Message: False Witness
Time: This book chronicles farewell messages by Moses, the 120 year old leader of the Israelite, primarily intended for the lay person. It covers about one month, at the end of the forty-year period in the wilderness - 1405 BC. It is a renewal of the old covenant given at Mount Sinai to the plains of Moab.
What the Lord is Saying:
In Matthew 22 is the record of the Pharisees asking Jesus what is the greatest commandment. Jesus starts by saying - "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." But then he says there is a second commandment that is like the first one and that is "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." I've always found it interesting that he puts on part with loving God, loving others. And so while the 10 commandments are numbered, it also seems like there is an equality given for all of the commandments, that not any one is greater than the other and that they all work together.
Today I look at this commandment about "not bearing false witness against your neighbor." There are different relationships mentioned in the commandments - our relationship with God, the church, children, parents, husband and wife, others in society, and more distinctly our neighbor. Granted, everyone can thought to be our neighbor but it seems like there is some distinction between our neighbor in these last 2 commandments.
In a simple way, telling a lie can be bearing false witness against your neighbor though I do not think these are all lies. But it is fair to say that in this commandment is the expectation that our speech needs to be truthful about others. In my life, I've noticed this being rather difficult in the workplace. At times as a manager my job is to listen to employees and one area is listening to how an employee believes or thinks or hears other employees are talking about him or her. Obviously, if the employee has been offended directly then I must take this seriously, but when an employee hears through another employee something about oneself, it reminds me that these are rumors and potentially gossip. When I am feeling wronged by a person, often the first thing that I will do is want to tell someone else. I do this because I think I want others to sympathize with me or agree with me. This is clearly a sin though. At its core this is gossip. And in this communication is often sometimes a tendency to slander the person as well - so when I share I go beyond the comment and even have a tendency to make the situation sound worse that it was. I need to be more careful with my speech for my words can have lasting results.
From a lying standpoint, when I say something about another person that is not true, I am lying. Often I will tell people what they want to hear. It would be better for me probably to not speak. But I also see this as a problem in the workplace and at home in family relationships.
The other side of this commandment deals with legal testimony as to bear false witness or accusing someone who has committed no crime. In other words, falsely accusing an innocent person. Deuteronomy 19:16-19 says:
6 If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, 17 then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. 18 The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, 19 then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother.
I think of the workplace as well and a desire sometimes to assume people are in the wrong. Again, there is a desire in man to be better than another person. This is a source of competition and can be a good thing, but given the situation, I think we must also recognize the other side of the coin or stand in the other person's shoes. Again, I think it is important to remember the command that we are given overall and that is to you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Even in competition we can have love. And we can consider the other person.
Summary: To bear false witness against your neighbor is to think or say something about your neighbor that is not true.
Promise: Gossip and slander are the calling cards of this sin. Rather than speaking to people face to face and understanding their situation, we like to place ourselves above the person through gossip and slander and lessen the worth of a person. We really need to repent and ask God to help put this sin to death.
Prayer: O God, I need help with this sin that I often struggle with in my life. I do have this temptation to make myself look better than another person, to set myself on a pedestal, especially when I feel wronged. I've struggled with this during my life. Help me to be a person of truth and to know when not to speak. These are little momentary choices I can make each day, but give me the courage and the discipline to make those decisions so that I honor you with my words and in my heart with my thoughts. Change me. Turn my wrongs into right.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of July is about the right use of God's Law; June was justification by faith alone; May about solus Christus - Christ Alone; April, salvation by grace alone; March, the sovereign providence of God; February, the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January, the doctrine of God.
Bringing me to Christ
The Restraint of the Law - the law is given for lawless, unholy, disobedient people, to restrain us from acting on our sinful thoughts. Restraint and Guilt - the law is meant to restrain Christians and non-Christians alike; so that others may see Christ. The Law's Revelation of Sin - The Law reveals sin, at times making it more desirable, and show the sin which people commit and the complete standard it expects. The Law and Our Powerlessness - We are powerless over the Law and Sin revealed. It is in Christ that we receive forgiveness and the power to resist sin. The Law our Guardian - The law is not a tool of justifying me, but rather it is an instrument to bring me to Christ and show me my need for Him.
Guiding our Lives
The Guidance of the Law - The Law is a guide in our lives for what pleases God and what it looks like to walk in holiness. The Antinomian Error - We were slaves to sin, but now we are slaves to obedience and righteousness. Judaizing Legalism - The error of Judaizing Legalism is the idea that obedience brings about God's acceptance of us for salvation. The Deadliest Form of Legalism - This legalism is that one would get too focused on external practices instead of focusing on the heart.
The Law is our Guide
The Centrality of Love - Love and the law go hand in hand. We do not belong to God unless we love our neighbor, and we cannot love our neighbor without knowing and doing God‘s law and loving him. Finding Guidance in the Law - God's Word, all if it, is a guide to my life and I am to meditate on it continually.
Caring and Protecting Us
The One and Only God - I seek to trust and love God above all else today. Images and Idols - Pictures, statues, symbols, art, people are not bad; but be careful about placing too much emphasis on these things I see. Using God's Name Frivolously - Blasphemy or using God's name frivolously are examples of taking God's name in vain. Keeping the Lord's Day - It is vital that we are setting apart a day to gather for worship and fellowship, resting from our ordinary vocations. Honoring Father and Mother - Parents are to rear their children in faith, teaching them to respect authority and children are to follow. Murder, Self-Defense and Hatred - Murder is not unforgivable and yet like any other sin, even hatred, we need to avoid it. It has consequences in this life. Adultery - Breaking the covenant of marriage by replacing what God has commanded with our own choices. The Many Forms of Theft - Any time we take anything from another, a store, another person, our employer, or another owner of those goods or services, we are committing the crime of thievery.
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