The Ten Commandments, 6 Of 6: Ninth And Tenth Commandments

The Ten Commandments, 6 of 6: Ninth and Tenth Commandments

Scripture: Exodus 20:16, Deuteronomy 5:20, Exodus 20:17, Deuteronomy 5:21

Summary: “You shall not bear false witness.” “You shall not covet.”

The ninth commandment: Exodus 20:16, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Deuteronomy 5:20, “Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor.” The three preceding commandments, murder, adultery and stealing, concern wrongs inflicted upon a neighbor by actual deeds. The ninth commandment concerns wrongs inflicted by word of mouth.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor: This prohibition embraces all forms of slander, defamation, and misrepresentation, whether against an individual, a group, a people, a race, or a faith. This is not only in court but also in everyday dealings. This commandment prohibits any words that increase of misinformation.

This commandment includes any words that enable a person to take advantage of another. When one bears false witness to another, he or she misleads that person thus attacking the ability of a neighbor to make informed decisions.

Many misquote the commandment saying, “Thou shalt not lie.” Bearing false witness is far more comprehensive than thou shalt not lie. “A truth told with bad intent beats all the lies one can invent.” Truthfulness must be moral. When words cease to be truthful or when used as a tool of revenge or malice, they become an abominable form of lying. God will not have us use truth to ruin another person or put one to shame.

Words can endanger us in so many ways. I know that in my career as a professional manager many times I have heard someone convincingly accuse another person of a wrong only to find out upon further investigation that the talebearer was wrong or had an ulterior motive. I learned to handle such information carefully until I could investigate thoroughly for some people use lies to hurt others in particularly evil ways. Matthew 26:59-62, “Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last, two came forward and said, ‘This fellow said, “I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.” The high priest stood up and said, ‘Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?’”

Leviticus 19:16, “You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people.” (KJV) This commandment sees a talebearer as equal to a murderer since lies destroy the most precious possession in life, a person’s reputation. Bearing false witness means that we are not even to repeat unverified information that may get someone in trouble. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” means that we not to say anything against our neighbor; we are also to say positive honest things, optimistic things or say nothing at all.

Paul covers this quite well in Ephesians 4:25-32. “So then, putting away falsehood, let each of you speak the truth with your neighbor, for we are members of one another. … Let no evil talk come out of your mouths but only what is good for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.”

Lying or deceiving in ways that do detriment to the neighbor’s goods or property and theft are bound up with one another, restitution is a must. Leviticus 6:2-7, “When any of you sin and commit a trespass against the LORD by deceiving a neighbor in a matter of a deposit or a pledge or by robbery or if you have defrauded a neighbor or have found something lost and lied about it—if you swear falsely regarding any of the various things that one may do and sin—when you have sinned and recognize your guilt and would restore what you took by robbery or by fraud or the deposit that was committed to you or the lost thing that you found or anything else about which you have sworn falsely, you shall repay the principal amount and add one-fifth to it. You shall pay it to its owner when you recognize your guilt. And you shall bring to the priest, as your guilt offering to the LORD, a ram without blemish from the flock, or its equivalent, for a guilt offering. The priest shall make atonement on your behalf before the LORD, and you shall be forgiven for any of the things that one may do and incur guilt thereby.”