Jennifer Rothnie Supporter Housewife, Artist, Perpetually Curious

There are many times in the Bible where people (or spirits) acting on behalf of God, used deception as a means to an end. It was not automatically considered wrong, and was even commended at times.

While this seems confusing or even contradictory at first given such Biblical commands as 'thou shalt not bear false witness against they neighbor' or statements such as 'Satan is the Father of lies', the Bible does not use a 'catch-all' definition for lying as modern English does.

The Biblical idea (and jewish idea) of lying were somewhat different from what we might think of as a lie today. See the related question https://ebible.com/questions/845-what-does-the-bible-say-about-lying-is-lying-a-sin#answer-13783 for some details on the culture, as well as some discussion of various types of lies. That question helps form a basis for the discussion in this one. 

[In brief though, for those who do not want to go read another long answer, lies of the type the Bible condemns are those that stem from a malicious heart: False witness in court, false rumors, slander, gossip, malicious lies, distorted perception and action, lies to deceive into error, lies of false image/hypocrisy, course jesting, etc]. 

To examine cases in the Bible more specifically.

Ex 1:15-22: The midwives feared God, and therefore let the boys live and lied to Pharoah about the circumstances. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Ps 11:10, Prov 1:7). God blessed the midwives and gave them families because they feared Him.

II Kings 10:18-31: Jehu deceives the prophets of Baal by pretending to be a Baal worshiper and summoning all the prophets. He then has his men kill all of them, tear down the temple, and demolish the statue of Baal. God commended him in this instance and did not admonish him for his deception.

Ex 5:1, Ex 8:20-28: God and Moses both know that the plan is for Pharoah to drive the Israelites from the country - but God has Moses only give Pharaoh the repeated command to allow the people to go worship at a temporary festival.

1 Sam 16:1-13: God tells Samuel how to mislead Saul and say he's going to make a sacrifice and omit his going to anoint a new king.

II Chron 18:18-22: God asks for someone to entice Ahab to war, then gives permission to a deceiving spirit to deceive Ahab's prophets

Josh 2:1-15, Josh 6:25, James 2:25: Rahab is considered righteous for hiding the spies and sending them off a different way than their pursuers

Judges 4:18-22: Jael promises safety and rest to Sisera, then murders him, thus receiving the glory for the victory.

John 7:6-10: Jesus tells his brothers he isn't going to the festival, then goes later in secret.

For the times when God seems to be condoning a lie, they fall under the : "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself". (Mark 12:29-31) On this hangs all the law and the prophets. (Matt 22:34-37)

As wisdom and prayer is needed in these situations, it helps to remember that we walk by the spirit not by a list of rules (Rom 8:3-5), and that we discern the will of God by abiding in Christ (Rom 12:1-2).

It really, then, comes down to a matter of the heart and subjection to God. Truth remains truth, but as Jesus points out to Satan, it is the higher truth, the eternal truth that matters. Temporal truths only stem from the eternal - not the other way around. In none of the numerous biblical examples was temporal truth changed (The spies really were under Rahab's straw, the midwives did have a chance to kill the boys, Jehu's plan to slaughter the prophets of Baal was quite opposite from his stated plan to worship Baal, etc]. Yet, the temporal took a back seat in view of God and the eternal plan.

As such, if someone lies to protect someone else's life from an unjust genocide, or uses tact, or throws a surprise party - they are still following the Royal Law. Their heart is towards God and towards each other.

September 21 2015 • 2 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

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