By: Obed Pineda
It is quite difficult to not be mesmerized by the elegance and sophistication of nature’s design which bears witness of the reality of God’s mighty, awesome power. David, Elihu, and Paul were all captivated and inspired to point the spotlight upon creation with the intent of illuminating the Divine fingerprints identifying Him as its Creator (cf. Psalm 8, Job 36:22-33, Acts 14:8-18). After having endured the arrogant pretensions of his three “friends,” Job called to the witness stand the cosmos saying, “now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; and the fish of the sea will explain to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of mankind” (Job 12:7-10)? This righteous man called upon God’s creation to his defense to reveal to Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar that their faulty understanding of God’s character was deleterious to His upright nature. Ergo, this aids us in grasping the value of carefully observing nature, since it is redolent with the eternal presence of the Almighty. Indeed, the Bible is full of life lessons taken from nature that provides us with a visual aid that assists in our understanding of that which is spiritual. Therefore, it must not surprise us if upon examining God’s creation we are suddenly able to make a connection to a Biblical principal that we perhaps did not fully understand until that visual aid appeared. Case in point: the Photuris firefly. This tiny insect is a curious creature that must not be overlooked nor underestimated due to its appearance. If anything, the Photuris is yet another prime example of the adage that warns “appearances can be deceiving.” This genus of fireflies are a species of predator that utilizes a hunting tactic known as aggressive mimicking. The adult female Photuris are notorious for preying on other male fireflies (of a different genus) by copying the light signals that other female fireflies species uses to attract males in order to mate. The Photuris, however, engages its aggressive mimicry to attract, kill, and eat the male fireflies belonging to the other species by weaponizing light. These genus of female lightning bugs “call” their unsuspecting prey under the guise of mating signals, when their true purpose is always to kill and devour them. For the diligent pupil of Holy Writ, the spiritual principal tied to these tiny, yet deadly, insects emerges almost immediately. The apostle John urges, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1st John 4:1). Promoters of false doctrine are extremely dangerous due to their craftiness in espousing their lies. Like the serpent of old, they have cunningly learned how to syncretize Scriptural fact with fiction. Similar to the Photuris, they have learned well what elements of truth to include in their heresy to legitimize their proclamation. This disturbing art that they have mastered verifies the urgency in the apostle John’s plea to his beloved brethren of thoroughly examining every person’s claimed intention. Remember that Peter, through inspiration, also reminds the Church 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 brought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber” (2nd Peter 2:1-3). Keep in mind that at the time when the apostles were inspired by the Spirit to write these words, there were already false teachers contaminating the faith of many with their “aggressive mimicry” (cf. 2nd Peter 2:12-22, 1st John 2:18-19, 4:3-6). The apostle to the Gentiles, too, engaged men and women of this sort during his ministry. Paul alerted the Churches of Galatia about the threat of the Judaizing philosophy that had unfortunately snared Peter and Barnabas (cf. Galatians 2:11-21). Paul exposed the hypocrisy of the Judaizing teachers as he disclosed “they zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them” (Galatians 4:17). It is wise to notate that what the false teacher shares in common with the Photuris firefly is that they mimic the truth with the intent to serve their own belly (cf. Romans 16:17-18, Philippians 3:17-19). The Ephesian elders were told to beware for “savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things things, to draw away disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:29-30). Pest control experts have determined that the reason female Photuris lightning bugs prey on male lightning bugs from a different species is not just to eat them, but because it helps them steal a defensive toxin from the male firefly they ingest, that they cannot produce themselves for self-protection. In other words, the female Photuris places its own survival against its predators above the survival of its gullible prey. Curiously, the same is true as it pertains to impenitent wicked men and women who “having a form of godliness but denying its power…are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2nd Timothy 3:5a, 6-7). Taking the female Photuris’ example from nature lends a hand in attaining a more profound understanding to the level of peril it is to pay attention to a false teacher teach. Due to the selective truths they lace their falsehoods with in order to deceitfully “legalize” their doctrines, it becomes abundantly clear why the Master advised, “beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Irrefutably, the female Photuris aggressive mimicking tactic to capture its innocent prey provides a precious instruction that is worth paying close attention to as faithful Christians. Scripture certainly warns us to be vigilant against false teachings, lest we find ourselves answering the deceptive call of a spiritual Photuris lightning bug alluring us with its death glow leading into eternal damnation (cf. Proverbs 6:20-26, 2nd Timothy 2:14-18).