Rahab - Can lying be justified?

Major said:
Did Rahab lie?...............YES!

Was the lie justified?...YES!

Why????.........................Because Rahab was not lying in order to excuse or exalt herself, but to protect the people called by God.
IMHO, Rahab did not lie. Rather, she spoke true words that concealed the truth. Indeed, Jesus himself spoke in parables in order to reveal and conceal, and thus it is not necessarily immoral to withhold information or speak so as to hide information.

Now, lets suppose that YOU are in France and it is 1942. You are hiding 4 Jews in your attic and the Nazi guards knock on your door. YOU know that their job is to collect all Jews and kill the, Do YOU say....."well yes, there are four Jews in the attic", or do you say......
"I have no idea what you are looking for"!

It should be noted that the context of warfare applies. Yet, in such instances, lying is often the result of insufficient wisdom. It is conceivable, that if someone had infinite wisdom in such situations, they could hide the truth with the truth.
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Think that for the "greater good", which would be to save others, God would "allow" for such things, such as in Nazi germany when Jews were being sheltered and Nazis were lied to about them not being in the home
 
Thank you ALL for the responses!

Here are three more examples of "lying" that were justified in the Bible:

Genesis 12:13 - Abraham had his wife lie and say she was his sister.
Genesis 26:7 - Isaac did the same with Rebekah.
2 Kings 6:19 - Elisha lied about where he was leading the blinded men.


In each of these instances (along with Rahab and the examples cited in this thread), God's will or plan was being forwarded by the deception. Furthermore, God does not once punish these examples of dishonesty. While we should never play fast and loose with lying, ultimately God knows our hearts. If the lie is justifiable, it's not necessarily a black and white issue of sin.

Further-fruthermore, I'll trust James' opinion (2:25), "Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?"

My apologies to Rahab for having a seed of doubt!😂
 
Naaman said:
Thank you ALL for the responses!

Here are three more examples of "lying" that were justified in the Bible:

Genesis 12:13 - Abraham had his wife lie and say she was his sister.
Genesis 26:7 - Isaac did the same with Rebekah.
2 Kings 6:19 - Elisha lied about where he was leading the blinded men.


In each of these instances (along with Rahab and the examples cited in this thread), God's will or plan was being forwarded by the deception. Furthermore, God does not once punish these examples of dishonesty. While we should never play fast and loose with lying, ultimately God knows our hearts. If the lie is justifiable, it's not necessarily a black and white issue of sin.

Further-fruthermore, I'll trust James' opinion (2:25), "Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?"

My apologies to Rahab for having a seed of doubt!😂
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God did not cause her to lie, but he did use what she did to further His salvation program forwarded
 
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