Dancing with the Devil
“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.” (Genesis 3:6)
Things were good in the garden. Real Good! Adam was the best looking guy around. Nobody had a higher level job than he did. He had authority over everything! There were friendly animals of all kinds. Delicious fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables to eat! The garden was a regular paradise. Yet, the words the serpent told Eve made her want to take a walk on the wild side. Just once, she wanted to do something crazy! She wanted to take a bit of the forbidden fruit.
In the beginning, Eve danced with the Devil. The Devil is Satan: the ancient serpent, father of lies, deceiver of the whole world, roaring lion, mock angel of light, murderer, spirit working in the sons of disobedience, evil one, tempter, ruler of this world, and prince of demons. Satan two stepped Eve into losing her garden paradise and her life.
The phrase “Dancing with the Devil” is used to express engaging in risky behavior. Dancing with the Devil is a personal choice. Eve wasn’t forced. Eve wasn’t enslaved. She simply decided that whatever the repercussions were… she was strong and wise enough to handle them. She believed she was in control and chose to dance with the Devil. She believed her behavior was going to result in a pleasurable reward, some unfulfilled need would be met, and the dance would make her happy. She failed to see or understand the danger Satan brings with him.
Satan the Dancing King
Satan knows how to dance well. He has danced with Billions. He is a dance partner always ready to give anyone a whirl. He convinced Cain to offer up a sacrifice that God had not asked to receive and then to kill his brother. Satan convinced an entire world drown in a flood than obeying Gods will wasn’t as important as dancing with Him. He convinced Lot’s wife that looking back at the destruction of loved ones was a better thing than looking forward to salvation. Satan’s slick dance floor moves made Esau believe that the spiritual leadership of his family was less important than his momentary hunger. Indeed Satan danced with Pharaoh when God asked for the children of Israel to be let go. That dance cost pharaoh the might of his nation and a great loss of life which included his own life and that of his first born. You may not be familiar with all of these examples, but in every case, dancing with the Devil was never a good choice.
How Do I Know What Risky Behavior Is?
It can be reasonably asked, what are the risky behaviors that represent “dancing with the Devil”? The answer is the same for everyone. Acting outside of Gods Authority is dancing with the Devil. Surprisingly, many of those who have been brought up in the Lord’s Church do not understand the full scope of the Lord’s authority. God’s Word (His Authority) is all the direction for our action that we need in this life. It commands us, gives us examples, and expects us to infer from those two things how we are supposed to behave. The only way we are able to learn His authority is by hearing it from our own study and reading of the Bible or the teaching of it by others. The great thing about the Bible is there is absolutely no behavior that an individual can engage in for which the Bible does not tell whether there is authority or not by God. If there is no authority for a behavior or thought, then you are dancing with the Devil. If you are dancing with the Devil, then your soul is at great eternal risk. Three fantastic verses affirming this are: Colossian 3:17, Romans 14:23 and Matthew 7:21. The first declares you need Gods authority for all you do. The second declares if your behavior isn’t directed by God you are in sin. The third established if you aren’t doing what is authorized by God you will not be given entrance into heaven. Nothing would delight Satan, the great Boogie man, more than to see you have tripped over your two feet with eternal consequences.
Moses at the Rock of Meribah
Moses was an amazing man. He put up with over a million whining Israelites as they traveled through the wilderness for 40 years. He wasn’t a perfect man, but he was a man who revered God and led God’s people. How great an honor to be chosen by God for that task! Yet, Moses was said to be the most humble man upon the earth. Sadly, one of the most memorable moments of Moses life was a dance with the devil. In Numbers 20, the children of Israel were complaining that Moses had brought them all up to the wilderness to die. They griped that there was no grain, figs, grapevines, pomegranates, or water. Moses and his brother Aaron immediately went before the tabernacle of God and fell to their faces. Numbers 20:7 proclaims the lord told Moses to speak to a rock and water would come out of it for the people and their animals. That was God’s authority and provision.
Maybe the constant complaining of the people was getting to Moses. Perhaps he was on edge because of the recent death of his sister. It is possible that the sun and sand just pushed Moses to be a little cranky. Who knows, maybe for once Moses just wanted to speak his mind, do his thing, and get a little respect for he and his brother. Whatever the reason, Moses decided to dance with the Devil. Instead of walking in Gods authority and simply speaking to the Rock, Moses took a Rod (Vs. 9-11) declared “Hear now, ye rebels! Must we fetch you water out of this rock?” Then he wacked the rod twice on the rock (maybe releasing a bit of frustration) and water came pouring out for everyone. Sounds great… except God notices when we do our own thing. He told Moses and Aaron that because they had not respected Him (and that is what not following Gods authority is… a lack of respect), they would not be allowed to enter the promised land. This is a grand warning about Dancing with the Devil.
Does Gods authority apply to the Ignorant?
In 2 Samuel 6, Uzzah and his brother were chosen to move the Ark of God before the people of Israel. Likely trying to show the utmost respect, they brought it forward in a brand new cart. What an amazing day it must have been! Unfortunately, the oxen pulling the cart stumbled. Uzzah, with swift action decided to ignorantly dance with the devil. He tried to steady the ark of God as it was falling off the cart. This didn’t appear to seem like a risk to him! He didn’t know God’s Will was not to touch the ark. He was just following his feelings as the situation dictated. Didn’t matter! God struck him down immediately. Ignorance to God’s Will doesn’t make unauthorized actions acceptable. Again, whatever doesn’t proceed from faith is sin.
Does Gods authority apply to good intentions (presumption)?
