A witness is a person who has seen, heard, sensed, or been aware of something, especially an event or a fact. A witness can also give evidence or testimony, often in a court of law, based on their own knowledge. Wikipedia defines a witness as “someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know.” Cornell University Law School’s definition of a witness is “someone with firsthand [personal] knowledge of an event.” A witness engages all five senses, but especially the senses of sight and hearing, as necessary tools in order to be truly qualified as a witness.
Accordingly, the major qualification of a true witness is that they must be truthful. The person is required to declare only what they have witnessed without adding or subtracting information based upon their biases, opinions, etc. The Holy Scriptures call Jesus “the Faithful and True Witness” (Revelation 3:14) and this is so because He declares Himself as “the Truth” (John 14:6). Jesus told His disciples, “… the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me” (John 14:30). Satan who is the prince of this world is a liar and also the father of lies (John 8:44). This makes him the false witness!
A true or false witness.
As there are true witnesses, so there are false witnesses. King Solomon says that God hates “a false witness that speaketh lies” (Proverbs 6:19). While deadly sin number two addresses a lying tongue, it speaks of lying generally. In a concise form, the expression a lying tongue represents whatever has been already said concerning “the wicked man” who “walks with a forward mouth” and whose conduct is made up of deceit (Proverbs 6:12, 13). Lying is the willful perversion of truth, not only by speech but by any means whatever, whereby a false impression is conveyed to the mind.
This sixth deadly sin, known as perjury, specifically addresses an aspect of lying that forbids being a false witness against one’s neighbor. More specifically, this sin is detestable to God and is expressly forbidden in the moral code, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). Clearly, that which makes a person a “false witness” is speaking lies based upon unfounded accusations. It is this type of lying that is expressly forbidden by the ninth commandment, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
This prohibition is repeated elsewhere in the Bible because God considers this sin a very serious matter and does not want us to forget His command.
- Exodus 23:1 – “Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.”
- Deuteronomy 5:20 – “Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
- Proverbs 12:17 – “He that speaketh truth showeth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.”
- Proverbs 12:22 – “Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are His delight.”
- Proverbs 25:18 – “A man that beareth false witness against his neighbor is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.”
- Matthew 19:18 – “… Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness.”
- Mark 10:19 & Luke 18:20 – “Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness.”
- Romans 13:9 – “For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness.”
Thousands of people have been wrongly convicted across the United States in a system defined by official indifference to innocence and error. Since 1989, over 3,175 persons have been exonerated in the United States. The years that these people spent in prison for crimes they didn’t commit total over 27,200. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, as of November 2016, more than half of all wrongful convictions were traced to witnesses who lied in court or made false accusations.
Richard Phillips was an unfortunate victim whose friend made a false statement about him in 1972. As a result, he was imprisoned for 46 years, the longest known wrongful prison sentence in American history.
In June, 2011, a former undercover police officer confessed that his lies in court more than 30 years ago had wrongfully sent over 150 people to prison. “In his confession, he said he could not guess the number of people who were sent to prison because of his lies because he stopped counting arrests at 150, halfway through his three-year undercover stint.”
Source: STUFF, Former Cop says his lies sent people to prison, June 25, 2011
The unfortunate results.
We see also in the Holy Scriptures the unfortunate results of bearing false witness. For example, in 1 Kings 21, the narrative reveals how Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife, employed two false witnesses to lie against Naboth because he refused to sell Ahab his family vineyard. Because of their false witness, Naboth lost his property and his life.
Let’s look at a few questions that we need to answer:
- How does God view those who bear false witness?
“There are men who are ever talking and gossiping and bearing false witness, who sow the seeds of discord and engender strife. Heaven looks upon this class as Satan’s most efficient servants.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 4, 607
“All evil-speaking and bearing of false witness is disloyalty to God and to His cause.” The Review and Herald, November 29, 1898
- What will happen to a church that entertains a false witness?
