Postmodernism attacks three fundamental ideas: Truth, Knowledge, and Language. Why those things in particular? It must be because those things are important to a right understanding. It is therefore worth our effort to investigate what the Bible has to say about those things.
A Biblical Approach to Truth
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth… And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.”
“And he said to him, Why do you call me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.”
“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by me.”
“To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.”“You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free.”
If Modernism’s definition of Truth is “That which adheres to reality,” then the Biblical definition of Truth is “That which adheres to, reflects, or reveals God’s nature.”
Now immediately we encounter a problem with this definition. Because there are clearly things in the world around us which are in no way reflective of the purity, holiness and righteousness of God. Are these things therefore illusions? Let’s examine this.
God created the universe in general and man in particular to revel or reflect something in his nature. We know this because God pronounced his creation to be “Very Good,” and Christ teaches us that the term “Good” can only be applied to God. Therefore, on the seventh day, when God rested, nature must have been a perfect revelation or reflection of his nature.
God also specifically said that man and woman were created in his image so that, in a state of perfection man and woman are a specific revelation of God’s image.
Now here is a question for you: what was the first sin ever committed by a human being in the Bible? If you answered “Disobeying God’s command and eating the forbidden fruit,” you are incorrect. That was the second sin. The first sin was believing the lie the serpent told over the word of God.
We can all agree that Christ lived the perfect earthly life. The primary characteristic that marked Christ’s life was obedience. Christ was absolutely obedient to God’s will. Christ obeyed when it wasn’t convenient, when he didn’t want to, and when it didn’t make sense. Christ was fatally obedient.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command, they were not just believing a lie, they were belying God’s nature within them. God consequently withdrew his nature from them, and all of creation was cursed as a consequence.
Let me make this absolutely clear: this is what makes sin so abhorrent. It is a corruption or perversion of God’s perfect nature. It is Satan taking his spray-paints to the cathedral and writing obscenities all over what God had made Holy.
Romans 1
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
19Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
21Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
28And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
In the original Hebrew, there are several words for “sin” in the Bible, and each one has its own flavor. Sin could mean straying from the path. It could mean failing to hit the mark. It could mean deliberately turning ones back on God. As you can see, there are many ways to not live up to the image God placed on us. But whenever we sin, we choose to believe and demonstrate a lie rather than to fulfill the purpose for which God made us. When men deliberately believe a lie, God withdraws the truth from them and chaos rushes in to fill the void.
C.S. Lewis once said, “There are two type of men: those who say to God ‘Your will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘Very well then, YOUR will be done.’”
The Bible tells us to draw near to God and He will draw near to us, but the opposite is also true: turn your back on God, and He will withdraw from you. The atheist gets exactly what he asks for: a Godless existence.
God and Lying
Exodus 1:15-20
And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive? And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
Joshua 2:1-6
And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country. And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.
1 Kings 22:23
Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.
Ezekiel 14:9
And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 (King James Version)
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Each of these passages is a perfect illustration of a danger which directly relates to sin and godlessness, that is this: if God presents you with a truth, and you choose to disbelieve that truth, God will eventually bow to your disbelief with the consequence that truth itself is removed from you. In the absence of truth, all that remains is a lie. We see this principle of God “giving people over” to their sins throughout the Bible, but I feel it is best encapsulated in the statement that Paul made in Romans 1
However, before we explore this principle any further, let’s look at each one of those passages about God’s supposed lying or support of lying in context.
The first two passages deal with situations in which a human deceived another human and God blessed their actions. I will seek to prove that in both of these situations the person lying was not in violation of any commandment of God and the person being lied to had access to the Truth and willingly chose to reject it.
The first passage is from the Book of Exodus, and refers to the Pharaoh’s genocidal plan to wipe out God’s Chosen People by killing off the firstborn. The midwives, who feared God and respected the Jews chose to disobey the King’s command and lie to him instead. The second passage is from Joshua where the spies from Israel were harbored and hidden by Rahab who chose to lie in order to save their lives.
