(1.) Whether the midwives were guilty of an officious lie, when they told Pharaoh, in Exod. i. 19. that the Hebrew women were delivered of their children ere they came in unto them; concerning whom it is said, in the following verse, that God dealt well with the midwives for this report, which carries in it the appearance of a lie.
Answ. To this it may be replied,
[1.] That they seem not to have been guilty of a lie; for it is not improbable, that God in mercy to the Hebrew women, and their children, might give them uncommon strength; so that they might be delivered without the midwives assistance: Or,
[2.] If this was not the case of all the Hebrew women, but only of some, or many of them, the midwives report contains only a concealing part of the truth, while they related in other respects, that which was matter of fact. Now a person is not guilty of telling a lie, who does not discover all that he knows. There is a vast difference between concealing a part of the truth, and telling that which is directly false. No one is obliged to tell all he knows, to one, who, he is sure, will make a bad use of it. This seems to be the case of the midwives; and therefore their action was justifiable, and commended by God, they being not guilty, properly speaking, of an officious lye.
(2.) Another enquiry is, what judgment we must pass concerning the actions of Rahab, the harlot, who invented an officious lye, to save the spies from those who pursued them, in Josh. ii. 4, 5. it is said, she took the two men and hid them; and, at the same time, pretended, so those who were sent to enquire of her concerning them, that she wist not whence they were; but that they went out of the city about the time of the shutting of the gate; though whither they went she knew not. The main difficulty we have to account for, is what the apostle says, in which he seems to commend this action, in Heb. xi. 31. By faith Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
Answ. To which it may be replied, that the apostle says, indeed, that she received the spies with peace, that is, she protected, and did not betray them into the hand of their enemies: But this act of faith does not relate directly to the lie that she invented to conceal them; for, doubtless, she would have been more clear from the guilt of sin, had she refused to give the messengers any answer relating to them, and so had given them leave to search for them, and left the event hereof to providence. This, indeed, was a very difficult duty; for it might have endangered her life; and her choosing to secure them and herself, by inventing this lie, brought with it a degree of guilt, and was an instance of the weakness of her faith in this respect.
But, on the other hand, that faith which the apostle commends in her, respects some other circumstances attending this action; and, accordingly, it is not said, that by faith she made the report to the messengers concerning the spies; but she received them with peace: And there are several things in which her faith was very remarkable, as,
[1.] That she was confident that the Lord would give them the land, which they were contending for, Josh. ii. 9.
[2.] In that she makes a just inference relating to this matter, from the wonders that God had wrought for them in the red sea, ver. 10. And,
[3.] In that noble confession which she makes, that the Lord their God, is God in heaven above, and the earth beneath, ver. 11.