Back to THE TORAH CONNECTION Table of Contents<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nExodus 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n This Commandment addresses several different issues\u2014truthfulness in everyday life, integrity in business practices, and equity in matters of justice.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nHonesty in everyday life–<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nLev 19:11 Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nLev 19:16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor: I am the LORD. (A\u201dtalebearer\u201d is one who is a peddlar of slander.)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPsa 5:6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing (lies): the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPsa 15:1, 2 LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPsa 28:3 Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPsa 52:2-4 Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good; and<\/i> lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou<\/i> deceitful tongue. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPsa 101:5 Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPsa 101:7 He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPsa 119:29 Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPro 6:16, 17 These six things<\/i> doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are<\/i> an abomination unto him: . . . a lying tongue, . . . <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPro 8:7-9 For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is<\/i> an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are<\/i> in righteousness; there is<\/i> nothing froward or perverse in them. They are<\/i> all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPro 11:13 A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPro 12:17-20 He that<\/i> speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit. There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is<\/i> health. The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is<\/i> but for a moment. Deceit is<\/i> in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of peace is<\/i> joy. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPro 12:22 Lying lips are<\/i> abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are<\/i> his delight.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPro 17:9 He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very<\/i> friends.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPro 20:19 He that goeth about as<\/i> a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nIsa 59:2-4 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his<\/i> face from you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any<\/i> pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nJer 9:3-6 And they bend their tongues like<\/i> their bow for<\/i> lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD. Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders. And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and<\/i> weary themselves to commit iniquity. Thine habitation is<\/i> in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nHos 4:1, 2 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is<\/i> no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nZec 8:16, 17 These are<\/i> the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates: And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things<\/i> that I hate, saith the LORD. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nMat 7:12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nLuk 6:31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nJoh 8:44 Ye are of your<\/i> father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nEph 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nCol 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n1Ti 1:10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n1Ti 5:13 And withal they learn to be<\/i> idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nTit 3:2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but<\/i> gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nRev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nRev 22:15 For without are<\/i> dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nGod requires that truthfulness shall mark His people, even in the greatest peril.<\/i> PP 655<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nFalse 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. <\/i> PP 309<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Men are wanted whose sense of justice, even in the smallest matters, will not allow them to make an entry of their time that is not minute and correct–men who will realize that they are handling means that belong to God, and who would not unjustly appropriate one cent to their own use; men who will be just as faithful and exact, careful and diligent, in their labor, in the absence of their employer as in his presence, proving by their faithfulness that they are not merely men-pleasers, eyeservants, but are conscientious, faithful, true workmen, doing right, not for human praise, but because they love and choose the right from a high sense of their obligation to God. <\/i> CG 153<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n An adherence to the strictest principles of truth will frequently cause present inconvenience and may even involve temporal loss, but it will increase the reward in the future life. Religion does not consist merely in a system of dry doctrines, but in practical faith, which sanctifies the life and corrects the conduct in the family circle and in the church. <\/i> 4T 337<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n No man who does not utter the real sentiment of his heart can be called a truthful man. Falsehood virtually consists in an intention to deceive; and this may be shown by a look or a word. Even facts may be so arranged and stated as to constitute falsehoods. Some are adepts at this business, and they will seek to justify themselves for departing from strict veracity. There are some who, in order to tear down or injure the reputation of another, will, from sheer malice, fabricate falsehoods concerning them. Lies of self-interest are uttered in buying and selling goods, cattle, or any kind of merchandise. Lies of vanity are uttered by men who love to appear what they are not. A story cannot pass through their hands without embellishment. Oh, how much is done in the world which the doers will one day wish to undo! But the record of words and deeds in the books of heaven will tell the sad story of falsehoods spoken and acted. <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Falsehood and deception of every cast is sin against the God of truth and verity. The word of God is plain upon these points. Ye shall not “deal falsely, neither lie one to another.” “All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” God is a God of sincerity and truth. The word of God is a book of truth. Jesus is a faithful and true witness. The church is the witness and ground of the truth. All the precepts of the Most High are true and righteous altogether. How, then, must prevarication and any exaggeration or deception appear in His sight? For the falsehood he uttered because he coveted the gifts which the prophet refused, the servant of Elisha was struck with leprosy, which ended only with death. <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Even life itself should not be purchased with the price of falsehood. By a word or a nod the martyrs might have denied the truth and saved their lives. By consenting to cast a single grain of incense upon the idol altar they might have been saved from the rack, the scaffold, or the cross. But they refused to be false in word or deed, though life was the boon they would receive by so doing. Imprisonment, torture, and death, with a clear conscience, were welcomed by them, rather than deliverance on condition of deception, falsehood, and apostasy. By fidelity and faith in Christ they earned spotless robes and jeweled crowns. Their lives were ennobled and elevated in the sight of God because they stood firmly for the truth under the most aggravated circumstances. <\/i> 4T 335, 336<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a> Integrity in Business Practices–<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nLev 25:14 <\/span>And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest <\/span>ought<\/i><\/span> of thy neighbour’s hand, ye shall not oppress one another:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nLev 19:35, 36 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I <\/span>am<\/i><\/span> the LORD your God, which brought <\/span>you out of the land of Egypt. