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)
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