Swearing an Oath

Mathew 5:33-37 "Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, `Do not break your
oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by
heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city
of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.
37 Simply let your `Yes' be `Yes,' and your `No,' `No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

First off we must establish what is Jesus saying here by going back to the scriptures and work out what
this " you have heard it was said" refers to.

If we look into the old testament, we see the scriptures Jesus was referring to.

Exodus 20:7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone
guiltless who misuses his name.

Leviticus 19:12 "`Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.

Deuteronomy 5:11 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold
anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

Let us analyse these scriptures and come to an understanding of what Jesus is saying.

All three scriptures read almost identical, do not swear/make an oath in Gods name. Jesus is saying let
your yes be yes, and your no be no, God is more pleased with your actions then your false oath making
traditions that the jews used as a daily conversation.

"The jews of the time had developed a practice of swearing by lesser things than God, thinking that
therefore it allowed for compromise and less accountability.

Swearing by God was to bind oneself without exception or mistake to what was sworn, so they avoided
doing it.

So what is Jesus then really getting at, he is correcting the interpretation of the law.
Christ tells them that such is folly, for ALL is subject to God and some even, like the temple, have special
significance for Him, and not to be lightly spoken of.

Secondly, a Christian should be of such high moral fibre that his word needs no "swearing" of any sort.

Christian honesty has no degrees of quality or error.

Jesus does not refer to judicial oaths or oaths taken in a court of justice. It was merely the foolish and
wicked habit of swearing in private conversation; of swearing on every occasion and by everything that
he condemned."

In everyday life we should be known to be telling the truth and have no need to do what the Jews were
doing, Jesus does not condemn using Gods name in the proper use of it like Paul does, he condemns the
false application of making an oath.

Paul uses Gods name here in the correct manner

Romans 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without
ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

And like in court Paul confirms his testimony to be true

Romans 9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,

And again in Galatians Paul writes

Galatians 1:20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.