Exodus 1

Bible Gateway link Chapter 1



Why did the midwives lie to Pharaoh? They lied because they feared Pharaoh. Don't get me wrong here; they did not kill the male children because they feared God. They knew that killing the children was against God's will, so they disobeyed Pharaoh. They lied to Pharaoh about it because they knew that he would punish them....most likely kill them, so they lied. SO this brings up the age old question is it OK to lie, if the lie allows good to flourish? I wish I had the answer for that, I think it is a question that can be debated many ways, however I will share my opinion. We are commanded to not bear false witness, not to lie. It was important enough to etch into stone. So we can start off saying that to lie is wrong. We know that throughout the bible many people lied to the Pharaohs (and others). However when the lies were discovered God still worked within the Pharaoh to not only be merciful, but often treated the person who lied to him well (think Abraham) it leaves me with the feeling of why lie in the first place, if the Lord wills it there is not need to lie. Jacob lied to secure what God had already promised, while he ended up with a great life, he did suffer hardships; others dealt with him, in the same manner he had dealt with his brother. SO there is a price that comes with lying.



TO delve even deeper, these women were lying to cover their belief in God. Afraid if they stood up and tried to spread the will of God they would be killed for it. Now I understand that this was well before Christ, but to keep the thought process current to today, I have to point out that Christ himself instructed us to not be ashamed of him. We were told that we should not fear death or persecution especially if it is in the name of Christ. Remember if the world hates us, it hated Christ first. SO to lie in an effort to make good happen, without giving the glory to God, would mean that on some level we must be ashamed. Here again his plan will unfold lie or not, so why do it?



So to sum it up, in my humble opinion, we are human, and I think that the temptation to tell a lie, especially a "white one" to make our lives easier, while wrong, is one of the hardest, most common types of temptation. I believe that the devil does not typically try to get a person to fall all at once, he chips away a little each day, and the white lie is a great chipping tool. We know that while the Lord might not send a lightning bolt down to destroy you after you speak it, there will be repercussions that will ripple out well beyond the moment. As a result, you can almost be certain that there will be some form of atonement down the road. I do feel that when it comes to talking about our relationship with the Lord, and speaking his words to help spread his good news there is no room for error. What I mean is that when we stretch the truth, or fail to give the Lord due credit out of fear of how we will be viewed in today's world, we fail the Lord. We fail the test. SO to lie is pointless, God's will always prevails, there is no need to lie and try to force it to happen. I wish I had the concrete answer.

Peace,
Brian