Lying, and all of its derivatives has now become the order of the day, and it has reached unprecedented levels, to the point where people are becoming very desensitized to the evil. Anywhere there is constant barrage of lies, and deviations from truth, there we may be certain that the forces of evil spirits are on the ground, taking up residence in the hearts of all who are prone to believe, and to tell a lie. Lying is a product of the devil, who is described as the father of it.
Therefore, whenever any type of falsehood is being practiced, whatever the reason, we may know with certainty that it is the principle of the kingdom of darkness at work. But sad to say, this practice has now become the order of the day in our society, to the point where many think it necessary to tell lies, in order to do business, to save face, and to avoid prosecution, among other reasons.
With human beings, the problem began after Adam and eve sinned in the garden of Eden, where they both blamed each other, and the devil for their sin. Blaming others for our wrongs is a form of lying, and once the trend was set in motion, it cascaded, and developed into a way of life for many persons. Even the patriarchs and the people of God were not immune to the syndrome, for it affects everyone in high and low places, in one way or another.
One of the derivatives of lying is that it produces, many other forms of lying, and morphs into modes of thought and action which then become a way of life for many. Advertisements as we know, are often pregnant with lies, but the ordinary John Doe is also prone to suffer from the same problem too.
Therefore, the following examples from scripture do constitute a mini catalog of the various forms of lies as practiced anciently, and currently, with some of the reasons, and excuses often given to justify the use of falsehoods. We will also observe that they run the entire gamut from “Necessary lies” to lying for no reason whatsoever. God help us! Let’s read:
[1] Lying to shift the blame to others.
Genesis 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
[2] Lying to hide criminal evidence.
Genesis 4:9 And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
[3] Lying to protect oneself.
Genesis 12: 11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:
12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.
13 Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.
[4] Lying to justify a previous lie. By the way, half-truths are whole lies!
Genesis 20:10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?
11 And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake.
12 And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
[5] Lying because of peer pressure.
Genesis 27:8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.
9 Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savory meat for thy father, such as he loveth:
10 And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death.
[6] Acting out a lie.
Genesis 27:18 And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?
19 And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy first born; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.
[7] Lying in testimonies, about God’s blessings.
Genesis 27:20 And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me.
[8] Lying with good intentions.
Joshua 2:3 And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country.
4 And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:
5 And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.
6 But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.
Important Note on lying with good intentions: Hebrews 11:31 By faith Rahab, perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace”. The words “By faith” in instances such as this, do not mean that God approved of her lies; instead, He honored her faith, but the method employed in the exercise of her faith does not bear the stamp of heaven, and we are nowhere in the Bible encouraged to use our good intentions as an excuse to lie.
[9] Lying to shift the focus from our own misdeeds.
Genesis 37:31 And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;
32 And they sent the coat of many colors, and they
brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no.
33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.
[10] Spontaneous, or sudden lying.
Matthew 17:24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?
25 He saith, Yes.
Then on to our day, where lying can be traced on loans, and mortgage applications, lies are told to to cover extramarital affairs, lies are to be found on resumes, some lie to get a job, politicians lie to get elected, others exaggerate, some lie intentionally, some state facts in such a way as to favor a certain position over another. Lies are also to be found on tax returns, where phantom aunts and uncles, in-laws and outlaws arise from the grave in April, only to disappear into never-land after hefty refunds are received.
Lying often occurs by remaining silent in a certain situation, some lie by misrepresenting God, and by hiding our faith, and by changing TV channels when we hear our parents at the door. Worst of all, some people lie for no reason, for they take delight in the very atmosphere of falsehood. Therefore, The Lord through his servant defines it this way. Let’s read:
[Patriarchs & Prophets pp 309] False speaking in any matter, every attempt or purpose to deceive our neighbor, is here included. An intention to deceive is what constitutes falsehood. By a glance of the eye, a motion of the hand, an expression of the countenance, a falsehood may be told as effectually as by words.
All intentional overstatement, every hint or insinuation calculated to convey an erroneous or exaggerated impression, even the statement of facts in such a manner as to mislead, is falsehood. This precept forbids every effort to injure our neighbor's reputation by misrepresentation or evil surmising, by slander or tale bearing.
Even the intentional suppression of truth, by which injury may result to others, is a violation of the ninth commandment.
One of the main causes of lying is a lack of faith in God. Abraham doubted God’s protection of himself and Sarah, and we too are often prone to doubt the promises of God in certain situations, thus resorting to lies to deliver ourselves. This was what had taken place with David on numerous occasions, where he doubted that God would protect him in certain dire situations, and afterward, as he reviewed his own history, he was inspired to write out the following passages. Let’s read:
Psalms 120:1 In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and he heard me.
