Sheker And What The Big Lie Means For God’s People

It seems like every other day there is a new big conspiracy theory. People can’t get enough of these trumped-up stories. Everyone has the inside scoop on the truth.

The 2020 election was rigged
Covid-19 isn’t real
A new world order is coming

The irony behind conspiracy theories is they claim to know the truth better than everyone else. But actually, most just reject the truth in search of what they want to hear.

It sounds a lot like the original sin when Satan deceived Adam and Eve. Satan tricked them into believing there was more out there and it was better than what God had already given them.

That is the false promise of deception, people think it is good and will make them happy; but in reality, there’s no truth to it and it causes more harm than good. That is the poison of lies.

Lying

A lie is defined as, “Marked by or containing untrue statements; falsehoods that mislead others.” Lying is a process of distracting others from the truth.

Christianity has taught lying is a sin for over 2000 years. It displeases God because it is contrary to His nature. The Bible records an account of two early Christians who died because of their lying (Acts 5:1-11).

God doesn’t tolerate lying among His people. The Torah forbids the appearance of and association with falsehoods.

Sheker

In Judaism, falsehoods are called Sheker and it means that which makes you cold, when we listen to deceptive words, our hearts grow cold to the truth and we become numb inside.

Judaism doesn’t take falsehoods lightly because they lead away from the truth (Emet) and God. In the Parashat Kedoshim of the Torah Moses lays out ethical practices for God’s people to live holy lives.

God’s people were commanded to stay away from liars and avoid the appearance of falsehoods (Leviticus 19:11); because lying is unacceptable for His people. In Judaism, there is no such thing as a little white lie.

Little Lies

All lying is a sin. Years ago I heard a Promise Keepers speaker explain how Satan leads God’s people away from God one sin at a time. It’s like a cow on a farm, it will bend down and eat grass without paying attention to its surroundings.

Eventually, the cow gets so far away from the farm and herd; it is lost and needs to be rescued, all because it wants to satisfy its stomach. Lies make us happy by distracting us from the truth. And that is how conspiracy theories work. Below are some popular conspiracy theories.

Elvis is alive
The CIA killed JFK
The Holocaust didn’t happen
The moon landing was faked
Princess Diana was killed by the royal family
Y2K
9/11 was an inside job
Covid isn’t real
Mass shootings are faked
The 2020 election was stolen

The irony of conspiracy theories is they lead away from the truth. Yet many conservatives still support a man who admitted to lying to them and promised to keep doing so as long as he felt it was best for America! Pride has blinded many conservatives to the truth and they have bought the big lie.

Big Lies

All sin separates us from God, so all sin is big. Sin causes us to miss the mark of God’s original plan. Satan always wanted to be God and led man astray with the original big lie.

Jesus warned His followers about false teachers and those who exalt themselves (Matthew 7:15; 24:24). Ever since the first big lie, Satan has been doing three things: