Oaths
stephan challen
The Four Gospels • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 43:36
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· 4 viewsMorning 28 April 24
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Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.
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“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
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Fourth Anithesis
“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’
Oath
Promise is based on your own trustworthiness
Oath is a solemn promise often invoking God as witness
It is a fair summary of the Law
You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
“If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.
Yet they misplaced the emphasis
Even today the modern church gets caught up in the wrong emphasis, often concentrating on court oaths
In the 3 passages (Leviticus, Numbers & Deuteronomy) the emphasis is on truthfulness
In scripture we are given examples of God confirming a promise with an oath...
The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: “One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne.
The early believers derived strong encouragement from God’s promises...
so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
We gain our example from God of righteousness
Truthfulness “in the heart” is essential
Literally the absence of falsehood and deceit
He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart;
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.
In the Proverbs...
for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
The Prophets...
O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent.
These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace;
True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity.
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Truthfulness is essential
“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’
Scribes & Pharasees had made the emphasis on keeping the oaths you make to God
They had made an oath that did not expressly mention God was of lesser significance
As such they did not need to be quite so conscientious about keeping it
In daily conversations oaths began to multiply
“by heaven”
“by the earth”
“by Jerusalem”
Jesus highlights later in his ministry the problem that had occured...
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’
And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’
In order to make an impression a person might utter such an oath as “talking big” and dispensing enormous promises
Their view had been that as long as they had not sworn “to the Lord” then if they failed to keep it that it was not so bad
But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
Jesus forbids this hypocrisy
He shows their subtle hairsplitting discrinctions between oaths that were absolutely binding, those not so binding and those not binding at all.
Jesus shows that whatever basis they used to create the groupings was devoid of any form of reason
Was not “by heaven” envoking the thone of God?
Was not “by earth” envoking God’s footstall
Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?
Was not “by Jerusalem” envoking the city of the great King?
beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King.
In other words when oaths were sworn with an appeal to any of these objects they were definitely binding as if in the name of the Lord had been expressly invoked in connection with them
And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
There were even those who swore “by their heads” meaning “may I lose my head [my life] if what I am telling you is not the truth or I do not fulfil my promise”
Nobody is able to change the intrinsic colour of his hair.
It is God alone who determines whether at a given moment a hair is white or black
As such, swearing by one’s head is swearing by God and is binding as is a different type of oath.
The real solution is the problem of the heart
Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
Evil: original is Evil One - Satan
Heart Truth should reign supreme
In daily conversation oaths should be avoided altogether
instead, we are to become so truthful and so thoroughly dependable that an oath is not needed, and words are believed
To affirm something the answer is simply “yes”
To deny something the answer is simply “no”
Anything stronger than that is sinful, and of Satan.
Poor Reputation...
When an individual is aware that the reputation is not exactly what it should be that they lie all the more and will often assert what they are saying is the “gospel truth”!
They are in the habit ot interlacing their conversations with oaths
Such perjurious conduct comes from the “evil one”
Satan in the Garden of Eden...
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
Satan speaking of Job...
Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”
Satan speaking with Jesus ...
and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Jesus’ response...
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Peter speaking of Satan...
But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?
Paul speaking of Satan....
2 Thessalonians 2:9–11 (ESV)
The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
Does Jesus forbid oaths in Court?
Does he teach that nowhere in the entire realm of human relations is there any room for the solemn invocation of the name of God in substantiation of an important affirmation or promise?
Not at all
Such a view would be contrary to teaching of scripture
Abraham confirms his promises to King of Sodom and to Abimelech
But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”
Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.” And Abraham said, “I will swear.”
Abraham also required an oath of his servant...
that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell,
So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.
The oath is mentioned in connection with Isaac...
In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace.
With Jacob...
The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac,
with Joseph...
And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.
‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die: in my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.” Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return.’ ”
With princes of the congregation...
And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.
with the children of Israel...
And the people of Israel said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the Lord?” For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.”
And other occasions in Ruth, Samual, Kings and Chronicals
God’s own oaths (at commencement of sermon)
Jesus declared himself under oath to be the Christ, the Son of God
But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
In this world of dishonesty and deception the oath is at times necessary to add solemnity and the guarentee of reliability to an important affirmation or promise
Hebrews confirms this practice without a word of adverse criticsm...
For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.
Jesus condemns the flippant, profane, uncalled for, and often hyprocritical oath used in order to make an impression and to spice daily conversation.
Again that evil, Jesus commends simple truthfulness in thought, word and deed.
James affirms this teaching...
But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
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