2 Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
6 My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
However, the Bible is clear upon this issue, for even though in times past it was indulged with apparent impunity, even by God-fearing persons, yet, in our day as we stand upon the brink of eternity, we must try by the grace of God to speak and live truthfully, for the characteristic of truthfulness is specifically pointed out in the book of Revelation, as one of the qualities of those who will be translated, because, throughout the pages of sacred history, God has voiced His abhorrence of a disposition to practice falsehood. Let’s read:
Exodus 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Proverbs 12:22 Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight.
Revelation 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
2nd Timothy 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud,
3 Trucebreakers, false accusers,
5 Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Revelation 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Thus, we embark on a study of the history of David on this issue, for in many circumstances, his life experience was tarnished by the practice of lying. Therefore, as we observe his frailties, and our own, let us resolve by the grace of God, to permanently put these evils away, because the history of those who have gone before was written for us who are living in the last days.
Lying to protect ourselves in difficult, or dangerous circumstances is often overlooked by many as being a necessary evil, and even Christians may think that there is nothing wrong with it, once our motives are upright. But the word of God speaks clearly today to us, that there is never a good enough reason for us to resort to lying. This is where David stumbled over and over again until he asked God for cleansing, and because it has become so widespread, we will focus on this particular form.
David was going good for a while, trusting in God alone for deliverance from Saul, and God gave Him undeniable evidence that holy angels would protect him. But after satan launched multiple assaults via Saul against him, David’s patience and faith in God grew dim, and he turned to lying in various forms as a means whereby he may surmount the dangers he
faced. Let’s read:
1st Samuel 21:1 Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?
2 And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know anything of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.
David most likely did no plan to lie to the priest of God, in so blatant a manner, so it must have been some unforeseen circumstance that caused him to switch gears on the spur of the moment. Often, we too may utter falsehoods, if satan throws us a curve ball suddenly, then we resort to lies. Let’s read:
1st Samuel 21:7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.
1st Samuel 21:10 And David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.
11 And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
12 And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
13 And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.
14 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to
me?
15 Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?
Thus, after having several close encounters with Saul, in what he saw as near-death experiences, a settled conviction rested upon his mind, that it was only a matter of time before he would fall by the sword of Saul. In his fear for his life, he may have forgotten that God had already anointed him king, but his faith in God was so severely shaken, that he failed to look beyond current circumstances.
Here’s an important lesson for us. Often, when our attention is fixed on current difficulties or dangers, the sure promises of God often fade into oblivion. It is at such times that we are often tempted to adopt lying as a form of self-deliverance, but we would be much better served if we were to bring to mind the many times God has delivered us in times past, and in most cases, the shadows that have enveloped our minds would be lifted. Let’s read:
1st Samuel 27:1 And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.
2 And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
By turning to the enemies of God for help, David placed himself on satan’s enchanted ground, and the enemy would waste no time in making the most of the situation. When Christians encounter dangers or difficulties, we should never turn to the enemies of God for help. This advice will be of great value in the not too distant future, when the mark of the beast spreads across the land.
1st Samuel 27:8 And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.
9 And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish.
10 And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Kenites.
11 And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines.
12 And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore, he shall be my servant forever.
1st Samuel 28:1 And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men.
There we go again, because now that David is in the camp of the enemies of God, and they are about to make war on God’s people, it will be interesting to see how he will deal with this temptation. Will he join forces with God’s enemies, and thereby go to war against his own brethren, or will he lie his way out of his predicament? Christians should never ever turn to the enemies of God either for help or protection. Never!
Psalms 121:1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
1st Samuel 29:2 And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David and his men passed on in the rereward with Achish.
3 Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days, or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this
day?
4 And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? should it not be with the heads of these men?
6 Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely, as the Lord liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight: for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless the lords favor thee not.
7 Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines.
Here was an opening which was provided directly by the providence of God, for David to disentangle himself form the snare satan had set for his feet. In this instance, God used the national prejudice of the philistines to have David in disdain, but poor David had become so accustomed to lying that even now, he felt that he must throw in a few white lies into the mix. Let’s read:
1st Samuel 29:8 And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee unto this day, that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king?
9 And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.
10 Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with thy master's servants that are come with thee: and as soon as ye be up early in the morning, and have light, depart.
11 So David and his men rose up early to return to the land of the Philistines.
Hear the word of The Lord now! Whenever we are in difficult or dangerous situations, there is no need to resort to lying to deliver ourselves, for God has solemnly promised to be with us until the end of the age. Even if we have brought trouble upon our own selves, we should not feel forced to lie, for if we choose that route we may become trapped in a cycle of lies that we will have to be modifying and changing to cover our tracks.
Thus, as we see what is transpiring on the national stage, and as we view the inevitable trickle-down effects, let us try by the grace of God to be found without guile in our mouths, for The Lord is able to take care of His people in any and every situation. Thus, we close with a promise that should be put to memory for it will come in handy whenever we may face any existential threats. Let’s read:
Psalms 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.
10 Be still and know that I am God.
11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
God Bless!