The story is told of an old Dunker farmer who had a reputation of being rather shrewd. On a certain occasion, he sold one of his older horses to a neighbor, but didn’t tell him that the animal was blind. As the neighbor was leaving the barnyard with his purchase, the horse walked into a ditch and threw the man off the saddle. Dusting off his clothes as he picked himself up, the angered neighbor called to the Dunker, “Say, what’s the matter with this horse? She walked right into the ditch!” The Dunker replied, “Well, you bought her! I told you I cut the price in half because she didn’t look so good!”
Would you agree that the Dunker didn’t exactly tell a lie? But neither did he tell the truth either. This Dunker-farmer wasn’t the first person to use such tactics. The father of the Israelite nation, Abraham, succumbed to the same maneuvering four thousand years ago. On at least two occasions, the Bible records Abraham as using a “half-truth, half-lie” to protect his wife Sarah from possible harm. On the first occasion (Genesis 12:10-20), Abraham journeyed southward because of famine in the land. As he approached Egypt and Pharaoh, he said to Sarah: “Because you’re such a beautiful woman, they’ll kill me, but they’ll save you. So that no harm may come to either of us, just tell Pharaoh that you’re my sister!” Now, Sarah was Abraham’s half-sister (see Genesis 20:12), but she was also his wife! When Pharaoh saw Sarah’s beauty, he took her into his palace, but because of it, God brought severe plagues on Pharaoh’s house, Abraham was summoned and questioned, and of course the full truth was revealed. This scene was repeated later when Abraham and Sarah came before Abimelech, king of Gerar (Genesis 20: 1-18). As in the case of Pharaoh, King Abimelech took Sarah into his palace, but God appeared to him in a dream and told him the consequences if he should have sexual relations with her. As before, Abraham was called before the king, and again the full truth came to light.
Many people would never think of deliberately telling an out-right lie. But many of the same people employ the “half-truth, half-lie” method. However, the Bible doesn’t make a distinction in the types of lies one may tell or act, but simply says that “ALL liars shall have their part in the lake of fire which burneth with fire and brimstone” (Revelation 21:8b). A lie can be dressed up to look like the truth, but be assured that the dress will wear out. To always tell the truth should be a characteristic of God’s people.
