Good lies in the Bible, some of which God blessed abundantly:
- The Hebrew midwives lied to save innocent children
- Rahab lied to save the God-fearing spies
- Milcah lied to save her husband David
- A Bahurim woman lied to save Jonathan and Ahimaaz
- God sent a lying spirit to deceive a wicked king
- God planned the ambush that deceived the men of Ai
- Elisha lied to the blinded Syrian army, "Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek." But by God's power he led them to Samaria.
- Moses lied to Pharaoh saying, "We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God", knowing full well that the plan was for the Hebrews to leave Egypt for good and head to the Promised Land.
Good lies in more recent history:
- Corrie ten Boom lied to Germans who would kill the Jews
- Harriet Tubman lied to Americans who would rob blacks of their freedom
- The Allies deceived the Germans with fake field armies to aid the Normandy invasion
- Etc.
Most of the church explains why lying is wrong, but whether they realize it or not, their teaching applies generally, but not always. There are a minority of teachers, including at Denver Bible Church and here at BEL, who provide equal time, so to speak, by explaining when lying is good.
Sinful lying, of course, should never be defended. The Bible accurately reports sinful untruths, such as when Aaron lied about the origin of the golden calf (Ex. 32:3-4, 22-24), when the Amalakite lied about killing Saul (2 Sam. 1:6-10), and when the false witnesses lied about Jesus (Mark 14:55-59).
Alternative URLs for this page: kgov.com/lying, kgov.com/deception and kgov.com/righteous-lying.
To suggest other examples, please send an email to Bob@kgov.com.