Bearing False Witness Against Your Neighbor - Proverbs 25:18

In the book of Proverbs Solomon said, “Withdraw your foot from your neighbor's house; lest he be weary of you, and so hate you”, and in chapter twenty-five and verse eighteen of Proverbs Solomon shared about, “a man that bears false witness against his neighbor” where we read,

A man that bears false witness against his neighbor

is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.

The verse begins, “A man that bears false witness against his neighbor ...” Solomon began with the words, “a man that bears false witness” or “a person whether male or female who speaks, answers and responds by giving lying, deceptive, fraudulent and wrong evidence or testimony” “against his neighbor” which means “in opposition to his, the person's, intimate companion, fellow-citizen or friend” exists as the following. Solomon said a person who speaks and answers with deceptive and lying testimony in opposite to their fellow-citizen and intimate companion exists in the following manner.

The verse continues, “is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.” Solomon added the words, “is a maul” or “exists as a scatterer, disperser and breaker”, “and a sword” which means “and a knife, tool, mattock, axe or other sharp implement”,“and a sharp arrow” or “and a whet, prickly and pointed shaft or dart used by an archer”. Solomon said the person who gives false testimony and evidence in opposition to their fellow-citizen exists like a disperser, sharp implement and pointed shaft.

When we consider Solomon's words in this verse, we discover how damaging a fraudulent testimony can be against our fellow-citizens. We are to speak the truth, and whenever there is an opportunity to do otherwise, we should always refuse. God loves us, and He desires to have a personal relationship with us though His Son Jesus who died on the cross for our sins. He gives us an opportunity to believe and trust in Jesus as our personal “Savior and Lord”, and when we surrender to Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and help us through His Holy Spirit never to give fraudulent and lying testimonies against our “neighbors”.

Next time Solomon shares about, “confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".