Is Lying Ever Justified?

The woman, who had taken the two men and hidden them, replied,

“True, the men did come to me, 

but I did not know where they came from;

and at nightfall, when it was time to shut the gate, they had gone.

I do not know where they were going, but if you hurry after them,

you may overtake them.

Joshua 2:4-5

Inevitably when one discusses the subject of total honesty, someone raises the question, “Is it ever justifiable to lie?”  They will then point to the story of Rahab, one of the women in the ancestral line of Jesus Christ.  She lied – big time – and her story is actually recorded in Scripture in the second chapter of the book of Joshua.

When the children of Israel were led by Moses out of Egypt, they eventually arrived at the Jordan River.  Joshua sent out two spies to reconnoiter the land, specifically the city of Jericho.  Apparently the Motel 6 was not available, for they chose to seek lodging in a house of ill repute – a brothel run by the prostitute Rahab.  Unfortunately, the king of Jericho found out about the two men, and sent soldiers to demand that they be turned over to the guards.  She had taken the two men and hidden them on the roof of her establishment.  When the guards arrived, she said, “Hey, boys.  Yeah, two men came here to freshen up a bit.  But they left at the time the gate closes.  It wasn’t that long ago.  If you hurry, you probably can catch them.”

Her little speech was, of course, a bald-faced lie.  It would be nice to say that she did it just to rescue the men.  That would be a half truth, however, because she also was trying to save her own skin.  But protecting the men of God [by deceit] caused them to promise to rescue her when the Israelites overtook the city.  She tied a scarlet rope in her window, and the attacking forces carried Rahab and her family to safety.  Eventually she married Salmon, and gave birth to her son Boaz, who was the father of Jesse, who was the father of King David.

Rahab is one of only two women named in Hebrews 11 as examples of godly faith.   The book of James also mentions her as an example of righteousness.  Several prominent theologians believe that God honored her in spite of her lie, because she was a heathen and didn’t know that lying was wrong.  I don’t quite buy that argument.  I think that humans instinctively know that we should do the right thing, including telling the truth, whether we actually do it or not. 

“Integrity is telling myself the truth.

Honesty is telling the truth to other people.”

Spencer Johnson