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My God and My Neighbor is a “Bible talk show” that looks at religious issues, Christian living and world events in light of the Word of God to give hope. This podcast is a ministry of Tennessee Bible College. TBC offers a bachelor's in Bible studies, a master of theology, and a doctorate of theology in apologetics and Christian evidences. TBC also provides Christian books, audio recordings on the Bible, and free Bible courses in English and Spanish. Tune in to My God and My Neighbor to experience the educational content that TBC has been delivering for nearly five decades!
Kerry Duke: Hi, I'm Kerry Duke, host of My God and My Neighbor podcast from Tennessee Bible College, where we see the Bible as not just another book, but the Book. Join us in a study of the inspired Word to strengthen your faith and to share what you've learned with others.
Sometimes we say a promise is a promise and an oath is an oath. Jesus talks about this in the Sermon on the Mount, and we're going to read today, Matthew chapter five, verse 33 through 37. This will be our text for study and let's read together. Matthew five beginning in verse 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.’ But I say to you, do not swear at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth, for it is His footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No, no.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”
We have to remember the context here, and by the context, I'm not only talking about the verses before this, but I'm also talking about the background in Jesus’ day. The Jewish people looked to these scribes and Pharisees as their teachers. And the scribes and the Pharisees were partial. They were partial in their teaching, and they were partial in their practice of the Jews’ religion.
They taught parts of the Old Testament, but they didn't teach it all. And in Matthew chapter 5 we've already seen three examples of this. This is why Jesus said, “You have heard,” that is, they had heard from the scribes and the Pharisees as their teachers. But he said, “I say to you,” and that's when he took them back to the will of God as it was revealed in the Old Testament.
So, this topic that we're looking at now is the subject of vows and oaths. This is a subject that the Jews were very familiar with. This was very important to them in their religion. This is where they would swear to do something or swear to give something.
And, as usual, the Pharisees started out right by going to the Scriptures. They would quote the Scriptures. They would refer to what the Old Testament said, but they ended up wrong again because they neglected other verses and they also relied on their tradition. So let's go back to the Old Testament to see what it said about vows first of all.
Leviticus chapter 19 verse 12. Here is where the Bible says, and I'm going to begin in verse 11 just to give more of the context here. Leviticus 19, verse 11: “You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.” Notice that all three of these are forms of dishonesty. And all three of these break what we call the Golden Rule. If you don't want people to steal from you, then don't steal from them. If you don't want people to deal falsely with you, don't deal falsely with them. If you don't want people to lie to you, don't lie to them. So Matthew 7 verse 12 is written all over this.
Then, in Leviticus 19 verse 12, he talks specifically about breaking your word. And he says don't do that. “And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God, I am the Lord.” Now notice how serious this is. He said, do not swear falsely. The King James would use the word foreswear. This is when a person promises, but he's lying. He has no intention of doing it. He's not sincere and he'll say the right words. But he doesn't mean them. He wants something, and he promises to give something or to do something. But he has no intention of fulfilling that vow.
Now, any lie is bad, but especially when somebody lies in the name of God. Notice these expressions here. He says, “You shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God.” When a man uses God's name and lies, it is an abomination. And that's one way of taking God's name in vain. Exodus 20 verse 7 says, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” Now there are other ways that people do that, but this is one of them. It's bad enough when a man sins in any way, but it's worse when he invokes the name of God in it. So we should only use the name of God in reverence and say it like we mean it.
Let's look at another passage. It's found in Numbers chapter 30. Numbers chapter 30, I'm going to begin reading in verse 1: “Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, ‘This is the thing which the Lord has commanded. If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.’” Now this whole chapter—Numbers chapter 30—is a section on vows. So, as a good commentary on what he's talking about here, I would recommend that you read the entire section here of Numbers chapter 30.
He gives different circumstances and different situations where a person would take a vow. So, here we find another aspect of this. Don't break your word. In Leviticus chapter 19 verse 12, he's talking about somebody that didn't mean it to start with. He lied when he made the vow, he lied when he took the oath, and he did all that in the name of God Almighty.