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDeu 25:13-16 Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. But<\/i> thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. For all that do such things, and<\/i> all that do unrighteously, are<\/i> an abomination unto the LORD thy God. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPro 11:1 A false balance is<\/i> abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is<\/i> his delight. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPro 16:11 A just weight and balance are<\/i> the LORD’S: all the weights of the bag are<\/i> his work. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPro 20:10 Divers weights, and<\/i> divers measures, both of them are<\/i> alike abomination to the LORD. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPro 20:14 It is<\/i> naught, it is<\/i> naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPro 21:6 The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is<\/i> a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nEze 22:12, 13 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD. Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nAmo 8:5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nMic 6:10, 11 Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is<\/i> abominable? Shall I count them<\/i> pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nMat 7:2 . . . with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nLuk 3:12, 13 Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nLuk 6:38 . . . with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nLuk 16:10-12 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?<\/i> And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own? <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n1Th 4:6 That no man<\/i> go beyond and defraud his brother in any<\/i> matter: because that the Lord is<\/i> the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The Christian in his business life is to represent to the world the manner in which our Lord would conduct business enterprises. In every transaction he is to make it manifest that God is his teacher. \u201cHoliness unto the Lord\u201d is to be written upon daybooks and ledgers, on deeds, receipts, and bills of exchange. Those who profess to be followers of Christ, and who deal in an unrighteous manner, are bearing false witness against the character of a holy, just, and merciful God. <\/i> DA 556<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n That which lies at the foundation of business integrity and of true success is the recognition of God’s ownership. The Creator of all things, He is the original proprietor. We are His stewards. All that we have is a trust from Him, to be used according to His direction. <\/i> Ed 137<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The servants of God are obliged to be more or less connected with the worldly by business transactions, but they should buy and sell with a realization that the eye of God is upon them. No false balances or deceitful weights are to be used, for these are an abomination to the Lord. In every business transaction a Christian will be just what he wants his brethren to think he is. His course of action is guided by underlying principles. He does not scheme, therefore, he has nothing to conceal, nothing to gloss over. He may be criticized, he may be tested, but his unbending integrity will shine forth like pure gold. He is a blessing to all connected with him, for his word is trustworthy. He is a man who will not take an advantage of his neighbor. He is a friend and benefactor to all, and his fellow men put confidence in his counsel. . . . <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n A truly honest man will never take advantage of weakness or incompetency in order to fill his own purse. He accepts a fair equivalent for that which he sells. If there are defects in the articles sold, he frankly tells his brother or his neighbor, although by so doing he may work against his own pecuniary interests. In all the details of life the strictest principles of honesty are to be maintained. These are not the principles which govern our world, for Satan–deceiver, liar, and oppressor–is the master, and his subjects follow him and carry out his purposes. But Christians serve under a different Master, and their actions must be wrought in God, irrespective of all selfish gain. Deviation from perfect fairness in a business deal may appear as a small thing in the estimation of some, but our Saviour did not thus regard it. His words on this point are plain and explicit: “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much” (Luke 16:10). . . .<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n In the Christian world today fraud is practiced to a fearful extent. God’s commandment-keeping people should show that they are above all these things. The dishonest practices which mar the dealing of man with his fellow man should never be practiced by one who professes to be a believer in present truth.<\/i> TDG 337<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Belief in the near coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven will not cause the true Christian to become neglectful and careless of the ordinary business of life. The waiting ones who look for the soon appearing of Christ will not be idle, but diligent in business. Their work will not be done carelessly and dishonestly, but with fidelity, promptness, and thoroughness. Those who flatter themselves that careless inattention to the things of this life is an evidence of their spirituality and of their separation from the world are under a great deception. Their veracity, faithfulness, and integrity are tested and proved in temporal things. If they are faithful in that which is least they will be faithful in much.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I have been shown that here is where many will fail to bear the test. They develop their true character in the management of temporal concerns. They manifest unfaithfulness, scheming, dishonesty, in dealing with their fellow men. They do not consider that their hold upon the future, immortal life depends upon how they conduct themselves in the concerns of this life, and that the strictest integrity is indispensable to the formation of a righteous character. Dishonesty is practiced all through our ranks, and this is the cause of lukewarmness on the part of many who profess to believe the truth. They are not connected with Christ and are deceiving their own souls. I am pained to make the statement that there is an alarming lack of honesty even among Sabbathkeepers. <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n