Swearing oaths

[Cris413]

The subject of swearing oaths was brought up in the Bring Back the Draft Thread...so I thought I would start a new thread for further discussion if anyone is interested...

I'm interested in the thoughts of others regarding:

Mat 5:33 "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, "You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.'
Mat 5:34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne;
Mat 5:35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37 But let your "Yes' be "Yes,' and your "No,' "No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.


My thoughts as posted in the other thread are:


I’m not certain this instruction is regarding oaths of loyalty/promises and such but more so regarding swearing an oath to prove what you’re saying is true…be it a false statement against someone or in defense of yourself if someone is accusing you falsely.

Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Did you commit such and such a crime? Yes or no should be sufficient…not “I swear to God I didn’t do it.” Or “I swear to God I’m telling the truth about such and such”

I don’t mean to derail the thread but I think this is an important distinction to understand.

I had this dilemma not too long ago because I was subpoenaed by the DA to testify against my neighbor….I was a little concerned about this so I did a bit of prayerful research.

What I came to understand was to swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me God…by answering yes…my yes was yes and I was submitting to the governing authority which required me to take this oath in a court of law. And testifying against my neighbor…well…Scripture tells us not to bear false witness.

I was not taking it upon myself to get people to believe me by swearing an oath because that somehow validated what I was saying.

I don’t think that taking an oath of office, or to serve and protect our community or our country violates the intent of what Jesus is teaching here in context.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

I have no problems swearing to tell the truth and whatnot.

Where I have problems is when I hear "I swear on my dead mother's grave". Well, so what?

I think the bible says that we are to be trustworthy people, and our yeses be our yeses and our nos be our nos so that we don't have to swear oaths.

But because we live in a society that by and large is not trusting, oaths such as what we take when we take the stand are necessary.

If anything I do requires an oath, such as civic duty or military duty, then it is my duty to be sure that perform that oath up to the standards that I am to perform it. Otherwise my oath means nothing.

 

[Nadiine]

I think swearing an oath that you will do or be something is more
for others than yourself.
It seems to me that they're the ones that lack trust & an oath
holds you to a higher standard somehow?

 

[A New Dawn]

To me, it means swearing oaths like in secret societies, like the Masons and such, and even to a large extent, the Mormons, who swear oaths (similar to Masonic oaths) in their temple ceremonies that bad things will happen to those who break their oaths. I've really not thought of it in other contexts, like swearing an oath in court or to join the armed forces, or even the Girl Scouts (LOL). But I'd like to read what others have to say about that.

 

[MrJim]

Jesus says don't do it so I won't...

 

[Cris413]

Does anyone consider there is a difference in taking an oath and taking a vow?

I was thinking about this on my way home from church...aren't we in essence taking an oath when we get married? Pledging our love to each other...vowing to be faithful and such.

Or is it different and if so how?

 

[ReformedChapin]

This is kind of deraling the thread. But I think Cris has brought up another valuable point. What do we do when we are presented a situation where two biblical commands will causes to sin one way or another?

 

[Edial]

...

Mat 5:33 "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, "You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.'
Mat 5:34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne;
Mat 5:35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37 But let your "Yes' be "Yes,' and your "No,' "No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
...

I think somehow our understanding of not taking an oath by swearing by this or that evolved into not taking oaths at all.

V. 34 does not say not to take an oath, but not to swear by this or that.
Some swear by God, Freemasons swear by their health, Mafia swears by the souls of their children, some swear by making a deal - if you give me this I swear to do this and that.

We should not swear by anything - we even cannot make our hair turn from white to black. (Funny, 2000 years later we still cannot ).

We somehow became afraid keeping an oath.
Marriage, protecting the country, telling the truth in court.

Do you swear to tell the truth, so help you God? Yes. ... silence.

The Bible also addresses a problem of thoughtless oaths.

LEV 5:4 " `Or if a person thoughtlessly takes an oath to do anything, whether good or evil--in any matter one might carelessly swear about--even though he is unaware of it, in any case when he learns of it he will be guilty.
LEV 5:5 " `When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned 6 and, as a penalty for the sin he has committed, he must bring to the LORD a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.
...

And this is also our problem.
Think before you take an oath. No wonder some people date for some time before they marry.

