“Thou shalt not bear false witness against
thy neighbour.” Exodus 20:16
I’ve been meditating on this commandment
for quite some time, trying to understand how best to address it. The obvious
approach comes straight to the point – don’t lie. However, leaving it at that
raises many comments from the Biblically literate. I was told once by a pastor
that the commandment specifies not lying against your neighbour. And yet others
raise the classic example of Rahab lying to protect Joshua’s spies (Joshua 2).
David told the priest he was on a mission for the king when he was actually
running away from Saul; he also pretended to be a lunatic to preserve his life
from the Philistines (1 Samuel 21). One example that came up most recently in a
discussion I was having is the fact that Moses told Pharaoh that he was leading
the Israelites 3-days journey into the wilderness to pray when the plan really was
to go back to Canaan (Exodus 5:1-3).
Facts: The Bible is a guide for how we
ought to live; the Bible also gives accounts of people’s lives, not sugar
coating the details of their choices and actions, neither the results of these
choices. Did Biblical heroes tell lies? – yes – were there consequences for
these choices? – yes. The examples above had positive outcomes, Rahab and her
entire family were saved and she became a part of Christ’s ancestry (Matthew
1:5). David’s life was preserved and he became king (2 Samuel 5:3,4) and Christ
was known as his son (Matthew 1:1; Luke 18:38). The Israelites were freed from
Egyptian bondage (Exodus 20:1) and Moses is now in heaven (Jude 9; Matthew
17:3). In these well-quoted scenarios, the untruths were said to preserve life
not to cause harm. Christ admonishes us to be “wise as serpents, and harmless
as doves” (Matthew 10:16). We are to be prudent with how we present information
ensuring that no harm is done.
The individuals that bring up these events
tend to be those who are seeking an excuse for some harmful lies they have
told. However, they forget the consequences that come from lies. Abraham lied
about the nature of his relationship with his wife causing a plague on Pharaoh
and his household (Genesis 12:11-17) and the threat of death on Abimelech
(Genesis 20:1-3). Saul disobeyed God, then lied to Samuel about it and lost his
kingdom and his mind (1 Samuel 15:20-28; 16:14-23). Ananias and Sapphira
pledged to give all the proceeds from the sale of their property to God’s work
then lied and held a portion back and fell dead for their lie (Acts 5:1-10).
Scripture informs us that the devil is the
father of lies (John 8:44). His lies were against God Himself, accusing Him of
being unfair and unjust (Job 1:6-11; 2:1-5). We help to perpetuate these lies by
either portraying God as an exacting taskmaster, who will preserve someone’s
life so that they can burn for all eternity as a consequence for 70-years of
sin (Ezekiel 33:11). Or, we make God seem like a doting grandparent that would
accept anything we do with no consequences (Zephaniah 1:12). Both of these
extremes are the most vicious of lies, against our Creator. God is the perfect
balance of Justice and Mercy. His Law is perfect and will not be put away
(Matthew 5:18), and His Grace is supreme in the forgiveness of sins (Ephesians
2:5-8). Both of these were manifested in the cross. Jesus died because His Law
could not go away; but His Mercy could not be done away with either, so in His
death He gave us hope of reconciliation to the Law.
The lies we tell each other, and ourselves
about God, are detrimental and will lead to destruction (Matthew 5:19). There
is a day of reckoning coming in which we will give account for how we’ve
received God’s Mercy: Did we Love Him in response by obeying His words and teaching
others to do the same; or did we disregard His Mercy and encouraged others to
be complacent in disobedience?
