The Ten Commandments Part 9 Series

The Ten Commandments – Part 9

Scriptures: Exodus 20:16; Proverbs 3:5-7; Hebrews 6:18; John 8:44; Ephesians 5:8

Has someone ever asked you how they looked in some clothes and you, not wanting to hurt their feelings, told them they looked fine? Has someone asked you how you are feeling, and you again, not wanting to reveal your business, defaulted to telling them that you are doing okay? Have you ever received a phone call on your home phone and told your kids to tell the caller you were busy or not at home because you did not want to talk to the caller? Have you ever been questioned about a situation and while you knew the answer, you did not want to get involved so you denied knowing anything about it? Have you ever told someone you could not wait for something to happen and yet you knew you were doing just that – waiting? What about small kids? Have you ever noticed how they are brutally honest as long as it does not pertain to them or will get them in trouble? But, they will lie if they are in trouble because of self-preservation. We do not have to teach our kids to lie, but we do have to teach them to tell the truth in all situations. If you have experienced these or any situation similar, you have experienced with the commandment we will focus on today.

When I was growing up, my mother loved to watch the Perry Mason show. Perry Mason was a trial attorney who at the end, no matter what, always got to the truth. It was this show where I first heard these words when a person was being sworn in to testify: “Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?” The person would then affirm that they were going to tell the whole truth even though sometimes they knew they would actually be bearing false witness (or lying.) This is part nine of my series on the Ten Commandments and this morning we will be examining ninth commandment found in Exodus 20:16 which says “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

Before I go any further, I want to read this verse out of the Amplified Bible: “You shall not testify falsely [that is, lie, withhold or manipulate the truth] against your neighbor (any person).” The Amplified Bible communicates the truth of this verse in a way that’s hard to miss. When a person bears “false witness” against someone the person is telling a lie outright about the person; or telling a lie by withholding the truth about the person; or telling a lie by manipulating the truth about the person. The bottom line is this; the person described in this verse is deliberately telling a lie; the person is deliberately being untruthful. For clarification, your “neighbor” is anyone that you interact with, even that person whom you do not know. In other words, in God’s eyes your neighbor is not simply the person who lives next to you. He was not saying you could lie about or to everyone except your neighbor; this commandment was all inclusive. When you read the New Testament, all lying is condemned along with the liar. I want to make sure this is clear at the beginning so that it cannot be lost in translation later. This is the obvious reading of Exodus 20:16.

But there’s so much more to what this verse is saying to us today. Why is deliberately telling a lie, deliberately being untruthful an issue for God? Numbers 23:19 says “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” In Titus 1:2 Paul says God “cannot lie”. Paul doesn’t say God “does not lie” which means He could if He wanted to, no He says God “cannot lie”. In other words, it is impossible for God to lie. God is not capable of telling a lie. Let’s look at one more verse. Hebrews 6:18 says “So that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.” The point I want you see here is this: God cannot lie. Period. Now consider this, “if” God cannot lie then that means He will do everything that He said that He will do and if He will do everything that He said He would do its done when He said it. For example, God said:

“Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not get tired; they will walk and not become weary.” (Isaiah 40:31) Are you waiting on the Lord because if you are, you will gain new strength; you will have wings like the eagle, running and not getting weary! This is a promise! If you are weary because you are not waiting on God patiently it’s not God’s fault as He has told you what He will do! God also said; “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me, declares the LORD.” (Isaiah 54:17) Do you have some people planning your demise? God has you covered!!! I chose these two Scriptures because when people think about the promises of God they focus on financial blessings or material things. I want you to see that as you are dealing with life, God has given us two specific promises; first He promised us strength when we are weary and second He promised to protect us against the attacks being planned against us.