Deuteronomy 19:15-21 – Upholding truth and justice

Any just society must have laws to ensure the people can co-exist peacefully. And testimonies of witnesses are important elements to ensure true justice. This will be especially critical in crimes deserving capital punishment. God wants to ensure that any crime be accurately ascertained before an accused is sentenced. He should not be condemned on the evidence of one witness because a witness will only provide facts from one angle. Besides, the witness can have a grudge against the victim and accuse him falsely. Hence, an accused must be condemned only on the evidence of two or three witnesses.

Therefore for the Israelites God demanded that a thorough investigation must be carried out to be sure that a crime had indeed been committed by the offender. Justice must be carefully and rigidly administered. Any person accused of wrongdoing, he and his accuser must be brought before the priests and the appointed judges. Any false witness or perjury would repulsively corrupt true justice and must be severely condemned. When the accusation had been proven wrong, the accuser who had done it falsely must be punished in the place of the accused. This was to ensure that no one should exploit the system and get someone into trouble. Bearing false witness had its just dessert.

How do we apply a passage like this? These verses indicate unambiguously that God hates injustice. He does not want a person to be accused and judged wrongly. And He certainly does not want His people to bear false witness. What God desires is truthfulness so that there will be trust among His people. Any accusation of wrong must be accurately appraised by the testimonies of two or three witnesses. Anyone proven to bear false witness must be dealt with so that the community will not be destroyed by deceit. As the community that represents God in the world, every member of the church is a custodian of truth. Hence, we must walk in integrity. Walking in integrity will enable us to walk in the light, as the Apostle John urged us to do in his first letter to the early church. When we walk in the light as God is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. Light will always dispel deceit and falsehood. And truth always brings light to dispel both. So let us walk in the light.