Of course it is an old joke, the answer to which is, “You can see his lips moving.” We call it ‘funny’ because, sadly and ironically, there is a ring of truth to it. But in the eyes of God, there is nothing funny about lying. As a matter of fact, He takes dishonesty very seriously whether you are a politician or a child.

It was a lie that gave birth to the deception by which Eve was overcome and led into the very first sin. That sin, of course, introduced the curse of sin to the rest of the world. All Satan (whos’ name means ‘enemy’) did was to contradict God’s word and cause Eve to doubt the sincerity of God’s intentions towards her (Genesis 3:1-7).

By their nature, lies drive wedges of distrust and resentment between people when God intends for us to have relationships based on trust and mutual respect. Perhaps this is a big part of the reason why God hates lies so much and makes it very clear to us that He will punish all liars.

Almost everyone knows that He included one pointed commandment among the original ten condemning lying, ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor’, Exodus 20:16.

Later, He had Solomon to include lying among those things that He wanted the whole world to know that He specifically hated, even calling lying an abomination, ‘There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him….. a false witness who utters lies…’ , Proverbs 6:16 & 19.

That’s not all God had Solomon write about lying and liars. Consider the following two proverbs that are nearly identical, surely repeated closely together for impact, and then a third to give us a comparative perspective on our level:

A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who tells lies will not escape.

A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who tells lies will perish.… it is better to be a poor man than a liar. Proverbs 19:5, 9 & 22

Got time to see what the Lord says about liars and lying in the Revelation? These last words of the New Testament restate an already clearly stated point:

… and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone… no one who practices abomination and lying shall come into it (the new Jerusalem, MJK)… outside are all who love and practice lying. Revelation 21:8, 27 & 22:15

Word to the wise… Live honestly, or die. Honesty isn’t the best policy. Honesty is God’s only policy!
Marty Kessler