The oldest boomerang discovered dates back to the Stone Age. Modern designs are constructed with aerofoil sections which enables boomerangs to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. Prior to throwing my first boomerang, I dabbled with an aerobie frisbee which is designed for distance, not meant to return back to you. While studying the life of Abram, I realized that lying is like a boomerang as sooner or later your careless words will come back to hit and haunt you.
And when he was about to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, I know that you are beautiful to behold. 12 So when the Egyptians see you, they will say, This is his wife; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say, I beg of you, that you are [c]my sister, so that it may go well with me for your sake and my life will be spared because of you. 14 And when Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into Pharaoh’s house [harem], Genesis 12:11-15.
If integrity is doing what’s right when no one is looking, Abram didn’t begin his journey with God on a good note. According to Moses, Abram was more concerned with saving his own life during a trip to Egypt rather than telling the truth. Rather than adhere to the words of King Solomon in Proverbs 3:5-6, Abram trusted in his own understanding. Meanwhile, Abram encourages his wife Sarai to play along, “you’re my sister,” wink wink. Based upon the passage below, this wasn’t Abram’s only lie.
So Isaac stayed in Gerar. 7 And the men of the place asked him about his wife, and he said, She is my sister; for he was afraid to say, She is my wife—[thinking], Lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she is attractive and is beautiful to look upon. 8 When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah his wife. 9 And Abimelech called Isaac and said, See here, she is certainly your wife! How did you [dare] say to me, She is my sister? And Isaac said to him, Because I thought, Lest I die on account of her, Genesis 26:6-9.
Like father, like son as Isaac appears to have adopted Abram’s bad habit of lying. Moses refers to this as generational sins passed down by a father to his children, Exodus 20:4-5. Abram’s sinful tendency led to a life of exaggeration and half-truths. When placed into an identical situation as his father, Isaac tells the Philistine king that Rebekah was his sister. Before Abimelech took Rebekah to be his wife, Isaac’s caressing of Rebekah gave their little secret away. The next time you think about stretching the truth, remember that lying is like a boomerang which will eventually harm you in the future.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 