“…he came in unto me, and I cried with a loud voice: And it came to pass, when he heard that i lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out.”  (Genesis 39)

 

What do you do when you have to decide who is not telling the truth or how can you decide who is lying?

*First, one must remain fair minded and have an unbiased desire and a determinationfor the truth.

*One cannot, should not, must not have respect of persons in judging what the truth is.

*Who has more to gain by lying or who has more to lose not to lie. This is not always easy to decide. In the above passage, the Pharoah’s wife had a great deal to lose if her unfaithful behaviour were uncovered by the truth.  Joseph would have every reason to lie if he had attempted to rape the Pharoah’s wife.  So, it would be wise to wait until more information comes to light. One should remain neutral if data is not available.

*Who has more to lose and who has more to gain by doing something risky, in this case, sleeping with a person under your power and control or raping the Pharoah’s wife.  The Pharoah’s wife was used to having her desires met and she may have been used to controling other servants under her authority, therefore it would not be out of the question for her to make advances toward Joesph.

*On the other hand, would it be out of character for Joseph to assault a woman? especially his ruler’s wife?  Joseph, if he were a predator, would have assaulted a woman he could control and not someone in control of him, he would also have a reputation for aggression toward women before he would have attempted to assault a woman in the royal estates of Pharoah’s wife. Joseph would have much to lose by assaulting Mrs. Pharoah and it would be out of character for Joseph to assault a woman based upon what we know of him.

*Body language like rapidly blinking one’s eyes, eyes looking down, touching the face, running a hand through one’s hair, giggling, voice pitch, and quickening one’s speech can all indicate deceit, lying, deception.  However, a good liar can look you straight in the eyes and lie with out guilt or remorse.

*Does the person in question have a history of lying, bending the truth, playing loose with the truth? or is this person a person of integrity, and normally forthright?

The above are practical and logical means of deducing who is lying and if a person is lying to you.  However, as we said above, a good liar can lie with no tells or gives. Many liars will mix just enough truth with a lie to make it plausable and even compelling; a good liar will transfix you into wanting to believe, just like (s)atan with Eve in the garden.  (s)atan is the father of lies and all liars and all unsaved persons lie and Christ-ians do too.

Is it ever acceptable for a Christ-ian to lie? The patent answer is of course, No, Never….ever, but as with many patent, tired, and stale answers that faith leaders will give, their answer in the negative, is wrong.  In fact, in Scripture there are situations when God blest the lie of honest and honourable persons. In some situation it is honourable to lie.

Some examples:
*The Hebrew mid-wives, in the Book of Genesis, lied to the Pharoah in order to save the lives of male babies: The Hebrew midwives lied and what did God think of the lying mid-wives?  “…God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that [H]e made them houses.”

*Rahab, lied to the authorities:  “And the women took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were.” ( Joshua chapter two (2) )  Rahab is mentioned in Hebrews as a person of faith.

*Samuel was given a cover story from God Himself:  “And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for I have provided [M]e a king among his sons. And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD.”  (1 Samuel 16).

*Christ HimSelf with-held His identity and His Person: “And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus [H]imself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know [H]im….And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and [H]e made as though [H]e would have gone farther…”

*Lord Jesus disguised Himself:  “…then went [H]e also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret” (John 7).

Reader, i am not saying or condoning lying; No, not at all.  But we can see from Scripture there are situations and circumstances when it is honourable and honoured by God Himself, to lie or deceive. The criteia of this dynamic is this:  The Christ-ian cannot, and may not lie to cover one’s indiscretions, mistakes, accidents, sin and sins.

In summary: One can, may, could, would, should deceive and lie with honour and purity with in one’s heart.

Godspeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

h]e also