“And the midwives said unto Pharoah…the Hebrew women…are delivered [of child before] the midwives come in unto them. Therefore God dealt well with the midwives…”  (Exodus 1)

“…the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them. But [Rahab] had brought them up to the roof of the house and hid them…”  (Joshua 2)

“…[A]ll liars shall have their place in the lake of fire.”  (Rev. 21)

 

As a general rule, Christ-ians are a truthful and honest people.  The Christ-ian does not lie, not because it is the best policy, but because it is wrong…most of the time. [Sidenote: Honesty is not the best policy as it will get one into trouble more often than not.]  The Scriptures state that one should be honest even to their own hurt. I’m not seeking to wrest Scripture, I would like to point out that the Scripture teaches to be honest to our own hurt, but what about anothers hurt?  I know the super saint will say, “Nope…lying is wrong always…deceit is hated by God.  To bear false witness is one of the top ten (10) commandments.”

We would ask then about the midwives, Rahab, God, and Christ, Himself.  Before someone charges me with implying there is deceit in the heart of God or His Son, I am not.  Do you, Reader, remember what God said to Moses after the children of Israel created and worshipped the golden calf?  God said He would destroy all of them and begin over with Moses’ offspring.  Do you think God meant this?  Do you suppose God forgot His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?  Do you think He would simply negate a covenant made with the patriarchs?  We think not and if you believe He would, then you charge Him with dishonesty and immutability!!!

Reader, do you remember our Lord’s post-resurrection walk with His two (2) disciples on the road to Damascus?  As the two (2) men and the newly Risen Christ closed in on their destination our Lord, “made as though” He would continue on His way.  Do you think He really intended to continue on His way?  (Luke 24)
What about the time His brother’s were preparing to go up to the feast of tabernacles?  They, teasing Him, said He should also go up to the feast and show off His abilities, “For neither did [H]is brethren believe in [H]im.”  Our Lord’s response was that He would not go “yet.” The Scriptures reveal to us, “But when [H]is brethren went up, then went [H]e also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.”  As there is no deceptive spirit in our Lord, this cannot be considered deception, yet it clearly was misleading as the words, “but,”  “then,” and “also” indicate  (John 7).

From our Scripture texts above we clearly see the midwives lying and Rahab lying and purposely and purposefully misleading the guards!!!  God’s response?  “Therefore [because of what the midwives did] God dealt well with the midwives…”  As for Rahab the harlot, who was disloyal to her people, God installed her into the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews chapter eleven along with other greats from the Old Testament.  We must infer from the context of this chapter, that Rahab lied “in faith” !!!

Please do not misunderstand me, I am not suggesting it is okay to lie…all the time.  One should not lie to cover one’s self or to get ahead of another.  One should not bear false witness against another to benefit or cause harm to another…see for an example the illegal trials of Christ and the events that surround His post-resurrection.  Lies were flying like sparrows…and God’s Eyes and ears are open to them.

During the holocaust, some brave persons and families would hide Jews.  Do you think these persons, when being questioned by the S.S., should have said, “Yep!!! the Jews are in the basement…right over there are the stairs.?” or do you think these persons should say, “Jews? what Jews?  By the example of the midwives and Rahab, methinks one is justified in lying one’s head off.

Some principles regarding lying:

• One should not put a person in the position where one may be tempted to lie, lest it really matters and is important.
• One should not lie to benefit one’s self.
• One should not lie to hurt someone or to save someone that has done wrong.
• If one is to lie, it should only be for the sake of someone else and if that someone else is in the right …morally and in accordance to God’s law.
• When Scripture speaks to the lying lips or lying tongue or that all liars shall have their place in the lake of fire, Scripture is speaking about the person who is a pro-liar or one who is intrinsically deceptive.  Lying, like believing or believeth means continuosly.  When we are told that “whosoever believeth” or believes on Christ it is a belief that is constant, continual, and continuous without a break. Lying is the same, lying denotes continual or continuous or as a way of life.  (s)atan, we are told was a liar “from the beginning” this is implying he began in the beginning and he continues.  To be a “liar” is to be the antithesis or opposite of the Truth, Who is Christ.
• I have heard others set the principle that states an unjust question does not deserve the truth.
• Sometimes one can word something in the way that they are not lying.  In the case of the person(s) hiding Jews or Christ-ians and this person(s) has a real conviction to being truthful at all costs or has trouble determining whether a Jewish families lives are more important than his conviction, one might say to the S.S. or whatever entity it is, “As you can see, there are no Jews here.”  In fact, the Jewish family is under the house, in the attic, or in someother hidden place that the hunters cannot “see.”
• It is wise to keep one’s self out of any situation that might tempt one’s self to lie…barring it being life or death.
• God knows the heart, the intent, and the motivation of all that we do, this includes our subject in this article.
• If one does lie and it is self serving, one should confess this sin to God and seek grace to be stronger in the future.  One cannot, however, think, “I will lie and repent later.”  Reader, that attitude does not pass and God will not forgive your lie as there is a much deeper rooted problem that must be addressed and dealt with first.

In summary: Again, We want to be perfectly clear, we are not suggesting, implying, or hinting to the acceptability of lying to help one’s self, from avoiding trouble or lying to harm someone or to get ahead.  Lying is wrong all the time if it is self serving and is due to a weakness of character. Also, we in no way are charging Godhead with lying, or deception, as it is impossible for our Holy, righteous and immutable God to lie (Titus 1).

Godspeed.