#53Afraid To Tell The Truth Genesis 20

And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar. Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." And Abimelech king of sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, "Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife." But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, "Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also? Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she, even she herself said, 'he is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this." And God said to him in a dream, "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. Now therefore, restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours." So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid. And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, "what have you done to us? How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done." Then Abimelech said to Abraham, "what did you have in view that you have done this thing?" And Abraham said, "because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife. But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, 'this is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of me "he is my brother." Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelech said, "see, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you." Then to Sarah he said, "behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; indeed this vindicates you before all who are with you and before everybody." Thus she was rebuked. So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife and female servants. Then they bore children; for the Lord had closed up the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. Genesis 20 NKJV

I have been told that, "the truth is a luxury, and usually known for a short time to those who are willing to lose everything. It is not afforded to those who would govern or trade." Hence, we hear sayings like, "its just business. I had no choice. Change. Deny, deny and when all is said and done, deny." I have seen those same leaders demand an integrity from their people that they themselves do not own. There are jobs in government built upon and around lies. What Abraham did is nothing foreign to our world now. Satan was the father of lies and those born into sin practice the lie from the very earliest use of language. He gives very good and legitimate reasons for lying: thought you didn't fear God, thought you would kill me, and technically she is also my half sister so that's like only half a lie. The fear of death was definitely a strong motivator, but this is not the first time, and there is still that covenant between Abraham and God. The temptation to lie is understood, but the follow through seems so unnecessary at this point. We saw what happened earlier in Egypt, and God does not just rescue Sarah from Pharaoh, He calls His great prophet out on it too. It is the same here, and in front of everyone Abraham is once again rebuked by the heathens. This had to be more than a little embarrassing. 

But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. 2Corinthians 4:2 NKJV

Once we have walked into God's covenant there is no more need to lie. It is a lie to think there are those places outside His govern, and removed from the light of His truth. God knew the temptation before you ever chanced upon it. You are free from the lie, the truth has set you free, so now we need to walk in the light.