Beggar's Bread

Wenceslaus Hollar (1607–1677), “Abimelech Rebuking Abraham”

by Fred W. Anson
One of the most interesting differences between Mormonism and mainstream Christianity is how the Mormon god not only excuses lying but commands it. Please consider this passage from the Pearl of Great Price:

And it came to pass when I was come near to enter into Egypt, the Lord said unto me: Behold, Sarai, thy wife, is a very fair woman to look upon;

Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see her, they will say — She is his wife; and they will kill you, but they will save her alive; therefore see that ye do on this wise:
Let her say unto the Egyptians, she is thy sister, and thy soul shall live.

And it came to pass that I, Abraham, told Sarai, my wife, all that the Lord had said unto me — Therefore say unto them, I pray thee, thou art my sister, that it may be well with me for thy sake, and my soul shall live because of thee.
(Book of Abraham 2:22-25)

But in the Bible the story is different. Notice how not only does God not command Abraham to lie, but actually sets it up so that his lie is publicly exposed in a humiliating manner to teach him a lesson:

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 Gerar 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.”’
(Genesis 20:1-13 NKJV)

As I said in one of my articles regarding the moral and ethical disparity between the two accounts:

That passage is troubling because it portrays the Mormon god giving a divine directive to Abraham that he lie to Pharoah in a manner that’s quite similar to the way he instructed Nephi to murder Laban. This is in direct violation of the moral criteria that the Jewish God established in the Bible via the 10 Commandments and the Mormon god reinforced via The Book of Mormon. Further, and as a practical matter, it’s vexing because I’ve found that some Mormons use it as a divine justification for lying. In other words, Book of Mormon “Blood Atonement” meet Book of Abraham “Lying for the Lord”.
(Fred W. Anson, “Lying for the Lord: A Grassroots Tale”)

Friends, the Bible is brutally honest. It tells it like it is without whitewash or spin doctoring:

• Adam and Eve are rebels who corrupted and broke the cosmos through disobedience.
• Abraham was a liar and someone who created on-going animosity and turmoil in the Middle East that continues until today by taking matters into his own hands having Ishmael via surrogacy with Hagar rather than trusting God.
• Jacob was a cheater, manipulator, and the polygamous father of a huge, unruly, dysfunctional family.
• Joseph was such a spoiled braggart that his own brothers wanted to murder him.
• Shiphrah and Puah, the two Jewish midwives in Egypt lied to Pharoah.
• Moses was disobedient to God and paid for it with his life and by never entering the Land of Promise.
• Rahab was a prostitute who lied about the Hebrew spies that she had hidden on her roof.
• Samson was a fornicator and a fool.
• Saul was crazed, demon possessed, and insecure.
• David was a polygamous adulterer, murderer, and ineffective father.
• Solomon was a polygamist who collected women in direct violation of God’s law – and was seduced into idolatry by those same said women.
• Ezekiel was a self-righteous Drama Queen.
• John the Baptist had doubts about Jesus.
• Peter was an impulsive loudmouth, and a Jewish bigot, who betrayed Jesus three times in one night.
• The Apostle Paul persecuted Christ’s Church and was an accomplice in the murder of Stephen.

I can go on and on and on, but I think that you get the point. And yet all these men went on to be shown grace, and favor by God despite their glaring flaws! I think it’s safe to say that if God can save these losers, He can save you or me, right?

So when you see sinners doing what they do best in the Bible (sinning) it’s not an endorsement of sin, it’s just proof positive that God can redeem anyone or anything.

And just as lying was not okay for Abraham, neither is it OK for us.  You have God’s Word on it!