Ex 20:16 – You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
Not just you shall not lie
The meaning of the commandment
- Narrow
- Context of legal testimony
- Lev 6:1-7
- In formal court hearing or elsewhere where truthfulness is required
- Distorting the facts in such a way as to harm one’s neighbor
- False witness is a form of theft
- Along with the 8th and 10th relates specifically to property in many of the case laws
- Witnesses in other than property crimes dealt with
- Legal witnesses hold sway over life and death
- I Kings 21:13
- Matt 26:60-61
- Acts 6:13-14
- In capital cases the witnesses had to cast the first stone
- Deut 17:7
- In capital cases a false witness receives the same punishment as the accused would have if convicted
- Deut 19:16019
- Promotes a General concern for truthfulness within the covenant community
- Hosea 4:1-
- Lying represents the meaning of the 9th commandment here
- Foundation for the general biblical polemic against lying
- Ps 12:2.
- Ps 63:11
- Ps 119:29
- Prov 6:17.
- Prov 13:5e.
- Zech 8:16
- Eph 4:25.
- I John 2:21
- Rev 21:27
- Lying is a regular characteristics of non-Christians
- Rom 1:25
- Rom 3:8-18
- 2 Cor 4:2-4
- 2 Thess 2:9-12
- False prophets were stoned to death
- Deut 13:1-5
- Lying is a way we harm each other
- Gossip and Slander
- Ps 15:3
- 2 Cor 12:20
- Gal 5:19-20
- I Tim 5:13
- 3 John 10
- Judging rashly
- 2 Sam 16:4
- Matt 7:1-3
- John 9:2
- Twisting the words of others
- Matt 26:61
- John 2:19
- Power of tongue to do evil
- Gen 11:6-7
- Rom 3:13-14
- James 3:2-10
- Gossip and Slander
- WLC 144
- WLC 145
Are we always required to tell the truth?
- Augustine said the 9th is a prohibition against lying under any circumstances
- A lie is not simply an untrue statement
- A mistake is not a lie
- A parable is not a lie
- A fictional story is not a lie – unless it is represented as factual
- Hyperbolic statements for effect are not lies
- In games, we often use deception for strategy
- Everyone understands and participates in agreement under those rules
- Ball fake etc.
- Jokes often involve practical suspension of truth
- Some warning here
- Proverbs 26:18-19
- Some warning here
- Jesus on the road to Emmaus
- Luke 24:28 – acted as if he were going further
- So what is a lie: A word or act that intentionally deceives a neighbor in order to hurt him
- Not everyone is a neighbor but brooder than we think (good Samaritan)
- Still does not include thieves and murders or enemies
- Misleading an enemy is prevalent in scripture (the Anne Frank defense)
- Exodus 1:15-21 – Israelite midwives
- Joshua 2:4-6 – Rahab – Heb 11:31
- 2 Kings 6: 14-20
- 2 Thess 2:11
- May more examples
- Who do we owe truth to? Our neighbor
- Deception in scripture is for promoting justice against the wicked d and protecting the innocent from the wicked
Protecting the Reputation of Others
- Two or three witnesses for any accusation
- Deut 17:6
- Deut 19:15
- Heb 10:28
- Reputation is huge so love should be our guide in making accusations
- 1 Peter 4:8
- Matt 18:15-20
- Matt 7:3-5
- Accusation by confrontation not gossip
- A name is very important
- Ex 32:11-14
- Josh 7:9
- Even the Reformers were too quick to accuse and attack each other
- Their sins are not our example
- Most of the problem is due to the failure of church discipline
