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  • From: Harold Holmyard <hholmyard AT ont.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] daughters jacob never spoke of
  • Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2006 07:15:59 -0500

Dear James,

Re Abraham's intentions:

Whether what Abraham said can be construed as a lie or not one thing is absolutely clear and that is that his intention was to deceive. Deception is not necessarily a morally bad thing and David's pretense at being crazy is another example of one our ancient heroes getting involved in not completely honest activities.


HH: I agree with everything you've said and think it makes a good distinction in the motives for which one distorts the truth. But I also see that David did not really lie. He acted in a certain way, and people drew conclusions on the basis of his actions. Likewise, Abraham did not really lie, though he withheld important information. Sarah was his sister, a half-sister, according to his later testimony.

HH: While I agree that he misrepresented the truth, I think it would have been worse if Sarah really was not his sister in any way. For then he would have had a policy of lying, since he said it was his policy to have Sarah say this wherever they went. And he would have asked his wife to lie as a policy. I see a difference between that and her simply giving a limited amount of information. Sarah's saying that she was Abraham's sister was not a full-fledged lie if she was his sister, although the limited data misrepresented the situation.

HH: We do see in Rahab's case the use of a clear lie. The way this has been justified to me is that it is the lesser of two evils. It would have been worse for Rahab to reveal to the people of Jericho that the spies were still in her residence. It would have been worse not only because the king of Jericho would have killed the spies. If he had done that, then Rahab could never have escaped the extermination policy of the Israelites when they captured the city. Rahab believed that God was going to give the city into the hands of the Israelites:

Josh. 2:9 and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.
Josh. 2:10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.

HH: It was Rahab's faith in God that informed her of the necessity of receiving mercy from the spies. To tell the truth to the soldiers of Jericho would have meant that she and her family would lose their lives when the Israelites destroyed the city. She knew this by faith, so her faith itself prompted her to lie. It was wrong to lie, but she believed it was better to lie and live than to tell the truth and die. Her lying put her on the side of God's people and God's will. And, of course, the New Testament Book of James commends her for her faith:

James 2:25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?

HH: James does not mention her lie explicitly, but saying that she sent the spies out "in a different direction" may allude to it. She sent them out in a different direction from the direction that the Jericho soldiers had taken. The soldiers took the direction they did because she told the king that the spies had left the city and she did not know where they had gone. The king's deputation of his soldiers was based on her false report, and because she saw where the soldiers headed she could tell the spies to escape to the hills to avoid the soldiers.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard

It is not deception in itself that is such a bad thing it is the ulterior motive that makes deception bad. e.g. In proverbs we are told that Yah hates dodgy scales. Now the ulterior motive of dodgy scales is clear, and that is to defraud hard working people of their hard earned cash and such behaviour is clearly morally incorrect from a biblical standpoint. The ten commandments also tell us that to bear false witness against an innocent man is also morally bad. Again, in this form of deception we see the ulterior motive of wanting to wrongfully incriminate another person is clearly 'bad'.
In the case of Abraham's and David's actions it is clear that their intentions were to deceive. But it is also perfectly clear that they had no morally incorrect ulterior motives behing their deception but merely wanted to save their necks. Seems fine to me!

All things considered, if one day I'm put in a situation whereby a maraunding band of the latest version of Nazis bursts into my house and demands the secret location of my Christian and/or Jewish brethren then you can rest assured that I will quite proudly lyingly say I don't know where they are or provide a false location and you can also rest assured that I won't be losing any night's sleep over my dishonesty.o tell us that to bear false witness against an innocent man is also morally bad. Again, in this form of deception we see the ulterior motive of wanting to wrongfully incri

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