O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
(Jeremiah 20:7) KJV
Continuing on from yesterday we are considering the charge made by members of the atheist community that God lies in the Bible. He doesn’t. Every one of the cited examples are flimsy at best.
They consist of passages which have been pulled out of context. The interpretation of them as God lying has been imputed, it’s not a conclusion which has been deduced. I’ve been in touch with @religulous of the Twitter community to let him know that I was writing these posts, and he provided me with some more examples. We will get to the rest of them tomorrow.
7. Jeremiah 4:10, 20:7
Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.
(Jeremiah 4:10) KJV
Neither Jeremiah 4:10 nor 20:7 are examples of God lying. They are both examples of the Prophet Jeremiah crying out in anguish of spirit because reality fell short of his unrealistic expectations. In the former passage the situation was that God had promised, repeatedly throughout the history of the Israelites and again in the ministry of Jeremiah, that:
If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.
(Jeremiah 4:1) KJV
However, despite what may have seemed like an enthusiastic response to Jeremiah’s preaching, the people did not put away their abominations and they suffered the consequences that God warned them about. Jeremiah was bitterly disappointed, but God had not lied.
The latter passage again shows Jeremiah’s disappointment and confusion. He had anticipated that the people of his time would respond to his repeated warnings, and preaching about the judgment of God, by turning back to God in repentance. They didn’t, and they threw Jeremiah in jail. God did not lie. I have always been mindful of these passages while starting the ministry of Matty’s Paradigm. Jeremiah’s ministry took place at the very end of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, right before and up to the taking away into captivity. Jeremiah made an heroic effort to preach repentance to the people in the hope that this outcome could be avoided. They didn’t listen. They were carried off to Babylon. In large part due to this I am fully prepared to see the ministry of Matty’s Paradigm fall on dead ears. Are we not in the last days of this current world system? Is there not now a need like never before to return to the Lord? Will the people listen?
NO.
Thankfully, the passion and devotion of Jeremiah serve to strengthen my resolve to continue my ministry.
8. Ezekiel 14:9
And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
(Ezekiel 14:9) KJV
Context is like cause. Words in isolation are an effect. I have discussed that a symptom of the reprobate mind is the inability to comprehend the necessity of cause, and its relation to effect. This bleeds over into understanding words in their context. The passage cited, Ezekiel 14:9 is an effect. It has a cause. Within the very same chapter is a statement of the cause. It is a description of cause and effect, you reap what you sow:
Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
(Exekiel 14:4) KJV
God didn’t lie to anyone, he established the relationship between cause and effect. If you want to go to a false prophet and be told that everything is going to be alright and there will be no judgment for sin, then there is a prophet who is more than happy to tell you that. The prophet whats your thanks and praise, and that you will tell everyone what a great prophet he is, because he told you what you wanted to hear. It is expressed beautifully by Timothy:
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
(2 Timothy 4:3) KJV
God doesn’t need to lie, there are plenty of people who are more than happy to do that for you. As I frequently state, believing unbelievers because you don’t want to believe is circular reasoning.
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
(Galatians 6:7) KJV
Atheists who search the Bible for errors and inconsistencies will find only that. It is an example of cause and effect as described here. It is not proof that there are any errors or inconsistency. By the same token, if you want to understand the Bible so that the supposed errors and inconsistencies are resolved, you can have that too. This is the power of the Word of God.
9. Matthew 12:40
For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
(Matthew 12:40) KJV
This one, like the others, doesn’t come with any explanation of exactly WHY it is a lie. I can only conclude that the reason is that the traditional Good Friday and Easter celebrations have Jesus crucified on the cross on Friday, in the grave Friday and Saturday night, then he rises from the grave Sunday morning. Technically speaking this means that Jesus was in the grave only two nights, not three.
The resolution is quite simple: the Bible is right, the Christian calendar is wrong. Humans are great at rationalizing things, and it fits everyone’s schedules much better if the Easter celebrations start on a Friday night. If we stick with the premise that God cannot lie and the Bible is true (which we are seeing very clearly now) then obviously Jesus was crucified on Thursday night.
10. Matthew 16:28; 11. Mark 9:1 & 12. Luke 9:27
Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
(Matthew 16:28) KJV
And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.
(Mark 9:1) KJV
But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.
(Luke 9:27) KJV
Yet again this comes with no explanation as to WHY it is a lie. In each case, however, the very next sentence begins a description of the transfiguration, when Peter, James and John saw Jesus in his true glory and meeting with Moses and Elijah. Peter, James and John did not have to die to see thie Son of man coming in his kingdom.
We will finish up looking at these examples of atheist lies about God tomorrow. Today’s image is from here.
Matty (Headwind) 