COME AS A CHILD LESSON 149 THE NINTH COMMANDMENT

THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

It appears that we will still be pondering the fact that God and Abraham were up on that mountain discussing the Ten Commandments all the way through the Christmas season and right up into the coming of the New Year.   

At least we will be starting off the new year with the commandments of God fresh in our memories and in our hearts!  This will be good and worth all the study and meditations that we have done. We only have two more commandments to look at.

If one thing about the coming year is better because we have studied and committed ourselves to keeping these commandments; the world will be a better place in which to live!

There is SO MUCH to be said about each of the commandments that we can only touch partially on all the points of each one in the brief space of these blogs.  We could actually discuss the facts surrounding these passages for weeks and weeks.  There is so much to consider! 

Today we will ponder the ninth commandment that God gave to Moses.  We can read it word for word from Exodus 20:16.  The New International translation reads:  “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”  Some other versions read:  “false witness” instead of using the words “false testimony.”  They all mean the same thing.  It is actually very simple.  When you speak of someone else; be truthful! 

 There are various degrees and reasons as to why this particular commandment matters so much to God. 

Sometimes getting to the total truth of a situation is a life or death matter!   

You can falsely accuse someone of something and they can be convicted for things that they did not do!  The consequences of this can be astronomical.  God’s own son died such a death.  Many of God’s beloved people have died such deaths.  If you hurt God’s people, it is as if you have wounded the heart of God.  He does not take this lightly.

One little slip of the tongue, whether intentional or by mistake, can change someone else’s life forever.  The tongue is a horrible weapon if used in the wrong way. 

Have you ever had someone commit slander against you? 

I grew up in a small town and moved away later.  Sometimes I am amazed to hear the false tales of things I never did; things that come back to me from a few true and loyal old friends who still live there and know better.  For many years some of these things broke my heart.  God has healed those broken places now; but maybe because of such experiences this commandment speaks to me of a Father who loved his children so much that He warned them ahead of time that such things would happen, and He even cared enough to chisel a law down in stone to forbid it.  How well our Father knows us.  How well His provision of love covers us and heals us and makes us whole.  All we have to do is listen and obey.    

People can pay dearly for mistakes they NEVER made because of ugly gossip and rumors from jealous and revengeful people.  It is very sad; but this happens all the time.

Have you ever had such a situation happen to you? 

Unfortunately, most of us can name at least one very hurtful time when our neighbor gave false witness against us.  In most of these situations we never really know all of the reasons why such things happened just the way they did.  There is usually some unknown factor at play.  Human nature is very strange and hard to figure out; but God understands this.  Rarely do people have enough integrity within themselves, without the prompting of God's Holy Spirit, to confess their mistakes and ask forgiveness.  Perhaps that is part of the reason God gave this commandment.  He wanted to make sure we understood that this is NOT okay.

 We all can name times when we stood innocently by not understanding why things were like they were because we were unaware of some false testimony floating around in the background among our friends and neighbors, even affecting those that we hold most dear.   More often than we like to know, the very innocent are often stained and shunned for years because of such incidences! 

Bearing false witness is a horrible sin, and God doesn’t let these things go unnoticed.  He is watching.  There is an old saying that is very true regarding this commandment:  “Beware for your sins will find you out.”

God is probably looking at all of us and shaking His head constantly, wondering when we will ever grow up and grow into a Kingdom way of life that allows room only for truth and love. 

God NEVER wants us to give false testimony against our neighbor. 

Innocence is a very beautiful thing; but it can quickly be destroyed by people who act like a pack of vicious wolves prowling around trying to destroy all that is good.  In today's world this really is an ugly fact as we think about elections and various untruths that have been presented from both sides of the fence during election campaigns.  There sometimes seems to be a new prevailing philosophy called "win at any cost."  This commandment counters that type of living and puts us back into a world based on reality.  What makes some people think that it is okay to lie in order to bring about some Utopian theories that are based on only partial truths?  Because someone said something is so in order to bring about circumstances that benefit their platform does not mean it is truth.  The end never justifies the means.  Lies, rumors and untruth keep people from having a level playing field.  It is not just and that is not the way God conducts His business. This is the logic of murderers and thieves; not sane people.  All that God's people say and do is to be based on solid truth.  

Truth is ALWAYS the best policy; even when it hurts.  

Without direct truth one little fib leads into another and another until it takes at least 100 lies to recover from that one little tale.  Christian people are not to live their lives like this. 

If you do not know the truth, it is best to remain silent.  As Jesus once said; “Let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no.”  The truth is always less complicated and much easier to explain.

