Exodus 20:16 "You shall
not bear false witness against your neighbour.”
“Do you swear to
tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” We
are all familiar with this oath, yet it comes to us as no surprise that when
people have taken such an oath, they proceed to lie and give a false testimony,
witness. In these days truthfulness, honesty and integrity seems to be in
short-supply.
Why did God give
this commandment?
We shall look at
three reasons.
God gives this
commandment because God is a God of truth, He loves the truth, and therefore
desires us to not only love the truth, but also to be truthful. I do not
believe that we could grasp, fathom, the deep sorrow and pain that God must
have felt, when Adam and Eve lied so boldly to His very face. They stood before
Him, who is Truth and even still they lied. We were not created to lie,
especially to lie to God, but also to lie to each other. We were created in God’s
image, and therefore like God we were created as those who should love and
prize the truth. This is still evident in our lives today, despite the fact
that we are stained by sin. Every time we speak to a person we are assuming
that they are telling us the truth, we don’t just assume it, we expect it! We
feel deeply offended, grieved, hurt and angry when we discover that we have
been lied to, or lied about. Thus we love, value and expect the truth, and we
do so because we are created in the image of God who is Truth and is only ever
truthful.
On a practical
note, God gives this command to ensure the justice is established, upheld and
served. As the nation of Israel is established, God’s desire is that it be a
nation established on truth, justice and righteousness. When matters are
brought before a judge, or a court, God’s desire is that the witnesses called
are truthful, even if it is to their own hurt. It is tragic how often people
will bring false accusations, cases against others in their spite or hate of a
person, or how in a person will give false testimony either to protect
themselves, or to ensure that a person is found guilty and condemned. We need
only think of the trial of Christ, where by the Jewish religious authorities
were so eager to condemn Jesus that they brought in people to give a false
testimony. God desires for His people, His nation to be different, to stand out
from the nations around them, as a nation that loves, prizes and upholds the
truth, ensuring that justice is served.
This is a
commandment of life and love. God wants us to be truthful with each other, as
Jesus expresses it, our yes is to be yes, and our no to be no. We should not
lie to each other, we should not in hate for another lie about or against them.
And when the truth is required of us, we should freely give it, even if it is
to our own hurt. When we live and practice the truth, it not only honours God
and is honoured by God, it also builds our relationships with each other. Where
there is truthfulness, there can be trust, brotherly love, we can stand side by
side and worship God together, or partake of the Lord’s Supper as family.
Falsehood will destroy all this, bringing disunity, division and even more
falsehood, it will breed hate and will destroy individual relationships, family
relationships, and church relationships. If we desire to demonstrate our love
for God and for each other, if we desire to have lives of trust, love and unity
then we need to be people who are truthful.
Father of Truth, we thank You that You are Truth and are truthful in all
things, thank You that we can trust and believe all that You say and promise,
for You will not lie. We pray that You will help us to be lovers of the truth
and to follow in Your footsteps. Help us to learn how destructive falsehood can
be, but how beautiful truth, justice and righteousness are. Amen.
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