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The Law of God contains punishments for those who rebel against God’s righteousness. But it also contains commands that require us to do good to our neighbor. And this concept is what the apostle Paul was referring to in Romans 11:22 (NASB)—Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. And if we also have the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of the Law hangs on two commands, Matthew 22:37-40—“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength…you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these hang all the Law and the prophets.” We are to love and fear God—that we may not sin against Him. We love our neighbor—that we might not do him wrong. And so we see what Paul meant by the kindness and severity of God—kindness to those who love Him; severity to those who rebel against Him. And today’s text deals more with the severity of God toward those who despise Him and His righteousness.
Exodus 22:20, 28; Exodus 23:1-3, 6-8—“20 He who sacrifices to any god, except to the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed…28 You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people…23:1 You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. 2 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…6 You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute. 7 Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked. 8 And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.” We have three principles in these verses. First—the most obvious—we are to worship God and God alone. The second is that we are to respect those that God has placed in positions of authority. The third principle is that we are not to put ourselves in a position of giving false testimony and condemning an innocent person. And we see the second and third principles displayed in the gospels.
To start, let’s look at Exodus 22:20, 28—“20 He who sacrifices to any god, except to the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed…28 You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.” The first command: simple. Do not sacrifice anything to any god but God. On the other hand, the second command says to not blaspheme God or curse, as it says a ruler of your people.
If you’ve ever heard the word ‘theocracy’, it simply means a form of government with God as its ruler. (Actually, when you get right down to it, the universe is a ‘theocracy’. It is ruled and governed by God. He simply lets men hold some of the lesser offices. Like, President). God intended for Israel to be a theocracy. God was to be their only king. And God had placed men in positions of authority to act in His name and in His authority. In some translations these are called ‘judges’ or ‘magistrates’. God did not intend for the people to have a king over them—they were to be ruled by God and God alone. We know that down the road the people cried out for God to give them a king like the pagan nations had. And like the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. Because we know from the history of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah that God gave them what they wanted. But in the society that the Israelites lived under until the time after the death of Joshua, the people were ruled by God.
Well, to despise the authority of the high priest and the government of God was to, in fact, despise God. Hebrews 10:28—Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Despising Moses’ law includes despising those who administer that law. And during the time when Christ walked the earth, this Law was administered by a body of men called the Sanhedrin. Christ also called it “the council” in some places. The Hebrew term that was the equivalent of the term “Sanhedrin” was “K’nishta”. Over time that term morphed into one that we actually hear sometimes today. You may be watching the news and hear them refer to the “Knesset”. This is the legislative branch of the Israeli government. It would be like our House of Representatives and the Senate rolled into one. Anyway, the most well-known trial that ever took place before that “Knesset” or “K’nishta” or “Sanhedrin” took place about 2000 years ago. Anybody know who the defendant was? It was before these magistrates, these “rulers” as they're called in Exodus 22, that Christ was brought to trial.
All of the prohibitions in today’s text were put on display in the trial of Jesus. We have people bearing a false report. People who joined their hands with the wicked to be a malicious witness. People who followed the masses in doing evil. We see men testifying in a dispute so as to pervert justice. And of course we see the murder of the innocent and righteous. But the first thing we see is Christ’s obedience to the Law by not reviling a ruler of the people. Matthew 26:57-64—57 And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 58 But Peter followed Him at a distance to the high priest's courtyard. And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end. 59 Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, 60 but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward 61 and said, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.'" 62 And the high priest arose and said to Him, "Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?" 63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God:—in other words, “I put you under oath by You”—Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!" 64 Jesus said to him, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." So here we have this farce of a trial, presided over by the rulers of the people. And the means they used to carry out this trial went against all the rules that were in place for pretty much any trial, but especially a trial that involved the potential for the defendant to be put to death.
There was a fellow named Simon Greenleaf, and he was the dean of the Harvard Law School many, many years ago. He became a very skilled writer in defense of the truth of Christ. He wrote a book called "The Testimony of the Evangelists," and this book includes a whole section by a gentleman named Joseph Salvador on how the Sanhedrin was to conduct a trial involving the death penalty. I won’t reproduce it here, but I will share with you the boiled-down, condensed version from John MacArthur—“In the Jewish trial of Jesus Christ, they violated every single law of justice and jurisprudence known to them. They violated every single one of them willfully so that the trial of Jesus Christ is THE most unjust trial in human history…the motto of the Sanhedrin was this: ‘The Sanhedrin is to save, not to destroy life’…No criminal trial could be carried through the night, this one was. The judges who condemned a criminal had to have a day in between before the execution and they had to fast all day, they didn't. They killed Jesus the same day...There had to be defense, there was no defense…And that and many other illegalities make up a list of things they did to violate the laws that they themselves affirmed.”
