Who will inherit the earth? (Part 3)

As we continue our study through the Bible about who will inherit the earth, it is best to examine Scripture to see what it says about the inheritance rights of the land.

More passages about who will be left behind
Matthew 13:24-30
24Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

Looking at this parable, who are the ones to be gathered first. According to verse 30, the tares are gathered first and burned in the fire; the wheat is left behind and gathered in the barn.

Proverbs 2:21-22
For the upright will live in the land,
And the blameless will remain in it;
22
But the wicked will be eliminated from the land,
And the treacherous will be torn away from it.

Proverbs 10:25
When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more,
But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.


Proverbs 10:30
The righteous will never be removed,
But the wicked will not live in the land.


Psalm 52:1-5
Why do you boast in evil, you mighty man?
The faithfulness of God endures all day long.
2
Your tongue devises destruction,
Like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
3
You love evil more than good,
Lies more than speaking what is right. Selah
4
You love all words that devour,
You deceitful tongue.
5
But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent,
And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah


Psalm 125:1
Those who trust in the Lord
Are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but remains forever.

Psalm 37:1-3, 7-9, 18-22, 21-22, 27-29, 34-40
1Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
3Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

7Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.
9For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall inherit the earth.
10For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;
Indeed, you will look carefully for his place,
But it shall be no more.
11But the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

18The Lord knows the days of the upright,
And their inheritance shall be forever.
19They shall not be ashamed in the evil time,
And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
20But the wicked shall perish;
And the enemies of the Lord,
Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish.
Into smoke they shall vanish away.

21The wicked borrows and does not repay,
But the righteous shows mercy and gives.
22For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth,
But those cursed by Him shall be cut off.

27Depart from evil, and do good;
And dwell forevermore.
28For the Lord loves justice,
And does not forsake His saints;
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
29The righteous shall inherit the land,
And dwell in it forever.

34Wait on the Lord,
And keep His way,
And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
35I have seen the wicked in great power,
And spreading himself like a native green tree.
36Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.

37Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright;
For the future of that man is peace.
38But the transgressors shall be destroyed together;
The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
39But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength in the time of trouble.
40And the Lord shall help them and deliver them;
He shall deliver them from the wicked,
And save them,
Because they trust in Him.

Verses 10, 34 and 36 talks about the wicked being cut off. They were sought for, but they could not be found. If the righteous are taken out of the earth first, how is it the righteous will be searching for the wicked, but they will not be found? The righteous must be the ones left behind, and the wicked must be the ones taken.

Verse 37:11 is what Jesus is quoting in Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”


Going back to Matthew 24:
Verses 48-50: “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time’; and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and he eats and drinks with this habitually drunk; then the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know, and he will cut him in two and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

In verses 48-50, we are given some more details about what the time of the coming of the Son of Man will be like. We are given a story about a slave who says in his heart that his master will not be returning. The salve goes wild. he gets drunk and beats his fellow slaves. he does not expect the return of his master. When his master comes back, the slave is cut in two, assigned a place with the hypocrites and in that place there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Again, this story demonstrates the slaves stops being obedient and starts living worldly ways. He is mean and does not attend to his duties. (We can glean the slave is disobedient. How many drunks do you know are able to hold down a job and attend to all the responsibilities required of him?) When the master comes home, the slave is cut in two. We can assume this is an idiom for the slave is killed. The slave is taken out of the earth and is put in a place where the hypocrites are. The place sounds pretty awful. They weep and gnash their teeth. It does not sound as though the place where the slave is taken is a place where those who were righteous and following God would go. It sounds as though these people are lamenting and are bitter they are suffering.


Where is the kingdom going to be?
1Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
5Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

6And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:1-8)

According to verse 2, where is the new earth going to be? It will come down out of heaven and be here on earth. If the wicked are the ones left behind, they will be the ones to inherit the New Jerusalem. God makes it clear in verse 7 who is it who will inherit the earth, it will be he who overcomes. In verse 8 we are told those who commit all sorts of sins will have their inheritance in the lake of fire which burns fire and brimstone.

Again, the accords with Scripture that the righteous shall live on the earth and the wicked shall be taken away to a place where there will be death. As popular as the book series Left Behind is, it is misguided and does not align with Scripture. It makes a good story line that the righteous will be taken away and the wicked will wonder where the righteous went, but actually Scripture tells us the exact opposite is true. The righteous will be left behind and the wicked will be taken away. The wicked will be searched for but they will not be found.

