Sermon Deuteronomy 5:20 “You Shall Not Bear False Witness”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon Deuteronomy 5:20 “You Shall Not Bear False Witness”
New Covenant Church
May 6, 2018

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The Ten Commandments appear twice in scripture.  The first time we encounter them is in the Book of Exodus.  Two months after the Hebrews left Egypt after God had parted the Red Sea for them, God appeared to Moses in a dense cloud of smoke and fire, and thunder and lightning.    A loud trumpet was heard which got louder and louder and the whole mountain began to tremble.  Then God spoke, identifying himself as their liberator from Egypt.  Then God gave them Ten Commandments for living their lives together as his people.  And this was followed by the giving of a collection of laws known as the Book of the Covenant, from Exodus chapter 20 to 23.   The people of God affirmed their responsibilities of obeying the law with this.

Exodus 24:3 When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” 4 Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said.

     Forty years later Moses spoke to a new generation of Hebrews.   They were about to enter into the Promised Land.  Moses reminded them that they had been freed from slavery in Egypt by God.   And God had given them instructions for living their lives as his people.  These instructions were in the form of a covenant.   And Moses asked the people to renew their promise to follow them.

     And now several millennia later, New Covenant Church has spent a couple of months reviewing the ten commands.   My hope is that we too will renew the covenant and promise to obey them.  Today, we will look at the ninth commandment, but first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Deuteronomy 5:1 Moses summoned all Israel and said:  Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 It was not with our ancestors that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today.
20 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

The ninth commandment prohibits lying, specifically in a court of law.   The sixth commandment, “do not kill”, and the seventh commandment, “do not commit adultery” both have a biblical punishment of death.    The eighth commandment, “do not steal”, has a lesser punishment based on the value of what was stolen.    Because these punishments were so severe there must be a trial to determine the truth of an offense before the punishment is carried out.    And in a trial, the Bible requires two witnesses.

Deuteronomy 19:15 One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Since the violation of a biblical law comes with such a high penalty there must be a biblical requirement that these witnesses tell the truth.    And this is the primary reason for the ninth commandment.

The biblical punishment for lying in court is that you will receive that same punishment as the person you lied for.  So if a person is on trial for murder and you lie about it then you too may be put to death.

Deuteronomy 19:16 If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse someone of a crime, 17 the two people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. 18 The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, 19 then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. You must purge the evil from among you. 20 The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. 21 Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

With such severe punishment for lying in court, you might be tempted to just say nothing as a witness in a trial.   Keeping quiet is better than tell a lie.  But the Bible says that if you know the truth you must speak up.

Leviticus 5:1 “‘If anyone sins because they do not speak up when they hear a public charge to testify regarding something they have seen or learned about, they will be held responsible.

So if you know something you must speak up and tell the truth.

The ninth commandment is actually is broader than just requiring truthful testimony.   It also requires telling the truth in all circumstances.   The psalmist tells us this.

Psalm 15 1 Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?  Who may live on your holy mountain?  2 The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; 3 whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others.

So gossip and slander are out.    You must always be truthful when you talk about someone.   You may not talk about someone behind his back.  You must always give someone a chance to defend himself.   And you must not slander, by telling lies about someone damaging his or her character and reputation.

And this brings us to the story you heard earlier about Abraham and Sarah.   In Genesis 21 we read the story of Abraham and Abimelech, the King of Gerar.   According to the story, Abraham and Sarah moved into the kingdom of Gerar.   Abraham, for some reason, lied about Sarah.   Instead of truthfully saying that Sarah was his wife, Abraham lied and said that she was his sister.   And this lie prompted the King of Gerar to take Sarah as his own wife.   And then all the women and animal of Gerar became barren.

     Then God to spoke to Abimelek and told him the truth in a dream.   Abimelech realized that he was about to commit adultery with Sarah because of Abraham’s lie.  God also revealed to Abimelek that this had been a test.    God wanted to test Abimelek to see how he would react to Abraham's lie.      Would Abimelek return Sarah after finding out she was another man’s wife?   Or would Abimelek keep her for himself?

     Abimelech then confronted Abraham and asked him to explain his lie.   Abraham told him that Sarah was, in fact, his half-sister.   So what he said was technically true.   Abraham had not lied about Sarah being his sister.  But he did conceal the fact that she was also his wife.

     Abimelech passed the test.   Once he knew that Sarah was married he sent her back with gifts.   He permitted Abraham and Sarah to live in his land.   And Abraham blessed him with a prayer that Abimelek’s wife and cattle would once again be fertile.

     There are two important lessons in this story.   First, God can use our lies for his good purposes.    We are not to lie, but if we do sometimes God will use our lies to advance his kingdom.    The second lesson is that concealing an important fact can be as damaging as telling a lie.   So the ninth commanded requires both a prohibition on lying and a requirement to reveal relevant facts.

     Violations of the ninth commandment are common in America today.   President Nixon resigned from office and President Clinton was impeached for lying.   The reason our leaders lie may be that we don’t want to hear the truth.   Consider this from Isaiah.

Isaiah 30:9 For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.  10 They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right!  Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.  11 Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!”

So some people lie and others don’t want to hear the truth.  But there is one person in scripture who wanted to hear the truth.   His name was Pilate, Jesus’ Roman judge.

John 18:33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”  34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”  35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?” 36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” 37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.  Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”  38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate.

So if you want to know the truth listen to Jesus.  Jesus is the only witness you can be sure will not violate the ninth commandment.  Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, help us to keep from lying.   Help us to always tell the truth.   Help us to speak up when justice requires it.    Help us to never be deceived.   And always bless us with your presence so that we will always know the truth.   This we pray in your name.   Amen.