I have taught about this in the past in some of my sermons, though this podcast is currently in Luke. The Lord willing, it will be about another 18-20 months until we get Joshua. From James 2, though, Rahab was never praised for lying, she was praised for sending the spies out another way. She did not need to lie in order to save them, God could have protected the spies. Her faith, though strong enough to believe in the Lord, and to obey the Lord, did falter in that regard. Lying is always condemned in the Bible, in all circumstances. Thanks for watching the podcast, and hope that you find it useful.
@@EastEndChurchofChrist Thank you so very much for your reply... we have been having a discussion in our small bible study on this subject of lying to protecting the innocent or like those who hid the Jews.... I am on the side of it is never ok to lie .... any input of this I would appreciated
I believe our dilemma comes from thinking that we have to answer more than was asked (or that we have to answer at all). For instance: if someone asks you: 'Do you know what time it is?' and you answer with 'Yes, it's 12:15', you've answered more than you were asked. The direct answer to the question is 'yes' or 'no'. If they want to know the actual time, they need to ask the specific question. Keeping back parts of the truth that someone does not need to know is not lying, however keeping back parts of the truth that someone needs to know is lying. In Abraham's case, Sarah actually was his half-sister, so he was telling part of the truth. However, Pharaoh also needed to know that Sarah was Abraham's wife, hence Abraham did in fact lie, because keeping that piece of information back could have caused Pharaoh to sin by committing adultery. When it came to protecting the Jews from the atrocities of WWII, I hope if put in that situation, I would not have lied (although I should not think of myself as so strong not to do so [see I Corinthians 10:12]). With that being said, I would have been very careful how I answered the officer's questions, and place myself in a situation where I didn't have to lie (or at least be able to keep back some of the truth without lying). Ultimately, if it came down to it, I might have to die in order to protect someone (Romans 5:7) . If I'm a Christian, I should not fear death, knowing that my reward is with God. Hopefully it would never come to that, but in terrible times, we have to recognize that it could. In Rahab's case, there were options open to her, for instance she could have hidden the spies in a place outside her house, so she could truthfully say that they were not there, and then left off the part about not knowing where they went. The guards could have searched the house, but not finding the spies might have moved on. God has never condoned lying in scripture, so we can't either.
@@EastEndChurchofChrist Thank you again for your help understanding this ... I want to be faithful to the Lord and I pray that as I surrender to Him in all areas in my life He will help me grow and bear good fruit . I pray that as I look to Him alone He will keep me.
Glad that we could help you in your Bible understanding. We invite you to be a regular listener to this podcast. New episodes are posted daily, and can be found on our UA-cam Channel (ua-cam.com/users/EastEndChurchofChrist) under the Walking Through the Bible Playlists.
Just responding to your title , at that time there was no commandment forbidding it. The Bible says you shall not bear false witness but that came later.
There was a law of God for people to follow before the Law of Moses and the 10 commandments (Romans 5:13-14). It was sinful to murder before God said thou shalt not murder (as Cain found out in Genesis 4). It was sinful to worship idols before God said you shall have no other gods before me (it's why the Amorites were being dispossessed of their land according to Genesis 15:16). It was sinful to commit adultery before God said thou shalt not commit adultery (as Pharaoh found out in Genesis 12:10-20). And since God says that he hates lying (Proverbs 6:16-19), we firmly believe that lying was sinful before God said you shall not bear false witness. However, as we said in the podcast, we don't believe these midwives lied, we believe they told the truth, and God rewarded them for that, seeing as how they didn't kill innocent life. We hope this helps your understanding of the passage and thanks for commenting.
@@EastEndChurchofChrist yes, Noahide laws were in effect and conscience. Paul also tells us that nature teaches us. So yes there were established expectations.
![How Was Moses Saved From Being Killed As a Baby? [Exodus 2:1-10][Lesson 4][W.T.T.B.]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/hJxx4QLq6F4/mqdefault.jpg)
![How Was Moses Saved From Being Killed As a Baby? [Exodus 2:1-10][Lesson 4][W.T.T.B.]](/img/tr.png)
![Why Did God Meet and Seek to Kill Moses? [Exodus 4:24-31][Lesson 14][W.T.T.B.]](/img/n.gif)
Great explanation.