Who Will Inherit the Earth (Part 2)

In last week's study, we explored Matthew 24 in which Jesus gives us a long dialog about the coming times. Some of the events were for the immediate future when Jerusalem was laid siege by the Romans. But as always, anything which had a first coming, the prophecy is also applicable to a second coming. Continuing from last week, let's pick up from where we let off.

Verses 36-41: “But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. At that time, there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.”

Like the days of Noah
We are told the coming of the Son of Man will be like the days of Noah. Let’s review a little bit of what life was like during the days of Noah.

Genesis 6:5-8
5Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

We have in the text, man was wicked and his intentions were continually evil. God was sorry He had made man. He decides He will destroy man; however, a man named Noah found favor in His eyes. Summarizing the rest of the story, God commands Noah to build the ark. Noah saves two of every animal and seven pairs of birds and clean animals. Noah and his family enter the ark. A worldwide flood destroys the wicked from the face of the earth. Noah and his family (his wife, plus his three sons and their wives) are spared.

We can sum up Noah’s story as the wicked are slain and taken out of the earth. Noah and his family are spared. They make it through the flood, and they are the ones who are left behind. They are the ones who inherit the earth. From Noah and his three sons, man begins again.

Back to Matthew 24
Jesus states at the end of verse 39, the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. In verses 40 and 41 it says there will be two people doing an activity. One will be taken and one will be left. This is where I believe the left behind series gets its concept that the wicked will be left behind while the righteous will be taken out of the earth. However, if we continue to follow the text and examples which have been laid out, the wicked are the ones taken out of the earth. It is the righteous who are left behind.

When the flood comes, Noah and his family survive. It is the wicked who perish. We are told where the bodies are, there the birds of prey will gather. When the wicked are slain, the birds of the air will come down and eat up their corpses. The righteous will still be alive. The birds of prey will not come and eat up the righteous. To get a little bit more clarity on this topic, let’s turn to Luke 17 where Jesus gives us a similar dialogue about the what will happen in the time to come.


Luke 17:20-37
20Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; 21nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
22And He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23They will say to you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go away, and do not run after them. 24For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. 25But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; 29but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. 31On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. 32Remember Lot’s wife. 33Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. 35There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. 36[Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.”] 37And answering they *said to Him, “Where, Lord?” And He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered.”

Key Similarities
Again, We have Jesus saying the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. He then continues and states it was the same as in the time of Lot. Everyone was going about their daily lives when fire and brimstone came down and destroyed the valley cities, but Lot escaped.

Lot and the Valley Cities
In Genesis 18, the LORD and two angels appear to Abraham. Abraham entertains his guests by preparing a meal for them. Abraham is given a promise that a son will be born to him. Before the LORD and the angels leave, we learn Sodom and the surrounding cities are very wicked.

Genesis 18:17-21
17The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? 19For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.” 20And the Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. 21I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”

For the rest of Genesis 18, Abraham pleads with the LORD to not destroy the valley cities. When Abraham bargains for the valley to be spared for ten righteous people, the LORD departs from Abraham.

In Genesis 19, we have the story about Lot entertaining two angels. He makes them a meal. In the morning, the angels take Abraham, his wife and his tow daughters and forces them to flee Sodom. Sodom and the valley cities are destroyed with fire and brimstone.

To summarize, Lot is saved while the wicked men of the valley are killed. Lot is allowed to live; the wicked perish. Lot’s story is very similar to Noah. Lot and Noah live. The wicked are destroyed by a natural disaster.


Two will be taken, one left
Again, Jesus gives us the analogy of two people doing an activity. One will be taken and one will be left. Using both Noah’s and Lot’s stories, we know the righteous are left behind and the wicked are taken away.

In Luke 37, we have the disciplines asking Jesus a question. The question seems incomplete and states, “Where, Lord?” Jesus gives an answer where the vultures are there the bodies will be.

We have a two options to choose from in verse 37. One, the disciples are asking what happens to the people left behind on the earth, or two, what happens to those who are taken away. If we believe the disciples want to know what happens to those left behind, that seems like a dumb question.

It would be like me telling you a story about a mom and her daughter are cooking in the kitchen. The phone rings. The daughter leaves. You then ask me, “Where is the mom?” That would be a really odd question. The mom is in the kitchen cooking. The more logic question is, “Where did the daughter go?”

