We are LED ASTRAY by our LIES!
September
21 Bible Reading: Amos Chapters 1-3
We are LED ASTRAY by our LIES!
Thus
says the Lord: "For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will
not turn away its punishment, because they have despised the law of the Lord,
and have not kept His commandments. Their
lies lead them astray, lies which their fathers followed." (Amos
2:4)
Amos (name
means ‘burden-bearer’) was a sheep breeder-turned-prophet, who prophesied during a period
around 760 A.D. He denounced the sins of six
heathen nations before he pronounced judgment on Judah (vv. 4–5). While the
heathen nations had sinned against their conscience (see Rom. 2:12–16), Judah had
blatantly sinned against God’s law and had
lied without fear of God. God had judged all the heathen nations based on
their treatment of others, especially His people. But God held Judah to a
higher standard, and would harshly judge them because they had turned to idols
by rejecting God’s laws, and had been speaking
lies in the process!
Amos now warns
the people of Judah that their lies would
always lead them astray, and their deception
would always cause them trouble. In fact, they were already in trouble
largely because they had followed the lies devised by their fathers (v. 4). The
history of Judah reveals that the next generation suffered tragically from
patterns of lies and deception when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem in 586 B.C.
Is speaking lies such a bad thing? In fact, many people try to justify
lying by suggesting that it is normal, and even inevitable, and sooner or later
we have to lie. The worst tragedy about this way of living is that we end up telling lies and believing lies about God (Rom. 1:25) and
about ourselves (1 John 1:10).
However, lying is not an inescapable fact of human nature. God does not lie
(Num. 23:19; Titus 1:2), and He tells us not to lie in the Ten Commandments
(Ex. 20:16). Likewise, Paul exhorted believers not to lie to one another (Eph.
4:25; Col. 3:9). So it is possible to
speak and live with honesty!
The Bible is
clear that lying leads to trouble, and gives many examples to show that “he who speaks lies shall perish” (Prov.
19:9), and that God hates dishonesty
(6:16–17). Sin and death were introduced into our world because of a lie by
Satan (Gen. 3:1–7; 1 Tim. 2:14). Other examples of lying in the Bible include Cain
(Gen. 4:1–16), Jacob (Gen. 27:5–17, 41–46), Joseph’s brothers (Gen. 37:28–35), Potiphar’s
wife (39:7–20), King David (2 Sam. 11–12), Peter (Matt. 26:69–74), and Ananias/Sapphira
(Acts 5:1–11).
Our Lord Jesus
spoke clearly about the nature of lying when he declared that lies are of the devil (John 8:44). We are led astray by our lies! Let us
understand that as God’s children we should not speak a single lie in whatever
shade of color (white/grey/black). Jesus
is the source of all truth (John 14:6). When we speak truth and practice
integrity, we confirm to the world that we are the children of God. Let us love others by speaking truth always!
