11/16/17-Eph
6:2-3, The
10 Commandments,Pt 27
The 9th Commandments, Pt. 1
Lesson #17-123
Grace Fellowship
Church
Pastor/Teacher,
Jim Rickard
Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ, (If You have - Trusted in Him for Eternal Life), it is important to
prepare yourself to: Take-in God’s Word and/or Participate in a Communion
Service, so take a moment to name, cite, or acknowledge your sins privately,
directly to God the Father. This will assure that you are in fellowship with
God the Father & the Holy Spirit’s convicting ministry will then be able to
teach you as the Holy Spirit is the real teacher.
1 John 1:9
says— “If we confess [simply name, cite, or acknowledge to God the
Father] our sins [known sins], He is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins [known sins] and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness [all unknown & forgotten sins].”
For
those of you who have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord & Savior,
please see: The Salvation Message @
the end of this document.
2 Pet 3:9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness,
but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all
to come to repentance.”
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The Doctrine of the Ten Commandments Related to the Church Age,
Part XXVII.
Deut 19:18
The
9th Commandment:
The 9th Commandment calls for sanctity of truth in all
areas of life, even though the vocabulary primarily reflects the legal process
in Israel. In this Commandment, not only are the neighbor’s life, 6th
Commandment; marriage and sexuality, 7th Commandment; and property,
8th Commandment; to be protected and honored, but so is his
reputation, 9th Commandment. Therefore, the 6th through 9th
Commandments acknowledge a person’s right to his life, home, property, and
reputation.
As we have noted, all ten of these principles are about
relationships. The first four are primarily about one’s relationship to God,
the vertical Commandments, which then transforms our relationships to others,
detailed primarily in the final six; the horizontal Commandments.
The progression from murder, to adultery, to theft, to perjury, is
clearly one of decreasing violence, but nonetheless, they are common egregious
infractions against the integrity of mankind. A reversal of this list shows the
progression of a society’s degradation.
The Hebrew of Ex 20:16,
reads, LO ANAH BE REA ED SHEQER, שֶׁקֶר
עֵד רֵעַ בְּ עָָנה לֹא,
“You will not answer against your
neighbor a witness of a lie.”
The Hebrew of Deut 5:20, reads,
WA LO ANAH BE REA ED SHAW, שָׁוְא עֵד רֵעַ בְּ עָָנה לֹא ו,
“And you will not answer against your neighbor a witness of deceit.”
The differences in these two passages
are first, the WAW Coordinating Conjunction added to the last 4 Deuteronomy
horizontal commandments, and second the ending word SHEQER for “lie” is changed
to SHAW for “deceit,” which we will note below.
The phrase, “bear false witness,”
comes from three Hebrew words, ANANH for “bear,” SHEQER and SHAW for “false,”
and ED for “witness.”
“Bear” is the Hebrew verb ANAH, עָָנה
that has several root meanings. But here it means, “to answer or respond,” The
basic concept is a response of some kind, typically a verbal response to
something that has been said, whether a question or statement. In this case, we
can understand it to be a question asked by a judge or attorney in a court of
Law, Job 9:15.
Job 9:15, “For though I were right, I could not answer; I would
have to implore the mercy of my judge.”
In this commandment, it means, “to testify,” as in a court proceeding, 1
Sam 12:3; 2 Sam 1:16; Micah 6:3; Isa 3:9; 59:12, etc.
“False” uses two Hebrew nouns,
SHEQER and SHAW that are the last words in the Hebrew of these passages.
“False” in Ex 20:16,
uses the Noun SHEQER that means, “lie, deception, or false,” that is used 110
times in the OT. It is used to describe words or activities that are “false,”
in the sense of being without basis in fact or reality, cf. Lev 19:12; Deut
19:18; Job 13:4. Occasionally, it also means, “vain or worthless,” 1 Sam
25:21.
Lev 19:12, “And you shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to
profane the name of your God; I am the LORD.”
Deut 19:18, “And the judges shall investigate thoroughly; and if
the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely.”
Job 13:4, “But you smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.”
It is used with particular reference to
false testimony, as in court. God considered it such a serious sin to give
testimony ungrounded in truth that He forbids it in the Decalogue. Zechariah
warned against false oaths or perjury, Zech 5:4; 8:17, and Jeremiah
prohibited swearing falsely, Jer 5:2. Such deceit is listed in Psalms as
the act of an adversary, Psa 27:12, motivated by arrogance, Psa
119:69. The purpose is to destroy someone through slanderous words, Isa
32:7.
