The Ten Commandments

b. Illust: Not all religions teach the same on this matter of truthfulness. Most Westerners assume that Muslims play by the same rules. They do not. In Islam there are four specific terms used that allow for lying and deception in one’s speech! Takiyya is defined as dissimulation about ones Muslim identity. It comes from the verse in the Quran that says, “Let believers not make friends with infidels in preference to the faithful – he that does has nothing to hope for from Allah (Surrah 3:28). Tawriya is defined as concealing, and it could be called “creative lying”. It is OK to break the intent of the oath, as long as you don’t break the letter of the oath. Kitman is characterized by someone telling only part of the truth. The most common example of this is when a Muslim says that jihad really refers to an internal, spiritual struggle. He is not telling “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”, as witnesses are sworn to do in U.S. courts. Often, kitman results in a gross distortion of the truth. In the example given, the Quran uses jihadand its derivatives 59 times. Of those, only 16 (27%) could be considered “internal” with no object as the target of the struggle based on the context of the surah. Muruna means using “flexibility” to blend in with the enemy or the surroundings. The justification for this kind of deception is a somewhat bizarre interpretation of Surah 2:106, which says, “If we abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten, We will replace it by a better one or similar.” Thus, Muslims may forget some of the commands in the Quran, as long as they are pursuing a better command.

C. What is the Application of this Command for us today?

1. Truth and Truthfulness should be a way of life for God’s people.

a. What do the Scriptures tell us about God, His Word and truth? Notice what several verses declare: “Every word of God is pure,” says Proverbs 30:5. Daniel refers to God’s Word as “the Scripture of Truth” (Daniel 10:21). Jesus Christ said in prayer to God the Father, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). he Bible throughout teaches that “God is not a man, that He should lie” (Numbers 23:19). It explains that “the word of the Lord is right, and all His work is done in truth” (Psalms 33:4) because He is a “God of truth” (Deuteronomy 32:4). And “His truth endures to all generations” (Psalms 100:5).As the very source of truth, God requires that His servants always speak truthfully. Under God’s inspiration, King David wrote: “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellow man … [and] who keeps his oath even when it hurts” (Psalms 15:1-4, NIV).

b. The Ten Commandments draw a straight line from love of God to love of neighbor. The two parties are distinguished, to be sure, but in the life of obedience they are inseparable. As Luther pointed out, to disobey any of the commandments is to disobey the first—“You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3)—because all disobedience is essentially idolatry. The outworking of allegiance to God in seeking the good of our neighbors is embedded in the Ten Commandments, as the first four are inextricable from the latter six. You cannot, in fact, have God above all gods and hate your neighbor. Jesus says so (1 John 4:20). And so does His brother James in his indictment of hypocrisy, writing: “With [the tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God” (James 3:9).