Imposters (1114)(goes [góÄ"s] from goao = to wail or howl) originally described one who tried to control the wind by wailing or howling. It later came to be used of jugglers, enchanters, sorcerers, wizards, magicians, because many of this group commonly used wailing or howling in their incantations. And so it evolved to mean one who misleads with chants and thus an imposter, a swindler or a cheat. It describes one who has the habitual practice of fooling others through pretense. A swindler is one who cheats and defrauds others grossly or with deliberate artifice. An imposter is one that assumes false identity or title for the purpose of deceiving or defrauding others. All sorts of impostors are proliferating in the New Age movement as well as under the guise of "Christianity" (cf "form of godliness" see 2Timothy 3:5-note). The word for imposters (goes) is found only here in the New Testament and describes men who will be out to deceive by whatever trick or sleight of hand it takes to "deceive the hearts of the simple." In Greek writings the word góÄ"s is found in combination with the Greek word pharmakeus (one who enchants with drugs) and also with the Greek term sophistes which refers to one who is a crafty pretender. TDNT writes that goes... This mostly has the strict sense of a “magician,” especially one who works with verbal formulae. Those who believe in demons take him quite seriously, though he is sometimes detested, especially by the educated... In Eur. Ba., 234 Dionysus is called a goes, obviously in the sense of one who entices to impious action by apparently pious words, and this is the meaning in 2Ti 3:13. Lloyd-Jones once said that... The devil can give you remarkable guidance... There are powers that can counterfeit almost anything in the Christian life. ISBE has this note The goes was a cheap, even a false and slick magician, a quack, who was regarded by the educated as despicable or ludicrous. Watch out for those jugglers! In the first-century, jugglers were often traveling con men, like those fellows who run Three-Card Monty games or shell games on the sidewalks of big cities. They claim to be running honest games, but everything is rigged against you. The world is filled with religious charlatans who want more than your money, they want your soul. Let the buyer beware. Stephen Slocum wrote that... The use of a counterfeit is Satan's most natural method of resisting the purposes of God.