Avallónnë. Seventh Age. - One of the topics Bradley Birzer addresses in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth is Sauron’s corruption of men during the Second Age. This saga, which lies at the heart of Tolkien’s mythology, tells the story of the people who would be known as Númenóreans in the Third Age. Birzer explains,

Tolkien’s most explicit rendering of a fall - and in some ways most fascinating, if highly undeveloped - is that of Númenor in the Second Age, or, as Tolkien labeled it, the Akallabêth. As a reward to men - the Edain - who fought against Morgoth at the end of the First Age rather than succumbing to his perverted will, Ilúvatar blessed them with a realm of their own, Andor [Númenor]. In it, the Edain, now calling themselves the Númenóreans, lived long lives, created beautiful works of art, and became the greatest mariners the world had ever seen. . . .

Just as the earliest men had been tempted with knowledge, so too were the Númenóreans. Taken into the confidence of the Númenóreans, Sauron soon provided a Gnostic interpretation and reading of what was left of traditional Númenórean theology. . . . In Tolkien’s mythology, Sauron presents himself as the Gnostic savior, urging the Númenóreans away from the labyrinth of Ilúvator’s time and space and toward the ‘true god’ Melkor.

“Sauron slowly took advantage of Númenórean weaknesses and the disorder in their souls.”

I have a DVD produced by National Geographic entitled “Eternal Enemies: Lions and Hyenas” that follows a pride of lions and a pack of hyenas that share a common territory. The narrator of the documentary notes at one point that hyenas are masters at exploiting chaos and confusion. When I read that “Sauron slowly took advantage of Númenórean weaknesses and the disorder in their souls” or watch the hyenas at work, I’m struck by how both Sauron and the hyenas reflect the Enemy of our souls. They exploit weaknesses and disorder in the souls of their prey, even as Satan does.

It is a common tactic: he exploits the chaos, confusion, weaknesses, and disorder in the community of Christ and in individual believers’ lives. It is one of his primary back doors to disrupting and even corrupting our role in establishing God’s kingdom in His church and children.

That the Enemy preys upon our weaknesses is well known and often acknowledged, but how often do we recognize or think that he also exploits the disorder in our souls to gain a foothold and trip us on the path of righteousness? A disordered soul is a painful and troubling existence, made worse by him who seeks to devour us. It is through our disordered souls that he most often finds his greatest and most consistent success.

It is in subtlety and deception that Satan excels. Most of us, corporately and individually, are too astute and prepared for frontal assaults that are designed to exploit our weaknesses. But by appealing to our soul’s need for order, he makes attractive what we otherwise would eschew: he offers knowledge - gnosis - to help us order our thoughts and lives. His teaching is attractive to us and is only a slight, almost-imperceptible deviation from the truth of God. We follow and, like the proverbial boiled frog, realize too late how far we have strayed - not from the truth, but from our first love.

There is a back door in the lives of all of us, varying only in degrees of accessibility: it is the disorder in our souls. While we may never be able to overcome the disorder in this life, we must remain ever-vigilant lest the Enemy gain the advantage by exploiting this confusion within us.



Namárië.