“Satan has made his boast of what he can do. He thinks to dissolve the unity which Christ prayed might exist in His church. He says, ‘I will go forth and be a lying spirit to deceive those that I can, to criticize, and condemn, and falsify.’ Let the son of deceit and false witness be entertained by a church that has had great light, great evidence, and that church will discard the message the Lord has sent, and receive the most unreasonable assertions and false suppositions and false theories. Satan laughs at their folly, for he knows what truth is.” Testimonies for Ministers and Gospel Workers, 409
“Misrepresentation and [bearing] false witness will grow to open rebellion.” The Review and Herald, January 30, 1900
- How should the church handle the influence of a false witness?
“The Lord would not have His servants unjustly charged by their fellow laborers with the guilt of many sins. Those who do this do much harm by creating a sentiment which will cut off the influence of those against whom they speak. False impressions will be made. Every effort should be made to present the facts as they exist. It is essential for the one who has borne false witness to see that he has been guilty of a great wrong in causing dissension in the church and in creating false sympathy, thus leading others into the same error and endangering their souls.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 10, 167
What does it really mean?
We have been studying the subject of false witness, but some people may not be sure of the meaning of bearing false witness. Here is a comprehensive definition of bearing false witness, “ ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.’
“False speaking in any matter, every attempt or purpose to deceive our neighbor, is here included. An intention to deceive is what constitutes falsehood. By a glance of the eye, a motion of the hand, an expression of the countenance, a falsehood may be told as effectually as by words. All intentional overstatement, every hint or insinuation calculated to convey an erroneous or exaggerated impression, even the statement of facts in such a manner as to mislead, is falsehood. This precept forbids every effort to injure our neighbor’s reputation by misrepresentation or evil surmising, by slander or tale bearing. Even the intentional suppression of truth, by which injury may result to others, is a violation of the ninth commandment.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 309
According to Paul, false witnesses or false accusers are a sign of the last days. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves … without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers.” 2 Timothy 3:1–3
Paul used the Greek word diabolos here, meaning “devil or slanderer,” to describe false accusers. Mrs. White, commenting on these verses, revealed the awful effect the influence of false accusers will have on the church.
“While Christ is at work to preserve a pure church in the earth, Satan ever seeks to counteract his agency and work. Spurious Christians are found in the church of God; for we find men, while professing the name of Christ, more firmly united to Satan than they are united with pure and holy influences. They gather darkness and unbelief from Satan, and they communicate it to the church. They profess to have the power of discernment, and discover spots and stains in the character of their brethren and are not slow to communicate their suspicions to other members of the church. They distribute the leaven of distrust, of malice and accusation. And as a result, alienation and estrangement come in between brethren. All these false accusers, though their names are on the church records, are under the control of Satan, and work as his agents to weaken and confuse the church, and divide the brethren of Christ on earth. When this has been accomplished, Satan exults over the divided state of the church, and points the world to the professed followers of Christ, thus bringing the name of Christ into dishonor before the world, and intrenching men in their unbelief and rebellion against God.” The Review and Herald, January 3, 1893
Finally, what is the penalty for being a false witness? “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong; Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days; And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother; Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you. And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you. And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” Deuteronomy 19:15–21
“A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.” Proverbs 19:5
“Men may think to hide their evil deeds from human eyes, but they cannot deceive God. ‘All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.’ Hebrews 4:13.” Prophets and Kings, 252
“All the way along in the history of the third angel’s message there have been found amongst the believers men who have done much harm to God’s cause. These men are spots in our feasts of charity; tares among the wheat; wolves among the sheep, ready to bite and devour. Delighting to bear false witness, they cruelly injure the reputation of others. Every such one will be rewarded ‘according to his works.’ God ‘hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world.’ ” The Review and Herald, May 12, 1903
Let us keep in mind these words, “Slander covers more ground than we suppose. The command, ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness,’ means very much more than we realize. False witness is borne again and again in flippant speech concerning even the workers whom God has sent. The seeds of envy, of evil thinking and evil speaking, germinate and produce a harvest of their kind, to be garnered by the one who planted the seed. ‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.’ ” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 1, 1106
All scriptures taken from the King James Version.
Pastor Ivan Plummer ministers through the Emmanuel Seventh Day Church Ministries in Bronx, New York. He may be contacted by telephone at 718-882-3900.