Exodus 20:16 Study Guide: Do Not Bear False Witness

Community Group Study Guide — The Ninth Commandment - Do Not Bear False Witness  
Exodus 20:16

Study Information:
It hurts when people lie to you or about you. We live in a world that spins truth as relative or categorize some lies as big and others as “little white lies.” This seems to make it easy to get away with spreading falsehoods in everyday conversation and online. Sometimes these lies are intentional and malicious, other times they are partial truths or misunderstandings that we share. The Bible teaches us that lying tears down real relationships creating real harm. The ninth commandment teaches us to not bear false witness about our neighbor to their harm. Inherently it is a command to guard each other’s reputation and to speak the truth, especially as a witness in a legal proceeding. At first glance you may think “I got this one covered!” but like with the other commandments, historically and scripturally, the root issue to this command is a prohibition against all forms of lying. The ninth commandment teaches us that God loves truth and we love our neighbor best when we speak the truth to them, about them and to each other.

God Loves Truth
Exodus 20:16
Core to Israel’s legal system was the need for people to speak the truth as witnesses. Without forensic evidence or CSI teams, God commanded that the evidence of 2-3 witness was needed to establish the truth of a matter. People’s lives and property were held in the power of another’s words. This seemed to work really well but there are examples in the Bible of wicked people getting together to conspire against someone and God condemned this as evil. 

Like with all the commands, this isn’t just about one specific place and space like a court room, this is a commandment about how speaking truth is a way to love our neighbor and guard their reputation. For example, Hosea 4:1-2 broadened the command out as a prohibition against all forms of lying and Paul in the New Testament taught that we should put away “all falsehood (Eph 4:25).” 

We reflect God best when we’re committed to telling the truth and walking in the light. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life; and we’re taught that it is impossible for God to lie (John 14:6, Hebrews 6:18). Likewise, Jesus rebuked the religious teachers of the day by telling them they were participating in the work of the devil through their lies (John 8:44). The devil loves to distort the truth in order to create havoc through disunity, deceit and slander. To be a follower of Jesus is to walk in truth because God is truth and does not lie. 

Lying With Our Words
Ephesians 4:25
The historic interpretation of the ninth commandment includes a prohibition against all forms of lying from gossip, to slander, twisting of words and even things like flattery. The Bible teaches us that these forms of lying may appear small on the surface but have an intent to harm our neighbor and do not help each other grow in Christ or walk in love. False testimony includes deliberately lying about someone else for their harm or to protect yourself, but these other forms of lying seem less insidious. We often minimize this by saying we were just “sharing a concern” or “passing on something we heard.” We often do this without stopping to consider if it is true, helpful or good. We can like secrets and bond over secrets, whether the information being shared is good or bad. Core to this kind of speech is a tearing down of another, rather than building them up in love. Likewise overt lying harms real friendship with others. This seems obvious when it comes to deceit, but think about how flattery hurts community. Flattery is praising someone else, usually saying something you would not say in private, in order to control of manipulate someone else. Flattery sees someone as an object to control, instead we can offer real encouragement and thus build intimacy and friendship. Lying, slander, gossip and flattery either tear someone else down or keeps them at arm’s length. 

Lying With Our Lives
Ephesians 4:25, Matthew 23:27-28
Likewise we can bear false witness and lie with our lives. This is an intent to project or manipulate others by misleading them through our actions. Jesus’s harshest words were directed at the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. They projected an image of religious performance that was not true to who they actually were internally. This created a culture that put burdens on others and made vulnerability, confession of sin or of need difficult. Some of us are tempted to lie in the same way as we project an image of religious performance. Others of us are more tempted to switch who we are and how we’re seen depending on which group we are in. This is not us being professional at work, or letting our guard down with some close friends, instead it is what James called being “double minded” or literally of two minds (James 1:8)” There is a flipping back and forth to fit in, gain approval or mimic the crowds we’re around. This can happen with falling in line with unethical work practice or worldly behaviors that are not in line up with following Christ.  

Why do we lie? Some lie and deceive because of a desire to gain from others. Fraud and deception are common place and often tied to financial gain or manipulating others. We see this sin in the Garden of Eden when the serpent bore false witness about God to manipulate and deceive Adam and Eve. Another reason we lie is because of fear. We’re either lying to protect ourselves or because we desire the approval of others. This has historically been called the “fear of man.” Paul encourages followers of Jesus to speak and act in such a way that please God and not man (1 Thess 2:4). This can be a constant battle for some of us because of insecurity, peer pressure or a desire to be loved. The pressure can lead to compromise or changing who we are to find the approval we seek. What we have in Christ through the gospel is of immeasurable worth. God fully knows everything there is about us, and loves us anyway. We do not have to pretend of perform to be loved by God. God’s love was so costly and great that he sent his only son to die for our sin to make relationship with him possible again. We can be real about our sin, repent, put our faith in Christ and receive forgiveness and fellowship with God through Jesus. 

Living This Out
Ephesians 4:15, 25
The goal of speaking the truth is to love our neighbor and to walk in the light. Speaking the truth helps us and others grow spiritually to be more like Jesus. This leads us to love our neighbor through vulnerable and open relationships in the body of Christ.Speaking the truth and speaking in love are not antithetical to each other, we can have both courage and kindness. Our goal is not to find faults in others or to just be nice; the goal is spiritual growth and maturity. Pray for people who you can be open with and who will be open to you and ask, are there people in my life that tell me hard things because they love me? If so, you’ve been given a gift and you can likewise help others in the same way. 

Paul also commanded us to put away all falsehood, Christians should strive to put away any sort of gossip, malice, slander or deception (Colossians 3:8). Lovingly call our flattery, gossip and lying and help one another pursue relationships that lead towards spiritual growth. 


At your community group:
Take 15-20 minutes to share about how God has been at work in your life, prayer concerns and pray for one another.

How did God speak to you through the scripture and the sermon this week? 

Discussion Questions:
Read Exodus 20:16

What did this commandment mean in the courtroom settings of the ancient world? Why do you think theologians and the scripture broaden it out to include all forms of lying?

How do people slip into patterns of lying in our world today? What are some reasons we’re tempted to lie?

Jesus had some harsh words for the spiritual leaders of his day around hypocrisy. How does hypocrisy damage real Christian community?

What are some ways you can pursue walking in the truth this week?