It is easy to point out passages in the Bible where some of God's most loyal followers are guilty on one occasion or another of telling lies in order to benefit themselves. The patriarch Jacob is a prime example. A little rarer are those times when usually unreliable witnesses come out with a completely orthodox expression or idea. Below are some of these who come readily to mind, although these may just be the tip of the iceberg.
The Serpent in the Garden – It is appropriate to begin with the Father of Lies. In his conversation with Adam and Eve, he denies God's words to them saying that they would die on the day they ate from the tree. He tells them unconditionally, “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5) They do eat from the tree and, sure enough, Satan's words are confirmed. Not only do they continue to live for many more years, but God Himself in Genesis 3:22 confirms that they now know good and evil as He does.
So in one way, Satan was telling the truth, but it was only a half-truth designed to lure them into sin since (a) they began to die from that point on and (b) their knowledge of good and evil would be quite different from God's experience of it.
Job's Friends
In this long book we encounter three of Job's friends who fail to recognize the truth behind Job's disasters and can only apply conventional wisdom to the situation. That this is inadequate is stated clearly by God in Job 42:7 when He tells Eliphaz that he and his two friends “have not spoken of me what is right.” Despite this condemnation, not everything said by the three of them was totally off-base even if they did often apply it wrongly to the case at hand. As demonstration of that fact, here are some places where their comments find partial or complete confirmation from New Testament sources:
Eliphaz Job Parallel NT Passage
4:8 Galatians 6:7-9
4:9 II Thessalonians 2:8
4:19 I Corinthians 15:47; II Corinthians 5:1-2
5:9 Luke 13:17
5:11 Luke 1:52
5:13 I Corinthians 3:19
5:17 Hebrews 12:5-11
5:18 Matthew 11:4-5
15:15 II Peter 2:4
15:22 Matthew 26:52
15:29 Luke 1:53
22:9 Luke 20:47
22:15-17 II Peter 2:5
22:29 Matthew 23:12
Zophar 11:7 I Corinthians 2:9-11
Bildad 18:15 Luke 17:29
Balaam
An even clearer example of this phenomenon is seen in the pagan prophet Balaam who, for a fee, agrees to curse the Israelites on behalf of the Moabite king. God reluctantly allows him to travel to his destination, warning him on the way of who is really in charge, but that does not deter Balaam at all. He is determined to earn his fee.
However, when it comes to actually cursing the Israelites, God turns his words into blessings instead, to the chagrin of both Balaam and the king. Thus, Balaam's various oracles found in Numbers 23-24 are filled with orthodox theology, some of which is actually quoted favorably by NT writers.
In this case, it is quite obvious why we can trust these teachings – they are put into the reluctant prophet's mouth directly by God to serve His purposes.
Jonah
Here is even a more reluctant prophet, an Israelite this time. As you read his story, you will find an interesting mixture of orthodox theology coupled with a complete refusal to face up to the consequences of such theology on his own life.
To explain, Jonah proudly proclaims to the sailors that he worships “the LORD, the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.” (1:9) But after witnessing powerfully to God's nature as Creator of all that exists, Jonah paradoxically acts as if he can go somewhere in the land or sea where God has no dominion. And God, in chapter 4 exposes Jonah's hypocrisy even more clearly by contrasting his strange attitude toward a whole city of people and cattle and that toward a vine.
Then in Jonah 2 we have a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving for God's salvation that could well belong in the Psalms. But we are tempted to treat it as just so many empty words in light of the prophet's continued stubborn and hateful attitude at the end of the story.
Finally, we come to Jonah's wonderful confession in 4:2 in which he states: “I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing.” This is actually a common OT confession of faith (cf. Exodus 34:6; Nehemiah 9:17; Psalm 86:5; Joel 2:13). So what is the problem with this statement? The problem is not that Jonah is ignorant of God's loving character, the problem is that Jonah knows it but personally disagrees with Him and so is going to go his own way. This seems to be a situation akin to Jesus' teaching on the unforgivable sin – clearly seeing God's truth but refusing to accept it for purely selfish reasons.
