Liar, Liar – Edition #2 - I Lied in Wait

Sunday, August 19^th, 2007

Liar, Liar – Edition #2

Genesis 18:10-15

Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the LORD I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

The thing that caught my eye is that Sarah was afraid. Emotions and feelings are the cause that makes people say and do things that is contrary to the Bible. In CR, there are the basics of “hungry, angry, lonely, tired, and embarrassed.” Seriously, these are the basics. But, there are plenty more emotions, such as:

• Gratitude
• Fear
• Joy
• Jealousy
• Modesty
• Pain
• Schadenfreude (pleasure from someone else’s misfortune)
• Nervousness
• Remorse
• Euphoria
• Limerence (emotional infatuation or lust)

There are others but this is an abbreviated list. These emotions can cause me to sin. And, to be honest, I do at times due to them. I’m not perfect in this regard, and maybe I am the only one who hasn’t mastered control over my emotions, but I am getting better. This was a great weekend, with a ton of learning. I start school tomorrow. And my school schedule it COMPLETELY awesome. It’s the best schedule that I have had to my recollection. In the NIV (which is the scripture above), the word “lied” is used six times. That is one up above. Here is another:

Joshua 7:1, 3-5, 10-12, 24-26

But the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the LORD’s anger burned against Israel.

When they returned to Joshua, they said, “Not all the people will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary all the people, for only a few men are there.” So about three thousand men went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted and became like water.

The LORD said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.”

Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold wedge, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The LORD will bring trouble on you today.”

Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the LORD turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since.

Now, something that I took away (one of the things) from this weekend was that “Is GOD enough, or do I need something else?” Do I need something other than God? Achan did. He tried to serve two gods, the god of Greed and the Holy God. But as I know, you can only serve one master. Achan expressed emotions of fear and jealousy. Jealousy played the part in taking the items and fear played the part in hiding of the items. And the reason I used the parts of the story (not the whole story) is to show that Achan’s sin affected not only him, but it caused the death of his family and thirty-six others in the battle. How does my sin affect others? What emotions do I exhibit that cause me to sin? What emotions do I struggle with more than others? All good questions. I am in search of answers to these and other questions. Johnny Out.