Imitation

 

 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,  but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.  “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1-5)

How you have fallen from heaven,  morning star, son of the dawn!  You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart,  “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.  I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”  But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit. (Isaiah 14:12-15)

The second theme found in Scripture sounds very like God’s Theme, with its bass motif with a variety of tunes overlaying it. There are several identifiers. It’s a theme that wants to be God’s Theme but can’t manage it. It pretends to be God’s Theme but can’t quite bring itself to be. It’s tends to sound like the opposite of God’s Theme. Where God’s Theme is majestic, it is intimate and where God’s Theme is intimate, it may be bellicose. Where God’s theme moves up a third, it moves down a note, or a third, or an octave. Another identifier is that it tends to be presented as an improvement. There is a flaw in God’s Theme. This Theme fixes it.

Evil doesn’t wear red tights or carry a pitchfork. More often than not, it comes to us looking like an improvement on the God who deceives us, whether that deception is an outright lie, or just an inability to live up to some standard. In the long run, however, it always fails. It always hits a not that isn’t quite right.

This is why the story of Peter walking on the water is so astounding to me. Other folks talk about the fear of the rest of the crew, but what if they had been right? What if it had been a trick to lure Peter out of the boat and to his death? It happens all-too-often. That’s what happened with when Peter denied Christ three times. Peter had been convinced that a different idea was the right and best idea. He went to see Jesus pull victory from the jaws of defeat, and to be available to be part of it. If pretending to be someone else was the means to do that…so be it. Lying to the enemy isn’t so bad.

And if the melody isn’t quite right, well, who’s to notice?