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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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LYING IN
SCRIPTURE 7/10/13 Grace Bible Church,
Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert
I. INTERPRETIVE DIFFICULTY OF LYING IN
SCRIPTURE A. Another interpretive difficulty in Judges
is the deceptive strategy of Eglon’s murder. It only eases the issue slightly
to say that the Lord never commanded Ehud to devise such a plan. Are there
situations where the believer is justified in lying? …..(silence)….
We see rare situations in Scripture of individuals who do lie and receive no
rebuke for it. Such were the cases of Ehud (Jdg 2:12-25) and Rahab (Jos
2:1-7). B. Rahab lied when
she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but
I did not know where they were from” (Jos 2:1-4). She lied when she,
“"It came about when it was time to shut the gate at dark, that the men
went out; I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will
overtake them” (Jos 2:5-6) Ehud appears to have lied when he said, “I have a
secret message for you, O king” (Jdg 3:19) because Scripture records no
verbal message from God. Rather, he sought to be alone with Eglon in order to
kill him (Jdg 3:20-21). There was no divine rebuke
in such rare instances and it could be perceived that God was with Israel in
such situational ethics (Rahab - He 11:31; Jm 2:25; Ehud - Jdg 3:28-29). II. FURTHER INTERPRETIVE ISSUES AND COMMENTARY A. Many commentaries seem to allow for such
instances of “not telling the truth.” To them, there appears to be
situations, particularly in wartime, where deception seems to be
understandable. Announcing beforehand an attack on the walls of Jericho would
have defeated the whole purpose of a surprise attack. Ambush becomes useless
unless the decoy leads them to it. Camouflage is not used for a military
fashion statement. Snipers in Ghilley suits are standard protocol. Even the
games we play seem to have understandable deception (Chess, Quarterback
sneak, Fake bunt). Or hypothetically, would you tell a murderer at the door
that your family is upstairs sleeping? B. There are many Christian ethicists who
believe that the prohibition against lying is absolute and that there is
never any justification for the so-called white lie. Others point to Rahab
and the Hebrew midwives as examples; their lies are reported and later on
they’re included in the roll call of heroes. It doesn’t explicitly say that
God blessed or sanctified them for lying, but it seems to imply that there’s
not a word of rebuke for their blatant dishonesty in these situations. There
are other occasions in Scripture where we see people lying in ways that I think
are clearly contrary to the Word of God. For example, some have tried to
justify Rebekah’s involvement in the deception of her husband so that Jacob
could receive the blessing instead of Esau. She was involved in this
conspiracy to deceive her own husband, and some have tried to defend her by
saying that if God had willed that the elder should serve the younger, then
it was God’s plan for Jacob to receive the patriarchal blessing rather than
Esau. All that Rebekah was doing was making sure the will of God came to
pass. All that Judas was doing when he betrayed Jesus into the hands of his
enemies was making sure the will of God came to pass—and God held him
eminently responsible for his treachery. I’m sure that Rebekah, though she
may have been blessed of God, was blessed in spite of her lying and not
because of it. Some would place Rahab in the same category. Over the
centuries, in the Christian church, there has developed an ethic of
truthfulness that is linked to justice. The Christian is always to give the
truth and to speak the truth to whom the truth is
due. The question now becomes, Is there such a case for the so-called just or
justified lie? I would say so, and the situations falling most clearly into
that category would involve war, murder, or criminal activities. If a
murderer comes to your house and he wants to know if your children are
upstairs in bed and you know that it’s his intent to murder them, it’s your
moral obligation to lie to him, to deceive him as much as you possibly can to
prevent those lives from being taken. I think that would also be true in
cases of war. I don’t think a person is required to tell the enemy where his
group is concealed any more than a quarterback in a football game is required
to announce to the defense what the intended play is. He can use faking and
deception in order to execute that play. That’s sort of a war game on the
football field. Numerous Christians lied to the Nazis in order to protect
Jews from capture and extermination. I think that in cases in which we know
that lying will prevent such evil, it is legitimate. — (Sproul) Now, That’s a Good Question. C. Most commentators regarded Ehud's methods
as entirely legitimate. Some, however, did not, as the following quotation
illustrates. "Ehud's conduct must be judged according to the spirit of
those times, when it was thought allowable to adopt any means of destroying
the enemy of one's nation. The treacherous assassination of a hostile king is
not to be regarded as an act of the Spirit of God, and therefore is not set
before us as an example to be imitated. Although Jehovah raised
up Ehud as a deliverer to His people when oppressed by Eglon, it is not
stated (and this ought particularly to be observed) that the Spirit of
Jehovah came upon Ehud, and still less that Ehud assassinated the hostile
king under the impulse of that Spirit. Ehud proved himself to have been
raised up by the Lord as the deliverer of Israel, simply by the fact that he
actually delivered his people from the bondage of the Moabites, and it by no
means follows that the means which he selected were either commanded or
approved by Jehovah." (Keil
and Delitzsch in loc.) D. The facts that Ehud did what he did as an
act of war and that God nowhere condemned him for it have led most
interpreters to believe he was correct in assassinating King Eglon (lit. fat
ox). God used other tricksters (e.g., Jacob, Samson) and other murderers
(e.g., Moses, David, Paul). Note that Ehud (possibly "loner") had
no other Israelites with him when he confronted Eglon. He stood alone for
God. Constable E. “I have a message from God for you.” Ehud
claimed he came to do God’s will in answer to prayer (v. 15). Calmly and
confidently, Ehud acted and later credited the defeat of the wicked king to
God (v. 28; cf. Ps. 75:6, 7, 10; Dan.
