With the help of the fishing line, the fish is pulled in one direction as soon as it has taken the bait. The person caught in this way does Satan’s will.

 

The Desires

Just as Elohim has books in which the deeds of the saved are recorded, so too does Satan have books in which everything concerning each individual is recorded: their daily routine, their preferences… He knows our desires well, for they are also his own desires:

„You are out of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father„ (John 8:44).

The Greek word for „desire“ means: personal longing, passion of the sick soul [2].

2 Timothy 2:22: „But flee the desires of youth and run after righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them calling upon the Lord out of a pure heart“.

Mark 4:19: „and the cares of this age, and the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful“.

 

The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

The fruit by which Chavvah (Eve) was tempted by the devil was beautiful to look at and appeared very tasty. What Eve did not know was that all the troubles of the world and of all humanity were hidden within it. She need only have been obedient, but her desire was stronger. The fruit served as bait. Just as this fruit contained all the curses for Eve, so too do Satan’s traps for you contain all the curses at once. Thus, with a single misstep, you can bring many sins into your life at once, along with sickness and other misfortunes.

 

Satan’s baits

To catch you, Satan has his servants everywhere: in schools, hospitals, offices, churches… He knows who belongs to him and brings these people (whether they are aware of it or not) to the place where he needs them to influence others. There are people who will never be saved, no matter how many biblical teachings they receive. They have hardened hearts and are there to ensnare others—those who are wavering—by first observing them. For the devil studies his prey closely. He knows that we are highly emotional beings and exploits this. If one’s spiritual eyes were open, one would see the fishing line by which many people are led.

Effective bait: a spouse

Let us imagine that someone is meant to serve Elohim. From birth, they have had certain gifts and a calling. The devil knows or senses this too, as a certain anointing surrounds this person. He will try, for example, to bring this person together with a wife or husband who has nothing to do with Elohim but is full of demons, and who is intended to lead the servant away from Elohim’s purpose. If the two become a couple, the servant originally intended for Elohim takes on the demons and also inherits the curses of his in-laws. He is blocked. Some people have lost many years because they married the wrong person.

 

• Example: King Ahab and his wife Jezebel

The Israelite King Ahab took a fancy to a Sidonian princess who was also a priestess of Baal. She brought down both her husband and the entire nation that stood behind him.

• Example: Job and his wife

Satan had tried everything to lead Job away from holiness. Yet Job continued to love Elohim, even though he had lost everything. Job’s wife – who was surely weary of him – was then used to urge Job to curse Elohim and then die. Fortunately, Job did not allow himself to be greatly swayed.

 

• Example: King David and Bathsheba

Through David’s adultery with another man’s wife, namely Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, David not only committed a sin, but a series of transgressions began: fornication, adultery, murder, lying, incest with his own children, and later, envy, hatred…

 

False friends as bait

Anyone who cannot be alone with Elohim will always fall into Satan’s snares. They must always be in company and run the risk of surrounding themselves with false friends. Satan is a master of disguise, and so are his servants. It may also be that you make contact with people because you want to save them. But if they resist, you must walk away from them, so that they do not, in turn, bring you down.

 

Gifts/money as bait

A woman recounted that her mother had given her curtains as a gift. Once they were hung up, they served her mother – a sorceress – as cameras to spy on everything that went on in the family. We must be very careful about what we accept and use from whom. Ill-gotten money is also a trap.

 

Customs: a habit

Customs and traditions are part of a culture. They are used as Satan’s traps so that he can take root in people’s hearts. A child who is trained and brought up in certain customs from an early age is difficult to free from them. The thought patterns have become deeply ingrained. The devil knows this too. He ensnares people so that he can subjugate them.

Jeremiah 10:1-3: „1 Hear you the word which YHWH speaks to you: O house of Israel: 2 Thus says YHWH, Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the nations are dismayed at them. 3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe“

Isaiah 29:13-14: „13 Wherefore Adonay said: Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: 14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder …“

 

The marriage ceremony

In the Bible, it is always the parents who marry off their child. Nowhere does it say that Abraham, Yitzhak (Isaac), Yaakov (Jacob) or any couples in the Bible hired a professional preacher, marriage officiant or any other person to bless the bride and groom. This is a custom invented by people (the Catholic Church), which leads more to marital curses than to marital happiness. The laying on of hands by a stranger is dangerous. Satan often uses these people to cause mischief in the marriage and to bind the spouses to himself. The parents of the bride and groom are by nature predestined to bless their children for marriage. The marriage is valid before Elohim once the parents have done this.

