postlaestadianrevival

I have been thinking about the meaning of this commandment. I used to think it applied to lying. You must not tell a lie. The Believer's Bible Commentary explains it this way:

This commandment forbids damaging the character of another person by making statements which are not true, and thus possibly causing him to be punished or even executed. It teaches respect for a persons reputation.

The other commentaries I checked all included a reference to not lying.

Is it wrong to lie to protect another person? In Joshua chapt 2 it tells about Rahab the prostitute who hid the spies and lied to the authorities who came searching for them. If she had told the truth they would have been captured.
But because she did not, the spies escaped and when the walls of Jericho came down she and her family were spared. Her name is included in Hebrews chapter 11, the "Hall of faith."

What do you think, and why?

I've thought a lot about this one, Soapbox. I heard a story about a German woman who had been helping Jews escape to freedom. When she was arrested by the Nazis & sent to a concentration camp, she actually got to go to court to plead her case. She had a long time to think about what she would say, and when she remembered this story of Rahab, she decided that God would condone a lie in her case also. She concocted a story that actually did get her off the hook & out of the concentration camp. (That's how I remember it; I believe I heard her story on Focus on the Family in 2008.)

Recently I heard a sermon by John McArthur, in which he said that Rahab was not a believer when she told that lie, and if God would have wanted the spies to escape, he wouldn't have had to depend on her lie.

Personally, I think we need to be "as cunning as serpents & harmless as doves"...I think we need to rely heavily upon the counsel God gives us at the time of need. Sometimes it may be best to say nothing. I suspect that someday in the near future we will be facing some very trying times. I want to walk so close to the Lord that I will recognize His voice when He tells me what to do.