Isa 32:7, “As for a rogue, his weapons are evil; He devises wicked
schemes to destroy the afflicted with slander, even though the
needy one speaks what is right.”
This word was also used to describe
false prophets and idols, 1 Kings 22:22; Jer 10:14f. So we see the
vertical aspect of this command as well.
“False,” in Deut 5:20, is
the Noun SHAW that means, “worthless, falsehood, or vanity,” in the OT. In
fact, SHAW is the word used for the 3rd Commandment, “You shall
not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,” in both Exodus and
Deuteronomy. Yet, SHEQER is used for the 3rd Commandment in Lev
19:18, as we noted above. So, we see the interchangeability of these two
words, and as for the 9th Commandment in Deuteronomy, SHAW implies
the meaning of, “falsehood, lies, and deceit.”
SHAW means more precisely, “empty or without substance.”
There is no basic difference, with SHEQER, for if one is accused on no valid or
substantial grounds, he is accused falsely.
Prov 30:8, “Keep deception and lies far from me, give me neither
poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion.”
With the nuance of the main meaning of
“worthless and vain,” we see what a false witness is in a court of law.
Lies most commonly take the form of
willfully inaccurate words, often described as lying lips or lying tongues.
Such deceit is one of the seven things God hates, Prov 6:17.
Lies only achieve their objectives for a
short time, Prov 12:19; 21:6.
Deceptive speech is often connected with
hatred, Prov 10:18; 26:28, and animosity, Psa 109:2.
Those who are righteous reject
falsehood, Prov 13:5, and pray to be delivered from it, Psa 120:2.
Falsehood is particularly reprehensible
for a leader, Prov 17:7, and David declared that no one guilty of it
could serve him, Psa 101:7.
Deception can also be expressed in
actions, rather than words. God described Israel as a nation of thieves, who
took what they wanted, even though they had no basis for claiming ownership,
Hosea 7:1.
Likewise, the individual thief can be
described as one who deals falsely, Prov 20:17; 11:18.
God’s Word demands that accusations must
have substance; they must be grounded in fact.
“Witness” is the Hebrew Noun ED,
which is used 70 times in the OT. Its root verb UD means, “to testify.”
Sometimes a witness can be an object, but mostly ED refers to a person,
including God, who has first-hand knowledge concerning the truth or falsity of
a thing. The term is most often used with regard to legal matters and in
deciding cases.
According to God’s Law, a witness was
required to testify on the basis of what he has seen and has knowledge of. When
he fails to come forth to do so, he himself is considered responsible, Lev
5:1. This is what we call in our laws today, aiding and abetting a criminal
or harboring a fugitive, which are crimes.
That is why false testimony is
specifically prohibited in the Decalogue. According to the Torah, a person who
lied, having malicious intent toward another, would be liable for the same
punishment the innocently accused would have received, Deut 19:15-21.
His guilt would be determined by the judges on the basis of the evidence, vs.
18.
On the other hand, a reliable witness is
one whose character is such that he can be counted on to clarify an issue when
there is doubt, Isa 8:2.
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A
PERSONAL NOTE FOR YOU
John 6:47 says: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who
believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.”
Notice again what John
6:47 says, “he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.” It doesn’t say, “will have;” it says,
“has.” Therefore, the very moment you believe Jesus Christ’s promise of
everlasting life, you have it, and it can never be lost or taken away from you [John 10:28-29]. Furthermore, the gift
of everlasting life [also called eternal life in Scripture] is available to
every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.
John 3:14-18
says: “And as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be
saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is
condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God.”
Eph 2:8-9, “For
by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift
of God: 9 Not of
works, lest any man should boast.”
If
you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I am here to tell
you that Jesus loves you. He loves you so much that He gave His life for you.
God the Father also loves you. He loves you so much that He gave His only Son
for you by sending Him to the Cross. At the Cross Jesus died in your place.
Taking upon Himself all of your sins and all of my sins. He was judged for our
sins and paid the price for our sins. Therefore, our sins will never be held
against us.
Right
where you are, you now have the opportunity to make the greatest decision in
your life. To accept the free gift of salvation and eternal life by truly
believing that Jesus Christ died for your sins and was raised on the third day
as the proof of the promise of eternal life. So right now, you can pause and
reflect on what Christ has done for you and say to the Father:
"Yes
Father, I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ,
died on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins."
If you have done that, I Welcome You to the Eternal
Family of God !!!
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Grace Fellowship Church
Pastor/Teacher: James H. Rickard
23 Messenger Street, Unit 3
Plainville, MA 02762
Copyright © 2001 - 2017.
Property of: James H Rickard Bible Ministries
All Rights Reserved.
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