The high priest has leveled this accusation against Christ—a lie that even the high priest knows is false. Jesus could have very easily said, “You're a liar and a crook! Now let Me go!” But He didn’t. Why? Because God said “You shall not curse a ruler of your people.” If He had rebuked the high priest, He would have broken the Law of God that He was sent to fulfill. But he didn’t have to accuse them—they accused themselves. His silence fulfilled not only the Law, but also the words of Isaiah 53:7 (NASB)—He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. There is another passage that is fulfilled in Jesus’ response, and that is Psalm 38:12-14 (ESV)—12 Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek my hurt speak of ruin and meditate treachery all day long. 13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear, like a mute man who does not open his mouth. 14 I have become like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no rebukes.
Now, the Sanhedrin were not the only ones who condemned themselves. Exodus 23:1-3, 6-8—“1 You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. 2 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…6 You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute. 7 Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked. 8 And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.” Everybody involved in the trial of Christ did everything they could to condemn the Man. And they all wound up condemning themselves. Listen to what these witnesses testified.
Mark 14:57-59—57 Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying, 58 "We heard Him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.'" What they were trying to accuse Him of was saying that He could—and would—destroy the temple in Jerusalem and rebuild it in three days. Now, the temple had been under construction for nearly 46 years when these events took place. But He did not say He would destroy the temple—that is, the building that we talked about last week that was eventually destroyed by the Romans. He actually said that they would destroy “this temple.” John 2:19-21—19 Jesus…said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 20 Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" 21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. When someone wants to believe a lie, they will latch onto any little tidbit they can. And here, they really go out on a limb, testifying that Jesus really claimed to be able to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem in three days. (Well, He could have, but that was not what He was claiming.) If they had really believed He was merely a man, it would have been foolishness for them to think He could have ever even made this claim, let alone try to pull it off. Which is why He didn’t answer. He knew His hour had come—the hour in which He would glorify God, and the hour in which man would condemn himself.
Now, in the time we have left let’s ask the question, “What does the commandment from Exodus 22-23 mean for us today? After all, we don’t live in a theocracy.” Well, I'm glad you asked. What it means is this: That when a government makes a law we are to obey it. Because whether the government is based on God’s word, or whether it is based on tyranny and oppression, that government receives its authority from God Himself. Now, someone may say, “Well, what about the government in countries where they arrest and torture and execute Christians?” God knows what they do. God has not forgotten. But it is in those countries that God is most glorified through His people. Because when His people are brought to trial, and ordered to renounce the name of Christ, and they stand firm and do not deny, they glorify God.
Romans 13:1-3—1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. We don’t have time to do an in-depth study on this passage, but here is what Paul is saying in a nutshell. Whatever governments exist are appointed by God. That’s what he’s saying in verse 1. In verse 2, he is repeating the command found in Exodus 22:28, to not curse the ruler of your people. And in fact, he tells us to pray for those men in 1st Timothy 2:1-2—1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. Now, when we get to Romans 13:3 we may be tempted to say “Now wait a minute! Communist China terrorizes those who confess Christ!” That’s not the point Paul is making. The ESV says it best, Romans 13:3 (ESV)—For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. That’s why he asks if we want to be unafraid of our government? Do you really want the government to not enforce the laws? Ever notice how the people who scream the loudest that the police are corrupt and the police are this or that—who are the first people those folks call when someone’s broken into their house?
A couple more passages about government being appointed by God. Colossians 1:16—For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. 1st Peter 2:13-15—13 Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, 14 or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. And Jesus Himself said the very same thing—the very government that would nail Him to the cross was appointed and ordained by God. John 19:10-11—10 Then Pilate said to Him, "Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?" 11 Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above.” John Gill—“Meaning, not from the Jewish Sanhedrim…nor from the Roman emperor, or senate of Rome, the higher powers; by whom Pilate was made governor of Judea… but reference is made to the place from where he came, and to the decree and council of God above, and the agreement between the eternal three in heaven. Christ speaks of a power Pilate had against Christ, that is, of taking away his life; he had no lawful power to do it at all; nor any power, right or wrong, had it not been given him by God.”
Jesus Christ is Lord. Amen.
