Exodus 23: 1-9: “Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment: Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him. Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked. And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
The Ten Commandments make a simple statement: “thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbour”. That might seem quite straightforward but a good lawyer can find an argument. These same lawyers were around during the Lord Jesus Christ’s time and they were good at manufacturing situations that were almost impossible to answer (see for example, Matt 22: 34-36, “ But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” and Luke 20: 20-22, “And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor. And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly: Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no?”) The simple commandment could raise complicated questions so this section widens the application. What about just agreeing with someone else or not actually contradicting a lie? What about the difference between telling a lie and making a lie by, say, only telling part of the truth or encouraging someone to come up with a false conclusion? Well those things are covered as well. The Lord also cared for strangers and outcasts and would protect them even though the lawyers were not willing to do so.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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