4:25), though it was by means of Ehud, as Jael used her way (4:21) and
Israel’s armies used the sword (4:16). By God’s power, Ehud’s army would slay
a greater number (v. 29). Men’s evil provokes God’s judgment (Lev. 18:25). (MSB - Jdg 3:20) F. 2:4, 5 Cf. vv. 9–11. Lying is sin to God
(Ex. 20:16), for He cannot lie (Titus 1:2). God commended her faith (Heb.
11:31; James 2:25) as expressed in vv. 9–16, not her lie. He never condones
any sin, yet none are without some sin (cf. Rom. 3:23), thus the need for
forgiveness. But He also honors true faith, small as it is, and imparts
saving grace (Ex. 34:7). (MSB - Jos
2:4-5) III. FINAL STATEMENTS A. It comes down to two options, Option #1 -
In such extreme cases of war and preservation of life, God allows for the
telling of a lie. Or, Option #2 - God forbids lying and could have preserved
life regardless if death seemed inevitable for telling the truth. B. From a Christian point of view, Option #2
is the only viable option and we must pray that we never have to face such
extreme cases of war and preservation of life. The believer is under the
command of Scripture to speak the truth and not lie (Pr 6:17; 12:22; Jn 8:44;
Ep 4:15, 25; Col 3:9). It is best to define these rare instances as man’s
ways and not God’s ways. These instances should never be used by a believer
to justify lying under any circumstance. C. Games include strategy, challenge, and
concealment which are not sinful in themselves. Wars involve strategy,
secrecy, protection of life, even to the point of defense by taking life.
Pertinent information which can save lives must be preserved at all costs.
There are ways to withhold pertinent information in order to save lives
without lying. There are times in which it is appropriate to give only name,
rank, and serial number. D. However, none of these perceived
exceptions can be applied to denying Christ. Christianity has a long history
of believers who would rather die than deny their Lord. 1. Now when Polycarp entered into the arena
there came a voice from heaven: "Be strong,
Polycarp, and play the man." And no one saw the speaker, but our friends
who were there heard the voice. And next he was brought forward, and there
was a great uproar of those who heard that Polycarp had been arrested. 2
Therefore when he was brought forward the Pro-Consul asked him if he were
Polycarp, and when he admitted it he tried to persuade him to deny, saying:
"Respect your age," and so forth, as they are accustomed to say:
"Swear by the genius of Caesar, repent, say: `Away with the Atheists
(i.e. Christians)'"; but Polycarp, with a stern countenance looked on
all the crowd of lawless heathen in the arena, and waving his hand at them,
he groaned and looked up to heaven and said: "Away with the
Atheists." 3 But when the Pro-Consul pressed him and said: "Take
the oath and I let you go, revile Christ," Polycarp said: "For eighty
and six years have I been his servant, and he has done me no wrong, and how
can I blaspheme my King who saved me?" (Martyrdom of Polycarp) E. In fact, such allegiance is required of
the believer in light of Scripture (Mt 10:33, 39; Mk 8:38; Jn 16:2; Ac 9:1;
12:2; 2Co 11:24-27; He 11:35-40; Re 2:10) as well as the ultimate example of
our Lord (Is 53:7; Mt 20:28; 26:53; He 12:2-4). Being willing to die for
one’s faith, as a believer in Christ, is the hallmark of truth and faith. |
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