Did God commend or approve of Rahab’s lie?

[Bible Highlighter]

Oh boy howdy…a lawyer.

Luke 10:25-28 (KJB)
25 “And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.”

Notice Jesus did not rebuke the lawyer and tell him to just trust on the finished work of the cross.

 

[quietthinker]

Did God commend or approve of Rahab’s lie?​

Is God complicate in evil by giving life to Satan?

 

[Bible Highlighter]

Did God commend or approve of Rahab’s lie?​

Is God complicate in evil by giving life to Satan?

You mean "complicit" and not "complicate."
In any event, God was not complicit in any evil in creating Lucifer because God did not create him to be evil as a part of his initial creation. Angels are free willed moral agents. Lucifer was once a good angel who was said to be perfect in all his ways and he later chose of his own free will to rebel against God in trying to be like the Most High God (Convincing two thirds of the angels to go with him in his rebellion). Yes, God knew what Satan was going to do, but the blame falls on Lucifer and not God for his doing evil. It's why there will be a judgement. It is illogical to assume God created evil beings. If that was the case, then the Judgment would be a joke or farce.

 

[stunnedbygrace]

James seems to think Rahab did a good work.
25 In the same way, was Rahab the prostitute not justified by works also when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

I am shocked at people's inability to understand basic morality here. When you watch a movie, do you not root or cheer for the good guys to triumph over those who do evil? Think. God is good and He cannot agree with any kind of sin. Read your Bible more and pray to the Lord and talk to Him about it.

 

[stunnedbygrace]

Yes, I know! What was James thinking…??!

 

[bbyrd009]

Did God commend or approve of Rahab’s lie?​

Is God complicate in evil by giving life to Satan?

a raven was also released from the ark, and did not return :)
who (here) by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil(?)

 

[stunnedbygrace]

Lol @bbyrd009, who I may never understand. Lol.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

James seems to think Rahab did a good work.
25 In the same way, was Rahab the prostitute not justified by works also when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

James 2:25-26 (KJB)
25 "Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."

Yes, this is why I am convinced that she did not lie but she used clever word play, that from one perspective what she said was true, and yet on the other hand, her words could also be taken to mean something else by another (whereby they could misunderstand her).

Remember, the disciples did not understand Jesus when He spoke of hIs resurrection. Peter even tried to prevent Jesus from going to the cross. But Jesus could have prevented that from happening and gave Him a vision of what was to happen so that Peter would accept it. But that did not happen. So Jesus allowed Peter to misunderstand. It does not mean that Jesus was misleading Peter. It just means Peter was not listening carefully to what Jesus said and to the Scriptures. The same is true with the guards in the story of Rahab. If they were careful to listen to her, and be more like investigators they could have seen right through her clever word play. But they were not that smart.

 

[bbyrd009]

Lol @bbyrd009, who I may never understand. Lol.

“evil” is a judgement call, and we eat the fruit and decide we can judge
i think

 

[bbyrd009]

The amazing name Rahab: meaning and etymology

An indepth look at the meaning and etymology of the awesome name Rahab. We'll discuss the original Hebrew, plus the words and names Rahab is related to, plus the occurences of this name in the Bible.

www.abarim-publications.com

wow hoo gnu

 

[Lambano]

Yes, this is why I am convinced that she did not lie but she used clever word play, that from one perspective what she said was true, and yet on the other hand, her words could also be taken to mean something else by another (whereby they could misunderstand her).

Doesn't matter. That is still premeditated, intentional deceit.

Doing the right thing is not always simple and straightforward.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

Doesn't matter. That is still premeditated, intentional deceit.

Doing the right thing is not always simple and straightforward.

So then how do you reconcile James 2:25-26 with the moral dilemma involving Rahab and the guards?
Surely God's Word is true and it is simply our misunderstanding of what is really going on.

 

[Lambano]

So then how do you reconcile James 2:25-26 with the moral dilemma involving Rahab and the guards?

I don't reconcile them, and I gave up the need to do so long ago. But I certainly can't deny what the Bible said actually happened. Rahab planned to deceive the guards, executed her plan flawlessly, and was judged righteous for doing so. We deal with it.

Maybe "righteousness" isn't what we think it is.

 

[quietthinker]

Did God commend or approve of Rahab’s lie?​

Did God command or approve of Elijah slaying the 450 Prophets of Baal?

 

[Bible Highlighter]

I don't reconcile them, and I gave up the need to do so long ago. But I certainly can't deny what the Bible said actually happened. Rahab planned to deceive the guards, executed her plan flawlessly, and was judged righteous for doing so. We deal with it.

Maybe "righteousness" isn't what we think it is.

Well, Revelation 21:8 says all liars will have their part in the Lake of Fire.
Hebrews 6:18 says, "it was impossible for God to lie, "
John 8:44 says Satan is the father of lies.

So obviously God's Word cannot contradict itself.

I think there is good deception and bad deception.

Good deception does not involve a person lying with their words or lying by their actions in such a way that is in no way true to their character or personality (unlike David pretending to be insane when he was not).

Jesus appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. But Jesus did not reveal His true identity to them. This was a form of deception in the fact that Jesus was hiding His true identity and making it appear like He was not their Lord but just a regular person. However, Jesus did not outright lie and tell these two disciples that He was not Jesus, and He had a different name, etcetera. At the battle of AI, God gave Joshua a battle tactic that would deceive the enemy. Again, this battle tactic was not exactly employing the army to lie with their words. Neither were they pretending to be something they were not like David did when he pretended to act like a crazy guy (Which is not true to who he really was).

There is no problem in employing deception if it does not compromise the truth.
But if one tells an outright lie, then we have a problem because God warns all liars will have their part in the Lake of Fire, and God cannot lie, and Satan is the father of lies.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

Did God commend or approve of Rahab’s lie?​

Did God command or approve of Elijah slaying the 450 Prophets of Baal?

If God commands the taking of life, it is not murder because God is the ultimate giver and taker of life (Job 1:21).
But when it comes to lying, God cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18).
Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44).
All liars will have their part in the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8).
These are truths you must accept.
Once you do, then you will realize that God could not have commended Rahab for lying.
Thus, I believe she used clever word play instead. This is not uncommon to see in Scripture.
Jesus employed clever word play all the time and many misunderstood Him.
For example: Jesus said if they destroyed this temple he would raise it up again.
But Jesus did not let them in on the fact that He was referring to his body and not the actual religious temple.

 

[stunnedbygrace]

James seems to think Rahab did a good work.
25 In the same way, was Rahab the prostitute not justified by works also when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Ah, found another.
31 By faith the prostitute Rahab did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies [a]in peace.

So you obviously have gone in a different direction to both James and the writer of Hebrews. Two witnesses. One to her faith and the other to her works.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

Ah, found another.
31 By faith the prostitute Rahab did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies [a]in peace.

How does this verse prove that she was lying?

 

[Bible Highlighter]

Also, James 2:25-26 is referring to the spies and not the guards.
So her receiving the spies and sending them out a safer way is not lying.
So even if Rahab did lie involving the guards, this was not the thing that God was commending her for.
God was commending her actions involving the safe journey of the two spies.