AM Bible Study Group; September 19, 2012
James 5:12
Theme: Always—and particularly in a time of trial—we must refrain from thoughtless oaths.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
One way that the Bible shows itself to be a book from God is by the fact that that it takes very seriously what many of us naturally think of as unimportant and harmless. For example, while few Christians would think of using strong profanity and lewdly vulgar words, many are unconcerned about the kind of thoughtless oaths and vows—hasty words and statements that treat the name of God with irreverence.
As we come this morning to Pastor James’ instruction to the precious people entrusted to his spiritual care; we find that he—under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—made a very big deal about what comes out of our mouths while in the pressure of persecution. In addition to all that he said about the use of the tongue in chapter three, he adds this admonition in 5:12: “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.”
I. WHAT THIS VERSE IS NOT TALKING ABOUT.
A. Many have believed that this verse is forbidding all forms of oath-taking, such as in a court of law. An ‘oath’, in such a case, is an appeal made to God—who alone can see into our hearts and can read our thoughts—regarding the truth of what we’re saying about something, or the sincerity of our promises to do something. On the surface, it would seem as if James was saying that we should not “swear” by an oath under any circumstances.
B. But this would not be consistent with what we find elsewhere in the Bible. There are many examples in the Old Testament in which oaths in the Lord’s name were commanded (Deuteronomy 6:13) as a way of testifying that God is worshiped (Deuteronomy 10:20; Hebrews 6:16). God commanded that legal matters be settled by an oath (Exodus 22:10-11). Even the Savior Himself responded to a call issued with an oath (Matthew 27:63-64). Just as in courts today, oaths were used to affirm the truth of one’s statements (1 Kings 17:1; 2 Corinthians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 11:31; Galatians 1:20; Romans 9:1), and to bind someone to their duty (1 Timothy 5:21; 1 Timothy 6:13; 2 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 2:14). Even angels are presented in the Bible as swearing by an oath (Revelation 10:5-6). And so, James words should not be understood to mean that the taking of all oaths of any sort is forbidden. To say that would be to contradict what is found elsewhere in the Scripture.
II. WHAT WE ARE FORBIDDEN FROM DOING.
A. The best commentary on what James is talking about is found in the teaching of our Lord. James often drew his instructions from the Sermon on The Mount; and in this case, he very clearly did so. In Matthew 5:33-37, Jesus taught; “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.” The Jewish people of Jesus’ day knew that the careless taking of oaths was a very evil and irreverent thing to do. Leviticus 19:12 says, “And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.” And so, in order to make promises to each other that they had no intention whatsoever of keeping (as people so often do today), they got into the habit of swearing by oaths that were based on things related to the Lord in an indirect way. In doing this, they didn’t feel so bound to keep to their oath. We might call it an ‘oath-lite’. By doing this, they were essentially using the things of God as a means of disguising a lie; and were missing the whole point of God’s command to not swear falsely, and thus profane the name of the Lord and taking it in vain. As Jesus later said—in rebuke to religious leaders to allowed the people to do this—”Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it” (Matthew 23:16-22).
B. So it isn’t the matter of swearing by oaths altogether that James is concerned about, but rather the matter of swearing by oaths in a vain way. A ‘vain oath’—simply put—would be one that we utter thoughtlessly or in which we really don’t mean what we say. It would obviously involve swearing by the name of God falsely—a very great sin! But it would also involve calling the sacred things of God to witness to our words in a ‘secondary’ way—that is, as a way to make it sound like we’re really binding ourselves to the truth or sincerity of something when we’re really not. James calls his readers to cease from swearing ‘by heaven’ or ‘by earth’ or [literally] ‘with any other oath of that kind.’ The Greek word James uses for ‘other’ is a specific word that doesn’t mean ‘another of any kind’, but rather ‘another of that specific kind’. He forbids them from saying such phrases as, ‘By heaven . . .’, or ‘By the earth . . .’ or ‘By Jerusalem . . .’, or even, ‘By my head . . .’ or any other such substitute for a the name of the Lord. In other words, if we’re not going to call upon the name of the Lord and mean it, then we shouldn’t swear by an oath at all—in any form.
C. James says that this is a matter of grave importance. He says, “But above all, my brethren, do not swear”; and the phrase ‘above all’ is one that is meant to communicate the superiority of the matter. As a top priority, they were to cease from this ungodly practice of swearing by vain oaths.
III. WHY GOD FORBIDS THIS.
A. There’s a relationship in these words to what preceded them regarding the trials of persecution. Early Church history is marked with stories of many Christians who bravely withstood these trials and willingly laid down their lives for their testimony to Christ. But there are also stories of some who failed the test. It’s not hard to imagine, in such cases, that many Christians would feel pressured, in a variety of situations, to bind themselves by ‘vain oaths’ that they really didn’t want to be bound to. Some would be tempted to deny with an oath that they were followers of Jesus in order to save their own lives, as Peter did (Matthew 26:72); while others might be tempted to bind themselves to promises they had no intention of keeping in order to simply look good before others, as Ananias and Sapphira did (Acts 5:1-11). James is warning his fellow Christians not to do this, but rather to let their ‘yes’ be ‘yes’, and their ‘no’ be ‘no’—even in a time of distress and great pressure.
B. James uses strong words to show why we are not to do this: “. . . lest you fall into judgment.” Some reasons why we could fall into judgment for this might be because:
(1) Swearing by vain oaths often involves a kind of language that is completely inappropriate for a follower of Jesus Christ.
(2) It also shows irreverence toward God; because when we swear to a vain oath, we are trying to ‘use’ God and the things of God in an ungodly way to our own advantage.
(3) It presents a bad witness to others, in that they can see that we really don’t revere the things of God.
(4) Over the long-haul, it diminishes our own trustworthiness by the fact that we ourselves don’t consider our own word as good enough, and that we must buttress our promises with an oath.
(5) And above all, it violates the spirit of the third commandment. Exodus 20:7 says, ” “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” We are forbidden from anything that would involve using God’s name carelessly, or that would speak of the things of the Lord in an insincere manner. We are clearly warned that God will hold us accountable if we do so.
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King Solomon had the practice of swearing by oaths in mind when he said,
Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands? For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God (Ecclesiastes 5:6-7).
Knowing that God takes our words very seriously, may He help us to take them as seriously as He does, and refrain—even in a time of trial—from swearing of any foolish and hasty oaths! Instead, may the words of our mouth, and the meditation of our heart, truly be acceptable to our most holy God!