A. Only two of the Ten Commandments deal directly with the use of speech. One is the third commandment regarding the reverent use of God’s name, and the other is the ninth commandment, which is the subject of this lesson.
B. The ninth commandment recognizes the vital importance of telling the truth about people. Whether the truth is good or bad, God demanded that His people speak the truth of one another in Israel.
II. THE COMMANDMENT TO ISRAEL: YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS
Exodus 20:16 – "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
A. The ninth commandment was a mandate for the Israelites to tell the truth about one another.
1. This commandment was a not merely a prohibition against lying, but it was a specific requirement for the Israelites to give truthful accounts about one another.
a. Lying and swearing falsely are universally wrong and were condemned in many applications of the Law of Moses (see Lev. 6:1-5 for example), but the ninth commandment specifically protected the Israelites from false testimony.
b. Truthfulness in testimony was essential because eyewitness testimony was the basis of Israel’s justice system (see Num. 35:30; Deut. 17:6; 19:15).
2. This commandment forbade partiality, favoritism, and bias in an Israelite’s testimony.
a. A man of Israel was to tell the truth – whether good or bad – about his neighbor without being influenced by any selfish interests or outside forces. He was to tell the truth whether his neighbor was a friend or a foe, rich or poor, popular or unpopular, etc.
b. Notice Exodus 23:1-3 – "You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. You shall not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice; nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his dispute.”
B. Under the Law of Moses, the penalty for violating the ninth commandment depended upon the intent and nature of the false testimony.
1. The determination and application of this penalty is explained in Deuteronomy 19:16-21 – "If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”
2. Notice the two-fold purpose of this penalty.
a. Certainly, a false witness was penalized as a punishment for his evil deed. He received the fairest measure of justice possible, which was exactly the hardship that he intended to inflict on his neighbor.
b. This penalty was also intended to deter all other Israelites from falsely accusing their neighbors of wrongdoing. In this way, the evil of bearing false witness would be purged from Israel.
III. THE MODERN APPLICATION
A. False witnessing was, is, and always will be an abomination in the eyes of God.
1. In Proverbs 6:16-19, "a false witness who utters lies” is listed among the seven things hated by God and considered as an abomination to Him. God has no tolerance for such behavior.
2. Consider the wisdom of the Proverbs concerning the sin of bearing false witness.
a. "He who speaks truth tells what is right, but a false witness, deceit.” (Prov. 12:17)
b. "A trustworthy witness will not lie, but a false witness utters lies.” (Prov. 14:5)
c. "A truthful witness saves lives, but he who utters lies is treacherous.” (Prov. 14:25)
d. "A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who tells lies will not escape.” (Prov. 19:5)
e. "A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who tells lies will perish.” (Prov. 19:9)
f. "A false witness will perish, but the man who listens to the truth will speak forever.” (Prov. 21:28)
g. "Like a club and a sword and a sharp arrow is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor.” (Prov. 25:18)
3. Today, bearing false witness and all lying is forbidden under the gospel, for Colossians 3:9 says, "Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,”
B. False witnessing is evidence of Satan’s influence on the heart.
1. Just as the sixth, seventh, and eighth commandments (really all ten commandments) governed matters of the heart, so also the ninth commandment prohibiting false witnesses also concerns the heart. In Matthew 15:19, Jesus said, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.”
2. It is Satan who seduces the heart into the evil practice of bearing false witness.
a. Notice what Jesus said about Satan and his followers in John 8:44 – "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
b. Truly, Satan is the original false witness, for he implied that God had lied when He told Eve that she would die if she ate the forbidden fruit (Gen. 3:1-5). Satan’s testimony was a false witness against the truthfulness of God.
C. False witnessing has become a way of life for many people in our world today.
1. There are some who bear false witness for their own gratification.
a. Such persons will lie about others if they believe they can gain an advantage to themselves. Sadly, it is a common practice in politics and business.
b. An example of such behavior is that seen in 1Kings 21:13 when Jezebel arranged for false witnesses against Naboth in order to acquire his vineyard – "Then the two worthless men came in and sat before him; and the worthless men testified against him, even against Naboth, before the people, saying, ‘Naboth cursed God and the king.’ So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones.”
2. There are some who bear false witness in order to promote a false idea.
a. These false witnesses will give false testimony about people or events in order to create a false impression and to hide the truth. This occurs in politics, science, and other areas.
b. An example of this would be in the debate of evolution versus creation.
i. Many have claimed to find "missing links” between apes and men, but all of them have been hoaxes ("Nebraska Man,” "Piltdown Man,” "Lucy,” etc.).
ii. Notice Romans 1:25 – "For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
3. There are also some who bear false witness to promote a false religion or to justify their own false religious beliefs.
a. Many denominations and sects have started as the result of false witnesses (Mormonism from Joseph Smith, Watchtower Society from Charles Taze Russell, Seventh Day Adventism from William Miller and Ellen G. White, etc.).
b. It is for this reason that we are instructed in 1John 4:1, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
c. The test for these false witnesses is very simple: "The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1John 2:4).
IV. CONCLUSION
A. Let us remember that our Lord suffered tremendously because of false witnesses (Matt. 26:59-61; Luke 23:1-2). No follower of Christ should ever imitate those who persecuted our Lord.
B. In the final lesson, we will consider the tenth commandment – "You shall not covet.”