You Shall Not Bear False Witness

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16).

The ninth commandment is most directly concerned with perjury — falsely accusing or testifying against another. God told Israel, “You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness…nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice” (Exodus 23:1-2). He specified the punishment thus: “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” (Deuteronomy 19:18-19).

While perjury is this command’s focus, the basic principle it calls to mind is dishonesty. Moses’ Law said, “You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another” (Leviticus 19:11). Solomon wrote that God hates “a lying tongue” and “a false witness who utters lies” (Proverbs 6:17,19). “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal faithfully are His delight” (Proverbs 12:22).

As I write this, I’m looking at some recent surveys on honesty, and they’re just plain scary. Nine people in ten admitted to lying regularly. One in five can’t make it through the day without lying about something. No wonder people don’t trust each other! Jeremiah described a similar scene in his day: “Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor, and do not trust any brother; because every brother deals craftily, and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. And everyone deceives his neighbor, and does not speak the truth, they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity” (Jeremiah 9:4-6).

The gospel of Christ calls us to deal honestly with one another. “Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices” (Colossians 3:9). “Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one of you, with his neighbor, for we are members of one another” (Ephesians 4:25). Are we children of God, who cannot lie, or children of Satan, the father of lies (Titus 1:2; John 8:44)?

People lie for many reasons. Sometimes we lie to avoid the painful consequences of a mistake or wrongdoing. We shift blame, invent excuses, and employ deceit to keep from suffering for our own misdeeds. Sometimes we lie to get others to do what we want. For some folks it’s a matter of course in their business dealings. Some are even encouraged to lie as part of their job (e.g., salesmen, customer service representatives, mechanics). Boys and girls lie to manipulate one another, and even husbands and wives or parents and children may lie to each other to get what they want.

Apart from such selfish motives, some folks believe lying is at least occasionally justified or even necessary in order to accomplish a good goal. But the end doesn’t justify the means. We can’t let ourselves fall into the thinking that says, “Let us do evil that good may come” (Romans 3:8). Instead we should consider the example of the Christians at Pergamum, who would not lie and deny Christ even when their lives were in peril (Revelation 2:13).

Just as people lie for many reasons, they lie in many ways. Of course, there are plain old outright lies. Whether they’re big and bald-faced or the “little white” variety, lies are lies. The Bible contains plenty of commands and examples to teach us the danger of a false tongue. But there are lots of other ways to lie.

Sometimes we lie, not by what we say, but by what we don’t say. When Aaron tried to explain the origin of the golden calf at Sinai, he wanted the people to take the blame. So he said he collected their gold, threw it into the fire, “and out came this calf” (Exodus 32:24). He didn’t mention that he had taken a tool and sculpted the calf himself (verse 4). By not telling the whole story — we might say “putting a spin on things” — we can lead others to believe what is not really true. If any of the facts don’t support the message we want to send, we just leave them out. Many politicians and their staffers have developed this into an art form. But a half truth is no better than a whole falsehood.

A similar form of artful lying is to twist the truth. Lies work best when they contain a little truth. This is a classic method of Satan himself. When he tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, he said, “God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). There was some truth there: When Adam and Eve ate the fruit, their eyes were opened (verse 7), and like God, they knew good and evil (verse 22). But the result was certainly not what they bargained for.

Satan used the same approach against Jesus, this time misapplying a passage from Psalms as part of his temptation (Matthew 4:5-6). Countless men have done the same, twisting God’s word to teach what is untrue. Jeremiah spoke against the scribes who wielded a “lying pen” (Jeremiah 8:8). Peter warned of untaught, unstable, and unprincipled men who would distort the Scriptures to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16-17). We should always be on guard against such folks; they’re out there. Malicious or sincere, their fruit is deadly. And we should also take heed to ourselves, making sure that we “handle accurately the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

People lie through actions as well as words. When David committed adultery (2 Samuel 11) he tried to arrange things so as to cover up his sin. But the more deceptions he hatched, the more deceptions became necessary. Deceit is tricky business. To make one lie believable you may have to invent a dozen more. Shakespeare was correct: “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!”

How about gossip? Gossip is spreading news about someone that makes him look bad, whether it’s true or not. I’ve heard folks say, “It’s not gossip as long as it’s true,” but I don’t buy that. However, gossip is usually based on flimsy information, and much of it turns out to be false. That’s one reason it does so much damage. Often gossip is literally bearing false witness against someone by accusing him of something that isn’t true. God warned Israel against this kind of wickedness (Leviticus 19:16), and the gospel warns us likewise (1 Peter 2:1; 4:15). Instead, our words are to “give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29). Don’t be eager to repeat what you don’t know is true.

We should also mention cheating and fraud. Our schools face a constant problem of students cheating on tests and assignments. Computers and the Internet have made plagiarism on term papers easier than ever — just cut and paste. The Net offers websites devoted to helping students cheat and websites devoted to helping teachers catch them. School districts have even seen teachers and administrators break testing rules in order to boost school scores. Outside the schools, the cheating continues. As many as 8 million Americans cheat on their income taxes each year. And this decade has already seen some major corporations exposed for falsifying their financial reports. David said, “He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who speaks falsehood shall not maintain his position before me” (Psalm 101:7). Our world could use a great deal more of that sort of integrity.

The Scriptures assure us that those who love and practice lying will earn an eternal place outside of God’s presence in Heaven (Revelation 22:15). As God’s people, let’s love and practice the truth.