“My lord, Gandalf the Grey is coming… He is a herald of woe.”, whispers the deceiver.
“The courtesy of your hall is somewhat lessened of late, Théoden King.”, replied Gandalf.
“He is not welcome.”, continues the deceiver.
“Why should I welcome you, Gandalf Storm crow?”, inquires the fully deceived King Théoden.
“…Late is hour in which this conjurer chooses to appear. ‘Lathspell’ I call him – ill news is an ill guest.”, boldly accuses the deceiver.
“”Be silent! Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm!”, rebukes Gandalf
And the fight is on…
This powerful scene is taken from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
This scene depicts the incredible power deception has over a once vibrant King Théoden. Théoden has become a mere shadow of his former glory because he’s chosen to listen to the deceptive words of Wormtongue. Wormtongue was sent by Théoden’s enemy to destroy him and his kingdom from the inside out – through deception and lies.
Gandalf is Théoden’s greatest ally. Following a quick fight with Wormtongue and his henchmen, Gandalf is the one who sets Théoden free from the curse of Wormtongue’s deception. However, prior to Théoden’s deliverance he believed Gandalf was not friend, but foe.
This scene is such a powerful depiction of the battle you and I face every single day.
We have a spiritual Wormtongue sent to deceive and keep us from the Truth. Our enemy’s battle plan is an assault of deception and lies to captivate our hearts and minds so we don’t live in Truth. And it is the Truth that sets us free.
Why does Jesus say it is Truth that frees us? Because it is lies that have captivated mankind. Revelation 20:3 tells us that Satan’s objective is to deceive the nations.
Do you notice the subtlety of Wormtongue’s deception?
He calls Théoden’s greatest ally a “Herald of Woe” and “Lathspell”, and says that Gandalf is not welcome. Basically he is saying that Gandalf is bad news. Whenever Gandalf shows up bad things happen. “Lathspell” means ‘bad or ill news’, the opposite of “Gospel”, which means ‘good news’.
This is such a clear demonstration of our spiritual enemy’s strategy of deception and lies. His objective is to convince us to believe lies that separate man from God, friend from friend, family member from family, husband from wife, and children from parents.
How many situations do you know of where this is happening right now?
I know of numerous situations in my circle of relationships where Christians are believing deceptive spirits sent from the pit of hell to destroy them. I can see the deception, others can see the deception, but they don’t.
However, we have the answer. We have the antidote. We have the weapon that will set captives free from the prison of lies and deception – Truth. Our only hope of gaining victory over the relentless assault of deception and lies waged against us is the Truth.
We must marinate in, memorize and meditate on scripture. We must choose to ingest the Word of Truth to combat the lies of the great deceiver. It is only Truth that sets us free from lies.
We must also choose to walk in humility with other people of the Word. Why? Because we all have blind spots and need the help of allies who love us enough to point out what we are not seeing. We need allies who can help us see the Truth, as well as the deception we may be embracing.
Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth, and, therefore, in his name we have power over deceptive spirits. In His name we can pray against the deception in which people are trapped to enable them to see the Truth, and then choose to embrace it.
I love what Gandalf says to Théoden after he has set him free,
“Your fingers will remember their own strength better if they grasped your sword.”
May we be men who fully grasp the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and wield it well.
2 Thessalonians 2:9, 10
The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
1 Timothy 4:1
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
2 Corinthians 11:3
But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
John 8:32
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”