If we assume the disciples are asking where those who are taken go, Jesus’ response make a lot of sense. He states where the bodies are, there the vultures will be. Henceforth, those taken out of the earth are slain. Where they bodies appear, the birds of prey will gather and eat. Again, we know birds of prey do not like to eat healthy individuals. So, if the disciplines are asking what happens to those left behind, Jesus’ answer makes little sense that the birds of prey will be gathered around them. We are not told anything happens to those left behind. They will be just like Noah and Lot. Both of those individuals lived a full life on the earth. Both those individuals were left behind to continue living.

Who Will Inherit the Earth?

There is a popular multimedia franchise called Left Behind, which includes 38 books and four films. The premise for the franchise includes topics about the rapture and tribulation. The key theme is that the righteous are taken out of the earth, while the wicked are left behind.

As I was searching for information on this the Left Behind series, I was amazed how the series is heralded as “A must read for Christians” and other such claims that this series contains information every Christian should know. I am always confused and baffled how anything which man can create is superior to the word God gave us called the Bible. Is Mr. Tim LaHaye (the author of the books) a spiritual intellect? Is he able to tease out important information which the rest of us mere mortals cannot comprehend? Or, is this just a marketing and publicity stunt which has little to do with the Bible and everything to do with money? Let’s explore Scripture to find out who will be left behind, who will be taken out of the earth and who will inherit the earth.

Matthew 24
In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus gives a long dialogue in which He explains His second coming and also the near future when Jerusalem will be destroyed by the Romans. Jesus talks about the destruction of the Temple (verse 2), He says take heed when you hear about wars and rumors of war (verse 6), He speaks about many false prophets arising (verse 11), etc. All the events I mentioned have at least a two-fold coming. They happened when Roman destroyed Jerusalem, and they will also happen again at the end of time.

Side note: When Jerusalem was about to be destroyed by Rome, those who followed Jesus and knew His words (especially verses 16-20) fled Jerusalem. They did as Jesus said to do, they fled to the mountains and did not stay to gather their goods. This advice is directly in opposition to logic. When an army was coming to invade a country, it was best to be in a large fortified city which had walls. The logical place to flee to would have been Jerusalem. However, just as Jesus says, people should flee to the mountains to escape. Those who heeded Jesus’ words before Rome destroyed Jerusalem saved their lives. Rome surrounded Jerusalem and put it under siege. It was a horrible time in which famine and disease raged inside the city walls. Rome finally made an attack on Jerusalem and slaughtered the people and destroyed the Temple. Those who fled from Jerusalem before the siege escaped with their lives and escaped the harsh punishment from the Romans.


Read Matthew 24.

Key Highlights
Verse 13 states, “He who endures to the end will be saved.”

Verse 28: “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

Verses 36-41: “But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. At that time, there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.”

Verses 48-50: “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time’; and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and he eats and drinks with this habitually drunk; then the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know, and he will cut him in two and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

In depth look at these passages:
Verse 13: “He who endures to the end will be saved.”

Scripture tells us that those who remain to the end will be saved. In verse 13, the word translated as “saved” is the Greek word so-zo. It means to keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction, to save from perishing, to make well, to restore to health, to preserve one who is in danger of destruction. So-zo is used 110 times in the New testament in 103 verses.

Matthew 10:22: “And you shall be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he that endures to the end shall be saved.”

Mark 16:16: “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believes not shall be damned.”

Luke: “Then said Jesus to them, ‘I will ask you one thing; is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good or to do evil? to save life, or destroy it?’”

Using the word so-zo to its more complete meaning, we could re-translate Matthew 24:13 as: He who endures to the end will be healed, rescued from destruction and be kept safe.



Verse 28: “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
Vultures are scavengers. They do not eat prey which is healthy. They usually eat things which have recently died or are on the verge of death. Vultures do not like to chase their food. They gather where the meal is prepared for them. (The word in your Bible version may be vulture or eagle. The word used in the Greek means a bird of prey. It can be a vulture, eagle or any bird of prey.)

Using verse 13, we know the person who endures to the end will be saved from destruction. We can then switch the words into the negative and say the person who does not hold fast to the end, he will not be saved from destruction.

Verse 28, mirrors Job 39 verses 19 through 30.
“19“Do you give the horse his might?
Do you clothe his neck with a mane?
20Do you make him leap like the locust?
His majestic snorting is terrible.
21He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength;
He goes out to meet the weapons.
22He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
And he does not turn back from the sword.
23The quiver rattles against him,
The flashing spear and javelin.
24With shaking and rage he races over the ground,
And he does not stand still at the voice of the trumpet.
25As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Aha!’
And he scents the battle from afar,
And the thunder of the captains and the war cry.
26“Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,
Stretching his wings toward the south?
27Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
And makes his nest on high?
28On the cliff he dwells and lodges,
Upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place.
29From there he spies out food;
His eyes see it from afar.
30His young ones also suck up blood;
And where the slain are, there is he.” (Job 39:19-30)

Again, this emphasizes, where the birds of prey are, there the dead bodies will be. We can be fairly certain the birds of prey will not be eating up the righteous. But to explore this farther, let’s move to the back of the Bible.