 

Cult of the dead: the custom of decorating graves and commemorating the anniversary of the deceased

Celebrating the anniversary of a deceased person, having a mass read for them and then gathering for a communal meal in honour of the dead is a cult of the dead and therefore has no place for a Christian, who is, after all, called to life. This also applies to the custom of arranging graves and decorating them with flowers. We are to let the dead be dead. When we make such pacts with the devil, people in the family too will always die before their time.

Isaiah 28:7–15: „7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. 8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean. 9 Whom will he teach knowledge? and whom will he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. 10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: 11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. 12 To whom he said: This is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. 13 But the word of YHWH was to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. 14 Wherefore hear the word of YHWH, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Yerushalaim. 15 Because you have said: We have made a covenant with death, and with sheol are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge will pass through, it will not come to us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves“

The modern trap: the internet

The name WorldWideWeb, meaning „worldwide web“, already implies that this is a trap – indeed, one of the greatest traps of our time, a trap that spans the globe! At the edge of a web, the spider – the black widow, for example – lurks, waiting to devour its prey once it has been caught. So it is with human souls that become ensnared in Satan’s snares and are drained by him. People on social media are easy prey. Anyone who spends time constantly and uncontrollably on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and the like is handing themselves over. And anyone who posts photos of their children on these platforms is exposing them to witchcraft!

4) The weapons against Satan

If one wishes to avoid the devil’s traps or be freed from them, one must be or become a TRUE CHRISTIAN. For the doors are only open when we allow injustice!

Redress

For a judgement to be lifted, one must make amends. For example, anyone who has stolen must return the items. In the Bible, Zacchaeus the tax collector even voluntarily promised to return several times the money he had taken. This shows that his repentance was genuine and that it was a matter close to his heart to set his life and that of his fellow human beings right.

Being cut off

Just as a baby born into the world is cut from the umbilical cord, so too is the sinner who is born spiritually: he must be cut off from the things of the world and his former preferences. To move forward in life, one must repeatedly cut oneself off from the old: from people, from one’s surroundings, from habits, from one’s character.

Separation often means being hard on oneself and one’s fellow human beings. In this way, we ourselves are saved and – if possible – others too. Light comes into the darkness when one breaks with old customs, family ceremonies or certain people.

Discipline

A pitfall is something unexpected. Those who lack discipline and caution stumble into this trap. Jehovah’s Witnesses and Muslims, for example, exercise great discipline in their religion. Anyone who is a true Christian or wishes to be one should cultivate even greater discipline. Since heads of families or church leaders in particular are exposed to Satan’s fiery darts, they must be especially disciplined and vigilant. For they stand on the front line, and if they fall, others will fall with them, as in the example of King Ahab. If Satan succeeds in drawing them away from the presence of Elohim, from prayer and meditation on the Word of Elohim, it is also easy for him to rule over their children or church members.

 

The Word

In Ephesians 6 we read of various weapons, which, on closer inspection, all mean the same thing:

• The sword of the Spirit (also Hebrews 4:12) = the Word
• The helmet of salvation (Yehoshua (Jesus) = YHWH is salvation) = the Word
• The belt of truth -> the Word is truth = the Word
• The shoes of readiness to proclaim the Gospel = the Word
• The breastplate of righteousness (righteous is he who does the Word) = the Word 
• The shield of faith (faith comes from hearing the Word; Romans 10) = the Word

So if we take the Word of Elohim in its entirety and clothe ourselves with it, we are victorious!

The devil can then touch neither us nor our children. After all, we do not want to proclaim an Elohim who cannot even protect his righteous ones.

To prisoners, the Word of Elohim often sounds harsh, but if we cry out to Elohim, he will help us!

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[1] Unless otherwise stated, all Bible quotations are taken from the Bible of Yehoshua Mashiah (BYM). Available online at: https://bym.zurueckzumwort.org/bible 

[2] Elberfelder Bible with language key

 

(Summary of a teaching by Br. Shora Kuetu)