Jesus : Taking A Vow Is Of The Evil One

[GracePeace]

This is addressed to the so-called "Torah Observant" Christians, the modern Judaizers : why, if we're to serve by Torah, did Jesus say that you are doing a work of the evil one if you do as the Torah permitted and make a vow?

Matthew 5
33“Again, you have heard that [z]the ancients were told, ‘[aa]YOU SHALL NOT [ab]MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR [ac]VOWS TO THE LORD.’ 34But I say to you, take no oath at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, nor [ad]by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. 36Nor shall you take an oath by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37But make sure your statement is, ‘[ae]Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is [af]of the evil one.

James 5
12But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

So, James verifies we got the right message.

 

[GracePeace]

@Soyeong

 

[Wynona]

Someone brought up wedding vows being technically unbiblical because of Jesus' teaching. Wondering others thoughts on this.

 

[hies]

Someone brought up wedding vows being technically unbiblical because of Jesus' teaching. Wondering others thoughts on this.

This makes a lot of sense: What does the Bible say about keeping your vows / oaths? | GotQuestions.org

When people get married their vows are simply "yes" and "I do". And when they say their piece, they're not swearing by anything. It's just a promise.

I think the main idea is if you're going to claim to do something, don't swear by anything. Instead of saying "I swear by my life I will do this" you should just say "I will do this".

 

[Wynona]

This makes a lot of sense: What does the Bible say about keeping your vows / oaths? | GotQuestions.org

When people get married their vows are simply "yes" and "I do".

So I think the main idea is if you're going to claim to do something, don't swear by anything. Instead of saying "I swear by my life I will do this" you should just say "I will do this".

That's good. Thanks

 

[hies]

That's good. Thanks

Though it does seem that when people swear by the Bible in court it's unbiblical lol.

 

[GracePeace]

Someone brought up wedding vows being technically unbiblical because of Jesus' teaching. Wondering others thoughts on this.

If they are being taken as "vows", they are traditions of men that are unbiblical.

 

[GracePeace]

Though it does seem that when people swear by the Bible in court it's unbiblical lol.

I have read or heard that courts acknowledge that some Christians religiously object to "swearing an oath", and they do not force those Christians to do so.

 

[Scott Downey]

You cannot swear an oath or make any vow and have it not be of the evil one, Satan, for it is not in your power to fulfill your oath or vow, it is only in God's power and authority to fulfill His own oath and vows, and you are not God. So do not challenge His authority over you.

It is like speaking falsely in His name to swear an oath in such a way, and it attracts evil spirits.

No fate except what we make is false.

 

[GracePeace]

You cannot swear an oath or make any vow and have it not be of the evil one, Satan, for it is not in your power to fulfill your oath or vow, it is only in God's power and authority to fulfill His own oath and vows, and you are not God. So do not challenge His authority over you.

It is like speaking falsely in His name to swear an oath in such a way, and it attracts evil spirits.

Yes, the root issue is humility, it seems. "You cannot make even one hair white or black. Who do you think you are to say you can 'certify' you will make this or that happen--that trust should be vested in you?"

 

[Scott Downey]

Yes, the root issue is humility, it seems. "You cannot make even one hair white or black. Who do you think you are to say you can 'certify' you, that people, or God, can vest their trust in you, that you will do this or that?"

The other thing is God can hold you accountable for your vow or oath to perform it, and when you don't, then it's like you lied.
But if you are speaking prophetically as a prophet like Joseph, or Moses, then this was of God. But if you are not a prophet you are speaking falsely in His name, not going to have a good outcome.

Exodus 13:19
And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.”

The Trespass Offering for an oath. Spoken in vain.​

1 ‘If a person sins in hearing the utterance of an oath, and is a witness, whether he has seen or known of the matter—if he does not tell it, he bears [a]guilt.

2 ‘Or if a person touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean beast, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and he is unaware of it, he also shall be unclean and guilty. 3 Or if he touches human uncleanness—whatever uncleanness with which a man may be defiled, and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty.

4 ‘Or if a person [b]swears, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, whatever it is that a man may pronounce by an oath, and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty in any of these matters.

5 ‘And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing; 6 and he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin.

 

[GracePeace]

The other thing is God can hold you accountable for your vow or oath to perform it, and when you don't, then it's like you lied.
But if you are speaking prophetically as a prophet like Joseph, or Moses, then this was of God. But if you are not a prophet you are speaking falsely in His name, not going to have a good outcome.

Exodus 13:19
And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.”

The Trespass Offering for an oath. Spoken in vain.​

1 ‘If a person sins in hearing the utterance of an oath, and is a witness, whether he has seen or known of the matter—if he does not tell it, he bears [a]guilt.

2 ‘Or if a person touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean beast, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and he is unaware of it, he also shall be unclean and guilty. 3 Or if he touches human uncleanness—whatever uncleanness with which a man may be defiled, and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty.

4 ‘Or if a person [b]swears, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, whatever it is that a man may pronounce by an oath, and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty in any of these matters.

5 ‘And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing; 6 and he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin.

We know that God had previously issued concessions for the hardness of peoples' hearts (eg, Mt 19 "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives 'for any reason' because of the hardness of your hearts"), and, so, Christ was coming and overruling that, preserving the underlying principle (ie, with vows, the principle is, "respect God, don't take His Name in vain by making vows and not keeping them"), so taking of vows must have been permitted for the hardness of men's hearts, but Christ cancels that concession, because we are not to have hard hearts because the new Covenant takes out the heart of stone (hard hearts) and gives the heart of flesh (soft hearts).

Under the New Covenant, the sin is the making of the oath at all, not in the making and not keeping of the oath.

 

[Scott Downey]

We know that God had previously issued concessions for the hardness of peoples' hearts (eg, Mt 19 "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives 'for any reason' because of the hardness of your hearts"), and, so, Christ was coming and overruling that, preserving the underlying principle (ie, with vows, the principle is, "respect God, don't take His Name in vain by making vows and not keeping them"), so taking of vows must have been permitted for the hardness of men's hearts, but Christ cancels that concession, because we are not to have hard hearts because the new Covenant takes out the heart of stone (hard hearts) and gives the heart of flesh (soft hearts).

Under the New Covenant, the sin is the making of the oath at all, not in the making and not keeping of the oath.

Even under the OC, oaths were dangerous and bad for people.
In the NC, Jesus says don't swear any oaths, as one of His commandments.

Here we see someone forced to take an oath who had sinned against someone, as perhaps to hide what he had done, and God will bring his wickedness back on him as he lied. Criminals do this all the time saying they are innocent.

Swearing an oath will never get you out of trouble or disaster, it just brings it on more surely. People must confess their sins, and not try and hide them by swearing an oath.

Proverbs 28:13
He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.

1 Kings 8
31 “When anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take an oath, and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple,
32 then hear in heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.