Revelation 19:20-21 gives us more clarity into who will be slain.
20And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. 21And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. (Revelation 19:20-21)

Revelation 19 tells us those who were deceived by the false prophet and those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped the beast’s image were slain with the sword. These individuals’ bodies were eaten by the birds of the field.

Let Your yes be yes. Vows and Oaths (Part 4)

Swearing by God’s throne
In Matthew 5:34-35, Jesus states: But I say to you, take no oath at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

Jesus words may seem a little foreign to us in this passage. But if we think about it, we do the same in our culture. Jesus says we are not to take an oath by things such as the throne of God or heaven or anything else. We see from Matthew 23, one of the faults Jesus finds with the blind guides (who we presume are the spiritual leaders of Israel which include the scribes and Pharisees) is that they were swearing by various objects in the Temple.

16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ 17 You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? 18 And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the offering that is on it is obligated.’ 19 You blind men, which is more important, the offering or the altar that sanctifies the offering? 20 Therefore, the one who swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. 21 And the one who swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells in it. 22 And the one who swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it. (Matthew 23:16-22)

We can see from this passage, the spiritual leaders of Israel would swear by  the temple, but the oath would be meaningless because they had made up a system in which only the gold of the Temple was a binding obligation. Or they would swear by the altar, but the oath would be meaningless because only if a person swore by the offering that is on the altar is obligated to keep his word.

You can see this was a lot of song and dance to see righteous and pious, but in the end get out of their obligations. We have the same thing happen in our society.

In business, when a person made an agreement with another person, his word was his bond. The people would shake on the deal, and that was it. The deal was sealed. If either person failed to fulfill the obligation, he was responsible for his fault. He had to correct his error or he could be taken to court and be found legally at fault for breaking the oath.

As time has passed, now a person’s word means nothing. If someone is offered a job and the person says he will take it, this no longer means he is hired. Both the employer and employee can back out of the deal if no written, legal form has been signed. Even with a written, legal document, it is hard to hold people accountable. You often have to take the person to court and try to prove the person reneged on his oath. Lawyers may get involved and find loopholes. Moral of the story, a person’s word means nothing in today’s society.

This passage in Matthew 23 is also why certain religious sects will not testify under oath in the court of law. When you take the stand in court, you have to put your hand on the Bible and swear to tell the truth. Many take this as swearing by the Bible you will tell the truth. They see this as swearing by God’s throne (or other religious object) which seems to be against Scripture.


Let Your Yes be Yes
In Matthew 5:37, Jesus says: But make sure your statement is, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil origin.

Jesus says we should not swear by anything, but everything which comes out of our mouths should be as if it were a legal obligation. This being, if we tell someone we will attend an event, we should attend the event. If we say we will do a task, the task should be done. If we fail to do as we say, it is as if we have broken an oath.

This teaching is also taught by James in his letter to the Israelites scattered abroad:
12 But above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you do not fall under judgment. (James 5:12)

James tells us, we should not take oaths. If we make a vow, we will be responsible for it. It is best if we do not take an oath.


Do Not Vow if You Cannot Fulfill it
Many people believe they are obligated to make a vow or oath to God if they want to find favor in God’s eyes. Has a loved one a serious medical condition? A person may feel obligated to make an oath in exchange for something. For example, “God I will babysit my sister’s kids every day for a year if you will allow my husband to recover from this illness.”

Despite this feeling of needing to make an oath to God, we are told several time sin Scripture, we do not need to make an oath. Jesus alludes to this when He ways our speech should be yes, yes or no, no. We should not feel the need to take oaths and make binding obligations.


21 “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly require it of you, and it will be a sin for you. 22 However, if you refrain from making vows, it will not be a sin for you. 23 You shall be careful and perform what goes out of your lips, since in fact you have vowed a voluntary offering to the Lord your God, whatever you have promised. (Deuteronomy 23:21-23)


4 When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! 5 It is better that you not vow, than vow and not pay. 6 Do not let your speech cause you to sin, and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice, and destroy the work of your hands? 7 For in many dreams and in many words there is futility. Rather, fear God. (Ecclesiastes 5:4-7)