Three Exhortations James 5:7-12 (Part 2)

You Must Speak Truth (12)

Do Not Swear

Matthew 5:33 NASB95

“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’

Hebrews & James 2. An Appeal for a Reverence for God (v. 12)

They warn against the use of a hasty, irreverent oath involving God’s name during a time of suffering or hardship.

Matthew 5:34–37 NASB95

“But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. “Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.

James Chapter 5

Both our Lord and his apostle had probably in view “only those profane adjurations with which men who have no deep-seated fear of God garnish their common talk”

James Chapter 5

The special oaths mentioned were those in vogue among the Jews, and just the very ones which our Lord himself had specified

The Idea of I swear by … was prohibited and was quite in use in the day of both Jesus and James.

James 2. Rejection of Oaths (5:12)

Heaven, as God’s abode; earth, as his footstool; anything else, for example, Jerusalem or one’s hair, all belong to the Lord and therefore cannot be called to accredit claims by the human creature.

Show Integrity

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. ὅρκος

Delphic commands

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. ὅρκος

swear to someone with an oath (TestJud 22:3; ApcMos 19)

Psalm 15:1–2 NASB95

O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart.

2 Corinthians 1:12 NIV

Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace.

Galatians 1:10 NASB95

For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

Proverbs 29:10 NIV

The bloodthirsty hate a person of integrity and seek to kill the upright.

Isaiah 59:4 NIV

No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.

The Coming Judgement

Psalm 7:8 NASB95

The Lord judges the peoples; Vindicate me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.

Psalm 25:21 NASB95

Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You.

2 Corinthians 4:2 NIV

Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.

1 Thessalonians 3:13 NASB95

so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.

1 Peter 2:12 NASB95

Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Ephesians 6:6 NASB95

not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. ὀφθαλμοδουλία

applies the term ‘eye-slavery’ to service that is not sincerely rendered but functions only for sake of appearance

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. ὀφθαλμοδουλία

only when your owner is watching