A Serpent in the Garden (Genesis 3:1–13)]
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[1]Paul Barnett, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 524.
[2] Garland, 2 Corinthians, 484.
[3]Ralph P. Martin, 2 Corinthians (WBC; Dallas: Word, 1998), 351.
[4]Berlie Custis, Gary A. Anderson, and R. Layton, trans., The Life of Adam and Eve (1995), 9:1, Http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/anderson/vita/english/vita.lat.html.
[5]R. H. Charles, trans., “The Apocalypse of Moses,” in APOT, Vol. 2 (Oxford: Clarendon, 1913), 16.1–17.2, 145–6, https://archive.org/details/CharlesRHTheApocryphaPseudepigraphaOfTheOldTestamentInEnglishVol21913/page/n161.
[6] Barnett, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, 525.
Redemptive History and Theology 