A Quick Look at Bold Face Liars in the Bible -- #2 Quiz

Answer: Sarah

It boggles the mind, but Sarah laughed at a statement made by God and when He stated Sarah laughed at His statement, she lied and insisted she didn't laugh. The situation took place when the LORD proclaimed Sarah would give birth to a child. Rather than showing faith and acceptance in what the LORD had told her, Sarah laughed at the claim she would give birth to a son, largely because she was ninety years old and her husband Abraham was one hundred. (Genesis 17:17)

When the LORD accused Sarah of laughing, and not showing faith, she lied and insisted she didn't laugh.

The account of Sarah laughing, and denying she did such a thing, can be found in Genesis 18:1-15.

Scripture goes on to tell of Sarah giving birth to Isaac. Isaac would marry Rebekkah and they would have two children -- Jacob and Esau.

Answer: Laban

Laban was definitely a bold face liar. A classic case in point is Laban telling Jacob he could marry his daughter Rachel if he worked seven years for him, as per Genesis 29:18. To Jacob's amazement, his father-in-law Laban pulled a fast one on Jacob's wedding night and arranged for Leah to sleep with him rather than Rachel. Leah was Rachel's older sister, but according to Scripture, Jacob greatly desired Rachel over her.

Laban explained it was customary for the people of his area to have their oldest daughter marry first and talked Jacob into working another seven years to win Rachel's hand.

In addition to being a liar, Laban appears to have been a very difficult man to work for. Genesis 31:7 quotes Jacob as saying Laban had changed his wages "ten times".

Answer: Rahab

Rahab was a prostitute who lied to officials in Jericho, allowing two Israelite spies to escape and return to Joshua. For the Israelites, Rahab was a heroine. However, for the people of Canaan, especially Jericho, she was nothing but a traitorous prostitute who was a bold face liar.

According to Scripture, Joshua sent two spies into the Promised Land with expressed orders to take a good look at Jericho. (Details can be found in Joshua 2.) The two spies, who are not named, are best remembered for taking refuge in the house of Rahab.

In addition to giving the spies a safe haven, Rahab lied to Jericho officials who came to her door to find the two Israelite men. According to Scripture, Rahab hid the spies beneath a pile of flax on her roof and when the officials came looking for them, she set them on the wrong trail stating the spies had left some time ago.

Because Rahab gave the two spies a safe haven, Scripture states the Israelites spared her life, as well as the lives of her family, when they conquered Jericho. Incidentally, Rahab's name appears in Matthew 1:5 as part of the genealogy of Jesus and she is also saluted in Hebrews 11:31 for her "faith".

Answer: Isaac

Isaac is the correct answer. Issac and Rebekah pretended to be brother and sister to deceive the king of Gerar, much as Isaac's parents, Abraham and Sarah, had done before them. According to Scripture, Isaac and Rebekah moved to Gerar because of a famine. Scripture reports Rebekah was extremely beautiful and Isaac feared if he was known as her husband he would be killed and Rebekah put in the king's harem. The same details basically hold for Abraham and Sarah who had moved to Gerar due to famine a number of years before.

The deception of Isaac and Rebekah is reported in Genesis 26:1-10 while the deception of Abraham and Sarah is contained in Genesis 20:1-1-18. On top of all this, Abraham and Sarah also pretended to be brother and sister in Egypt to spare the life of Abraham. That account can be found in Genesis 12:10-20. In other words, there are three cases in Genesis in which couples pretended to be brothers and sisters to spare the lives of the males. In all three cases, the deceptions were found out, but the lives of Isaac and Abraham were spared.

Answer: Jacob

Jacob was a bold face liar who tricked his father Isaac into blessing him over Esau. According to Scripture, Jacob disguised himself as Esau with the help of Rebekah to pull off the ruse on Isaac who was elderly and frail and his eyes "were so dim that he could not see." On top of this, Jacob blatantly lied to his father, insisting he was Esau. The ruse is recounted in Genesis 27:1-40.

According to Scripture, Rebekah favored Isaac while Jacob favored Esau and this where things started to fall apart. With Isaac basically being on his deathbed, Rebekah convinced Jacob to disguise himself at Esau to obtain his blessing. Scripture reports Isaac requested Esau to hunt game for him and make some "savory food" and when he returned he would bless his son. Rebekkah overheard the conversation and swung into action and orchestrated a plan of deception which worked perfectly for Jacob.

Answer: Job

Job made the statement to three of his friends who had visited him after he was beset by a series of calamities. According to Scripture, Job's friends wanted to comfort him, but they only made matters worse as they failed to listen and pointed an accusing finger at him.

In his rejection of the harsh counsel of his friends, Job struck back. In Job 13:4 in the NKJV, he states they were "forgers of lies" and "worthless physicians."

The three friends, according to Job 2:11, were Shuhite, Eliphaz a Temanite and Zophar a Naamathite. Later, a fourth friend, Elihu, would visit.

Answer: John

John made the statement in 1 John 1:10. Tradition holds the writer was the same John who was one of the Twelve Disciples and the writer of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament. Some modern day theologians, however, dispute this fact.

First John is the twenty-third book in the order of appearance in the New Testament. It appears immediately after Second Peter and is followed by Second John. First John is a relatively small book, consisting of only five chapters. It is, however, considerably larger than the epistles of Second John and Third John which consist of only one chapter each.

Answer: Peter

Peter, of course, is the correct answer. In fact, Scripture states he lied on three different occasions, insisting he did not know Christ, just as predicted by Jesus.

In John 13:37, Peter defiantly told Christ he was prepared to lay down his life for Him. Jesus responded by saying Peter would deny Him three times and a rooster would crow. And sure enough it came to pass.

His first denial was made to a servant girl, as per John 18:17. Two more denials would follow before the rooster crowed, as per 18:27.

Answer: Satan

Satan is the correct answer. Jesus made the statement while admonishing the Pharisees. In addition to calling Satan the father of lies, Jesus, in the NKJV, calls the devil a murderer. According to notes in the NKJV Study Bible, Jesus called Satan a murderer because his agents were seeking to kill Him.

Answer: Caiaphas

Caiaphas, the high priest, is the correct answer, as per Matthew 26:57. According to the passage, Jesus was taken to appear before Caiaphas, the scribes and the elders, where "many false witnesses" against Christ came forward. Their claims, however, did not hold water, even in the eyes of the highly-biased scribes and elders.

A turning point is reported in Verse 61 in which two false witnesses quoted Jesus as saying, in the NKJV, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days." As notes in the NKJV Study Bible explain, the statement was "a misquotation and misapplication of Christ's words (see John 2:19-21)."

Nevertheless, the Pharisees felt they had all the ammunition they needed and wheels were firmly set in motion for His crucifixion.