Unnecessary Oaths

 By Jason Lovelace

Key Scriptures:

Judges 11.30-35 – 30And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,  31Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.  32So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.  33And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.  34And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.  35And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.

 

Ecclesiastes 5.2-7 – 2Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.  3For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.  4When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.  5Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.  6Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?  7For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.

 

Matthew 5.33-37 – 33Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:  34But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:  35Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.  36Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.  37But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

 

James 5.12 – But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

 

How often have you heard the phrase, “I swear!”?  When was the last time you gave someone a promise, and used the phrase, “I swear!”?  This phrase (“I swear!”) is often used today, but many people do not understand the weight of swearing in such a way.  A lot of people in today’s world say this statement almost every day, but do we really, truly understand what these words, and their weight, mean?

 

Oaths are Serious Business!

In English, using the phrase “I Swear,” is often referred to as “Taking an oath.”  In a court of law in the USA, when someone is about to testify before a judge, he or she takes an oath, being asked “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”  At any point during this person’s testimony, if he or she is found to be telling a lie, that person will go to jail, and his or her words are counted as unreliable.  Taking an oath is not to be lightly entered into!  Even in modern times, when someone speaks words of affirmation, if there are more than two or three witnesses, those words become that person’s oath.  The Bible, further, speaks very seriously about oaths and swearing.  So serious is God about swearing oaths that specific and clear rules are set out about how they should be done.  In the Old Testament, in the Books of Moses, the ways people swear oaths and how they can be disallowed are very precise and specific.  They were not to be entered into lightly.

 

Not So Fast!!!

The Bible is full of warnings to people about taking and giving oaths, especially in front of God.  Ecclesiastes 5.2 says that we should not speak rashly in front of God.  Verses 4 and 5 of that same chapter say that if we make a vow, a promise or an oath in front of God, we need to do what we said we would do.  Ecclesiastes 5.6 says that we should not allow our mouths to cause us to sin. There is a deep level of severity and seriousness in making an oath, speaking a promise, or even giving our word to someone. In fact, the Bible speaks clearly about oaths and swearing:  if you don’t live up to your oath and to the thing you have sworn to, it is a lie in God’s eyes.  In the Books of the Law of Moses in the Old Testament, breaking a vow and going back on an oath were both grounds for receiving the death penalty.  God views oaths as very serious and not to be done or executed lightly.

 

The Tragedy of Jephthah

Have you ever heard of the Biblical Hero named Jephthah?  Is today the first tiem you have heard this great Judge’s name?  Jephthah was one of the greatest heroes of the Bible.  He is even mentioned in the Book of Hebrews, chapter 11.  Jephthah judged Israel at a time when she was under the heavy hand of her neighbors.  For several years the Israelites were dominated by the Ammonites, Amalekites, and Moabites – all three of these peoples being enemies of Israel.  Jephthah came along and God used him mightily to crush Israel’s enemies.  He won a great battle and is remembered as one of Israel’s greatest judges.  The tragic part of Jephthah’s life is that he made a very foolish vow! He took a very heavy oath in front of God!  Look at Judges 12.30-31.  Jephthah prayed to God, and asked him for victory and, if God gave him and Israel the victory, he would sacrifice the first thing that came out of the doors of his house.  How smart was it of Jephthah to take and to make such an oath?  A better question is, why did Jephthah make such an oath?  Reading further in Judges 12, we see why this oath was so foolish, and why Jephthah’s life was so tragic.  Verse 34 states that the first thing out of Jephthah’s house doors was his only daughter!  Jephthah, who had come home from a great victory in VERY high spirits, was brought to the lowest of the low.  After giving his daughter leave to spend time with her friends, Jephthah kept his word, and kept his vow, and sacrificed his only daughter to the Lord.

 

Why Such a Foolish Oath?

Again, many people ask, “Why did Jephthah make such a foolish oath?”  Jephthah made his foolish oath for the same reason that many of us make foolish oaths today: lack of faith in God.  Jephthah had no reason to give an oath of any kind to God.  God was faithful (and he still is) and was ready to help both Jephthah and his Israelite Brethren.  Yet, because he did not fully trust in God’s goodness, grace, and help, Jephthah felt the need to challenge God by offering up an oath.  How many of us do the same thing?  How many of us, when praying for God’s mercy, aid, or strength, also offer up some sort of oath or promise to do something for God?  “Dear Lord, if you will bring healing to my daughter, I’ll give my life to you and do whatever you want!”  “Dear Lord, if you will help me to get that job or that position at work, I’ll give you half of my salary!”  “Heavenly Father, if you will just answer this prayer, I’ll give you this, this, and this, and I’ll do that, that, and that over there!”  Friends, is this really necessary?  When praying and asking God to move, or for his help, do we really and truly need to offer up an oath or a vow?  A further question is, how often, when praying and making such vows, do we keep our word and perform the oath we spoke?

