It is not a common practice for people to desire or pray for confusion. Yet, there are times in the word of God when believers pleaded with the Lord in hopes that He might send confusion to their enemies. For instance, David entreated the Lord to send confusion to those who devised (Psalm 35:4), desired (Psalm 70:2), and rejoiced at his hurt (Psalm 35:26). Perhaps those chasing David would be led by the Lord in the wrong direction. Perhaps the Lord would allow David’s enemies to turn against each other rather than being united together in killing David. Regardless, David knew there would be times when his enemies would have the ability to overtake him. In those times, he asked the Lord to intervene on his behalf by confusing them.
Where envy finds its breeding grounds, there grows confusion. Rather than churches, homes, and individuals choosing the blessings of peace, many have chosen the struggles resulting from envy and strife. In doing so, they reap the resultant confusion. Where strife oozes from the people, so will a mass state of confusion. This fact definitely accounts for the magnitude of Christians living outside the will of God with no opportunity to even discern what it is. The church should be a haven of truth, a place that clears up the confusion outside of its fellowship. The Christian home should be a place of clarity that serves to protect from the confusion perpetrated by the world, the flesh, and the Devil. Yet, far too many Christians have chosen rather to accept the curse of confusion.
The Bible plainly points out that God is not the author (or originator) of the confusion in the life of any believer. In fact, God desires for every individual to have clarity of mind when it comes to the truths found in His word. He wants man to know for a certainty concerning his eternal destination, whether heaven or hell. God furthermore wants man to have perfect clarity in distinguishing sin from righteousness. Simply put, God has no desire for believers to live in a confused state of mind. Had sin never entered into the world, there would be no conflicting feelings or voices introducing the confusion so prevalent today. Yet, God’s truth becomes even more essential in order to clear up the confusion caused by sin and Satan.
Confusion does not always result directly from personal sin, but sin surely causes a great deal of confusion. In today’s passage, we find Daniel making this point as he contrasted God and man. Daniel pointed out that righteousness belonged to the Lord and confusion belonged to the people. Why? Simply because God’s people chose to sin against the Lord. Sin blurs and transforms an otherwise clear and indisputable reality into corruption and vagaries. Committing sin blurs the broad chasm between sin and righteousness. This blurring makes it more difficult for a child of God to discern the perfect will of God. Therefore, only those believers who eschew evil can and will experience clarity of mind. Those who embrace evil reap uncertainty.
Paul’s stedfastness in the gospel message caused a stir throughout Asia. He boldly declared that the people’s idols were no gods at all. Such preaching angered the local craftsmen so they met together to discuss how to stop Paul and end his message’s impact of their livelihood. The mass confusion intensified the fear as it spread throughout the city. As some of Paul’s companions were ushered into the theatre, the crowd cried out conflicting things to the point that many had no idea why they had even gathered together. The people’s confusion escalated. Because of conflicting reports, they were unable to discern the reality of the situation. Confusion thrives when conflicting statements or feelings are present and people fail to discern the truth.
The Bible records the fact that Ananias lied to Peter! He told Peter that he and his wife had sold some property for a certain amount of money. Yet, God and His servant knew that he had sold it for more than that indicated to Peter. The Bible teaches that Ananias told these lies to a man but had in fact lied to the Lord (Acts 5:4). Man may not recognize the extent of a lie, but lies told to others are lies told to God. This brings a whole new perspective to the wickedness of lying. Men’s lies are not just before and against men, but they appear before and are in conflict with a holy God. No wonder the apostle Paul said, “Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not” (Galatians 1:20). He understood that lying to men would be lying before God, and he did not want to be guilty of that.
Today's passage provides a list of things that God expressly hates. That list includes those who murder the innocent when it refers to “hands that shed innocent blood” (Proverbs 6:17). It also mentions those whose hearts devise “wicked imaginations” (Proverbs 6:18). In the midst of this list, the Lord twice references lying as it refers to “a lying tongue” (Proverbs 6:17) and “a false witness that speaketh lies” (Proverbs 6:19). This should really concern those prone to lying with seeming impunity. God hates lying so much that He is going to judge those who do it. The scripture says, “he that speaketh lies shall not escape” (Proverbs 19:5), but will "perish”(Proverbs 19:9). In fact, liars are listed among the wicked groups that will “have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone” (Revelation 21:8).
The context of our passage is the sinfulness of God’s people, particularly those residing within the city of Jerusalem. The city is said to have “wearied herself with lies.” A similar truth is taught in Jeremiah 9:5 where the Bible says, “they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.” The context is different, but the concept remains constant: it requires hard work to tell and sustain lies. Anybody that has ever told a lie knows that it takes much greater effort to sustain a lie than to simply let the truth stand upon its own merit. Among other things, lying takes creativity, calculation, and a good memory. Additionally, lying stresses a person’s conscience. Very rarely does one lie suffice within any particular deception, but the original lie often requires additional lies to support it. Lying is hard work and very stressful for those who have not seared their conscience!
Unfortunately, far too many people today seek to hide the truth behind their lies. This condition is nothing new. In fact, the rulers of Jerusalem claimed to “have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves” (Isaiah 28:15). The Lord quickly answered their false assumption. He informed them that their lies would not stand when the Lord passed through their midst with judgment (Isaiah 28:16-19). In verse 20, God offered an illustration of the manner in which their lies would fail to protect them. He said, “the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it” (Isaiah 28:20). In other words, no matter how big, well thought out, or cunning a man’s lies may be, they will never be enough. Hiding behind lies is useless and fruitless. Lies can neither support a man nor hide him when the trouble arrives.
Honest scientists are increasingly learning truths once deemed unimaginable by those who did not know the scriptures. Some of these truths concern the inner workings of man's mind and body. These relatively recent discoveries reveal that the body emits signals exposing truths intended by men to remain concealed. Sometimes the individual even lies attempting to conceal the facts further. For this reason, people began studying body language in hopes of determining if an individual's movements reveal otherwise hidden truths. Yet, the Bible has included these secrets long before man's scientific discoveries. In fact, the main character found in the oldest book of the Bible understood these principles. Job claimed that the truthfulness of his statements could be seen by simply looking at him. People have long assumed that the conscience is responsible for body language and the scriptures support this claim. Romans 9:1 confirms this truth as Paul stated, “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost.” The Bible repeatedly shows that the conscience reveals the truth even when man intentionally tries to hide it, lie, or deceive.
