I swear!
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good news!
Jesus drawing a picture of true fulfillment of law...
you have heard… but I say (root issues) really intense scripture.
root issues that distort truth and reality; who God is; and our reflection for it.
[faithfulness] to others...
Iceberg
parts of icebergs you don’t see [iceberg photos] true depth/reality/ignorance/root
33 “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.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 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 take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
33 “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.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,
33 “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.’
“shall not swear falsely” a composite/summary statement. will look… but:
Side focus: biblical discussion of speech… what you say.
34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
Which means, again, we are talking about an issue of the heart; of the core of who you are; and whether or not that reflects the life of the King; the Kingdom, the truth of God.
3 things to see in this text:
principle, perversion, perfection
33 “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.’
swear falsely = perjure; swear; oath
Matthe w5:33
- it is making a statement and calling God to witness to the truth of that statement, and invoking a curse from God if, in fact, you're not telling the truth. “may God strike me dead where I stand.”
The Greek word for 'oath,' horkos, has the idea of binding something, or strengthening it, so that your word is then strengthened in the affirmation of invoking God to attest to the validity of your word.
“As God is my witness”
16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.
In other words, when people wants to swear, or make an oath, or confirm his word, they will call on God, who is the greater, to attest to the truthfulness of it. So people swear by a greater.
Hebrews 16:6
And that is final.
17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,
In other words, God wanted to accommodate men and show them His unchanging character; his faithfulness for His own promise, and to do that, he made an oath.
In other words, God wanted to accommodate men and show them the immutability, or the unchanging character, of His own promise, and also made an oath. When God makes an oath, He doesn't make an oath by anyone greater than Himself, but what you find throughout the Old Testament is this statement, "'As I live,' says the Lord, 'I will,'" and then comes the statement. In other words, God makes an oath on Himself.
When God makes an oath, He doesn't make an oath by anyone greater than Himself:
16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,
Gen
As I live. I am. By My Name.
Point is this:
Men break their promises, and they need something fearful to hold them to it, so God allowed them to draw His name into it:
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.
Oath in action (negative example)
69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.”
69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.”
Matthew 26:69
Matt 26:71
Simple denial.
71 And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.”
Now he literally says, "God is my witness that I don't know jesus."
Invoked the Name God to defend his lie.
73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” 74 Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed.
Matthew 26:73
This isn't profanity, dirty talk, filthy, obscene language. He is saying, "God is my witness! May God curse me, I swear to God I don't know!"
Summary: the Old Testament taught two things: all oaths were to be in God's name only and only for serious occasions.
13 It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.
16 so that he who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth, and he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten and are hidden from my eyes.
16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people.
Now, the perversion:
33 “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.’
what is missing: oath was for something special. so it became used frivolously for everyday kinds of things. today: “I swear to God.”
misplaced emphasis: “fingers crossed”
12 You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
emphasis on “my name” rather than on “falsely.”
so they began swearing by everything but God in order to create a loophole in the law.
This is the essence of the heart problem, because it was all manifested as a way to allow and encourage deception, while still claiming purity before God.
Satan “father of lies” infested the lives of these so-called men of truth and justice and righteousness.
16 “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.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 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.’ 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
They were playing footise with all of the objects. And jesus call them out for it. They are blind fools.
remember the key verse:
20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:34
34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 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 take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
33 “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.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,
34: But I say to you.
20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!)
8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—
34: But I say to you.
There are times to swear an oath before God. Scripture shows many such examples.
But it should be for special circumstances.
And for all else, be a trustworthy person. Yes and No is all that should be required. Simplify the truth.
Not a Christian? Difficult to keep God’s standard for truth on your own.
Christian? Live like it. Reflect kingdom living.
O to be like thee!
O to be like thee!