A couple more points I want to make about stealing. Suppose I sell you a gallon of gasoline. But my gallon isn't really a gallon; it’s about 99% of a gallon. That’s not a big difference per gallon, but if you add up the number of gallons I sell, I'm making a ton of money by shortchanging people. And, I'm really stealing from you, because I'm giving you less than what you're paying for. The National Institute of Standards and Technology—which used to be called the Bureau of Standards—is located in Gaithersburg, MD. They have the official one pound weight. They have the official one quart container. They have the official inch; they have the official pint; they have the official liter, they have the official—well, whatever measurement, whether it’s a foot or a centimeter or a ton, that official measurement is there. When you go to fill up your gas tank, look for a little sticker on the gas pump. That means that the NIST has gone to this gas station, with their one gallon container, pumped gasoline into that container and determined that the gas station’s one gallon is the same as their one gallon.
This reminded me of a verse in Proverbs, Proverbs 20:10—Differing weights and differing measures, both of them are abominable to the LORD. When Proverbs was being written, merchants didn’t have digital scales. They used a balance weight. And some of the more unscrupulous merchants, when they were selling something by weight, they would make a heavier weight but they would make it look like a lighter one. In this way they could make the buyer think they were getting more than they really were. The buyer didn’t know any better. Just like we don’t know, when we pull up to the gas pump, if we've pumped 20.657 gallons or 20.642 gallons. We take it for granted that the amount on the little display is what actually went into our tank.
Finally, this whole Law that we’re looking at. Every time we sin we are stealing. We are robbing God of the glory that should be going to Him. Because He deserves our unhindered, undivided worship every single second of our lives. But we humans are sinful creatures, and because we are born with a nature that wants to put us on the throne instead of God, we deprive Him of the worship He deserves and we give that worship to ourselves. But, because God wants us to give Him glory, He does not destroy us the first time we sin. Otherwise, the human race would cease to exist. Isaiah 48:9-11—“9 For My name's sake I will defer My anger, and for My praise I will restrain it from you, so that I do not cut you off. 10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. 11 For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; for how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another.” God is patient with us, and gives us a chance to repent and give Him the glory He is due.
When the people of Israel built their golden calf, and God was about to destroy them, Exodus 32:11-14—11 Then Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, and said: "LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, 'He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'" 14 So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people. God was going to wipe the people out and start all over and make a new nation from Moses. But listen to Moses’ plea: he didn’t pray “Oh LORD God, that would be such a human tragedy to wipe all these people out!” He saw things from God’s perspective and prayed that God would not give His enemies a reason to ridicule Him. And because Moses prayed that God be glorified through these people, God withdrew His anger and spared them.
In 2nd Samuel, when David slept with Bathsheba and had Uriah killed, the prophet Nathan pointed out the consequences of David’s actions. And he didn’t say that the worst thing that came out of it was that “Poor Uriah is dead” or “Poor Bathsheba is a widow.” 2nd Samuel 12:14—“By this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme.” Every sin we commit robs God of the glory, the honor, the worship, the obedience we owe to Him.
So, now let’s transition into our next commandment. If we were to list the three commandments from the Ten that every single person has broken, we could probably include the commandment “Honor thy father and mother.” Every child, no matter how cute and fuzzy-wuzzy they are, at some point in their lives every child refuses to do what their mom or dad tell them to do. The other commandment everyone has probably broken is the one that says “Thou shalt not steal.” We’ve all taken something that doesn’t belong to us. The third commandment that we’ve all broken, at least once in our lives, is the commandment that we find today, Exodus 20:16—“You shall not bear false witness against you neighbor.” Now the primary focus for this commandment is to prevent people from giving false testimony about someone in a matter of law. When someone takes the witness stand, you put your hand on a Bible, raise your right hand and the clerk asks you—what? “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?” And of course, everybody who takes that oath always tells the whole truth and nothing but the truth, right? Yeah, right!
There are some who claim that this commandment only covers perjury—bearing false witness in a courtroom-type setting. But, we see in Leviticus 19:11—“You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.” Well, not only does this commandment have that purpose, to persuade a person to tell the truth in court, but the general application here is against lying anywhere about anybody at anytime. Now, before we get started, let’s define what we mean by the word “lying.” According to Webster’s dictionary, a lie is
“A falsehood uttered for the purpose of deception; an intentional violation of truth. Fiction, or a false statement or representation, not intended to deceive, mislead or injure, as in fables, parables and the like, is not a lie. It is willful deceit that makes a lie.”
It’s simple: if I tell you something that is not true, and I know it’s not true, that is a lie. However, if I tell you something that is not true, but I believe that it is true, then that is not a lie. So, with that said, let’s look at lying. What was the first lie ever told? “Hath God indeed said?” (Genesis 3:1). Which is why Jesus called Satan “A murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). Every lie that has ever been told was started by Satan, and they all spring from that first lie. And it was because Adam believed that first lie that all mankind has been plunged into spiritual death—that why Jesus called Satan “A murderer from the beginning”, because he persuaded our father Adam to go against the will of God and brought death into this world.
