HONOURING GOD WITH YOUR WORDS

Definition of Oath in Old Testament

In New Testament Almost the same english definition was mentioned To give a pledge To put under curse Swear To make a statement OATHS. In ancient Israel: Oaths were attributed to God (Num. 14:21) in relation to his covenant with Israel (Dt. 31:7f), his promises (Gn. 22:16–18; 26:3), his judgments (Am. 4:2) and his word (Ezk. 20:3; 33:11). 2. It followed that oaths ensured a norm of morality (Gn. 34:1–7; Je. 29:20–23). Oaths in God’s name were sacrosanct (Dt. 10:20), maintaining family honour and tribal loyalty. To ratify one’s oath by invoking Yahweh’s name, while knowingly perjuring oneself, was to profane the name (Lv. 19:12; Ex. 20:7). 3. In ancient Israel the absence of jurisprudence made the oath obligatory in administering justice at the town gate. Of the two Heb. words translated oath, sebūʿâ and ʿālâ, the second is stronger, meaning a curse (Is. 14:24). The first more commonly conveys the weaker sense of solemn promise. When one reinforced his oath by invoking Yahweh to witness it, the swearer placed himself under a curse if proved to ‘have sworn deceitfully’. J. G. S. S. Thomson, Oaths, ed. D. R. W. Wood et al., New Bible Dictionary (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 840.

It was said long ago……. Do not break your oath Numbers 30:2 (NIV) When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said. Remember Ananias and Saphira Acts 5 1-11 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. 3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. 7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.” 9 Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” 10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. Num. 23:19 – God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

It was said long ago……. Fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made… Ecclesiastes 5:4–7 (NIV)  When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. A wealthy businessman lay on his deathbed. His preacher came to visit and talked about God’s healing power and prayed for his parishioner. When the preacher was done, the businessman said, “Preacher, if God heals me, I’ll give the church a million dollars.” Miraculously, the businessman got better and within a few short weeks was out of the hospital. Several months later, the preacher bumped into this businessman on the sidewalk and said, “You know, when you were in the hospital dying, you promised to give the church a million dollars if you got well. We haven’t received it as of yet.” The businessman replied, “Did I say that? I guess that goes to show how sick I really was!” Dt 23:21 (ESV)-21 - “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.

It was said long ago……. Oaths which omitted God’s name could be broken and were not binding. Oaths using the name of heaven, earth , Jerusalem and the head gave the Pharisees an opportunity to be relieved in their oaths. Oaths “by heaven,” “by the earth,” or “by Jerusalem” is binding, since they are God’s throne… footstool, and city, respectively. Even the color of the hair on their heads was determined by God Oaths which omitted God’s name could be broken and were not binding because they did not use the name of God in vain. It was not an offence to the third commandment of “ do not use the name of God in vain. Remember The Jews divided oaths into two classes: those you had to keep and those you didn't. ·        If it contained God's name you had to keep it, but if not, you didn't have to. ·        If you didn't invoke God's name in the oath you didn't have to mean it, and you didn't have to keep it. When we were kids we used to have a little trick that we would use when we wanted to lie-we would put our hand behind our back and we would "cross our fingers." This was their way of crossing their fingers. ·        It was more than just being dishonest, it was being deceptive. ·        What was even worse, they weren't even accomplishing their purpose of getting God out of the picture. ·        Jesus said: a)     If you swear by heaven it's God's throne; b)    If you swear by earth it's His footstool; c)     If you swear by Jerusalem it's His city; d)    If you swear by your head; He's the one that put the hair on your head to begin with. We live in a day of double talk; putting a spin on something, the forked tongue, "it all depends on what the meaning of is' is." We just can't tell it like it is. We just can't speak honestly, simply, and plainly. For example: ·        Governments never raise taxes, they just "enhance revenues." This is what Jesus was dealing with, saying that it's just as wrong to be deceptive as it is to be dishonest. In God's eyes a half truth equals a whole lie. A white lie is black in God's eyes. In fact, one of the seven things that God hates is a lying tongue.

Jesus said…. No need to swear an oath at all True believers do not need to take an oath because of their character. The point of this passage is integrity. Jesus observes that since God witnesses every word we say anyway, we should be able to tell the truth without having to call God to witness by a formal oath. Removing the pressure… To give a pledge To put under curse Jesus is saying… in His Kingdom where he wanted us to practice freedom and have joy and doing the right things without pressure. Remember the teaching about giving in the Old testament , that the giving of 10% from your harvest or income but now the teachings is give proportionate and with joy. If you look on those verses about giving you can give to the Lord more than the 10% . It is the same thing , Giving supposed to be becomes natural and telling the truth and doing what we say becomes a natural practice for us.

Num. 23:19 – God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Matthew 5:37 (NIV) All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.  James 5:12(NIV) Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned. James is definitely correct in including this passage from Matthew 5:37 to his epistle. People in God’s kingdom supposed to show the power of their word , and James is saying in his book of Faith in action, because we have the faith and we are already in relationship with God as our Father, we are expected to live in truthfulness. Complete honesty should be typical of the Believer •No oath is necessary to guarantee trustworthiness for one’s “yes” or “no.”   

Because you are a Christian A person of character doesn't have to use God's name to prove he is telling the truth. His own name should be enough. A person of integrity is saying what you will do, and then doing what you will say. Complete honesty should be typical of the Believer •No oath is necessary to guarantee trustworthiness for one’s “yes” or “no.”    So far Jesus has spoken of Christian Character•He began with 3rd person grammar –”Blessed are….”•Continued in the 2nd person – “you are the salt….•And now in this section the 1st person “I say unto you…” If you are known to other people as a person of honesty and a person of integrity, you don't need to swear to anything, because people know you can be relied upon to tell the truth. I heard about a man who was driving a car down the road and he was stopped by a police officer. The police officer came up to the car and the man said, "What's the problem officer?" The officer said, "Sir, you were going 75 km an hour in a 60 km per hour zone." The man said, "No sir, I was going 60." His wife said, "Now Harry, you know you were going 80." The officer said, "I'm also going to give you a ticket for your broken taillight." The man said, "Broken taillight? I didn't know about a broken taillight!" His wife said, "Now Harry, you've known about that taillight for five weeks." The officer said, "Well, I'm also going to give you a citation for not wearing your seatbelt." The man said, "Oh, I just took it off when you were walking up to the car." The wife said, "Now Harry, you know you never wear your seatbelt." Well, at that point the man had it. He turned to his wife and said, "Sarah, would you please shut your mouth!" The officer turned to the woman and said, "Ma'am, does your husband talk to you that way all the time?" His wife said, "No, only when he's drunk."

Beatitudes have to be our attitudes We don’t act like Christians-we are Christians and our actions are an outcome of that. We are not meant to control our Christianity-our Christianity is meant to control us. OUR WORDS MUST REFLECT THE CHRIST THAT’S LIVES IN US. THE CHRIST THAT LOVES the TRUTH CHRIST THAT DO WHAT HE PREACHES CHRIST THAT FULFILL HIS PROMISES Num. 23:19 – God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? We are not GOD but God lives in us for us to obey His commands and live according to his will for us.