Pastors and Bible scholars differ on whether lying is always a sin or sometimes commendable.
How we understand Heb 11:31 illustrates this well. It reads, “By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace…”
That verse does not mention that she lied.
Joshua 2:3-5, however, does tell us that she lied:
So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country.”
Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” 6 (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.)
Rahab lied in two ways: 1) she did know where the spies were from, and 2) she said the men had left the city, when they were at that time hidden on her roof.
While Heb 11:31 does not directly commend her for lying, many commentators think the verse indirectly does.
Here are four ways people try to explain her being commended even though she lied:
- Lying was the lesser evil in this situation. Between giving up the spies to be killed and lying, the latter was the right option.
- Rahab was a pagan living in a pagan culture. She had no idea that lying was sin. She did what she thought was right, and it was right. We can’t hold ignorant pagans to the standards of church-age people who have the completed Bible and pastors, teachers, and missionaries.
- She was being commended for her belief that Israel is good, and the spies were good men. She was not being commended for lying. In this view, she sinned, but God was still pleased with her actions in saving the spies.
- Lying is normally a sin. But in special instances, for example, in war, lying is morally acceptable to God. Rahab lied in a context of war. Joshua and Israel were about to attack and destroy Jericho. She believed that. She was in essence a soldier for Israel. She renounced her allegiance to Jericho.
Don Campbell, former President of DTS, rejects views 1 and 2. While he prefers view 3, he acknowledges that view 4 is possible. In the BKC he wrote:
Was Rahab wrong to lie since her falsehood protected the spies? Are there some situations in which a lie is acceptable?
After all, some say, this was a cultural matter, for Rahab was born and raised among the depraved Canaanites among whom lying was universally practiced. She probably saw no evil in her act. Further, if she had told the truth the spies would have been killed by the king of Jericho.
But such arguments are not convincing. To argue that the spies would certainly have perished if Rahab had been truthful is to ignore the option that God could have protected the spies in some other way. To excuse Rahab for indulging in a common practice is to condone what God condemns. Paul quoted a prophet of Crete who said that Cretans were inveterate liars, and then added, “This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith” (Titus 1:13). The lie of Rahab was recorded but not approved. The Bible approved her faith demonstrated by good works (Heb. 11:31), but not her falsehood. (However, some explain Rahab’s lying by saying that deception is allowable in war.) (“Joshua” in BKC, p. 331).
Gotquestions.org comes up with the same two options as viable:
There are at least two instances in the Bible where lying produced a favorable result. For example, the lie the Hebrew midwives tell Pharaoh seems to result in the Lord’s blessing on them (Exodus 1:15-21), and it probably saved the lives of many Hebrew babies. Another example is Rahab’s lie to protect the Israelite spies in Joshua 2:5. It is important to note, however, that God never condones these lies. Despite the positive outcome of these lies, the Bible nowhere praises the lies themselves. The Bible nowhere states that there are instances where lying is the right thing to do. At the same time, the Bible does not declare that there is no possible instance in which lying is an acceptable option.
I agree with Dr. Campbell and Bible.org, though I prefer option 4 to option 3. I believe lying is always a sin, except in contexts like war. This covers the midwives lying and David feigning madness before the Philistines.
Keep grace in focus, and you will be a truth teller.