Well, with that said, let’s look at a couple types of lying. First, perjury. In the OT Law, there were strict guidelines for dealing with perjury. For one thing, if someone was accused of murder, there had to be more than one witness. Today we would call this “corroborating evidence.” Numbers 35:30—“Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty.” This was a necessary safeguard against malicious uses of the Law. That one person could be mistaken, thinking he saw who did it; he could be prejudiced against the accused. So rather than stake the life and death of a person on the perhaps-faulty testimony of one person, at least one other person had to bring accusation. And there was a severe penalty if you committed perjury. Deuteronomy 19:15-21—“15 One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. 16 If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, 17 then both men in the controversy shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. 18 And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, 19 then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you. 20 And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. 21 Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” If you testified in a murder trial, and you lied about the accused, and you were found out, you and the accused stood before the judge and if they determine that you lied, then guess who got the death penalty?
What better deterrent to the people to not bring false accusations against one another than to see that if you are found out, you will be given the same punishment which would have been given to the accused. Matthew Henry—
“If the crime he accused his neighbour of was to be punished with death, the false witness must be put to death; if with stripes, he must be beaten; if with a [financial penalty], he was to be fined the sum. And because to those who [did not consider] the heinousness of the crime, and the necessity of making this provision against it, it might seem hard to punish a man so severely for [speaking] a few words, especially when no mischief did actually follow, it is added: Thy eye shall not pity, The benefit that will accrue to the public from this severity will abundantly [make up for] it: Those that remain shall hear and fear. Such exemplary punishments will be warnings to others not to attempt any such mischief, when they see how he that made the pit and digged it has fallen into the ditch which he made.”
Now, there is an episode in the Bible of two witnesses who couldn’t quite get their stories straight. Matthew 26:59-61—59 Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, 60 but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward 61 and said, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.'" Of course, that’s not quite what Jesus said. We find what this fellow was referring to in John 2:18-19—18 So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?" 19 Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Jesus did not say that HE would destroy the temple in Jerusalem, but rather that these Pharisees would destroy THE temple—His body. Now, what the judges should have done at this time was to dismiss these men as false witnesses. But they don’t—a fact which shows that they weren’t really concerned about upholding the Law, but they just simply wanted to get rid of Him.
Now we are going to move away from the courtroom and into everyday life. How many people in here have never told a lie? If you didn’t raise your hand, then you just lied. Everybody has lied. But we live in a society that doesn’t really think lying is such a bad thing. Watch one of Ray Comfort’s “WOTM” videos, where they talk to people on the street, and he will ask them if they ever told a lie. See if any of them say “No.” They can't—everybody lies. But that’s the problem—we human beings don’t want to feel bad about ourselves, so in order to lie with a clear conscience, what do we tell ourselves? “Everybody does it.” In fact, I remember watching him talk to one fellow, and he asked this man “Have you ever told a lie?” the man said “Yeah.” When Ray asked him “You know what that makes you?” And instead of saying "It makes me a liar," the guy said “It makes me human.” And ya know, without knowing it, he hit the nail right on the head. We’re humans, and because we are humans we lie. Now, does that make it OK, just because “Everybody does it”? I wonder how they'd feel if “everybody” punched them in the face, if that would be OK. So let’s talk about the different kinds of lying that take place on a regular basis.
First, gossip. James 3:2-5—2 For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Indeed, we put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. 4 Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! How does a forest fire start? Does an entire 100-acre tract of forest just go POOF! All at once? What do you need in order to start what could be potentially the largest forest fire in all of history? A little match! Next thing you know, 500,000 acres are on fire. James goes on to say, James 3:6-9—6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Ever hear the phrase "do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Next time you hear someone gossiping, ask them "do you praise GOD with that same mouth?" Proverbs 26:20—Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no talebearer, strife ceases. What happens when you put wood on a burning fire? It gets bigger and hotter. Take the wood out of there, what happens? The fire goes out. A fire needs fuel. A rumor needs someone to tell it and someone to listen. When someone goes around gossiping and backbiting and sniping about people, eventually hatred springs up, and hostilities boil over until it's too late, and no one wants to talk to each other. But take the gossiping backbiter out of the scene, and everybody realizes what was really going on, people apologize to each other, and become friends again. If you don’t believe me, listen to Proverbs 22:10—Cast out the scoffer, and contention will leave; yes, strife and reproach will cease.
So that pretty much sums up lying. There are all kinds of other areas we could talk about, but these are the most common. Next week we will look at the last of these Ten Commandments, one which, in fact, is the root of why we need the other nine. That reason being covetousness.
Jesus Christ is Lord. Amen.
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