The Truth About Lying

Daily Devotions

David Maxson
01/13/19 - Daily Devotions

Title: The Truth About Lying

Reading for January 13: Genesis 42-43

And Jacob their father said to them, "You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me."
Genesis 42:36

If there's one sin that stands out above the rest in the book of Genesis, it is LYING!

It begins with Abraham who lied about his wife, not once but twice (Gen 12 & 20).
Abraham's son, Isaac, told the same lie for the same reason (Gen 26).
Isaac's son, Jacob, manipulates and deceives his brother out of his birthright (Gen 25) and blessing (Gen 27).
Uncle Laban deceives nephew Jacob by hiding the fact that he was giving Leah as bride and not Rachel (Gen 29).
Two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, driven by a desire for revenge, convince all the male citizens of the town to circumcise themselves so that they could commit a community-wide massacre (Gen 34).
Ten of Jacob's sons later consider killing their brother Joseph, but instead sell him into slavery. They then lie about it to their father for 22 years until Joseph exposes them (Gen 37, 45).
Judah frequents prostitutes, so much so that his daughter-in-law, Tamar, whom he had not taken care of, knew that if she disguised herself as one, he would sleep with her. He did and got her pregnant (Gen 38).

Are there any lessons we can draw out of these stories? There's at least two that stand out to me:

The most obvious lesson is the generational nature of sin. Unfortunately, our children tend to do the same foolish things we do.
Lying destroys trust, which destroys families. Most of the heartache and pain we see in Jacob at the end of his life is all due to the culture of deception he created in his family.

Father God, keep us from the temptation to lie. Help us to speak truth in our families, knowing we are connected to one another and we're only hurting ourselves when we lie. Help us to create in our families a culture and expectation that we will always be open and honest with each other.