 

A Simple Remedy:  Don’t Make Oaths (Especially Ones You Don’t Intend to Keep)!

Our Scripture Verses from Matthew and James are very, very simple and plain:  don’t even make a vow! In fact, what Jesus is saying in Matthew 5 is that everything you say you will do, you should do.  In a way, Jesus is saying that everything you say should be a vow!  Look at what he says.  Matthew 5.37 says to let our “Yes” be yes, and our “No” be no, and further, anything more than this comes from evil.  James 5.12 says the identical thing!  Again, Ecclesiastes 5.5 says that it is better to not make an oath in the first place, rather than to make an oath and not carry through on performing it out.  Ecclesiastes 5.7 echoes what Jesus and James both state:  in many words there are also many pitfalls.  So what is the remedy?  Don’t make vows.  Don’t make oaths and swear to this or that, especially if you do not plan to carry out your oath to begin with.

 

A Time to Make an Oath…

What is the Bible saying?  Should we never make an Oath?  Should we refuse to swear or vow or make promises?  The Bible isn’t necessarily saying this, as there are times and instances where we need to make public promises and oaths to the outside world.  The earlier oath of swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is an important oath, especially in a court of law.  But friends, we should be under that oath anyway.  One of God’s commandments is to tell the truth.  There are other times to make vows and promises.  Marriage is one such instance where vows are important.  My wife and I made public vows to love, honor, and take care of each other for as long as we live.  Others when they marry say the same or similar vows.  Why are these words and vows done in such a way?  They are done not only to remind the two people taking the vows, but also to keep the two accountable before their friends and family, and, more importantly, in front of God!  Further instances of the need to take an oath or to make a public promise is in business, especially with contracts.  In such cases, there is no real sin of taking or making an oath.  The problem with making an oath is not in the making.

 

The Bottom Line:  Breaking an Oath is a Sin!

The problem that Jesus, James, and King Solomon were addressing is the taking of an oath only to break it later.  Too many times in our world today people take oaths, make vows, and swear to things only to not follow through and finish them.  The reasons for these may be many and varied, but there is always a root cause:  the oath-taker was thinking only of himself or herself when the oath was taken.  The reason why the vows of marriage are broken so often in these modern times is because the two getting married n the first place were thinking selfishly, and not sacrificially.  The reason why companies break their contracts or promises to people is because the company in question is looking more to the almighty dollar or yen, rather than to serving their customers.  The problems with elected officials who get caught in some scandal or another is not that these people took their oath to public service, but the fact that they didn’t take their oath to public service to heart, and were thinking of themselves first.  This kind of oath-breaking is a sin, and it is so because it is theft and bearing false witness: theft in that another person’s trust was stolen, and lying in that the person’s word to the other party was broken.  Friends, we also need to know that God will judge sin, including the breaking of an oath or vow.  But, also, just as God will judge oath-breaking, he, too, will forgive as well.

 

Conclusion – My Word is My Vow

This is a common saying in English, and it has such great meaning!  If we are living a life of truthfulness and keeping our word, then we should never have any trouble with vows, oaths, or swearing to something.  The bottom line is this:  If you make an oath, stick to it, and finish it.  God will bless anyone who keeps his or her word.  If you know that it will be too difficult to do something, then don’t swear to do it.  As Ecclesiastes states, it’s better to not make a vow than to make a vow and not carry it out.  Finally, remember, friends, that one of the signs of the end is that many people will be in the habit of breaking their word, and not keeping their oaths.  This is all too easy to see in today’s world!  Remember that it is important to just let your “Yes” be “Yes” and your “No” be “No”.  Mean what you say, and do what you say you will do, and leave the oaths for the times when they are most needed.  Let’s pray….

 

Verse to remember:

“Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.”

– Ecclesiastes 5.5