Devotionals
Command Against Pejury
This ninth command is generally understood to mean not to tell lies. A closer look will reveal a bit more. David Wilson Rogers explains that Hebrew translated as false in Exodus
is slightly different from that of Deuteronomy. In Exodus, the meaning is ” intentional falsification or deception. It assumes a deliberate desire to mislead or distort information..”. In Deuteronomy, word is understood to imply, making empty or shallow utterances. Our utterances do matter to God and to us. For instance Jesus never joked in all his utterances. Imagine, if he was to tell us that heaven was a game. In law, Onyekachi Umah, a Nigerian legal luminary explains that perjury is ” Lying, misrepresentation and giving false testimony/evidence by any person in any case, orally or in writing, on oath or not..”. This is regarded as a criminal offence or a felony with a punishment of between 7-14 years. This punishment may vary from state to state. Its important that the Bible uses the word ”neighbour ”. That’s what we are despite the differences in our tongue. I was conducted a little research to find out the most prevalent sin among some 100 young people I was teaching at a time in the university. The result would surprise you. Ninety percent rated lying as their most prevalent sin before immorality. It is possible to walk in truth without compromise. That is why Jesus is the truth and the life. You can walk in truth.