Oaths
Notes
Transcript
What is an oath and what is it for?
What is an oath and what is it for?
12 You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
2 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.
13 It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.
21 “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.
Example: Judges 11:30-36 “30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. 33 And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel. 34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.” 36 And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the LORD has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.”
The Pharisees had relaxed the law to consider only some oaths binding. They disregard the wisdom of Proverbs and try to cover for the carelessness of their words
19 When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.
The answer is, undoubtedly, that its main intent was to place a bridle upon man’s proneness, as the result of sin and the fall, to lying.
To swear by God to do something or to take a vow in His name is hardly ever a good idea.
1.) we are not Him, we do not have the ability or sovereign power over all things to make sure we undoubtedly fulfill that vow.
2.) v.36 we cannot determine the outcome by our will out of all the possible outcomes.
Therefore, James 4:15
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
The intent is to obey, follow, aim to fulfill. We can never be sure what may intervene or cause that to not be the case. How often have you found that you are glad your determined oath or promise you made was not able to come to fruition? Ex. basketball game at Maryville, determined to take a guy out
Divorce proves to be an oath or vow that has been broken. Think seriously about what you have sworn to that person, before you even swear it and surely after. Might the solemnity of the vow weigh heavily upon a person if they hold an oath at highest value in terms of the words we speak? An oath can be good, but rare. However, your integrity in speech should always be without question.
Jesus is the one fulfilling the law here. This is what it looks like. And surely this is one we have been notorious for breaking. One of the main problems being that we say and promise too much. Therefore, I look to the promises of God as the only sure ones in existence.
I swear to...
I swear to...
He rules over all, therefore when you swear by whatever, you are doing so under His sovereign rule and authority
1 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?
Contrasts our promises with the Lord’s...
16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.
20 And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath,
21 but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever.’ ”
22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.
Yes. No.
Yes. No.
Romans 9:1, 2 Cor. 1:23, Php. 1:8, 1 Thess. 2:10, 1 Tim. 1:10.
12 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.
Trust God, Numbers 23:19
19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?