In 1347, corpses of Mongol warriors from the Golden Horde were flung over the walls of the port city of Kaffa into the Black Sea. Although this action may have had an appearance of a ceremony meant to honor their fallen soldiers, in actuality it is believed to be the first confirmed practice of biological warfare. The Mongols would purposely catapult the plague-infested bodies of their deceased soldiers into the Black Sea, with the intent to contaminate the waters and ships docking at the port. During this time, the port was a Genoese trade center in the Crimean Peninsula where many ships would travel back to Italy. For this reason, some historians argue that this action may have been the cause of the deplorable pandemic of the Black Death that haunted Europe for the next four years, claiming the lives of approximately one-third of the global population. Historical evidence suggests, however, that using disease producing agents as weapons of war most likely began with the ancient Assyrians. In an effort to withstand the advancement of an invading army, they would poison enemy wells of fresh water with fungus to weaken their foe’s strength and render them delirious before battle. Hence, it is where the popular term “poisoning the well” originates from. Regrettably, this inauspicious decision of using bio-weapons has not been deterred despite the calamitous results they have produced. Bio-agents recently have been appealing to terrorist groups because they cannot be detected easily and are even easier to launch against an enemy. Most bio-weapons are created to launch as aerosols where those who breathe in the bio-agent will immediately become infected and infect those they come in contact with. For this reason, locations where large crowds of people assemble are the preferred targets to insure a rapid spread of the plague through human interaction. Remarkably, this terrifying scenario is adopted by the Holy Spirit as He warns of the teachings of false teachers. The inspired apostle Paul alerts Timothy to “shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some” (2nd Timothy 2:16-18, emphasis added). It is fascinating to witness God correlate His Divine lessons in a manner one may easily comprehend! Similar to the astounding velocity with which aerosol bio-chemicals can contaminate the air, false teachings and doctrines will contaminate the godly mind of a person. Remember that Adam and Eve were pure in thought until “the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness” and succeeded in implanting doubt in her mind about God’s warning to them (2nd Corinthians 11:3, emphasis added). Thus, Holy Writ unveils that it was man’s contact with Satan how man became infected with sin. Yet, Scriptures also reveal that there are some in the world (like Hymenaeus and Philetus) who willfully seek to create a spiritual pandemic by spreading plague-infested doctrines. Of these men Isaiah declares, “Whom do you ridicule? Against whom do you make a wide mouth and stick out the tongue? Are you not children of transgression, offspring of falsehood” (Isaiah 57:4, emphasis added)? The Master, too, concurred with the prophets identification as “offspring of falsehood” since the devil “is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44c, emphasis added). Thus, it is of great value to learn how to distinguish friend from foe. It is extremely dangerous to dismiss or deny the existence of these covert agents working for Satan. They are called children of the devil due to their mastery of deceit and seductive charm. Paul highlights this burdensome ability as he explains that “such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works” (2nd Corinthians 11:13-15, emphasis added). It is no secret that these change agents have made their presence felt in the church throughout history. The reality that this was already a problem infesting the church during the first century, and still lingers today, validates the level of danger false prophets present to God’s people. Through the apostle Peter, the Holy Spirit makes us aware of how infectious and contagious the doctrines spewed by false teachers are. The apostle reminds his readers that “there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of who the way of truth will be blasphemed” (2nd Peter 2:1-2, emphasis added). Let us recall that sin entered the world when the devil made contact with man and he influenced man to sin. Observe that Satan did not physically control Eve’s hand and make her eat the forbidden fruit; he simply pried upon her desire of wanting to eat it and enticed her to do so. Therefore, because this is how the father lured man to his death it is how his children “by covetousness…will exploit you with deceptive words” (2nd Peter 3:3a, emphasis added). Thus, Satan’s biological weapon is false doctrine spread by his false teachers who “speak great swelling words of emptiness, [and] they allure through lusts of the flesh, through lewdness the ones who have actually escaped from from those who live in error” (2nd Peter 3:18, emphasis and addition mine). These false teachers are also difficult to detect and spread their spiritual disease aerially. For this reason, the apostle urgently instructs that “there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain” (Titus 1:10-11, emphasis added). If an aerial assault is launched, the most efficient defense is a filtered mask that neutralizes the contamination. Ergo, we too have been given an efficient way to neutralize false teachers’ doctrine. To be continued…
