Subpoenas – The Ninth Commandment

Subpoenas

The Ninth Commandment

We must bear witness when required.

Leviticus 5:1

“If anyone sins in that he hears a public adjuration to testify, and though he is a witness, whether he has seen or come to know the matter, yet does not speak, he shall bear his iniquity….”

Anyone who witnesses a transgression has a duty to come forward to testify when a public call for witnesses is issued. This can be by subpoena or simply by a general appeal through the media, as when a crime has occurred and the local police ask for any who may have seen something to come forward.

Justice requires multiple witnesses, as we have seen, and those who are witnesses must be prepared to testify, even though doing so may be inconvenient.

Christians have been summoned to bear witness to Jesus Christ. We are guilty of sin if we fail to speak the truth as we know it concerning our Savior and King.

We are now accepting registrations for the course, Spiritual Maturity 1: Revival. This free, seven-session course by T. M. Moore allows you to study by yourself or with a mentor, and includes free resources from Patrick, Columbanus, Luther, and Edwards, among others. Visit The Ailbe Seminary for more information on this training opportunity.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.