He Cannot Tell a Lie

Part of God’s unchanging nature is that He is sovereign and does things His way. In Isaiah 55, we read that God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. In other words, He’s infinitely more powerful than we are, especially when it comes to perspective. 

We read in the Old Testament that sometimes other nations mocked the Israelites when they were exiled from their homeland. Really, they were mocking God because it was said that maybe He couldn’t keep His promises after all. This after the Assyrians and Babylonians conquered Israel. Neighboring pagan nations remembered that God had promised to give the land to the Israelites. But did that mean God had lied, and was in reality no more powerful than man? No, not at all. 

Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” 

In fact, God tells us clearly that He does exactly what He wants, when He wants. We see this in Isaiah 46. When God led the Israelites out of Egypt, but they were then confronted at the Red Sea by Pharaoh’s army—did that mean God had lied when He promised to lead them out of slavery? Of course not. In fact, it was then He performed one of history’s greatest miracles. 

In Psalm 16:10, we read that God would not allow your holy one to rot in the grave, and this is a reference to Jesus. Yet, when Jesus died on the cross, many assumed that God had either lied or was powerless to stop Jesus from being entombed. We know how that story ended, and the triumph of life over death. God did raise Jesus from the dead. His body did not decay in the grave. So it’s a matter of perspective, then. 

Humans, with their limited understanding, think from time to time that God cannot keep His promises, but He keeps them all the time. All promises fulfilled—100% of the time. He cannot lie. 

Let’s pray. 

Father God, you alone are powerful and you are our strength. You are perfect in all of your ways and have demonstrated that time after time. Help us let others see that—those who might doubt you. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

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