Now that is Leviticus 19 verse 12. But here in Numbers chapter 30, there's no indication that the man who's taking the vow is insincere. There's no indication that he's lying about it. So let's look at it from the standpoint that here is a Jew who is taking a vow before God, and the warning here is, if you make that oath, if you take that vow before God, then you better keep your word. Don't break your word. If you swear, then you keep your word. You do what you said you would do. You do what you promised to do. Now that was important in the Old Testament. That was important in Jesus’ day because it's a matter of honesty. It's a matter of a person's word. And that was needed in Jesus’ day.
There was nothing wrong with the scribes and Pharisees telling the Jews, “If you make a promise, you better keep that promise.” Jesus is not criticizing that. Jesus is not doing away with that. He's not saying these Old Testament Scriptures don't apply anymore in that sense, as far as the principle is concerned. He's not saying it was a bad idea for God to say: Now, if you make a vow, you better keep that vow. Jesus is not criticizing those verses. He is upholding those passages of scripture because the Jews in his day needed this. They needed to be taught to be honest. And we desperately need this teaching today.
We've heard about the word pandemic. Well, if there's one moral pandemic that we have today, it is the pandemic of dishonesty. You know that this is true. There are so many people whose word means absolutely nothing to them. They will tell you anything. They'll promise to do something and they're lying about it. They have no intention of doing it, or they'll halfway mean what they promised to do, but they'll never get around to doing it. And then when you call their hand on it, they give all kinds of alibis and they never feel ashamed about it.
I'm saying that this is a pandemic. Am I exaggerating? Think about it. Leaders of all kinds of countries sign peace treaties with other nations. They either don't mean it when they make those treaties or they don't keep those treaties. Either way, they're being dishonest. Politicians are notorious for making all kinds of promises to people that they never intend to keep or never do get around to keeping. People borrow money, they sign their name, they promise to pay that money back. They have no intention of doing that. Salesmen lie to buyers. Buyers lie to salesmen every single day. Men and women say their marriage vows. They may intend to keep those vows or they may be lying about it or be halfhearted about it when they do it. But either way, every day those marriage vows are broken all over the world. And worst of all, there are people that confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and they end up going back on their word.
Sometimes I think that people believe that the confession is just an incidental part or an incidental step in God's plan of salvation, and it's not. It is necessary. Romans 10:9 and 10 teaches that when we make that confession, we're not just saying a set of words. We are pledging our hearts and our lives to him. And if we go back on that, then we're denying him. So this kind of teaching is needed in a lot of ways today. Children need to be taught it. They need to see it in our lives as well.
So let me look again at numbers chapter 30, verse two. It says, “If a man makes a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” Now here's another great commentary on what we're looking at. It's found in Ecclesiastes chapter five. I'm going to begin reading in verse two. Solomon says, “Do not be rash with your mouth, and do not let your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth. Therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes through much activity, and a fool's voice is known by his many words. When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it, for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed. Better not to vow, than to vow and not pay.”
So, when the scribes and the Pharisees referred to what the Old Testament said on the subject of vows, they were right in teaching that. There was nothing wrong with what they said. They didn't change the wording of the text. And the Jews needed to hear those verses, but any subject in the Bible can be taken too far. You can get any subject in the Bible out of proportion or out of perspective. Now, when I talk about perspective here, I'm talking about the perspective of the Bible itself. I'm talking about the whole context of the Bible. I'm talking about the total teaching of the Bible. You have to take that into consideration. Sometimes we even say, “Well, it's just common sense.” And if it's real common sense, and if it's important common sense, you're going to find that in the Bible as well.
A promise is a promise. And we ought to keep our word. But here's an example of what I'm talking about. Sometimes a person will make a promise and circumstances beyond his control will keep him from doing that. Now we don't hold that man liable, and rightly so. Now, of course, I'm not talking about a person who makes a promise and doesn't intend to keep it. I'm not talking about a person who makes a promise and then looks for the least little excuse to keep from doing what he promised to do. I'm talking about circumstances which make it impossible for a person to do what he promised to do. God never expects a man to do what he cannot do, what is impossible for him to do.