The God of the Universe is a fair and just God.  A false witness perverts justice.  It tries to make lies truth and truth lies.  This often happens as a means to achieve power, greed or to cover some secret crime of the one who perverts the truth.  If we are to imitate God in all that we do; we must have truth in order for justice to prevail in the land.  Yet often in today's world, it is the one who lives out truth that is accused and slandered.  How should this be handled by the godly?

It can be said that a good conscience is a wall of brass that will be able to stand against a false witness.  Jesus never had to defend Himself.  He simply spoke truth and nothing else.  Keep your conscience pure before God, and He will come to your defense when the time is right.  Time proves all things. 

Do you know someone who has been falsely accused?  If you do not stand up for that person you are as guilty as the person doing the accusing. 

We should defend our brothers and sisters against false witness and be careful not to let falsehoods continue.  Remember the acts of Jonathan as he took up for his friend David against the slanders of King Saul.  It would have been easy for Jonathan to ignore this situation and not have a confrontation with a King; but the defense of his brother was important, because Jonathan had a truly loving heart. 

Those who truly love do not slander. 

To bear false witness is to sow discord among the brethren.  Solomon wrote of this in Proverbs when he said in Proverbs 6:16 that “There are six things that the LORD strongly dislikes, seven that are an abomination to him:  haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” 

A false witness undermines God’s covenant with His people.  The covenant is based and founded on truth and falsehoods distort the whole concept and present a bad, wrong and incorrect image of what should be a good and godly people living together in truth, love and righteousness.  A good witness can be destroyed in a hurry by those who plot and use such falsehoods to their advantage.  This is one of Satan's greatest tools in bringing down the people of God.  Perhaps that is why the scriptures tell us that God strongly dislikes a false witness.

It was actually a false witness that sent Jesus to the cross where He took on the burden of paying for our sins.  He was falsely accused of blasphemy.  They said He could not claim to be the true Son of God.  His resurrection from the dead became the true witness that countered the false witness.  The truth always wins, be forewarned! 

Because He was innocent and perfect we are now able to be free and cleansed of our sin, and even those who accused Him falsely, if repentant could be forgiven.  False accusations bring only death and destruction; but truth and repentance brings joy, resurrection and restoration!

Throughout the pages of the history of mankind there have been many martyrs who have died deaths due to false witnesses.  Stephen is one of the greatest examples after Jesus.  Stephen told the council that Jesus had come mainly to fulfill the law and the prophets.  For this they said he spoke against the temple and the law.  This council of Pharisees were so very wrong to perceive this!  As Stephen died they saw his face shine like the sun; and they saw the witness of heaven in Stephen’s countenance.  How different things will be in the final judgment when these same accusers will have to look upon that face again.  There will be no one to collaborate with their lies in that day.  Each man must give an individual account before God for his own sins. Every idle word will be recalled. The truth is all that will stand in that day. 

There will be judgment for those who bear un-repented false witnesses in the end of days.  There are numerous biblical examples of God’s anger against such people.  One example is that of Jezebel who had two men to bear false witness against Naboth which led to his being stoned to death.  It was all about greed, over the possession of a vineyard that she wanted King Ahab to own.  Jezebel met with a cruel and horrible end.  

As in all of the commandments that God gave to Moses on the mountain; Jesus came along later and explained them even further. 

In Matthew  Chapter 19 we read of the rich young ruler who asked Jesus what he should do in order to have eternal life.  Jesus answered him by telling him if he wanted to enter into life that he should keep the commandments.  When the man heard this he asked; which ones?  Jesus specifically repeated:  “You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” 

Did you catch the fact that in order to have eternal life we need to not bear false witness against our neighbors?  

I’m just glad that the conversation with Jesus started out with Him clarifying the fact that only God is perfect.  None of us can keep this commandment as we should, but we can try, and we can repent when we fail.  The thing we have going for us that the rich young ruler lacked is that we live in a time of grace.  We are all over here on the other side of the cross.  God is showing all of us mercy!  It will not last forever.  There will come a time when the fullness of time arrives and that last sinner has repented.  Only God knows when that will be.  It is important that we all are living in repentance and covered in the blood of Jesus when that moment arrives.  It matters that we are living in truth.

Let us turn from slander and false witnesses. 

Let us show mercy and grace and love to one another. 

Let us live as much as possible in peace with each other, and let us pray for Christ to return so that He will be able to usher in a government of peace. 

This is the season for peace on earth.  Let us be living out the words and not just singing them in a sweet little song. 

Let there be peace on earth; and let it begin with me!

Let there be peace on earth; the peace that was meant to be.

With God as our Father, brothers all are we.

Let us live with our brothers in perfect harmony.