Genesis 20:2 Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
At various times in dealing with kids, both mine and others’, there have been many pleasant memories and some not as pleasant ones. Occasionally, there would be a time when something happened, or was said. Some incident that would lead me to ask questions. Every once in a while, I would ask a question and sense that the answer was not false on the face of it, but was not complete. In other words, I knew that to find out what I was trying to discover, I would have to ask another, more specific question.
In Exodus chapter 20, we find the Ten Commandments. The ninth commandment is “You shall not bear false witness.” Most people think they understand the ninth commandment: don’t lie. The problem is, we’re pretty clever people. We find ways of using the truth to deceive. I firmly believe that this is something we never grow out of: the temptation to this type of deception stays with us. I wish it were otherwise.
Abraham told Abimelech “she is my sister.” He was referring to Sarah, who was his wife. He didn’t want to say she was his wife because he feared that the king would just take her by force and kill Abraham. So he lied. Or rather, he deceived. Sarah was his half-sister, but she was his wife. (That’s another story for another day!) See, Abraham knew what the question was. He knew what the king wanted to know. But he used the truth in a deceptive way. Since Abimelech didn’t ask the next question, Abraham felt good. And it was all fine, until others began to suffer due to Abraham’s deceit.
God wants us to be honest. He wants us to be an ‘open book.’ We cannot deceive Him, but we should not deceive others. This is something, as I said, I still deal with. Oh I could make myself sound better by saying that I am preserving someone else’s feelings, but the truth of it is, sometimes, if I’m honest, I fear what might happen with the whole truth. But we cannot let fear inspire us to dishonesty. Our policy should be “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” Don’t hide behind half truths, hoping the next question isn’t asked. Our deceit will cause suffering. Our own, but also, perhaps, others’ as well.
Psalm 51:6a Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
