Keep Promises
Notes
Transcript
We are back to our series of messages from Matthew known as the sermon on the mount. We are about three-quarters of the way through chapter 5. Right after Jesus tells us that he has not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, he gives us 6 different ways in which the Pharisees and teachers of the law have misinterpreted the law for their benefit.
As we open our Bibles to Matthew 5, starting in verse 31, the overarching theme of today’s message is keeping promises. The first promise we’ll cover is marriage and the second is oaths in general.
The Pharisees and teachers of the law managed to warp the laws given to Moses in such a way to make divorce and lying acceptable. Jesus is correcting that teaching here, encouraging them and us to keep our promises.
Let’s read verses 31 and 32:
31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Let’s take a look at the passage in the Law that Jesus is referencing here...
1 If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, 2 and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, 3 and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, 4 then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord. Do not bring sin upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
Divorce in the world at the time of Moses was actually pretty common for all kinds of reasons. There would even be times when a man would tell his wife to leave that he was divorcing her, only to then deny it when she started a new life. This would cause her to face the consequences of adultery.
This law in Deuteronomy was actually a protection for the woman as it required witnesses and a written certificate. It was also a discouragement for frivolous reasons for divorce since you could never get your wife back again.
What the teachers of law ended up doing was using this as an encouragement to get divorced when there was something wrong with your wife.
**Put verse 1 up***
They defined the word indecent as anything that the man wanted so that he would be justified in divorcing her. This is a familiar theme that Jesus is tackling in the Sermon on the Mount. People using clever logic and arguments to justify their actions.
Look at this conversation Jesus has with the Pharisees in Matthew 19...
3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
Verse 4 - Jesus makes it clear here that there are two sexes, two genders…male and female
Verse 5 - And a man is united to his wife - and they become one flesh. ONE.
Verse 6 - God had joined them and no one should do anything that would split them apart.
Verse 7 - Leading question…Moses didn’t command...
Verse 8 - Moses permitted divorce because of the condition of their hearts…but that is not God’s design.
In several places, God’s word talks about us, the church, as the bride:
31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.
The book of Revelation tells the story of a wedding between Jesus and his bride, the church. Listen to this...
1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
That marriage, that bride, that husband is forever. In the same way, God has designed marriage between a man and a woman.
Jesus continues in Matthew 5 about oaths in general...
33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’
People can try to be so clever…This is why we have need for so many lawyers to discern and interpret the language of the law…Here is what Jesus was referencing...
12 “ ‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.
Here’s how they taught this. If you swear an oath in God’s name, you have to fulfill it, but the law does not forbid breaking an oath sworn in something else. It doesn’t say that we ‘have’ to fulfill an oath if it isn’t a vow made to the Lord.
They would say since God wasn’t involved in the oath, the oath was not binding. There was a tiered level that made some oath more binding than others. As long as I don’t involve God, then I can do what I want.
Jesus counters with this:
34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.
First, Jesus says not to swear an oath at all, but then lists some things...that swearing by heaven involves God, because that’s his throne, swearing by earth involves God, because that’s his footstool, and swearing by Jerusalem involves God since that’s the city of the Great King…Swearing an oath by those things is swearing an oath by God.
Now there are some that think we should have oaths…a solemn promise or vow, but I just don’t see that. All throughout the Bible are instances of people making oaths to other people and God honoring them…even if the oath was made in error…I want to read a quick story to you...
3 However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 4 they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. 5 They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. 6 Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the Israelites, “We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.”
7 The Israelites said to the Hivites, “But perhaps you live near us, so how can we make a treaty with you?”
8 “We are your servants,” they said to Joshua.
But Joshua asked, “Who are you and where do you come from?”
9 They answered: “Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the fame of the Lord your God. For we have heard reports of him: all that he did in Egypt, 10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan—Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth. 11 And our elders and all those living in our country said to us, ‘Take provisions for your journey; go and meet them and say to them, “We are your servants; make a treaty with us.” ’ 12 This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But now see how dry and moldy it is. 13 And these wineskins that we filled were new, but see how cracked they are. And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey.”
14 The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. 15 Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.
16 Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them. 17 So the Israelites set out and on the third day came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim. 18 But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel.
The whole assembly grumbled against the leaders, 19 but all the leaders answered, “We have given them our oath by the Lord, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now. 20 This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that God’s wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath we swore to them.” 21 They continued, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers in the service of the whole assembly.” So the leaders’ promise to them was kept.
Later we see these Gibeonites mentioned again...
1 During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the Lord. The Lord said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.”
2 The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.) 3 David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make atonement so that you will bless the Lord’s inheritance?”
I’m going to spare you the details of how David made things right…it’s a bit gruesome, but I want to jump down to the end of this section…verse 14 ends like this...
14 They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land.
There was an oath made and it was not honored. God brought it to David’s attention and David sought the forgiveness of those who were wronged. Once David had walked that process out, God answered their prayers and lifted the famine.
God honors and lifts up those who live an honest life…a life of integrity and trustworthiness. Think about the times in your life where you have been hurt the most, or you’ve hurt someone the most. I would venture a guess to say that many of those events involve a breaking of a promise or oath…perhaps not a spoken one but one that was implied.
It’s appropriate today that we are going to observe communion. It’s a great time to examine ourselves…in both ways…is there something I need to seek forgiveness for, or is there something I need to offer forgiveness for…before we do that, let’s read the last of what Jesus had to say about oaths...
37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
I like the way the King James says it...
37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
Whether it is in your daily interactions with others or it is with your spouse, is your yes, yes and your no, no? What’s keeping you from that?