Does God Lie?: One Year Bible Reading for July 2

Today we read from these verses in the One Year Bible:

2 Kings 20:1-22:2
Acts 21:18-36
Psalm 150:1-6
Proverbs 18:9-10

Let's look at 2 Kings. God tells King Hezekiah to get his affairs in order because he is going to die of the sickness which he currently has. But in a few verses, we see that this does not, in fact, happen. Hezekiah recovers. So what's the deal? Was God wrong? Did He lie?

We see many examples of this throughout the Bible, most notably in the book of Jonah. In fact, it made Jonah so mad that he wanted to die! God told him to go to Nineveh and tell them that in 40 days, they would be destroyed. Forty days came and went, and Nineveh was not destroyed. Jonah felt like a fool because he had told them what God said to tell them and then it didn't happen!

Hopefully you know the answer to this, but if not, allow me to tell you. God, of course, is not wrong and does not lie. But God DOES tell us what will happen IF WE DON'T REPENT. In fact, many of the warnings given to us about hell, the lake of fire, and eternal damnation are warnings of what will happen to us IF WE DON'T REPENT. 

If we DO repent, then God blesses us instead. He doesn't lie - He warns. And when we do the right thing in response to His warning, He is delighted to reward us.

God, thanks for teaching us that repentance is so very important - for all of us.