by Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”
Our Sunday school class has been doing a series in Proverbs. Recently, the subject of lying was discussed and how that we have been so acclimated to lying that we never get disturbed by it. We “expect” politicians to lie! Whatever is promised, we just take it with a grain of salt! If you have worked in customer service, you probably expect people to lie to you.
At the other end of the spectrum, how often have you “stretched the truth” or justified a lie to save face or to cushion something? Our study gave examples of how easily people can be deceived by our words.
A case in point from a personal example:
Many years ago, I was a secretary for a very elite meeting and banquet facility. Our building was sometimes booked for wedding receptions, family reunions, proms, but also for civic club and sports club gatherings. We had a number of extremely distinguished guest speakers appear for some of these meetings from every college football coach in our Southeast Football Conference, to astronauts, famous scientists, political protégés, even U.S. Presidents!
So, when five former Secretaries of State were invited to speak at a Civic Club luncheon meeting, there was quite a bit of buzz that day with government security! I was “truthfully” able to brag that, “Oh, yes! I did lunch with Henry!”…. Okay, Henry Kissinger WAS one of the former Secretaries of State speaking that day! He and I DID have lunch “together”….. Sounds pretty impressive, huh? But, that is only a half truth! Yes, we were in the same building. Yes, we were served the same delicious, beautiful meal. (One of the perks I enjoyed working at that facility!). BUT, I have failed to mention that, while he was sitting on the platform, I was eating my lunch far, far up in the sound room that had a window overlooking the main floor! He could not see me nor could I carry on a conversation with him! So, did I really have lunch with him? Of course not!
Mirroring this study on lying, in Numbers, Chapter 23, we read the conversations involving God, Balaam, and Balak. Verse 19 is where my attention landed. “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good”
This verse reminded me of Romans 3:10. “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” ALL of us have sinned; Romans 3:23- “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Our sinful nature makes us prone to do evil but God would still save us! Romans 5:8 promises us, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
We cannot trust man to tell the truth BUT we CAN trust God! He is not going to mislead us with lies or half-truths! Our Bible assures us that, there is a vast difference in the character of God compared to the character of man. God is NOT man! Aren’t you glad for this? Whatever God says or does, we KNOW we can trust and believe it, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” People may fail us, whether intentionally or unintentionally but not God!
James 1:7 takes this even a step farther. Not only does God not lie or fails to keep His promises but, He gives us good gifts. Gifts that are for our growth! There is no variableness! He won’t decide that you only get a little blessing because you have not found favor that particular day while someone else gets more for doing the same thing.
Turning back to 1 Kings 8:56, the Bible, again, reassures us of God’s promises! “Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant”
I like the part that says, “there hath not failed one word of all his good promise“! God will NEVER lie to us!!! When the Children of Israel left Egypt, God led them and kept His promises! THEY failed God and God had to reprimand them often but He kept His promises, even blessing them along the way when they were not deserving of anything!
No matter what life dumps in your way; no matter how often people may lie or deceive you; regardless of how often you have been disappointed by the actions of others, we can always trust God and His word to be truthful to us! Don’t be deceived when someone tries to twist the straight teachings of God’s word! Or, when someone tries to convince others that a particular passage is not for today! God’s word never changes. It never lies. And, its promises are as faithful and comforting today, this very hour, as they were hundreds of years ago!
