Exodus 20:16

The ninth commandment safeguards truth against man's sinful tendency to twist it into outright lying. A man may lie about almost anything, but what is specially prohibited is his tendency to lie at his neighbour's expense. The devil, we know, is the father of lies, but since man fell under his influence he has become a very apt pupil in that direction. In this world lies have become one of the most powerful forces of evil. Killing and stealing are two of the commonest and worst forms of violence. Adultery and lying are two of the commonest and worst forms of corruption. All four destroy human happiness.

This commandment, by forbidding false witness, condemns deceit of every kind. Deceit is always the fallback of weakness where God is not before the soul. Its place in the order seems meant to remind the creature that he needs God. Walk with Him, and you will keep the holiness of truth.

Untrue testimony by one man against another is destructive. The law of Sinai forbade the Israelite to bear false witness against his neighbour (Ex. 20:16). Scripture also says a false witness will not go unpunished (Prov. 19:5, 9), but will perish (Prov. 21:28). He was a menace to the nation. Scripture pictures him as "a maul and a sword and a sharp arrow" (Prov. 25:18), because lying testimony bore its victim down by sheer force, cut through the very vitals, and wounded even from a distance.

To bear false witness is cruel and gross evil, but this commandment was coldly disregarded by too many Israelites. Jezebel deliberately bribed wicked men to falsely accuse Naboth to have him put to death (1 Kings 21:8-13). Even the chief priests of Israel sought false witnesses to testify against the Lord Jesus, the Son of God (Mark 14:55-59). How refreshing is the contrast in what people said of John the Baptist: "Everything that John said about this man was true" (John 10:41).

Then we find further care taken about witnesses, confirmed by the great law of just retribution. Suppose a witness gave testimony he knew was false, and so of course malicious. The punishment his charge would have brought, had it been true, fell on the man who raised the evil report.

Here we may see how God hates false witness. And keep this in mind: though we are not under law but under grace, false witness is no less hateful to God. Surely the more fully we enter into the grace in which we stand, the more we will hate false witness, slander, and evil speaking in every shape and form.

"Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another." The word "lying," or "falsehood," here means everything that has the character and nature of falsehood. It is abstract: what has this quality, not merely the act of lying. This is worth remembering. In practice it searches many of us who would never be drawn into telling an outright lie. A look, a gesture, one's manner, vague speech, evasion, compliments, and many other things can fall under this sense of lying.