And thus we see how great the inequality of man is because of sin and transgression, and the power of the devil, which comes by the cunning plans which he hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men. (Alma 28:13)
What are the cunning
plans of the devil? Can we see them at work in our lies? Do we see the attempts
to flatter or stir up to anger or other strong emotion? Do we notice the
attempts to bind down with apathy or discouragement or hopelessness?
Ensnaring hearts
makes me think of feelings that are easy to get into, but which are hard to get
out of.
I decided I needed
more insight on this, so I decided to look at “snare” in the Topical Guide.
The children of
Israel were commanded, “if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare
unto thee.” (Ex. 23:33) Since that service to the other gods involved ritual
prostitution, that was definitely true. Getting into that sin would be hard to
get out of.
Gideon, after his military
success, made an ephod and all Israel went whoring after it, and it became a
snare unto Gideon and to his house (see Judges 8:27). Material goods can be a
snare when everybody loves it but us. If we want to get rid of it because it is
having a bad influence and nobody will let us, or we don’t see what’s so great
about it.
Saul gave his
daughter Michal to David to wife, calculating that she would be a snare to him
(see 1 Samuel 18:21) possibly because of her idolatry (see 1 Sam. 19:13). When
spouses aren’t equally yoked, the less faithful one can pull down the more
faithful one. The same can be said of friends as well.
David curses the
wicked in Psalm 69:22, “Let their table become a snare before them; and that
which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.” How might a
table be a snare? I think it means what is on
the table, not the table itself. In his day, food might have been a snare if
people began breaking the Law of Moses concerning clean and unclean foods. It
would lead them into thinking they could break other laws as well. A table can also be a snare to people who
have a hard time knowing when to stop eating.
Our mouth can snare
us. “A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.”
(Proverbs 18:7) People are affected by their own words, and we can get stuck in
patterns of speech that aren’t very kind or healthy. We can get stuck in
patterns of criticism or gossip.
Proverbs 22:24-25
warns against making friends with an angry man lest we learn his ways and
become ensnared in them. So anger becomes a snare too. I think we can see today
how people can get pulled a habit of anger.
Proverbs 29:8 says
scornful men bring a city into a snare, but wise men turn away wrath. Scorn
causes people to do all kinds of things to avoid being derided, even if it is
wrong. It can affect entire communities.
Proverbs 29:25 says, “The
fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be
safe.” Worrying about what others will think can become a pernicious trap that
keeps us timid and powerless.
Jeremiah 50:24 warns
Babylon that a snare is laid for them and they are trapped because they fight
against the Lord. Rebellion becomes a snare.
In Luke 21:34-35,
Jesus warns that in the last days drunkenness, excess, and cares of this life
would become a snare to the world before the second coming. So pleasures can be
a snare as well. (It would certainly be a cunning plan of the devil to make fun into a snare that traps people.)
1 Timothy 6:9 says
that they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare. So greed and
avarice can be an instrument of entrapment by the devil. The law of sacrifice
is one of the Lord’s methods for getting His people loose from that kind of
trap.
Alma the elder told
the people in Mosiah 23:9 that he was caught in a snare with the iniquity of
King Noah and the priests. He got loose by accepting the truth Abinadi taught,
by standing up for Abinadi (which caused a break between Alma and the others),
and by repenting.
Is there anything that
is spiritually trapping you these days? Humility and repentance is the key to get out.
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