"And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also; go forth and do so. Now therefore, behold the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these, thy prophets" (1 Kings xxii, 20-23). "If the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet" (Ezek. xiv, 9). "O Lord, thou hast deceived me" (Jer. xx, 7). "Wilt thou [God] be altogether unto me as a liar?" (Jer. xv, 18.) "God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie" (2 Thess. ii, 11). Respecting the forbidden fruit God said: "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Gen. ii, 17). But the serpent said, "Ye shall not surely die" (iii, 4). Satan's declaration proved true, God's declaration proved untrue. Thus, according to the Bible, the first truth told to man was told by the devil; the first lie told to man was told by God. In regard to the promised land God says: "Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, ... and ye shall know my breach of promise" (Num. xiv, 30-34). God commands Moses to deceive Pharaoh (Ex. iii, 18), he rewards the midwives for their deception (Ex. i, 15-20), and instructs Samuel to deceive Saul (1 Sam. xvi, 2). "And the Lord said unto Samuel, ... fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take a heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord." Would an omnipotent and a just God use falsehood and deceit? If there be such a God we must believe that he is an honest and a truthful Being. But this God of the Bible violates nearly every pledge he makes, and instructs his children to lie and deceive. The patriarchs all follow his example and instructions. Abraham tries to deceive Pharaoh and Abimelech (Gen. xii, 13-19; xx, 2); Sarah tries to deceive the Lord himself (Gen. xviii, 13-15). Abraham becomes the parent of a liar. Isaac said of Rebecca, his wife, "She is my sister" (Gen. xxvi, 7). Rebecca in turn deceives her husband (Gen. xxvii, 6-17). Jacob sustains the reputation of the family for lying. "And he came unto his father, and said, My father; and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son? And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau, thy first-born.... And he discerned him not, so he blessed him. And he said, Art thou my very son, Esau? And he said, I am" (Gen. xxvii, 18-24).