EXCUSES IN THE BIBLE

Years ago when I occasionally was called on to fill in for pulpit supply, I attempted to put together a few sermons. One of them actually had the above title, but when I reviewed what I had said back then, I realized that many of my biblical examples were not actually excuses at all. So let me start out with a few definitions of the word:

A reason that you give to explain or defend your behavior.

A plea offered in extenuation of a fault.

A reason you give in order to explain why something has or has not been done, or in order to avoid doing something.

A false reason you give to explain why you do something.

A pretext or subterfuge.

I have some minor problems with each of these definitions, but together they seem to adequately explain the meaning of the noun “excuse” (not to be confused with the verb “excuse.”) My own personal definition of the word is: a lie masquerading as a reason. With that working definition, let us look at a few biblical examples taken in roughly chronological order.

Genesis 3:8-13 When God questions Adam and Eve as to why they had eaten the forbidden fruit, they proceed to pass the buck by giving reasons that seem to be the literal truth but leave out the real reason. Thus, Adam first actually attempts to put all the blame on God Himself because He was the one who created Eve. And then Eve blames the serpent for tricking her. What both of them neglect to say is that they really ate the fruit because it looked so tasty, would be a good source of food, and would increase their wisdom (all in v. 6). And Adam can't be excused in his actions since v. 6 also reveals that he was present to hear everything the serpent had said. This illustrates one toxic fallout of excuses – they can be used to malign others.

Genesis 31:33-35 While Laban is hunting everywhere for the household idols that Rachel has stolen, he reaches Rachel who is sitting on a camel with the idols hidden in the saddlebags. She refuses to get up and let him search the bags since she says she is having her period. It is obviously an excuse rather than a reason, and her motive is to conceal her guilt in taking his valuable property (which could be later used to prove inheritance of his property after he dies).

Genesis 33 is the account of the first reunion of the brothers Jacob and Esau after many years apart. The resulting conversation they have is probably best described as an elaborate cat-and-mouse game between the two of them, at least on Jacob's side. Esau greets him warmly and in an apparently sincere manner even though Jacob had tricked him out of his blessing earlier. Esau offers to escort Jacob and his caravan back to his own territory, but Jacob says that his flocks and children cannot move very fast and will hold up Esau too much. Then when Esau offers to leave behind some of his men to protect Jacob as he travels, Jacob again refuses and says that he will just follow behind and meet Esau later. These sound like good reasons until we realize that Jacob has absolutely no intent to follow Esau and instead heads off in another direction as soon as Esau is out of sight.

At this point we might ask why Jacob would make up these excuses. My own reading of Esau's actions is that he had forgotten all past sins against him and is just happy to be reunited with his brother again. We will never know if that is the case, but Jacob obviously feels that Esau is just biding his time and waiting for Jacob to be totally in his power before killing him. One lesson from this story is that when people like Jacob live by lies and deceit, they begin to suspect that everyone else is a liar also.

Numbers 13-14 represents another time when excuses are used to justify one's fear. The spies sent into Canaan initially give a fairly accurate report of what they saw: a land of milk and honey, strong people, and fortified cities. But when Caleb appears to get a favorable response from the people as he rouses them to go ahead and occupy the land, the other spies suddenly fear that they might actually be taken into dangerous territory. At that point their truthful observations suddenly turn into powerful excuses why occupation should not be attempted. So the the lush and productive land is turned into a “land that devours the people.” And the strong people now become actual giants.

Exodus 8:25-28 These are interesting verses that could be interpreted in teaching that Moses tried to trick Pharaoh by pretending to only want to go a three-days journey into the wilderness in order to worship God. When Pharaoh says that they can worship right there in Egypt, Moses responds that to do so might antagonize the Egyptians and they might be attacked by them. Is Moses just trying to get a three-day head start in fleeing Egypt? I think a more reasonable interpretation of the events is that even though Moses did offer a flimsy excuse, his motive was not out-and-out deceit. God had already told Moses that Pharaoh was going to be so stubborn that nothing would move him to let the Israelites go no matter what. So each of the encounters between Moses and Pharaoh was designed to test Pharaoh and demonstrate to future generations the necessity for the plagues on the land.

Exodus 32:21-24 is the familiar story of Aaron and the Golden Calf. As you recall, when Moses comes down from the mountain he confronts Aaron and asks him to explain his actions. If you pay attention to what Aaron gives as his reasons, at first glance it appears that he replies with nothing but the truth, but not the whole truth. So his reasons really become excuses because of his partial reply. Thus, he first says that the people were bound and determined to have an idol to worship and he was basically forced into complying with their request. That is not exactly what had happened since according to the biblical account, he caved in to their request without a fight. Then he says that he just threw the molten gold into the water and the statue of a calf happened to come out. That account leaves out the fact that he actually had made a calf-shaped mold to pour the gold into before quenching it in water. And finally, Aaron “forgets” to mention that he also constructed an altar so that the people could worship the calf he placed there.