In I Samuel 15, King Saul was told to destroy the Amalekites and everything they had. Yet, he left the good sheep, oxen, and lambs. His declaration was that they were saved to sacrifice to the Lord. Saul’s good intentions were to worship and honor God in a way he personally thought would be pleasing. He presumed making such a move without authority would be ok. He danced with the devil. For dancing with the Devil, God took Saul’s kingship away from him. 1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. So, neither ignorance nor good intentions override God’s authority. In Psalm 19:12, King David recognized the seriousness of sins of ignorance and presumption and prayed for forgiveness in these areas.
A World Dancing with the Devil
2 Timothy 3:1-7 – “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.”
The world encourages risky behavior. Everything is backward to them. Good is evil. Evil is good. They promote abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, adultery, living together out of wedlock, divorce on demand, sex before marriage, gambling, drinking, immodesty, and drug use… They reject God, the Bible, Christianity, God’s definition of family, telling the truth, and purity. To many in the world it is a badge of honor to do any of the above. These same people truthfully do not believe in anything more powerful then themselves. They do not believe in a powerful all mighty God. Their vision of Satan, if they even believed in him, is a party gate keeper in hell where all those who are like them will enjoy themselves. Satan is a good ol egg. One drink doesn’t matter. One smoke doesn’t matter. Slots aren’t hurting anyone. They see themselves as open minded non-judgmental people. Dancing with the Devil is just good fun. Galatians 6:7-8 “Be Not decieved; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap destruction; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
As Christians, we are supposed to be separate from the world, transformed (2 Corinthians 6:14-18, Romans 12:2). We know better than to dance with the Devil! Why risk our salvation? Yet, we grumble, gossip, and divide ourselves from other brothers and sisters. We draw attention to ourselves through flirting, immodesty, and materialism. The preacher, brothers, sisters… they may have mentioned it, but it is their problem! We dismiss the warnings. Many are able to easily discuss the goings on of popular immoral television shows, videos, or games filled with ungodly behavior. It is no secret that we shouldn’t be engaged with them because we will preface our discussions with “there is just a little bit of language” in them. What happented to Philippians 4:8. Does that only apply on Sundays? We dance with the devil in the great commission, because we declare those “old paths” just don’t work anymore. Times have changed. There is contention in the home, because mom only lets dad be the head of the house when she doesn’t disagree. We make the decision to send our children to schools for hours a day with those who, if not hostile toward Christianity and God’s authority, are at least providing instruction contrary to it. “Oh, they will convert”, we instruct our children dating those outside of the Church, all the while God tells us not to be yoked with unbelievers. We tell ourselves we are in control, though we are not active with the Church and haven’t read the Bible or prayed outside of the Assembly in a long time. We believe our family, and spiritual brothers, and sisters will overcome despite being in the middle of moral decay and inviting it into our homes and churches. And the Devil enjoys the tango as the beat goes on. We will reap what we sow… but we keep telling ourselves… no… we are in control.
Faithful Follower of God who Chose Not to Dance
It cannot be repeated enough that Dancing with the Devil, going outside of God’s authority for your behavior, is a choice. Joseph when continually enticed to sexual sin said no and when Potipher’s wife tried to force herself upon him he ran! Joshua proclaimed that for he and his family they would serve God. Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego refused to eat food the Law of Moses prohibited. They also refused to worship Nebechadnezzar’s golden image at the threat of death. Their response? “…our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O King. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou has set up.” Daniel was thrown into the Lion’s Den because he refused to stop praying to God. Esther saved the Jews because she refused to be silent and do nothing when their lives were in danger. These are fantastic Old Testament examples of those who chose not to dance with the Devil. I save the greatest example of not Dancing with the Devil for last. Jesus, following his baptism by John and being proclaimed the son of God by the Father Himself, was led into the wilderness to be tempted. After over a month of not eating, Satan came to him begging for a dance. Jesus turned the dance card down. In doing so, he continually quoted the Words of God… ”It is Written” , “It is written”, “It is written”. These examples all chose to walk with God rather than dance with the Devil. Whether they had to run or endure hardship or risk their life, they trusted God and reflected on His will for His people.
Demi Lavato
Demi Lavato is a singer who wrote a song “Dancing with the Devil”. I don’t know anything about her other than her song which describes her real life encounter with substance addiction. The songs lyrics describe the truth about dancing with the Devil.
“Dancing With The Devil”
It’s just a little red wine, I’ll be fine; Not like I wanna do this every night
I’ve been good, don’t I deserve it? I think I earned it, feels like it’s worth it
In my mind, mind
Twisted reality, hopeless insanity
I told you I was okay but I was lying
I was dancing with the devil, out of control; Almost made it to heaven, it was closer than you know
Playing with the enemy, gambling with my soul; It’s so hard to say no, when you’re dancing with the devil
It’s just a little white line, I’ll be fine; But soon that little white line is a little glass pipe
Tinfoil remedy, almost got the best of me; I keep praying I don’t reach the end of my lifetime
Thought I knew my limit, yeah I thought that I could quit it, yeah
I thought that I could walk away easily, But here I am falling down on my knees
Praying for better days To come and wash this pain away
Could you please forgive me? Lord, I’m sorry for dancing with the devil
Miss Lavato makes some pretty real observations about dancing with the Devil. She lied to herself about being in control. She thought the little bit of sin would not create a problem. Backing away from sin, once you are practicing it, can be very tough. The best decision is to not Dance.
For those who are Christians and those who are not Christians, it makes no sense to play with the enemy, to gamble with your soul. If you find yourself in the middle of a dance, Lavato makes a brilliant declaration authorized by God. Humble yourself and spiritually get down on your knees. Seek Him. Pray. Desire his forgiveness. Express your sorrow and regret. Experience His washing of your sins away. Lavato realized it takes relying on God to make things better.
All Christians have been down a road of sin at one point or another. We have all danced with the Devil, but that is a behavior we should turn our back on forevermore. Grab the hand of the God that will walk with you and never leave you and stay by his side always.