9 – You shall not give false witness
It's common to see in movies when a witness takes a stand in a courtroom, that they're asked to swear to tell the truth with their hands on a Bible. The idea behind the 'swear to God' thing is that once you place your hand on the Bible (or if you swear to tell the truth) you are liable in case of perjury. Even though this act is not Biblical at all, as the Bible clearly instructs us to never swear and simply say the truth. But what is considered a crime in modern justice is also part of the Torah.
The 9th commandment was extremely important in Moses time because all transactions and grave accusations required witnesses, at least two of them. If you bought a property you needed witnesses and their names would be registered in the Cepher and if you wanted to bring an accusation of theft, murder or adultery, it also required at least two witnesses to make the case.
Now imagine yourself in the shoes of Shoshannah (Susanna), a Yahuah-fearing wife who was wrongly accused of adultery by two witnesses - the same two men whom she refused to have sex with. Fortunately for her, Yahuah interceded and sent Daniel to expose the two men’s lies and deliver the woman from an almost certain death by stoning. The 9th commandment is the Creator’s message to those who used the witness requirement to get some advantage, blackmail other people or for revenge.
And who was the ultimate victim of false testimony? Our savior, Yahusha Ha'Mashiach (Jesus), suffered from malicious plots which culminated on his murder at the Calvary.
'Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none. For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree. Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying, “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made, without hands.’ ”But not even then did their testimony agree.'(Mark 14:55-59)
Yahuah is truth. Yahusha Ha’Mashiach (Jesus), who is Yahuah incarnated, would frequently start his sentences with ‘I tell you the truth’, or ‘in truth I tell you’. And while any lie that comes out of our mouths is detrimental to us, a lie that brings a negative outcome for someone else is a much worse abomination to the Creator.
We all hope for justice, but justice can only happen where there is absolute truth. Ultimately, even if we refuse to swear with our hand on a Bible or if we swear to tell the truth but chose to lie, we are still liable of the consequences – in this life or afterwards.
‘Surely you will not die’
The first lie ever told was from the father of lies himself – our enemy. Satan deceived Eva to disobey the Creator and now his job is to accuse us to the Father and trick us with lies to take us out of the right track.
One could think that this commandment is quite obvious and of course lying on detriment of a brother/sister is a horrible sin, still this commandment is more needed today than ever. Sadly, the cases of people who have been arrested on false grounds are too many to count.
And while a false accusation will destroy an innocent person’s life forever, the consequences for a person who accuses someone falsely in the fallen world are rather mild, if any. Nevertheless, we can put our trust in Yahuah and have peace in Yahusha, our savior, for we know that truth will eventually prevail.
For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. (Luke 12:2-3)
Why is this Commandment more important now than ever: As we approach the end times, the world will become more and more 'like in the days of Noah', or like Sodom and Gomorrah - meaning complete violence of brothers against brothers, genetic corruption, oppression and injustice. In the upside world where what is right is now wrong and the wrong is now right, the truth rooted in Yahusha Ha'Mashiach and the Bible will be our rock for what's coming next. Many will chose not only to believe in lies, but they will also happily bring others down in the name of it.
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