And that's taught in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. God says that a man is to do according to his ability if he is able. And sometimes there are physical circumstances that are beyond his control that keep him from doing even what God has told him to do or what he has committed to do. So, in a case where a man has promised to do something, a man has vowed to do something, and there are legitimately circumstances that are beyond his control that keep him from doing that, we shouldn't say that in that situation it's right for him to break that vow because he doesn't break it when he can't do it to begin with. We should say that that vow does not apply in circumstances like that.
Here's something else to consider. There are some promises that we should never make to begin with. And if it's wrong to make them, it's wrong to keep them. Sometimes people ask the question about the Bible, “Is it ever right to break a vow? Do you have to keep your word even if it's a wrong kind of vow?” And the answer is, no you don't. For instance, I have known of people who told me that at some point in their life, they vowed, they swore, that they would never become a Christian. Now were they obligated to keep that vow? Absolutely not. They had no right to make that vow. They had no right to keep that vow. It was wrong to make it to begin with, and it would have been wrong to keep that vow. Now, the good thing about the people that I'm mentioning here is that they did become Christian people, but I'm just using that for an illustration.
You could even use a further illustration and talk about a hired killer. There are people that contract to do murder. Are they obligated to keep that in the sight of God? This is how ridiculous it gets. So there are some exceptions to this. There are some promises and vows, obviously, that a person has no right to make and no right to keep.
The Pharisees abused this teaching by taking it too far. This is the point that I want to make. They would swear about every little thing and they would swear by anything that they thought was important. This is the context that I'm talking about. You have to go back to Matthew chapter five and look at what Jesus says here in verse 35 and 36. He talks about swearing by the earth. He talks about swearing by Jerusalem. He talks about swearing by your head. This is what these Jews, especially the scribes and the Pharisees, were teaching. This is what they were doing. So, they might swear to convince someone by saying, “I swear by heaven that I will pay you.” “I swear by heaven that I will be there.” “I swear by heaven that this is my property line.” There's no need for that, Jesus said. Or they might demand that other people swear to them. They might say, “You swear to me that you will repair my boat, that you will build my barn back, and you swear by Jerusalem when you do that.” So they would swear by heaven, they would swear by earth, they would swear by Jerusalem, they would swear by their head, and Jesus said, don't do that.
Don't swear by heaven because that's God's throne. Don't take that lightly. Don't swear by the earth because that's the footstool of God. God made it. God owns it. He runs it. Don't swear by Jerusalem because at that time it was a place that God chose for His worship. And don't swear by your head. You can't even make one hair white or black.
Now, you may be thinking, well, those are old customs, that's an old record, and what does that have to do with me today? Well, if you think about it, people do the same thing today. When we really want to convince somebody that we're telling the truth, oftentimes we'll pick out something that's very valuable or very important, and we will say, “I'm telling you the truth” based on that. People will swear based on something that they think is very important. That's what the Jews were doing. And Jesus is saying you don't have to do that and you should not do that if you're honest. And I'll say more about that in just a few minutes. But for right now, I want us to turn to Mark chapter 7.
Here is a good example of what these scribes and Pharisees were doing with the law about swearing, the law of oaths or vowing. In Mark chapter 7, you find a Jewish custom called Corban that was about swearing, and the Jews had taken that so far to an extreme that they had set aside one of the fundamental laws of God concerning human nature.
Now let's go to Mark chapter 7. And in verse one, we read this: “Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to him, having come from Jerusalem. Now, when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault, for the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat, unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.”
Now, this was not for hygiene purposes. This was not for health reasons. This was a religious tradition, a religious law among these Jews. It was not God's law. It was their law. And they observed it as a part of their religion. So the Bible says, “When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups and pitchers, copper vessels, and couches. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders but eat bread with unwashed hands?’ He answered and said to them, ‘Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men and washing of pitchers and cups and many other such things you do.’ He said to them all, ‘All too well you reject the commandment of God that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, honor your father and your mother, and he who curses father or mother, let him be put to death. But you say…” Now there He's addressing these scribes and Pharisees. Do you see the contrast in verse 10? He's talking about what Moses wrote. That's the word of God. Moses said honor your father and mother. Moses said if you curse father and mother, you're to be put to death. But, in verse 11, He says, “You,” that is, you scribes and Pharisees, “say if a man says to his father or mother, whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban,” that is, a gift to God, “then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother. Making the Word of God of no effect through your tradition, which you have handed down, and many such things you do.”
