Truth, Lies, and the Fear of God
Introduction: Justice in the Age of the Digital Mob
We are living in an era where the very foundations of justice are being systematically dismantled. Our culture has traded the courtroom for the timeline, due process for digital dogpiling, and evidence for emotivism. An accusation, particularly if it aligns with the prevailing cultural narrative, is now treated as tantamount to a conviction. The mob gathers, the verdict is rendered in retweets and shares, and a person's life can be ruined before a single piece of evidence is ever formally presented. This is not progress; it is a high-speed regression into pagan chaos. It is the age of the malicious witness, where the lie is a weapon, and public shame is the executioner's axe.
The world believes that justice is a matter of power dynamics, of elevating certain voices and silencing others. It operates on the assumption that truth is subjective, a personal narrative that cannot be questioned. But this is a house built on sand, and the tide of reality is coming in. When you abandon God's standard for justice, you do not get a more compassionate or enlightened system. You get tyranny. You get a world where anyone can be destroyed by a whisper, where fear reigns, and where the very concept of truth is rendered meaningless.
Into this sentimental and savage confusion, the law of God speaks with breathtaking clarity and stability. The principles laid down here in Deuteronomy are not archaic suggestions from a bygone era. They are the bedrock of any society that wishes to call itself just. This passage is a direct assault on the flimsy foundations of trial-by-social-media. It establishes non-negotiable requirements for evidence, a rigorous process for uncovering falsehood, and a punishment for perjury so fitting and severe that it is designed to strike a holy fear into the heart of the whole community. This is not about being harsh; it is about loving your neighbor enough to protect him from the devastating power of a lie.
The Text
A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; at the mouth of two or three witnesses a matter shall be established. If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. And the judges shall inquire thoroughly, and behold, if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. And the rest will hear and be afraid and will never again do such an evil thing among you. Thus your eye shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
(Deuteronomy 19:15-21 LSB)
The Bulwark of Corroboration (v. 15)
The first principle is a high wall built to protect the innocent.
"A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; at the mouth of two or three witnesses a matter shall be established." (Deuteronomy 19:15)
This is the famous two-witness rule, and it is absolutely fundamental. God knows the deceitfulness of the human heart. He knows that men are capable of malice, envy, and outright falsehood. He knows that memory can be faulty and perception skewed. And so, to protect citizens from the tyranny of a single, uncorroborated accusation, He establishes this standard. A man's life, liberty, or property cannot be forfeit on the word of one person. The matter must be established by two, or preferably three, witnesses.
This principle is so foundational that it is affirmed throughout Scripture, from the Old Testament law to the governance of the New Testament church (Matt. 18:16; 2 Cor. 13:1; 1 Tim. 5:19). It is a direct refutation of the modern, sentimental demand to "believe all accusers" without question. Such a mantra does not lead to justice; it leads to injustice by presuming guilt and dismantling the very mechanism designed to ascertain truth. God's law protects both the accused from false charges and the community from the chaos that results when accusations are all that is needed to condemn.
Notice the language: a matter shall be "established." This implies stability, certainty, and truth. Justice is not a matter of "my truth" versus "your truth." It is a matter of the truth, established on a firm foundation of evidence. This rule starves the lynch mob of its oxygen. A mob can run on rumor and a single, inflammatory voice. A true court of law cannot.
The Perjurer in the Dock (vv. 16-18)
But what happens when there is a suspicion that a witness is not mistaken, but malicious?
"If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges... And the judges shall inquire thoroughly..." (Deuteronomy 19:16-18)
Here the accuser himself is placed under scrutiny. The case is brought to the highest court, "before Yahweh," indicating the gravity of the situation. This is not a trivial matter; it is a sacred duty. An accusation is a powerful weapon, and to wield it is to stand before God Himself.
