"Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' "But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; "nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. "Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. "But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one."
- Old Testament teaching on vows and oaths
- Numbers 30:2-3
- Vows - toward God
- Oaths - toward people. God is witness, judge, executioner of both. Examples: marriage, courtroom.
- 2 Chronicles 6:22-23
- Deuteronomy 6:13 - Fear the Lord your God and serve Him
- Oaths are always in the name of God. Be careful not to use God's name in vain (3rd Commandment)
- Eccl 5:1-5: not a sin not to vow. Do not vow rashly or hastily.
- Judges 11 - Jephthah ended up sacrificing daughter
- Saul - almost cost Jonathan his life
- Herod - John the Baptist killed
- God takes oaths to give us assurance
- 9th commandment - do not lie
- The practice of the scribes and Pharisees
- Matt 23:16-22 - Made a distinction/levels of oaths. Made some binding and some not. The closer to God's name the more it was binding. Ex. If swearing by Jerusalem, not binding. If swearing while facing Jerusalem, binding. Talmud is written laws to try and tell every way one needed to act to keep vow/oath. 81 pages of 12 pt font.
- Text
- v34-36: Jesus is not condemning all oaths (Quakers). God and others (Paul, David, Abraham) take oaths.
- This is a corrective to bring back to spirit of the command
- James 5:12 - Lest judgement. Be willing to put yourself at risk with an oath to help others
- Courtroom where someone's life is at stake
- Marriage where a picture of the gospel is at stake. Husband/Wife/Children are at stake
- James 4:13-16
- Hebrews 6:13-20 - God takes oaths so we would know he is God. Immutable/unchangeable. Oaths have a function to help end disputes.
- Paul took 7 oaths in scripture. Rom 1:9, 9:1, 2 Cor 1:23, Gal 1:20, Phil 1:8, 1 Thes 2:7, 10
- v37 Truthfulness - we should be affirming and denying things
- Geneva Bible has "let your communication" stronger and much closer to intent.
- 1 Peter 2:21-22
- John 14:6 - Jesus is the truth
- Psalm 15:1-5 - Swear to own hurt and do not change. Blessing on those with yes, yes and no, no.
- Devil is father of lies
- Application
- Apply immediately any applications the Holy Spirit convicts you to do. Do not wait!
- Many societies have deceit built into culture. Poverty and corruption abounds
- Church - we will at times have 2 levels of Yes. We need either firm commitments or at minimum communicate our intentions/expectations.
- Parenting - exasperating, not following through on discipline
- Marriage - raise the level of transparency and complete truthfulness. Build total trust.