The word Corban is an Aramaic word which means a gift. This was a gift given to God. Now, that gift could have been land, it could have been a house, it could have been money, or any other thing that they wanted to dedicate to God.
So, the Jews would simply say, “Corban,” if they wanted to dedicate or to give some of their property to God. What Jesus says here is that the scribes and Pharisees had taken that to the point to where they said that if a Jewish man, let's say, had a father or a mother that really needed his help, and that help involves some financial help, all that Jewish son had to do was to say, “Well, I can't help you because that's Corban, I've dedicated that to God.” Now, can you think of anything more ungodly? Can you think of anything more hypocritical? And this was coming from the highly respected teachers among the Jews, the scribes and the Pharisees.
And Jesus rebuked them severely here. He called them hypocrites. And He says you're putting your tradition over the commandments of God. As a matter of fact, He said you reject the commandment of God so that you can keep your own tradition. There was nothing wrong with a Jew giving land or a house or any of his property to God. There was nothing wrong with him saying that's Corban, that's a gift that I'm going to give to God. But the scribes and Pharisees had blown that completely out of proportion. They'd taken that to the extreme that they said, “Well, if you say that it's given to God, you don't even have to help your aged and ailing parents.”
So this was an ungodly tradition. And notice again that it talked about money. That was what it was all about. Let me turn back with you to Matthew chapter 23. Here is another example of how Jesus shows that one of the problems with these scribes and Pharisees was that they were greedy people. Matthew chapter 23 verse 14 says, “You devour widows houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers.” But notice what he says in Matthew 23 beginning in verse 16. “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, “Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it!’ Fools and blind,” Jesus said, “for which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?”
And, they would also say this in verse 18, “Whoever swears by the altar, it's nothing. But whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.” Jesus said in verse 19, “Fools and blind, for which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore, he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it, and he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.” That's Matthew chapter 23.
Now let's go back to Matthew chapter 5 and look at these words and talk a little bit more about how they apply to us today. The Scribes and the Pharisees were teaching these common everyday Jews some things that were right about swearing. They would quote these verses that Jesus refers to in verse 33. But those Scribes and Pharisees were teaching them some things that were wrong. That's what we've been talking about.
These Jews were in such a habit of swearing that they would swear about the least little thing. They would swear about things that they didn't need to swear about. Jesus said: Look, a simple yes or no is enough. An honest person does not have to swear about everything. His life, his character stands behind his words. As we say, we used to say, at least, his word is his bond. There's no need for him to place himself under an oath or to swear for emphasis that he's telling the truth.
A simple yes or no is sufficient in most cases. As a matter of fact, there's something wrong with a man who has to swear about all kinds of little things in his life. When a man has to go out of his way to swear about some little thing to convince you that he's telling the truth, then there's something wrong with that man's character.
I remember several years ago going to the home of a man who was an erring Christian. He was unfaithful to God at that time. So I went to encourage him to get back right with God and to get his heart right with God. So he started sharing with me all kinds of situations in his life. And there was one incidental disagreement that he'd had with somebody. And he looked at me and he said, ‘I will lay my hand on the Bible and say that what I told him was the truth.’ And I thought to myself, “Why would you say that you need to lay your hand on the Bible? Why would you say something like that to me?”
So the conversation went on and before we ended he said, “I'll be there at church. I will be there. You can count on me. I'm coming this Sunday.” He never came, and I've never seen that man since. So here in Matthew chapter 5, we have to remember the background. We have to consider the context. Jesus is not saying that it's never right to swear. He's not saying that it's always wrong to swear. He's saying it's wrong to swear like these Jews were swearing. They were swearing about some things that they should not have sworn about. They were swearing about all kinds of little things. They were swearing when they didn't need to swear. And Jesus said, don't do that. All you have to do is to say yes or no, usually and ordinarily.
