“He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him; When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart. Whose hatred is covered by deceit” (Proverbs 26:24–26).

Who can understand the depth of the hatred that was born in Satan’s heart toward God when he proclaimed, “I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:14). He is the ultimate first cause of lies and deceit; “he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). He brought his deceit to Eve, “ye shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:5), all the while using it to conceal his malignant hatred for his Creator. Whether or not Satan knew that his deception and the effects of sin would pass “upon all men” (Romans 5:12) is not clear, but it is certain that he was trying to recruit the help of humanity in his battle against God. No matter what device he uses to keep a soul from righteousness, in doing so, he maintains his army in what will be a final failed attempt to usurp the throne of the Creator.

It is significant that of the seven things the Lord “hates” listed in Proverbs 6, two deal with deception: “a lying tongue” and “a false witness that speaketh lies.” God wrote with His own finger on a tablet of stone, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). “A man that beareth false witness against his neighbor is a maul [mallet, a ‘breaker’], and a sword, and a sharp arrow” (Proverbs 25:18). Satan is the embodiment of the lie, there is “no truth in him” (John 8:44), and what he attacks, in essence, is the right of our Creator God to rule and reign.

Jesus said, “for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth” (John 18:37); “I am . . . the truth” (John 14:6). Truth, then, must encompass all that Jesus Christ is as Creator (Colossians 1:16). We thus cry with the psalmist, “Remove from me the way of lying. . . . I have chosen the way of truth” (Psalm 119:29,30). CJH