The ninth commandment is “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” Many people generalize this to mean “Don’t lie.” However, that’s not the wording or the intent of the command. The command specifically involves being a witness in a courtroom and could be rephrased to mean “if you have proof of your neighbor’s guilt in a matter, you are responsible to do your part to see he is brought to justice. If you are assured of your neighbor’s innocence, you are responsible to do your part to see that he is acquitted.” In other words, this commandment is about seeing justice served. Justice is part of God’s nature and is one of our primary civic responsibilities. That is why when the prophet Micah sums up the ten commandments, he says “But to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
In the first two passages above, both the Midwives and Rahab are put in a position where an injustice was going to be done if they had been honest. The authority figures in both instances were working at odds to God, and as we studied in the first section on Truth, anything outside of God’s nature, including injustice, is lies, chaos, and deception. We are told not to cast pearls before swine, and in both of the instances mentioned, giving God’s enemies the truth would have done harm and worked counter to God’s command, because they were already living in deception.
Second of all, the Pharaoh had had access to God’s truth. God’s people had been living in his land for hundreds of years, and Joseph, a prophet of God, had once been installed as the second highest authority in the land. Had any of the ruling class of Egypt wished, they had ready access to God’s truth, but they never took advantage of it.
In the Story of Rahab, the Israelites had been wandering around in a little desert next door to Canaan for decades. The stories of their miraculous deliverance from Egypt had spread throughout the land. So much so, in fact, that Rahab herself came to a saving fear of Jehovah through the hearing of these stories. If Rahab was capable of recognizing God’s Truth from these stories, anyone in Canaan could have done the same. And as Rahab’s story tells us, there was ready room in the Mosaic Law to accept converts into the Jewish nation. The Canaanites chose instead to reject the evident truth in front of them and work at odds to God’s Chosen people, and so they were brought to destruction. In both instances, the lies they received were part of God’s righteous judgment upon them.
The third passage comes to us from the first book of Kings. In this passage, King Ahab of Israel has made an arrangement with King Jehosophat of Judah to go into battle together against the troublesome Syrian army. In case you aren’t terribly familiar with Old Testament history, there was a split in the leadership of Israel after the death of King Solomon. The nation was split into Israel to the north, composed of ten of the twelve tribes, and Judah to the South, composed of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
Since the split occurred, Israel remained in constant rebellion against God, worshipping whatever pagan idols the neighboring countries were worshiping. As bad as all the kings were, the worst of them was Ahab, who was militantly against God, and tried to wipe out all of his prophets and worshipers.
Now Israel and Judah did not typically get along, however in this instance, the Syrians were such a powerful threat, that they decided to join forces. This kind of action had previously been forbidden by the Lord, who did not want Judah to have anything to do with Israel. In other words, Jehosophat should have known better.
As they are gathering to go up to battle, Jehosophat insists that they consult the prophets first. This is consistent behavior recommended by the Law of Moses, so Jehosophat is at least paying some lip service to God. Ahab parades in all of his yes-men prophets, who serve the idol Baal. Each prophet says the same thing: go up and fight the Syrians. You will be victorious.
Jehosophat quickly realizes that none of the prophets represent God, and so he asks Ahab if there is a prophet of the Lord available to consult. Previously in the book, Ahab has made it his policy to kill all the prophets of the Lord he can find, but he is able to find one named Michaiah. Ahab warns Jehosophat ahead of time that Micaiah never tells him what he wants to hear. When they ask Michaiah, the prophet responds “Go ahead and fight the Syrians, you will be victorious.” He must have said it sarcastically, because Ahab immediately recognizes that he is not being sincere with them, and threatens him if he doesn’t tell the truth.
At this point, Micaiah tells a very odd story about a bunch of spirits gathered together before God. God asks which one of them would be willing to go and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all the prophets to convince Ahab to go up to battle so that he might be killed. One of them steps forward and volunteers, hence the consistent prophesy of all the prophets of Baal.
One of the prophets slaps Micaiah, saying “Which way did the spirit go from my mouth to tell you this?” Then Ahab has Micaiah locked up and tortured. Then he goes up to battle and dies.
