This came up in one of our “stump the pastor” Q&A’s.
Can God lie?
The answer was yes, in certain situations when it is for a tactical reason.
For example, God tells Moses to ask Pharaoh to let his people go out to the desert to worship for three days, but both knowing full well it was for them to escape Egypt.
EXODUS 3:
“Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’”
Another example is when the disciples ask Jesus to join them to go to the temple.
John 7:
“You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee. 10 However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.”
So, just as it is not unethical to lie or deceive your enemy in battle, it was not unethical for God or Jesus to lie (or have Moses lie).
I would not presume to judge God, Jesus or Moses. I would not presume to understand fully the “thoughts” of God. If pastors choose to, well, that is just a matter of belief. I disagree, but again, it would be arguing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. God is supernatural. Assuming the “rules” of nature or the “rules” of man apply, is inappropriate. God is/exists further than the edge where language meets the abyss.
Of course if you want to describe something beyond language...
Freewill discussions are more interesting.
DK
"God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
1 Samuel 15:29
"Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind."
Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.
So no, God does not lie. He said "I AM the Truth." You entertain a bit of Zen nonsense if you suppose he would lie about whether He could lie!
But there IS one out there, called the Adversary, who deviates from truth:
You are from your father the devil...When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.(Hebrews 6:18)