In God We Trust… better think again; the Bible says He is not Totally Trustworthy

God cannot tell a lie; we know this because the bible tells us so in many places.  See Numbers 23:19 God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind; 1 Samuel 15:29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind; and similar verses in 2 Samuel 7:28, Psalm 119:160, Titus 1:2, and in God’s Promise to Abraham, Hebrews 6:18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.

So, it is apparent that it is true that In God We [can] Trust.

Or is it?

Let us look at the Bible and see what it says.

We will skip the implied lies, or misrepresentations, such as the admonition in Genesis 2:17 regarding eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil ‘… for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’  Adam and Eve both did eat of the fruit and did not die, save many years later.  Such a warning is similar to ‘eat too much red meat and do not exercise, and you will certainly die… just not soon’.  That is why we will focus on where the Bible explicitly states deception.

Two books reference the same event of God having deception done explicitly in His name: 1 Kings 22:23 & 2 Chronicles 18:22.  In order to lure Ahab to the battlefield in order to be killed, both books (and verses) state the Lord sent out a deceiving spirit to be in the ‘mouths of the prophets’.  Specifically, those who were to speak on what God’s will was to be, even the normal contrarian Micaiah, were to deceive Ahab.  In a similar vein, Ezekiel 14:9 talks about prophets for false gods, however And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the Lord have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel.  Which is to say for those already astray and those consorting those prophets, God will continue their false belief in order for them to be punished.

2 Thessalonians 2:9 is more explicit with regard to the wicked and lawless For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.  Instead of mercy to correct the erroneous, they are deceived by God in order to fall (or stay) in error and be punished.  How similar that is to Exodus 10:27 where the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not let Moses’ people go, and the people of Egypt were punished for the heart of Pharaoh that God hardened. 

Does that sound like the work of a beneficent and trustworthy God?

God shows His goodness in Psalm 5:4 For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome.  However, it is the same God who brings both good and evil as in Lamentations 3:38, Amos 3:6, Job 2:10 and in Isaiah 45:7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.

Just like with anything else the Bible is purported to say, it is true depending upon the selection used to support one’s conclusion, while omitting the rest.