Genesis 45:26: They told him saying, “Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.” And Jacob’s heart stood still, because he did not believe them.”
A certain businessman complained about his partner, “He’s a real phony – I wouldn’t believe him if he said he was lying.” When it comes to lying or being deceitful, the consequential and damaging ripple effects are seemingly endless. There is an inverse, or opposing, relationship between integrity and lying. The more one increases, the faster the other declines. I have a sign in my home office that says, “Once you’ve given up your integrity, everything else is a piece of cake.”
With today’s verse, Jacob’s sons have informed their father, Jacob, that his beloved second-youngest son, Joseph, is alive. Jacob was under the impression that Joseph was dead because he had been lied to about his death by Jacob’s other sons some 20 years earlier. When hearing this news of Joseph being alive, he didn’t believe them. Jacob has a documented history of deceit in his own life. His grandfather, Abram, lied to Pharaoh about the status of his marriage to Sarai to protect his own skin. He, at the leading of his mother, Rebekah, he lied to his father, Isaac, to steal the birthright from his older twin brother, Esau. Now, he’s confronted with the fact that his own sons are liars.
The insidious thing about living a life infiltrated by deceit – whether you’ve been surrounded by it or have been a contributor to it, it significantly impacts your ability to trust anything else. An untrusting heart makes living a life of faith all the harder. Just as I said earlier there’s an inverse relationship between integrity and lying, there is a direct relationship between integrity and truth. The more the truth in one’s life, the greater the integrity in one’s life. The more integrity there is in one’s life, this leads to our ability to recognize and avoid deceit and pursue truth.
In today’s story, Jacob didn’t believe what his sons had told him, but we’ll learn in the next few verses that as a result of seeing the abundant provisions given to the sons by Pharaoh and Joseph, he chose to believe. Jesus said in John 20:29, “Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Even for the person who struggles to believe what is true because of their living in a deceitful manner, visible evidence of the truth will get them to the point of belief. Jesus, though, is telling us that blessings are found in those who have not seen and, yet, believed. Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Most of us have been Christians for many years, so the Bible story is one to which we have come to be at peace. We’ve done this not because of our own integrity but because of the integrity to Whom we call as our Lord and Savior. He is the substance of what we hope for, and His life, death, and resurrection is the evidence of what we don’t see. Each of our faith journeys includes a process of replacing the lies in our life – be it the ones we’ve been told or the ones we’ve told – with the truth of Jesus Christ. As we gain more truth, we can extend more trust. As we extend more trust, we can grow our relationship with the Lord.
Lying is the enemy’s chief weapon because he knows it makes believing so much more difficult. Jesus said He is, “The way, the truth, and the life.” Jacob couldn’t believe the impossible – Joseph being alive – because much of his life with laced with deceit. Jesus said, “With God, all things are possible.” This is the truth because He is the truth. We need to thank God for His truthfulness and trustworthiness. The more time we spend with Him, the lies in our lives will be replaced by His truth and truths. As the saying goes, “People who do a lot of kneeling, don’t do much lying.”