Let me pause at this point to mention that when we see prophecy occur in the Old Testament, it tends to occur in one of two ways: either the prophet is given a vision (such as occurred in the case of Micaiah) and then relates the vision in his own words, or the prophet is “filled with the Spirit” and speaks Gods words directly. In this case, Micaiah knew from his vision that God wanted Ahab to go up to fight the Syrians and die. This may explain why his initial response to the question was the same lie that the false prophets had told. It is important to note that he was not speaking directly for God at the time, though.
The second passage comes to us from the fourteenth chapter of Ezekiel. Historically, Israel was in captivity to the Babylonians at this time. Some of Israel’s elders come to the prophet Ezekiel looking for some oracle from the Lord. As they approach, God speaks to Ezekiel to tell him that these Hebrew men have adopted the worship of Babylon’s idols, and asks Ezekiel if such men deserve the truth of God. Then God speaks audibly through Ezekiel to tell the elders that first they must destroy their idols and turn their hearts back to God. Until they do, no prophet will speak to them. If a prophet is somehow foolish enough to try to prophesy to them, God will make certain that the words he speaks are NOT the truth of the Lord, and judge that prophet along with the idolaters.
The final passage comes from Paul’s second epistle to the church at Thessalonica. This epistle was written primarily because this church had begun to spread rumors that the end of time was near. This was resulting in a great deal of distress among the church members. Paul wrote this epistle to correct this error in thinking. In this passage he is mentioning one of the signs that the end of time is near will be the revelation of “The Man of Sin.” This is the person more well-known as the Antichrist. What Paul explains to us in this passage is that the period of time between the resurrection of Christ and the coming of the Antichrist has been for the benefit of the entire world, that everyone should have a chance to hear and believe in the message of the gospel. When the end of time finally DOES come, everyone will have had the opportunity to believe and repent; so that those who are still unbelieving at this time have willfully turned away from the truth. We see this in verse ten where it states, “with all the deceit of unrighteousness in those who perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”
The passage goes on to state that God will remove his truth from the world at this time, resulting in a strong delusion.
In each of these passages, we see the exact same principle. The people being "lied" to are in willful rebellion to God. Moreover, they were openly offered the truth and the opportunity to follow it, and they outright rejected it. In the first passage Ahab, a man who had been mercilessly killing prophets of God and had sought his council from false prophets worshiping idols was STILL given the truth, and rejected it.
In the second passage, the Jewish elders, who had the writings of Moses warning them away from idolatry were in rebellion, worshipping idols, and God told them outright that they would need to abandon their idolatry and come back to their worship of God before he would speak to them.
In the final passage, the people, having been exposed to the gospel for their entire lives, eagerly followed after the Antichrist, outright rejecting the truth they had been offered. So the truth was removed from them.
This just highlights the amazing constancy of the Bible. These passages are pulled from five separate texts with entirely different authors that were separated by hundreds of years of history, and each one illustrates the EXACT SAME principle.
This just highlights the amazing constancy of the Bible. These passages are pulled from five separate texts with entirely different authors that were separated by hundreds of years of history, and each one illustrates the EXACT SAME principle.
God is a God of truth. In John 18:37, Jesus says to Pilate, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is on the side of truth hears My voice.”
21She cries in the chief places of concourse, in the openings of the gates; in the city she utters her words, saying,
22"How long, ye simple ones, will ye love to be simple, and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23Turn you at my reproof: Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you; I will make known my words unto you.
24"Because I have called and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man heeded,
25but ye have set at nought all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,
26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh,
27when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me,
29because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD.
30They would have none of my counsel, and they despised all my reproof:
31therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own ways, and be filled with their own devices.
32For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them;
33but whoso hearkens unto me shall dwell safely, and shall have quiet from fear of evil."
The truth God offers us is a privilege. God will offer it freely, He will pursue us with it, but you can only reject it so often before the privilege of truth is removed. If God tells us the truth, and warns us of the consequences of denying it, He is just.
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