Did God really say?

Let’s head for the Garden of Eden today. It’s there that Satan is introduced. He’s disguised as a serpent. He’s crafty and wily and, good for us today, he speaks.

Listen to what he says.

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden”?’” (Genesis 3:1, NIV)

Did God really say?

Have you ever heard that question or some variation on the theme when you were trying to decide if something was right or wrong? I have. I remember thinking once or twice in my younger years that the Ten Commandments don’t really prohibit lying. The command reads, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16, NIV)

That’s about testifying in court, I reasoned. It’s not about telling the truth in other circumstances. God did not really say, “Thou shalt not lie.”

Subtle argument, isn’t it? Rests on a single sentence out of the tens of thousands given to us in God’s Word. If I could ignore the rest, I could make my case. I can’t ignore the rest.

You can’t ignore the total message of the Bible. There are dozens of passages that prohibit the garden variety lies – the kind I was trying to justify.

A few weeks ago I talked about one of them. Remember the list of things God hates that we found in Proverbs 6:16 and 17? We didn’t even get into verse 17 before we heard the truth that defeats my silly logic.

“There are six things the LORD hates,” Solomon writes, “seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue…” (Proverbs 6:16, NIV)

That’s what God really says. What the devil contested in my young, and I might add, foolish mind, the Lord confounds in Proverbs and in numerous other places. Lying is wrong. God says so. GOD says so.

What about you? Have you heard the devil’s luring question? In what area has he tempted you to ignore God’s Word? Has he successfully led you into sin?

Listen carefully to the voices in your head. If one asks, “Did God really say?” concerning any matter, it’s a dead give away. Serpent talk!

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