Exodus 23:1-3 –
You must not pass along false rumors. You must not cooperate with evil people by lying on the witness stand.“You must not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you are called to testify in a dispute, do not be swayed by the crowd to twist justice.And do not slant your testimony in favor of a person just because that person is poor.
I could not stop … 1, 2 and 3 are all good. These three laws are an incredible illustration on how we can be swayed by power, the crowd or compassion. All these are boil down to lying and how people are swayed to do so.
Verse 1, warns of having evil or powerful people sway the truth. Imaging your boss asking you to get something done that cannot be done, or to fudge the “data” or selling some one junk or to do something wrong to help him, or to … Yes the evil boss is just one example which many can look at, but you will find others who try to get you to sway the truth for their own reward. The classic example today is how money is swaying the mood of the country, through banks, oil companies and big government. That is a yearlong rant all in it’s own.
Verse 2, warns of having a crowd sway your judgment. “Everyone else did it!” How many times have you heard “if all your friends jumped off a cliff would you??” Now before you answer that think about Jonestown where hundreds of people committed suicide because everyone else did!! Know the truth and don’t let the majority sway you if you know it’s wrong. And don’t just follow the common belief, strive for knowing the truth before making an opinion.
Verse 3, warns of slanting justice for the poor, which is something we see daily. How many product liability cases (where someone’s product causes injury) have been won by a jury seeing a “rich company” who can “afford it” and a poor person who had an accident, unjustly award the poor person millions? Think about the “they can afford it” mentality! People use that to not work to their fullest, steal items from work, steal items from the store, sue for their own errors, tax them all … the list goes on and on the “rich can afford it!” Don’t judge based on needs or means, base it on the truth.
All three verses expand on “thou shalt not lie”, as the commandment is popularly quoted. They are just detailing how one could be persuaded to lie. As I have found out, tell the truth and you don’t have to remember who you said what to!!
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Isaiah 11:10 – “In that day the heir to David’s throne will be a banner of salvation to all the world. The nations will rally to him, and the land where he lives will be a glorious place.”
I know not an ancient Jewish Proverb, but it is what I fell on … deep in the Old Testament and foreshadowing Jesus!!