You may say, “But in verse 34 he says do not swear at all.” Remember, He's talking about the way that the Jews swore and remember also in the context that he gives some very strong statements that can be misinterpreted if we forget the context of the people that He's talking about and the context of His words.
Remember what He said in verse 29 and 30? “If your right eye offends you or causes you to sin, pluck it out.” Verse 30: “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off.” This is the kind of strong language that Jesus uses in the Sermon on the Mount over and over again. And this is exactly why a lot of people misinterpret and misapply Jesus words.
They forget the background, they forget the nature of what he said. And there's a similar statement found in the book of James on this very topic. In James 5 verse 12, the Bible says, “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no, no, lest you fall into judgment.” And the interesting thing about the book of James is that it is addressed to Christians with a strong Jewish background. So it only makes sense that he would bring up this matter of swearing because the Jews had a problem with swearing about things that they didn't need to swear about. And they had a problem with swearing about trivial matters. So in James chapter 5 verse 12 James addresses the same problem that Jesus addressed in the Sermon on the Mount.
But here's an interesting example that puts this whole thing in perspective. Do you realize that Jesus allowed himself to be placed under oath? Sometimes people say today, “Well, is it right to go to court and to be sworn in as a witness? Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” Is that right? Is that scriptural? Should a Christian do that?
Jesus himself allowed himself to be placed under oath. It is in Matthew chapter 26. He's been arrested by the Jews, and now He's before the high priest. And in Matthew chapter 26, verse 62, the Bible says, “And the high priest arose and said to Him, Do you answer nothing? What is it these men testify against you? But Jesus kept silent, and the high priest answered and said to him, I put you under oath by the living God. Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
Now the King James Version uses the word “adjure.” To adjure means to be placed under oath. So the high priest is saying I'm putting you under oath here, which means if Jesus answers this, He is placing himself under oath. As long as He kept silent, then He was not taking an oath. But when He answers, then that means that He is taking an oath here in a court of law.
So the Bible tells us, after the high priest said, “I am putting you under oath,” and he's telling Jesus to answer this question, Jesus answers in verse 64: “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
So Jesus definitely placed himself under oath in Matthew 26 verse 63. And I believe that some of the misunderstanding and hesitation about this subject comes from a misunderstanding about the word swear. In the minds of some Christian people, the word swear has such a negative connotation that they just avoid it at all cost. They don't have a problem with saying “I promise,” but they have a real problem with saying “I swear.” The truth is, this English word swear just means to make a solemn promise. So you're basically saying the same thing.
Here's another example. What do we call the promise that couples make to each other at a wedding? We call that the exchange of the marriage vows. Whether you use the word “marriage vow,” or “marriage promise,” or “marriage oath,” it amounts to the same thing. And the same thing is true in a court of law or any other circumstance. We use these words to emphasize the fact that this is a special occasion. You don't need to do it about everything Jesus says. You don't need to make an oath or swear with an oath about every little thing that you do in life because if you're honest, all you have to do is to say yes or no. But there are times when the situation is so important that you want to add emphasis to what you're saying. And that's really what swearing or taking an oath or making a vow is all about.
In the Bible, even God himself sometimes swore with an oath. In Hebrews 6: 13 through 18, the Bible says that God confirmed the promise that He made to Abraham by swearing with an oath. In Hebrews chapter 3 verse 11, the Bible says God swore with an oath that the Israelites would not enter into the land of Canaan.
Then there's the example of the Apostle Paul in Romans 9 verse 1. Paul said, “I say the truth,” or I am telling the truth “in Christ Jesus, I lie not.” Paul didn't say that every time that he wrote an epistle. He didn't say that in every sermon. He didn't have to. He said it here for emphasis’ sake. So all this teaching Helps us to understand what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 5: 33 through 37.
Thank you for listening to My God and My Neighbor. Stay connected with our podcast on our website and on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever fine podcasts are distributed. Tennessee Bible College, providing Christian education since 1975 in Cookeville, Tennessee, offers undergraduate and graduate programs.
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