Judges 3:15-23 presents another interesting case where even someone in God's service utilizes an excuse to accomplish his job. However, he manages to do it without actually lying. The assassin Ehud requests an audience with the enemy King Eglon. When he gains access to the stronghold, he tells the well-guarded king that he has a secret message to tell him. In other words, “I have something to tell you, king, but I can't very well do it with all these people listening.” The king assumes that Ehud is planning to give him some secret information regarding the Israelite defenses or war plans, and so he dismisses his attendants and has Ehud meet him in his bathroom chamber. At that point, Ehud repeats his statement using slightly different words: “I have a message from God for you.” The message, of course, is a knife in the gut. So Ehud did indeed require privacy to deliver his message (in the privy), but not for the reason the king had expected.

A good place to begin in the NT is with another king, Herod. After the wise men have talked to Herod regarding their quest, he asks them to report back to him after they have found the newborn king so that he can worship him. Of course, that is not the real reason but a mere excuse to be able to execute him. So this could be called an excuse not for past actions but for a future one instead.

Mark 7:9-12 Jesus confront the Pharisees over their practice of hypocritically giving quantities of money to the temple treasury for all to see, but then use that as an excuse for why they can't provide for the needs of their own parents. The real reason for their actions, of course, was that they got more admiration from the people for their charitable giving than for doing something that every Jew was required to do.

John 11:48 As the Sanhedrin was meeting to decide what to do about Jesus, Caiaphas stands up and utters the noble sentiment that unfortunately it is necessary that Jesus die in order to save the nation. His statement has multiple layers of meaning to it. In its deepest meaning, the Holy Spirit inspired him to say that Jesus will indeed die not only for the salvation of Israel but for all mankind as well. The surface meaning of Caiaphas' pronouncement, on the other hand, is to remind the Council that if something isn't done soon, the Romans may start persecuting not only Jesus' followers, but also the whole nation.

I felt that perhaps I was being unduly cynical regarding Caiphas' speech in suspecting that his motives might be quite different from the reason he was expressing for his advice. But I was pleased to see that the commentator Leon Morris agreed with my assessment of the situation. In his excellent commentary on John's Gospel he says, “Neither Caiaphas nor the others were basically concerned for abstract right and wrong, nor yet for the nation as a whole. But the position of the privileged class was threatened and it is action that would save that privileged class that he advocates.” That was written in 1971 concerning events that occurred 2,000 years ago, but it could just as equally apply to certain members of congress who express noble sentiments and reasons for their actions, but in fact are only concerned with getting re-elected at any cost. Enough politics for today!

In the next chapter of John (12:4-6) we have the story of Jesus being anointed with expensive perfume. The parallel Synopic Gospel accounts say that all the apostles were upset at the waste involved, but John's account seems to indicate that Judas was the ringleader in their protest. His excuse is given as concern that the perfume could have been sold and given to the poor, but his real reason is explained by John as the fact that Judas was used to stealing from the common treasury.

In addition to these historical events, we must also consider some of Jesus' parables that contain excuses. In effect, equivalent real-life excuses were given by some members of Jesus' audience. As a first example, consider the parable of the talents found in Matthew 25:14-30. (More details are given in my post on that parable). The unproductive servant first blames his inaction on the master himself by saying that he was afraid of the master's anger if he lost all the money given him to invest. But the master punctures that excuse by saying that fear alone wouldn't have prevented him from putting the money into a safe investment like a bank. There must have been another real reason instead.

Commentators on this passage cite various possible reasons for the servant's inaction, and all or some of them may apply to us believers when we fail to do something that we know we should. You might want to think a bit as to whether any of these motives apply to yourself:

He can't see what he has to gain personally in it, and it might actually result in negative consequences for him.

He represents a foolish believer who has lost out on some good opportunities.

He didn't want to bank it in his master's name. But if he buried the money and the master never

returned, then he could have it all for himself.

Since hadn't been given as much money as the others, he retaliated by refusing to invest it.

He was just plain lazy.

He was driven by fear.

His attitude represents a religion concerned only with not doing anything wrong.

Two related parables that supply us with a wealth of excuses provide a good place to conclude this study, namely, the stories of the Wedding Banquet and Feast (Matthew 22:1-14; Luke 14:15-24). These are discussed in more detail in the post “Parable of the Banquet,” but the various excuses given by the invited guests are shown below with possible application as to why unbelievers do not accept Christ's invitation.

I have no appropriate clothes to wear.

    That is, I need to be a better person before God will accept me.

They made light of the invitation.

    That is, they laughed it off as ridiculous.

They went back to their businesses.

    After all, business comes before pleasure or anything else in life.

They actually seized the man's servants, mistreated and killed them.

    Just as the prophets were abused by the people for speaking God's word, Christian ministers and            missionaries are abused by society.

I have just bought a piece of land (or oxen) and need to check it out.

    Even minor earthly matters are more important than nebulous spiritual ones.

I am still on my honeymoon.

    Pleasure comes before anything else in life; get back to me in a few decades and I might listen.