Wednesday Bible Study: Lying to myself, part three

 

One thing we are learning looking through lies, is that there doesn't ever seem to be a single motive.  In our first chapter, Satan sinned through pride, the desire to be "like the Most High"- but also to hold up a self-image that truth could not maintain.  Eve sinned through curiosity- but also in not seeking God's will.

So the next big set of liars I thought of were Abraham and Sarah.  Abraham lied about Sarah being his sister- not once, but twice.  And maybe you didn't catch Sarah's lie:

Gen 18:13  The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 

Gen 18:14  Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 

Gen 18:15  But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” 

Now, you might be saying, "We just came through that whole big series on Abraham, what more is there to learn?"  And you might be saying, "They both lied from fear- Abraham was afraid of being killed, and Sarah was afraid because the Lord caught her laughing."  And you'd be right, so far as it goes.

But I want to dig a little deeper.  Why would Abraham be afraid he'd be killed over Sarah?  Better yet, why does Pharaoh, leader of the mightiest nation on the planet, snap her, the woman of a migrant family, up so fast?  For me, that was the question.

Let's play a little logic game.  The one thing any king of that era needed most? a son to carry on the line.  What does a king need to make a son?  A woman.  And why would a king look to the woman of a migrant family?  He was royalty; while incest was frowned on for the people, a king could marry whoever he wished.  Was there no woman of royal blood available? He couldn't go to the common people- the gods wouldn't approve that, either.  So, he puts out the word- he's looking.

Just like in the story of Esther, everybody is going to be looking for a suitably beautiful candidate, in hopes of a rich reward.  All it would take to bring fear to Abraham's heart is for someone on his way to Egypt to tell him, "You better be careful down there.  Pharaoh is looking for a consort, and a woman as beautiful as your wife would bring top dollar."

What could he do?  Behind him was famine, ahead was Pharaoh.  So yeah, he lied out of fear.  BUT... he also knew he had a "hole card", just in case.  And while he doesn't mention it in this story, he does when he repeated the sin with Abimelech...

Gen 20:11  Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ 

Gen 20:12  Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. 

"See?  I didn't REALLY lie..."

So he had a false security that he WASN'T lying, and thus could get out innocent.  At the same time he was lying to Pharaoh, he was lying to himself.

And what about Sarah?  One thing we learned about Abraham in that past series, every failure had its affect by influence on someone else.  Lot learned compromise from him; Hagar learned impudence.  And Sarah, she learned how to lie to herself.  Go back to the lie Sarah told above. Sure, she lied because she got caught being overheard.  Come on, we've all done that.  BUT... consider the why of her laugh.  Yes, she was 90 and all, which might not have meant the same thing then as it does to us, but was enough to make her having a child miraculous.  But she had seen miracles aplenty! She knew it was the Lord Himself- or at least an Angel- talking to them.  But she had been hearing this promise of a child now for THIRTY-FOUR years.  At a certain point, you say to yourself, "I cannot afford this hope.  It's expecting too much."  So yes, she lied to the Lord- but she LAUGHED to protect herself from the heartbreak of a broken promise.

Boiling it down, they lied outside themselves from fear- but they lied INSIDE themselves because they didn't trust the Lord to, keep his promises.  And I have to ask myself: do I use the "hole card" of my salvation to excuse my sin?  Do I refuse to change because I don't trust the Lord to, change me?  This is why I journey down the rabbit hole of studying lying in the first place.

Job 34:31 (BSB)  Suppose someone says to God, ‘I have endured my punishment; I will offend no more. 

Job 34:32  Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do it again.’