“Thou shalt not bear false witness.”

 

Bearing false witness is more than lying. In past article we have written about lying and how it could be the right thing to do and what the standards or rightness are. We gave examples from Exodus and 1 Samuel and Luke.

In Exodus we saw the Hebrew midwives and Rahab, both were honoured by God. In 1 Samuel, God gives Samuel a cover story to keep Samuel from coming to harm. In Luke, Christ “made as though [H]e would…”  In another Gospel, John I think, The Lord Jesus’ brethren teasing Him told Him to come with them to a celebration. Lord Jesus declined, but then after they departed, He put on a cloak, in order to hide His Person.

Lying to cover for self or for a mistake one has made is unacceptable…lying to save or help another, in some cases, and based on the circumstances is acceptable.  It was acceptable to lie to the SS  when they went searching for Jews.  It will be acceptable to lie to Christ-ian hunters when the time comes.

Bearing false witness is an action and a thing of the heart. Men bore false witness to Christ. Potiphar’s wife bore false witness against Joseph. Peter bore false witness against his Lord. Daniel’s enemies set him up so they could bare false witness. In the Apocrypha, two wicked old men bore false witness against a young woman, if not for Daniel, she would have been executed. If you enjoy mysteries, “Daniel and Bel the Dragon” in the Apocrypha is the first (1st) closed room mystery.

A word on the Apocrypha, this is not an evil book, neither is it a Catholic book.  Just as the Catechism is not Catholic, the Apocrypha is not Catholic.  The Apocrypha IS NOT inspired  ans is not canon with Scripture. It is historical, however, in some instances. The Maccabees is historical and exciting.  Already stated, the additions to Daniel are mysteries and are very enjoyable. If you can trust me, you can trust me analysis. I’ve not read much more than the above but i intend to. (DV)

Back to our point on Bearing false witness.  The past tense of bearing is bore, “bore” false witness. Those that have bore children; their minds might go there when they hear the words bore witness.  I trust this will make sense. When a person bears false witness, they are, in a way, bearing a life, bringing a life forward. The person that bears false testimony is pregnant with slander and a false witness. When that person then gives birth, they give birth to a false witness that takes on a life of it’s own. That which comes forth cannot be taken back.

When i worked in landscaping, i had to deal with all sorts of persons.  It was a lesson in human behaviour. i learned well. I will provide the reader with a few examples. I had this one (1) guy who videotaped a small piece of dirt on a sidewalk.  This person brought video to a H.O.A. (Home Owners Assoc.) meeting and said that his video was representative of the work, i and my crew performed.

He was bearing false witness. He was a person that liked to be angry and others knew this, other members of the H.O.A. so he was not taken very seriously.  The persons that like to be angry are a kin the the little boy who  cried wolf.  When angry persons have a real reason to be angry, no one will pay much attention. Don’t find pleasure in anger, this is not God’s purpose for anger. Anger is an emotion that God has given us. We are to use anger to make things better, anger is a spark…be ye angry and sin not.

We had another client that would lie and bear false witness against me.  This person would call my bosses boss and tell him i am not calling her back. I think she had a thing for him and she was happy to ruin me to get to him. Reader, your writer is not one (1) to get got so easily…..for God is on his side. Every time this person would call and leave a message, i would call her back and write down the day and time upon the call back note. I would also write down what we talked about. This went on for a while and when she got the itch, she called the bosses boss complaining that i didn’t call her back. She would do this to stall her invoice too.

My boss called me into his office (a great boss was he, one of the best.) to discuss my failure to call this person back. He told me she was withholding payment because I would not call her back.  I smiled ear to ear, she fell into my trap…the old she-fox has fallen into my trap, if you will. I jumped up from my chair with a brightness in my eyes and a hop in my step. i went to my office, pulled our my folder…almost a novel and presented it to my boss just like Luther presented the N.T to his king…with excitement and gladness.

AH HAH! my boss loved it…he was even happier than i.  My good boss forwarded the info to his boss…what happened next was great….The bosses boss with a landscape construction or rather a destruction crew  pulled in front of this person’s home….house rather, if you get my drift. The Big boss and the crew  emptied the truck and began to remove, to pull up and out all the plant materials that she would not pay for and they left.  Some persons like to cause trouble, some like to be angry, some will bear false witness against others, but as there is God, there are God’s ways of avenging His own. Sometimes we get to see God act on our behalf and other times we do not.

I think, maybe, I saw once. I was verbally threatened once at a 7-11. It went on for minutes. The man was dead with in minutes of our verbal sparring. I told him i was a preacher, i made myself known like police do. I confess, i was pushing his buttons, spectators were present. One (1) girl called play by play on her phone for her friend. My daughters describe him as a miniature Hulk Hogan.

This guy was inebriated to say the least. Mini Hulk was flexing his muscles and telling me he was going to %#@& me up, i said he would not and could not. He was too inebriated, i also had my brass knuckles paperweight with me and i’m skilled in Jujitsu. I had no intentions of fighting.

Mini Hulk began speaking to my daughters and that heightened things a bit. He said to them, “Your Dad is a female dog.” To which i replied, “Girl’s, this is a guy who cannot hold his liquor.”  The clerk wanted to call the police, but i insisted he didn’t…he was on foot, then.  I found out afterward, he walked home, got his car and drove to the gas station and died there and then.

It is a great regret that i did not handle his verbal assaults and threats differently. We could have taken him outside and spoke to him of Christ. i did take advantage of the situation and spoke of Christ to the onlookers. I know not why this individual picked me out but picked me out he did and with purpose. This guy tried to bump shoulders with me like in High School. This happens to me, not at this level, but we have noticed men throwing aggression towards us. My family can vouch for that. They notice it when i don’t.  Do you ever get this aggression from others?  Is it a Christ-ian thing? or do i look like a guy someone would want to punch?