Great people lie
Not so great people do too,
It’s a culture, a way of life
It’s a point of view.
For whatever reasons
The rich, the poor and not so rich
Lying has become a hobby
It is even a sales pitch.
It didn’t start yesterday
But you’ll find it in the Bible
By the heathen and the pagan
Even by God’s people.
People lie due to temptation
People lie to deceive,
People lie to hide the truth
And then the lie they believe.
Let us go back to the Bible
And recall its origin:
A journey to back to Eden
And there we will begin.
“I have as much right.”
At first it was just a thought
But it cost Eve a lot
For into that lie she bought.
It started as an insinuation
Then she yielded to the temptation,
She fell for the devil’s deception
And disobeyed God’s instruction.
O the devil was creative
He didn’t put it in plain sight
But cunningly impressed Eve
That she had now seen the light.
“Hath God said?” he asked
And as a result introduced doubt.
Eve fell for the lie
And from Eden was driven out.
“Where are you?” God had inquired
To which Adam and Eve replied
“We saw that we were naked
And decided that we should hide.”
Of course this was an attempt
To cover up their disobedient act,
The devil’s lie had bought another
And they were on the lying track.
And there the culture began
From Mrs. Adam it proceeded to Cain
That killed his brother Abel
And tried to shift the blame.
“Where is your brother?” God had asked
To which Cain had replied,
“Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Attempting the truth to hide.
Abraham the father of the faithful
He was caught in a lie as well
When he implied Sarah was his sister
And as his wife she dare not tell.
This did not happen once
But it actually happened twice
The first in Egypt and next Gerar
Clearly his faith had not sufficed
As in the case of the Adam’s family
So in the case of Abraham’s:
Isaac too had followed suit
And his lie followed a similar plan.
He called Rebekah his sister
After he had taken her to wife
And the reason why he lied
Was because he feared for his life.
Jacob, Abraham and Isaac’s son
Was even worse that they,
He was given the name supplanter
Lying was a game he played.
That’s how he got the blessing
With the aid of his father’s wife
And the resulting enmity with Esau
Caused quite a bit of strife.
Jacob lived a life of lying
But others cheated him too
As in the case of Laban his uncle
That hid his beloved Rachel from view.
Jacob worked seven years for her
But was forced to wed Leah instead
Thus having to work another seven years
Before he could have Rachel to wed.
Then Jacob’s own children
Lied concerning their brother
When they had sold him into Egypt,
Well that is another matter.
A second time it happened to Joseph
And he was on the receiving end,
Potiphar’s wife had lied against him
When to her request he did not bend.
I could go on and on and on
About lies in the Old Testament
But I turn my attention to the New
And there focus my intent.
Peter and his “I know him not”
He denied he knew the man,
Jesus surely had not acted
According to Peter’s plan.
He had allowed himself to be taken
Without even putting up a fight
And as far as Peter was concerned
This could never ever be right.
A set of lies were trumped up
Against Jesus the Nazarene
So that they could crucify him
And get him off the scene.
Notwithstanding this was the purpose
That God had conceptualized
One still cannot ignore
The role that was played by lies.
It was still a miscarriage of justice
The greatest there ever has been
When the death penalty was given
To Jesus the Nazarene.
Let’s turn to the book of the Acts
And there a frightening story read
How a husband and wife lied
In an attempt to satisfy their greed.
I speak of Ananias and Sapphira
Who contrived together to deceive
When they sold their land for one price
And kept some of what they received.
They lied regarding the sale
And pretended to donate it all,
That day the Holy Spirit exposed them
As they succumbed to the grim reaper’s call.
Satan is called the father of lies
It is his very nature to deceive,
With him lying is an addiction
He does it with the greatest of ease.
You would recall he did it with Jesus
As he tempted him in the wilderness
Offering him what he did not own
This was the ultimate of tests.
There and then Jesus rebuked him
And commanded him to leave
Satan had won that battle with Adam
But with Jesus he could not succeed.
Yes the Bible has in lies
But they are lies that people told:
Lies by people of all types
Lies by the cowardly and the bold.
These days are so replete with lies
One hardly knows whom to trust,
So many have lost their integrity
That this is accepted without fuss.
The lies have become so creative
And sometimes sound like the truth
And people are wont to believe them
Often without proof.
And how the names have evolved
Ever since the very beginning!
Fake news and alternative facts
Are only two since their origin.
Falsehoods and untruths
Are two more of the commonly known
But I found a list of forty
Wow! How the names for lies have grown.
Deception and Distortion
Equivocation and exaggeration
Fabrication and falsification
Misinformation and misrepresentation
Misconception and Misinterpretation
Obliquity and perjury
Slander, white lies and half-truths
All synonyms for falsified stories.
Creative words for creative lies
Euphemistic in their approach,
A rose is still a rose by any other name
So is a lie when we dare to encroach.
The first response to the first question asked
Was in fact a creative lie.
“Hath God said?” The devil asked
“Neither shall ye touch it,” was in Eve’s reply.
Got had said nothing about touch
But Eve had added in that,
Enough to contaminate the truth:
This was the first alternative fact.
Stewart Russell © June 2018