And if we swear thoughtlessly and realize it later on - confess and repent (Lev. 5:5) and since Leviticus goes on saying one is to bring a sacrifice of a lamb - Christ did that for us already.

But if we took an oath soberly and seriously - keep it.

Thanks,
Ed

 

[PreachersWife2004]

This is kind of deraling the thread. But I think Cris has brought up another valuable point. What do we do when we are presented a situation where two biblical commands will causes to sin one way or another?

Spin around, click our heels three times and throw salt behind our back?

I just never interpreted those verses to say "don't swear an oath"...I've always thought they meant don't swear an oath you don't intend to keep.

 

[Edial]

... I've always thought they meant don't swear an oath you don't intend to keep.

.
It is one way of putting it.

Thanks,
Ed

 

[ReformedChapin]

Spin around, click our heels three times and throw salt behind our back?

I just never interpreted those verses to say "don't swear an oath"...I've always thought they meant don't swear an oath you don't intend to keep.

But what if you do? This isn't relevant just this issue either. What if there is another situation which brings up the same problem?

 

[PreachersWife2004]

I'm not aware of any spots where what the bible commands would cause us to sin either way. Can you elaborate more?

 

[Nadiine]

Originally Posted by ReformedChapin

This is kind of deraling the thread. But I think Cris has brought up another valuable point. What do we do when we are presented a situation where two biblical commands will causes to sin one way or another?
​

Then I'd say someone's misinterpreted a verse along the way

 

[Cris413]

I’m not sure if this is an example…but in Joshua Chapter 2…the account of Rahab seems to indicate that Rahab chose the “lesser sin” for God’s greater glory in hiding the spies Joshua sent and lying about not knowing where they were from or where they were.

She also made the spies take an oath to spare her family for aiding them.

Revealing the spies which would have led to their death would have been the greater sin.

I'm not really sure if this is applicable as Rahab was a gentile...but then again...so was Ruth.

 

[MrJim]

Then I'd say someone's misinterpreted a verse along the way

agreed

 

[Sketcher]

Gill's commentary is very helpful. In a nutshell, he explains the context of how Jews swore by what Jesus said not to swear by, and how they abused it as a way to either keep their word or not depending on what they swore by.

Gill on Matt. 5:34
Gill on Matt. 5:35
Gill on Matt. 5:36
Gill on Matt. 5:37

Jesus said to cut the crap, let your "yes" be "yes," and your "no" be "no." It is not an admonishment to keep people from taking the stand in court, or to prevent people from getting married.

 

[MrJim]

Gill's commentary is very helpful. In a nutshell, he explains the context of how Jews swore by what Jesus said not to swear by, and how they abused it as a way to either keep their word or not depending on what they swore by.

Gill on Matt. 5:34
Gill on Matt. 5:35
Gill on Matt. 5:36
Gill on Matt. 5:37

Jesus said to cut the crap, let your "yes" be "yes," and your "no" be "no." It is not an admonishment to keep people from taking the stand in court, or to prevent people from getting married.

And you don't "swear" an oath at marriage~simply a vow. Courts today allow a simple "affirm" without having to place a hand on a bible..

 

[ReformedChapin]

I'm not aware of any spots where what the bible commands would cause us to sin either way. Can you elaborate more?

Alright.

It's Nazi germany. You are hiding a Jew in your house and SS comes to your police asks if you are hiding anyone. Do you lie and sin or do you tell them there is a jew in your house and get the jew killed?

Tell me what you think.

 

[ReformedChapin]

I’m not sure if this is an example…but in Joshua Chapter 2…the account of Rahab seems to indicate that Rahab chose the “lesser sin” for God’s greater glory in hiding the spies Joshua sent and lying about not knowing where they were from or where they were.

She also made the spies take an oath to spare her family for aiding them.

Revealing the spies which would have led to their death would have been the greater sin.

I'm not really sure if this is applicable as Rahab was a gentile...but then again...so was Ruth.

Excellent post. Thanks.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

Alright.

It's Nazi germany. You are hiding a Jew in your house and SS comes to your police asks if you are hiding anyone. Do you lie and sin or do you tell them there is a jew in your house and get the jew killed?

Tell me what you think.

In this case (and the case of Rahab) I don't view that as a sin. But theoretically, would the sin be on me if I told the SS the truth? Or would the sin be on the SS for killing the jew?