Thank you for this teaching! I was wondering did you do a teaching on Josh. 2:1-7
I have taught about this in the past in some of my sermons, though this podcast is currently in Luke. The Lord willing, it will be about another 18-20 months until we get Joshua. From James 2, though, Rahab was never praised for lying, she was praised for sending the spies out another way. She did not need to lie in order to save them, God could have protected the spies. Her faith, though strong enough to believe in the Lord, and to obey the Lord, did falter in that regard. Lying is always condemned in the Bible, in all circumstances. Thanks for watching the podcast, and hope that you find it useful.
@@EastEndChurchofChrist Thank you so very much for your reply... we have been having a discussion in our small bible study on this subject of lying to protecting the innocent or like those who hid the Jews.... I am on the side of it is never ok to lie .... any input of this I would appreciated
I believe our dilemma comes from thinking that we have to answer more than was asked (or that we have to answer at all). For instance: if someone asks you: 'Do you know what time it is?' and you answer with 'Yes, it's 12:15', you've answered more than you were asked. The direct answer to the question is 'yes' or 'no'. If they want to know the actual time, they need to ask the specific question. Keeping back parts of the truth that someone does not need to know is not lying, however keeping back parts of the truth that someone needs to know is lying. In Abraham's case, Sarah actually was his half-sister, so he was telling part of the truth. However, Pharaoh also needed to know that Sarah was Abraham's wife, hence Abraham did in fact lie, because keeping that piece of information back could have caused Pharaoh to sin by committing adultery. When it came to protecting the Jews from the atrocities of WWII, I hope if put in that situation, I would not have lied (although I should not think of myself as so strong not to do so [see I Corinthians 10:12]). With that being said, I would have been very careful how I answered the officer's questions, and place myself in a situation where I didn't have to lie (or at least be able to keep back some of the truth without lying). Ultimately, if it came down to it, I might have to die in order to protect someone (Romans 5:7) . If I'm a Christian, I should not fear death, knowing that my reward is with God. Hopefully it would never come to that, but in terrible times, we have to recognize that it could. In Rahab's case, there were options open to her, for instance she could have hidden the spies in a place outside her house, so she could truthfully say that they were not there, and then left off the part about not knowing where they went. The guards could have searched the house, but not finding the spies might have moved on. God has never condoned lying in scripture, so we can't either.
@@EastEndChurchofChrist Thank you again for your help understanding this ... I want to be faithful to the Lord and I pray that as I surrender to Him in all areas in my life He will help me grow and bear good fruit . I pray that as I look to Him alone He will keep me.
Glad that we could help you in your Bible understanding. We invite you to be a regular listener to this podcast. New episodes are posted daily, and can be found on our UA-cam Channel (ua-cam.com/users/EastEndChurchofChrist) under the Walking Through the Bible Playlists.
Just responding to your title , at that time there was no commandment forbidding it. The Bible says you shall not bear false witness but that came later.
There was a law of God for people to follow before the Law of Moses and the 10 commandments (Romans 5:13-14). It was sinful to murder before God said thou shalt not murder (as Cain found out in Genesis 4). It was sinful to worship idols before God said you shall have no other gods before me (it's why the Amorites were being dispossessed of their land according to Genesis 15:16). It was sinful to commit adultery before God said thou shalt not commit adultery (as Pharaoh found out in Genesis 12:10-20). And since God says that he hates lying (Proverbs 6:16-19), we firmly believe that lying was sinful before God said you shall not bear false witness. However, as we said in the podcast, we don't believe these midwives lied, we believe they told the truth, and God rewarded them for that, seeing as how they didn't kill innocent life. We hope this helps your understanding of the passage and thanks for commenting.
@@EastEndChurchofChrist yes, Noahide laws were in effect and conscience. Paul also tells us that nature teaches us. So yes there were established expectations.