We are rapidly approaching the time when lying to protect others who are faithful to God from violence, torture, or even death will be the hard choice some Commandment keeping Christians may be presented with. Did Rahab sin when she lied to protect the spies of Israel? What would you have done in her place?


Joshua 2:1-6 ?And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. 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. 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]: 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. 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.?

You'll find several stories in scripture where people lied to protect someone.
See 2 Samuel 17:21
1 Samuel 19:11-17

Yet, truth is important!! The Bible has lots of negative things to say about lying. A lying tongue is an abomination to the Lord.
We have stories where people, like Abraham, lied, thinking he was protecting himself and his wife-- but that was NOT a good idea, nor were the consequences. It showed a lack of faith.

Then one wonders about half lies (when what was said was true BUT by leaving out certain details a wrong message purposely given) It's one way to avoid telling an outright lie, but..... was it really the truth?

Then there's hiding the truth, and in that process living a lie? Consider Esther when going into the palace-- don't tell anyone you are a Jew, so people would think she was Persian. Was that right or wrong.
But what about hiding our religious identity? Don't tell anyone you are a Seventh-day Adventist, just blend in with crowd.

And how about peoples "small talk".
Do we answer questions, by giving an answer we know they want to hear, even if we ourselves don't agree with our own answer?
In a way, that is rationalized by saying, I don't want them to feel bad, let them be happy? Telling the truth would be rude . It's just better being polite.
How many little fibs do we say just to keep the conversation on a light level and keep people from digging into our lives?

Well what's the difference,
Someone with evil intensions, asks you if you know where X is, and you do, but you answer "no,haven't seen them lately".
Or
Someone proudly asks you if you like their new hairstyle that you think looks terrible, but you answer "it looks pretty impressive!"

How does our trust in God relate to all these things?

It seems these things we need to lay before our Savior in prayer. And ask Him to teach us what to say.
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Would Rahab be a model Christian to mimic? Did she sin by being a harlot?

I always thought a good response was when soldiers came in asking if there were any Jews there, to say, search for yourselves. Is that lying? Is that implying that there aren't any?

Like saying, I'm fine?
Maybe we should say, I'm glad you asked. Let me tell you about all the troubles I've been going through. Have a seat.

Or maybe, it sure makes a bold statement!