Recorded in the Bible are various instances of such falsehoods– Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, as well as Jacob when he deceived Isaac by pretending to be Esau, the firstborn who is Jacob’s brother, with dire consequences, are just some falsehoods which are spread. Falsehood can and will destroy lives, society and country. In fact, falsehood caused the downfall of humanity. Adam and Eve, our first parents believed a falsehood which eventually resulted in dire consequences—death for all humanity—as recorded in Gen 3:1-7:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.

For God knows that when you eat from it. your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

God gave a specific command to Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:16-17: “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’” Satan, in the form of a serpent, tricked Eve into believing a falsehood that she would not die. When Satan distorted the truth and turned it into falsehood, it caused Adam and Eve to disobey God’s command, and finally brought death to all humanity. It is critical that we always speak the truth. Any lies or falsehoods will lead to serious consequences. In the case of Adam and Eve, it brought suffering and death.

God hates lies and any form of falsehood or dishonesty. Proverbs 2:22: “The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.” Through His Word, God warns us that the origin of falsehood is from Satan himself (John 8:44):

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

The only safeguard to be able to discern between truth and falsehood is exercising due diligence to know the truth. We need to immerse ourselves in God’s word and study to understand the truth of God. God has given us a sound mind to discern. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that we exercise discernment when we read news or articles in the internet media. Do not believe and adopt all the information that is in the media. Anything that is too good to be true, remains just that—too good to be true. Have a critical mind when we read articles from the media. There will be plenty of fake news in the media.

May God grant us the spirit of discernment so we are not fooled and misled by fake news that will bring about our own downfall.