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POSTED 21 SEPTEMBER, 2007

Days of Awe: Day Nine

by Mark Huey
mhuey@outreachisrael.net

Psalm 145; Job 42:7-17; Exodus 20:16

Bearing false witness against one’s neighbor, or anyone for that matter, is a serious problem that the Holy One included in His list of Ten Commandments. In His infinite wisdom He understood how the power of false words could destroy a person, by defaming one with lies and malignant innuendoes. For a nation that was just struggling to gain an identity as it departed Egypt and sojourned to the Promised Land, the prohibition against falsely accusing or defaming someone was imperative in order to insure survival. If the people of Israel were allowed to let their tongues wag about anything that their hardened hearts desired, then lack of cohesiveness—required to solidify the nation—would possibly erupt. This was such a critical problem that as the Jewish Sages began to develop the annual Torah cycle, the two Torah readings of Tazria and Metzora typically give Torah teachers the opportunity to address the issue of bearing false witness or lashon hara (lit. “the evil tongue”) at least twice a year.

However, before discussing this lethal nature of bearing false witness, perhaps another reading of Psalm 145 will draw us each closer to the Holy One, and open our spirits up to Him ministering directly to our repentant hearts:

“A Psalm of Praise, of David. I will extol You, my God, O King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, and I will tell of Your greatness. They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness and will shout joyfully of Your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works. All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord, and Your godly ones shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom and talk of Your power; to make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts and the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord sustains all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in due time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them. The Lord keeps all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever” (Psalm 145:1-21).

The Ninth Commandment

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16).

Before exploring some of the problems associated with bearing false witness against someone, read the following quotes from the Book of Proverbs. These will give you a sense of what the Holy One thinks about those who are considered a false witness:

“There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers” (Proverbs 6:16-19).

“He who speaks truth tells what is right, but a false witness, deceit. There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Truthful lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only for a moment. Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but counselors of peace have joy. No harm befalls the righteous, but the wicked are filled with trouble. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal faithfully are His delight” (Proverbs 12:17-22).

“A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who tells lies will not escape” (Proverbs 19:5).

“A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who tells lies will perish” (Proverbs 19:9).

As you can read, the Almighty hates those who speak with a lying tongue, and considers those who speak falsely to be an abomination. In very precise terms, He declares that false witnesses will not go unpunished, and will not only not escape, but ultimately will perish. In very precise language He states His disdain for this human activity.

If you have ever been the victim of false witness or lashon hara, you can probably understand why God has such abhorrence for the practice. At some levels, character assassination and outright lies about someone, are in essence murdering a person without firing any physical bullets. Whereas the person who is physically murdered simply has to die once, the person who is being attacked by a false accusation or outright lie can be murdered over and over again until the lie dissipates. In some cases, the lie may never be removed from the person who has been slandered. The Rabbis liken lashon hara or evil gossip to the mental image of a goose down pillow that has been cut open and has its feathers cast to the wind. Once the wind takes the false accusations into the atmosphere, it is impossible to put the feathers back into the pillowcase. The murdering of the person maligned continues on, even if the lies have been proven false.

When it comes to a court of law where absolute truth is required to execute proper judgment, the Torah’s instruction is even more precise. In fact, the Torah requires multiple witnesses to testify:

“You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. You shall not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice; nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his dispute” (Exodus 23:1-3).

“Now if a person sins after he hears a public adjuration to testify when he is a witness, whether he has seen or otherwise known, if he does not tell it, then he will bear his guilt” (Leviticus 5:1).

In order to convict someone, there must be at least two or more eyewitnesses to the crime that is being judged. In a dramatic way, the two witnesses must be the first to personally execute the judgment:

“On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst” (Deuteronomy 17:6-7).

On the other hand, if a false witness is discovered to be lying, then the punishment that the false witness wanted the accused to suffer will instead be placed upon him. Now that is justice!

“A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed. If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” (Deuteronomy 19:15-21).

As you can read, the Scriptures deal extensively with the issue of bearing false witness because the Lord knew that it would be a prevalent problem not only in Israel, but also throughout the world. Just consider the “art of politics” that we absorb today, and the huge media industries in pulp and celluloid that are funded in large part because of the human propensity to relish gossip, slander, and libelous statements.

If you think back to the very Garden of Eden, you might recall that the serpent himself used a false witness to convince Adam and Eve to taste of the forbidden fruit: “Hath God not said?”

If the prevalence of bearing false witness is among us, then inevitably we will be subject to some lies—especially if we are seeking to walk in the righteousness of the Messiah whose Spirit dwells within us. After all, did not Yeshua declare that we would be persecuted for righteousness’ sake?

“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12).

We should understand that we will be and should expect to be persecuted at least verbally for our walk with the Lord. Yeshua says that this is a blessing and that we should rejoice and be exceedingly glad.

How do you handle situations where you have been falsely accused? Most people do not jump up and down for joy. But one who endured a substantial amount of malicious gossip from his adversaries, for his faithful walk with the Holy One, was King David. Perhaps you can better relate to how David recommends how we deal with these circumstances when they come:

“Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me in a level path because of my foes. Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence. I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:11-14).

Some of us might want to salve our wounds from the wicked lies of others, by repeating this schoolyard rhyme: “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” In reality, however, using that as a comeback for name-calling or slander is not Biblically accurate. Instead, the words of a false witness can do significant damage to a person’s reputation and to one’s soul, as the individual might have a tendency to harbor unforgiveness toward the one who uttered the false accusations.

This is why the advice of David is to be trusted. Have faith that the Holy One in His time will take care of a situation where you are slandered, and that eventually the false witness will be dealt with. What the victim is to do is to be strong and courageous and wait upon the Lord. While waiting, perhaps some prayer for the false witness would be in order. After all, words can kill—but prayers can bring healing to the soul and move hearts toward our King.

Mark Huey (B.A., Vanderbilt University in History and Graduate Studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) is the Director of Outreach Israel Ministries (www.outreachisrael.net). He is the author of several books, including: TorahScope, Volumes I & II, and Counting the Omer: A Daily Devotional Toward Shavuot. He is also co-author of Hebraic Roots: An Introductory Study.