The judges are commanded to "inquire thoroughly." This is the opposite of a rush to judgment. It requires diligence, patience, and a commitment to digging for the facts. It is a command to investigate, to cross-examine, to look for inconsistencies. The assumption is that truth can be found, and that it is the court's job to find it. In God's economy, words have consequences. A false accusation is not just an unfortunate mistake; it is a direct assault on the image of God in one's neighbor and an attack on the integrity of the entire community.
The Beautiful Symmetry of Retribution (vv. 19, 21)
When the thorough inquiry reveals perjury, the sentence is stunning in its logic and justice.
"then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you... Thus your eye shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." (Deuteronomy 19:19, 21)
This is the principle of lex talionis, or the law of retribution. Our modern, sentimental age recoils at this, seeing it as barbaric. But this is a profound failure of moral and logical imagination. This principle is actually the foundation of all proportional justice. First, it is a limit on vengeance. It prevents blood feuds. If a man knocks out your tooth, you cannot burn down his house and kill his family. The punishment must fit the crime: a tooth for a tooth, no more. It replaces limitless personal revenge with limited public justice.
But second, in the case of the false witness, it is a principle of perfect, symmetrical justice. The malicious witness attempted to use the power of the state as a weapon to destroy his neighbor. If he falsely accused a man of a crime punishable by the loss of a hand, he was, in effect, trying to wield the magistrate's sword to sever that hand. God's law says that the sword he tried to use on another should be turned back upon himself. He loaded the gun, aimed it, and pulled the trigger. Justice demands that he be the one to bear the consequence.
This is not cruelty. It is the very definition of justice. And it has a corporate purpose: "Thus you shall purge the evil from among you." A society that tolerates false witness is a society rotting from the inside. This law is a form of spiritual chemotherapy, designed to kill the cancer of the lie before it metastasizes.
The Public Lesson in Holy Fear (v. 20)
The purpose of this justice is not merely punitive; it is pedagogical. It teaches.
"And the rest will hear and be afraid and will never again do such an evil thing among you." (Deuteronomy 19:20)
Justice must be seen to be done. When a malicious witness is punished swiftly, publicly, and proportionally, it sends a clear and potent message to the entire community. It teaches them to fear bearing false witness. It cultivates a profound respect for the truth and for the sanctity of a neighbor's reputation and life. This is not the cowering fear of a slave before a tyrant, but the healthy, respectful fear of a son toward a righteous father. It is the fear that builds a stable and trustworthy society.
When justice is watered down, when perjury is treated as a minor infraction, the opposite lesson is taught. People learn that they can lie with impunity, that the courts are a game to be manipulated, and that truth is a negotiable commodity. A society that does not fear the lie will soon be drowned in them.
The True Witness and the Great Accuser
As with all of God's law, this passage ultimately points us to Christ. The entire drama of salvation revolves around true and false witness.
The great malicious witness, the original perjurer, is Satan. He is called the "accuser of our brothers" who accuses them "day and night before our God" (Rev. 12:10). His native language is the lie (John 8:44). He falsely accused Job, and he falsely accuses every believer.
When Jesus, the "faithful and true witness" (Rev. 3:14), stood trial, He was condemned on the testimony of false witnesses who were bribed to lie about Him (Matt. 26:59-61). The greatest injustice in human history was perpetrated through the sin of malicious witness.
And at the cross, we see the ultimate fulfillment of lex talionis. We were the guilty ones. We had borne false witness against the majesty of God, and the just penalty was death, "life for life." But Christ, the innocent one, stepped into our place. He stood before the Father as our representative. And God the Father did not let His "eye show pity" on His own Son. He did to Jesus what He had intended to do to us. The full, symmetrical penalty of the law was poured out upon Him.
Because the True Witness took the stand for us, and because He took the penalty that our false witness deserved, we are now free from condemnation. The accusations of the great Accuser no longer have any standing in the court of heaven. Therefore, we who have been saved by the truth are called to be a people of the truth. We must hate the lie, cherish due process, and build our families, churches, and communities on the unshakable foundation of God's just and righteous law.