"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour." - Exodus 20:16

The Ninth commandment.

Every commandment we have read thus far has revealed to us a facet of the character of our God. In order, they reveal Him to us as :-

1. Our sole and sovereign redeemer who rescues us from bondage.
2. Our formless Creator who is not to be confused with His creation, but is to be worshipped in spirit and truth.
3. One whose very Name has mighty power.
4. One who has created both work and rest.
5. One who has and honors a parental relationship with man.
6. The origin, author and giver of life.
7. A Covenant keeper and faithful Husband.
8. Our rightful Owner.

This commandment shows us His nature as correct Judge and faithful Witness.

The ability of a human court to render a proper verdict is predicated on the truthfulness and completeness of the evidence being presented, and this includes the testimony of witnesses. Perjury perverts and prevents true justice, and that is why it is so hated by Him.

In the US, the legal term obstruction of justice is most commonly invoked to punish people (other than the suspect) lying to investigating officers, and is extended to also cover other aspects like perjury, keeping silent, interfering with law enforcement, or tampering with and concealing evidence. Guess where we drew that guidance from :-)!

Here are some scriptures that reveal our Gods thoughts on lying, whether in a court of Law or outside it.

"You must not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked to be a malicious witness. " - Exo 23:1

"If a malicious witness testifies against someone accusing him of a crime, the two people in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and judges in authority at that time. The judges are to make a careful investigation, and if the witness turns out to be a liar who has falsely accused his brother, you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother.(!) - Deut 19:16-19. (Wow - imagine us applying this standard today)

"The Lord hates six things; in fact, seven are detestable to Him: arrogant eyes, --a lying tongue--, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil, --a lying witness who gives false testimony, -- and one who stirs up trouble among brothers." - Prov 6:16-19

"A false witness will not go unpunished,and one who utters lies perishes." - Prov 19:9

Even silence is sometimes a form of false witness. "Now if a person sins after he hears a public adjuration to testify when he is a witness, whether he has seen or otherwise known, if he does not tell it, then he will bear his guilt." - Lev 5:1 This is akin to being subpoenaed when one refuses to testify, and being guilty of obstruction of justice if one still keeps silent. Both errors of commission and omission are covered in the Law!

Perjury ( lying to the court ) also involves swearing falsely - as the witnesses are made to swear by God to tell the truth. They are now in double jeopardy - because in addition to perjury, they have just profaned His Name!

God knew our sinful nature, that is why capital punishment was never allowed to be administered on the basis of a single persons testimony. "At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people." - Deut 17:6-7 You see, false testimony in the OT would also quite literally bring the sin of shedding innocent blood upon those giving false testimony. Again, imagine this being put into practice today!

You may say that you are not guilty of this, but just stop and consider - have you ever indulged in malicious gossip? Repeated things about someone behind their back that you may not have known were true ? Then you have sinned against them. As a matter of fact - even if it is true - tale bearing or gossip is also frowned upon - because ultimately- the intent is malice against your neighbor. This is also the root cause of strife and division amongst people and is something that is to be avoided if we are to dwell in harmony with each other.
"Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people:"- Lev 19:16, "A talebearer revealeth secrets: But he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter."-Prov 11:13, "Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: So where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; So is a contentious man to kindle strife.The words of a talebearer are as wounds, And they go down into the innermost parts of the belly."-Prov 26:20-22

The New Testament gives us the clearest picture of Jesus Himself in court, and what He says under oath is one of the most interesting things in all of it!

" Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. " - Matt 26:59-64

They were not able to find any charges against Him. But don't miss this - once Jesus was put ON OATH in the name of God - under it - HE DECLARED HIMSELF TO BE THE SON OF GOD!!!! He did not remain silent! This statement was what condemned Him in their eyes - His own testimony was used to crucify Him, an act not permissible under Jewish Law (He was the only witness). In our modern day, He was not granted the benefit of the Fifth Amendment (allowed not to incriminate Himself) - the evil He supposedly did was to say that He was God! He spoke the Truth and died for it.

The Apostle Paul also makes reference to this commandment when he speaks about the truth of the Gospel. "...And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. " 1 Cor 15:14-17

Our very assurance of Salvation rests on the faithful witness of Christ's resurrection!!! Thank God for eyewitnesses of this event, and thank Him for their faithful testimonies in the face of persecution that did not deny this event but persevered to bring us the Gospel.

A time is coming when God will raise up two witnesses (some say they will be Enoch and Elijah - the only two people in the Bible that are recorded to not have died) in order that they may speak truth to an Antichrist world and be killed for it - but God will resurrect them for all the world to see that He is ... "Jesus Christ, who is the --faithful witness--, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.": Rev 1:5

Hallelujah!!