You'll Lie to Yourself

Why the Most High warns about idol worship.

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Transcript

You’ll Lie to Yourself

by Eric Engelmann

All content © 2025 Static Force, LLC

When I read parts of Deuteronomy 29 and Luke 16, I see a few similarities: flames, eyes that don't see, and separation.

In each Scripture passage "burning" shows there's a curse on the environment. 

Both Scripture passages talk about people who kid themselves to their own demise.

And Both Scripture passages talk about burning.

Let's look at Deuteronomy 29:

Verse 4 Yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day.

NOTE: Deuteronomy 29 will have two mentions of stone. Moses talking to Israel in…

Verse 17 and you saw their abominations and their idols which were among them—wood and *stone* and silver and gold); 

Skipping to verse 19: and so it may not happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, even though I follow the dictates of my heart’—as though the drunkard could be included with the sober.

NOTE: In Moses' time a straightforward example of following the dictates of the heart was Pharaoh, who sank in the sea like a *stone*. Pharaoh was separated from the people of Israel. He could not cross over.

In later verses the words of the curse discussed in Deuteronomy 29 are predicted to come true and this is what people will say about the land:

(Listen for "stone" and for "burning.")

Verse 23 ‘The whole land is brimstone, salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor does any grass grow there.'

That's the end of quotes from Deuteronomy 29.

By the way, one source I've read says that burning brimstone smells like a struck match.

We'll skip ahead about 1400 years to Luke 16.

I see similar themes in what Jesus said in the narrative about the rich man and Lazarus:

I think the rich man had eyes but couldn't see. He lied to himself about what's important in life. He carried his misconceptions with him past life on the earth into Hades.

Before we look at it, let me mention some people get caught up into whether Jesus is telling a true story or some kind of parable. I hope to sidestep that issue and focus on some of the messages of the narrative Jesus gave.

Luke 16

Verse 24 about the now-not-so-rich man after he died: “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this *flame*.’

NOTE: Jesus is saying that Hades is at least a little like the cursed land of Deuteronomy 29. It's on fire. 

Please note that even though he's being tormented, the man still hasn't gotten an important message: Lazarus is no longer a beggar. Lazarus doesn't have to do what the man wants, no matter how impossible the request may be.

Abraham explains to the man that the request cannot be granted.

Verse 26 Abraham responded to the man: 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great *gulf fixed*, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’

The man now tries to make a deal to send a warning to the man's family by sending Lazarus to them from the dead.

Also please note that even though he's being tormented, the man *still* hasn't gotten an important message: Lazarus is no longer a beggar. Lazarus doesn't have to do what the man wants.

Verse 29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”

That's the end of the passage.

We've seen two kinds of people who lie to themselves. One is the idol worshipper who says, "I can do what I want." The other is a rich man in the Gospel of Luke who kept trying to get Lazarus to do what he wanted even after the end of their lives.

The point is without Jesus, without God's intervention, we will tend to lie to ourselves. And we'll run out of options. May we receive His mercy and thank Him for His life available to us now in Jesus.

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