It is with some sadness and heaviness of heart that I come to this chapter in the book of Genesis. The first reason is found in Genesis 12:2-3 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
This brings me heaviness because of how the world is treating Israel today. It brings me sadness because of how many in the global body of Christ treat Israel as well. Israel has become a thorn in the world’s side on so many levels. But God’s promise still stands and would be repeated to Abram after God changed His name, and we will come to that passage in due time. To this very day, those nations who bless Israel, are in some fashion, blessed themselves. Those nations who curse Israel are falling into all manner of trouble from toppled governments and anarchy to supposedly climate-related catastrophes and economic troubles. But the dots are not being connected by those that matter and those who are connecting the dots are called out for being fanatics, crazy, and not knowing what they are talking about. This decree here in Genesis 12 has never been rescinded and will continue past the Age of Grace and into the Time of Jacob’s Trouble under reign of the Son of Perdition.
The second reason for heaviness and sadness related to this passage, is that we come to the very first recorded attempt by a man of God (who was just learning about God during this time) to oversee, direct, and take part in a white lie. This is found in Genesis 12:11-13 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.
Due to Abram having instigated this twice in the book of Genesis, the second time being in chapter 20, we get a feel for why I refer to this as the first instance of a white lie being recorded in Scripture. A white lie is called such because a) it is intended to do no harm, b) there is a measure of truth to it, c) that truth may be present but not vocalized but still used as rational for engaging in the lie. You can read the passage in Genesis 20:2-12
Thanks to the second account, we learn that the claim, “I am his sister” is, technically, true, but only on a technicality. The reality is that they are husband and wife, and the reason for the lie is to prevent Abram’s death should others more powerful want to take his wife from him. This technical truth does not trump the truthful reality of his marriage to Sarai, and God punishes those who would have taken Sarai to themselves as wife.
There are those in Christian circles who believe that God does not punish white lies, that they are safe due to their measure of spoken or unspoken truthful technicalities and therefore, because they are intended for good and not harm, they are fine to employ. These same people will point to the giving of the 10 commandments as the beginning of when God would enforce His dislike for lying. Unfortunately for these people, God began punishing lies as being sin long before the Law was given, and on into the Early Church.
In the book of Acts, we read of a couple who also used technicalities to lie to the Apostle Paul. Perhaps they felt that now, under the Age of Grace, God’s view of white lies would change and His punishment of such sin would change as well. God is love after all, and He does not judge the righteous, correct? Let’s look at this passage, which actually begins a chapter earlier, so we must cross chapter breaks to get the whole scenario:
Acts 4:34-37 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, 35 And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. 36 And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, 37 Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
Acts 5:1-11 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, 2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. 6 And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. 7 And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. 8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. 9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. 10 Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. 11 And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.
I share the entire story here, because it is necessary to illustrate that even under the Age of Grace, God still doesn’t appreciate or withstand white lies. As Paul clearly pointed out to Ananias and Sapphira, the land was theirs, all of it to do with as they chose, if they didn’t want to give the entire sale of the land, they didn’t have to, but to claim that they did was an all-out lie, not to Paul as they had presumed, but to God Himself. Here again, we have the components of a white lie in place, a) it will not harm anyone, b) there is a measure of truth to the lie, and c) not all of the truth has been shared.
Lies of omission are still lies. Withholding the entire story in order for a person to believe something different, is still a lie whether it is deemed to harm that person or not. No doubt the rational in this story was that the land had sold for far more than they anticipated it would go for. No one needed to know how much it sold for. It wouldn’t matter to anyone what they gave to the church from the sale of the land. The fact was that the land had sold, this was true, they received money for that sale, this was true. But rather than say they were only giving part of the sale to the church, which they could have said with all clear conscience toward Paul, they collaborated and told Paul the funds they brought were from the entire sale of the land. Oh mankind so loves their technicalities! Did you see another technicality I just threw in there? The money did come from the entire sale of the land, the money was merely part of that entire sale!
Now look at how God reacted! If Ananias and Sapphira thought the law was dead after coming to Christ, how many others thought that way too? In fact, even today, how many Christians are all too willing to throw out the Old Testament in favour of “living under Grace?” Christ said He came to complete the Law, to fulfill it. He didn’t do away with it, He fulfilled it. He later says that if we love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves, that we too fulfill all the law and the prophets. Therefore, is it a loving thing to do to share white lies with each other? I mean, technically no harm is being done and there is an honest measure of truth to the lie being told. . . Based on what Christ has done for us and what He teaches us, no, white lies are not loving, and some level of harm is being done because the whole truth has not been employed, causing the hearer to act in a way that believes the lie.
We must remember that a lie is aimed at getting a person to believe something other than the truth and act accordingly. In modern society, we use lies as a form of humour, pranking, tricking, etcetera, and we call a person gullible for believing our so-called jokes to be true when we know ourselves they are all-out lies. Such a lie can be direct, a complete and total fabrication verbally or situationally. Such a lie can be indirect, engaged in via implications either verbally or situationally. Such a lie can even be engaged in by what is NOT shared, causing someone to believe a certain way about a certain person or situation simply by what they have not been told or allowed to see or experience in some fashion.
Two examples of white lies in Scripture, neither occurring during the time of the Law, but instead on either side of it. . . And the Holy Spirit is grieved. . .