Satan in the Wilderness
Satan is up to his old tricks again when he attempts to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. All the Synoptic accounts record this event (Mark 1:12-13; Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). Two of the attempts fail when Jesus counters Satan by quoting accurately from OT. But in one case, Satan begins his temptation by quoting Scripture himself. He dares Jesus to jump from the pinnacle of the temple so that angels will save him, as stated in Psalm 91:11-12. Satan does quote the words as written in Psalms, but he totally ignores the context of the passage. Unfortunately, this is a common ploy used by Scripture twisters for the last two millennia to mislead believers. Since this approach can be very subtle at times, it is perhaps the most insidious method by which unscrupulous people can use a reliable source such as the Bible in order to turn into a lie. And I could almost write a long book quoting examples from just the last few years.
The Scribes
Mark 2:7 and its parallel in Luke 5:21 record the reply of the scribes (and Pharisees) to Jesus' pronouncement that the paralytic's sins were forgiven: “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” The expected answer to that rhetorical question is “no one.” Although they are perfectly correct in their implied assertion, they draw the wrong conclusion from it – namely, that Jesus was a blasphemer. Instead, their own question should have prompted them to at least consider another logical conclusion – that Jesus was indeed God come down to earth.
The Pharisees
On the last day of the Feast of Booths, discussion ensues among those in the crowd regarding Jesus' origin. Some doubt that Jesus is the expected Messiah since he is to come from Bethlehem rather from Galilee, as predicted in Micah 5:2. And the Pharisees confirm that prophetic truth in order to prove that Jesus is not the Messiah. (John 7:41-42) They knew the truth of the prophecy, but were unaware of the fact that Jesus in fact was born in Bethlehem. Thus, inadvertently they helped to confirm that Jesus was the Messiah.
Caiaphas
Then we come to what is perhaps the most famous of truthful sayings coming from the mouth of an enemy of God. The high priest Caiaphas attempts to justify his decision to have Jesus crucified by appealing to the possibility that He will lead a revolt against Rome which would result in disastrous consequences for the people of Israel. He does so with the words: “It is better for you to have one man die for the people.” (John 11:49-50) Of course, John points out the unintended truth of Caiaphas' statement being the fact that Jesus will indeed die on behalf of the people of Israel as well as others who chose to believe in Him. (vv. 51-52)
Pilate
From historical records, we know that Pontius Pilate was an accomplished politician and schemer. However, it would almost appear that he became convinced that Jesus was who He said He was. I say this because of the words he instructed the soldiers to write on the inscription of Jesus' cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews.” (John 19:20-23) That was a completely true statement from a spiritual perspective, but it is highly doubtful that Pilate believed it to be true as either a spiritual or political statement. It appears highly probable that the only reason Pilate had those words written was to embarrass the Jewish authorities who had forced him to carry out the execution. So the truth can be spoken for entirely the wrong reasons.
Jewish Religious Leaders
In Matthew 27:41-42 we are told that the chief priests, scribes and elders viewed Christ on the cross and mocked saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself.” But they ironically spoke the truth since (1) He did save others both physically and spiritually while on earth and (2) the only way in which He could save others for eternity was by pointedly staying on the cross instead of coming down, as He could have done. He was internally constrained to follow God's will right to the end and not to save Himself at that point.
The Possessed Slave Girl
There is an interesting story regarding Paul and his companions while they were in Philippi. They encounter a demon-possessed slave girl who follows them around the city saying, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” That would seem to be good publicity for the apostles who were attempting to do just that very thing. But Paul becomes annoyed and casts out the demon instead. (Acts 16:16-18)
The lesson appears to be that the truth in the mouth of demons can be a disrupting force rather than a valid confession from a reputable source. If the apostles were to accept her testimony, then they would be mingling truth with lying, satanic forces and diluting the gospel message just in order to gain a larger following. Is there a current lesson for Christians here? I will leave that for you to answer.
What do we think about such a phenomenon? Perhaps the saying “All truth is God's truth,” attributed to St. Augustine, covers some of these situations. On the other hand, “Consider the source” should cause us to be cautious about readily swallowing things said by those who obviously are not following God.
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