I keep coming back to one thought on this issue: its simplicity. Tell the truth. Speak the truth in love. Put devious words far from you. Lie not to one another, since you have put off the old man with his practices. These are not hard statements of Jesus like we find in John's Gospel. They are straight-forward commands. So why is this question one that constantly recurs among believers of Jesus Christ?
The trouble is, narratives confuse them. We analyze them trying to discover why Abraham, Rahab, or Sphiphra lied. But the point isn't why any of those people lied, or even what consequences they faced because of their lies. The point is simply that they lied. This seems to surprise us because, after all, isn't the Bible a record of righteous people? While it is, we ought to know from personal experience that righteous or not, mankind has been bent toward both susceptibility to deception and a desire to deceive. That's it. Elisha's deception does not imply that we can deceive any more than David's adultery implies that we can commit adultery. Just because Rahab seemingly got away with no repercussions from her lie does not mean that we should disregard the judgment seat of Christ before which she and we will stand.
My main point is this: If we only had Old Testament narratives, we might be confused about the morality of lying. If we had the Psalms, we would receive more clarity on the issue. If we had the Proverbs, surely we would understand God's view of lying and would hopefully cultivate an aversion toward us. Lying is one of those subjects on which God appears to give progressive revelation. By the time we reach the New Testament, we see God dealing very seriously with liars. In the times past when only the Law had been given, we see God overlooking the ignorance of foolish men, but after Christ comes, we see His holiness burn in anger against those who lie to His very face.
In light of everything we see in the New Testament in its crystal clarity, the Old Testament narratives seem to make a little more sense. A narrative is a historical event, not always intended to reveal a motive. We could speculate all we want about the details of some of these events, but they have not been revealed to us. Those things belong solely in the realm of God's remembrance. We may never know the titillating details. But we do know that our God is a God of Truth. We know that Jesus is the Truth. We know that the Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. And we know that God punishes lying and commands us not to lie in the New Testament.
And to me, that pretty much settles the matter.
Thoughts? Reactions? Leave them in the comment section.
From the dust of the Rabbi,
~Camille
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