Daily Devotional For Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Today is Tuesday and you are well on your way through this week. We are making our way through Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount found in Matthew chapters 5, 6, & 7. Today, we come to Jesus’ fourth, “You have heard it was said . . .  But I say to you . . .” statement. It is found in Matthew 5:33-37:

“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ (34) But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, (35) or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. (36) Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. (37) But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil” (NASB).

Today, Jesus deals with the apparent but not necessarily credibility issues. This all started just prior to the Fall when the devil tempted Adam and Eve with statements that were not credible and they took the bait, sinned and the Fall came. Jesus described the devil as this in John 8.44, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (NASB).

This means that since everyone born since the Fall are sinners, everyone is a liar. In case you doubt me, God says it in Scripture:

• Psalm 58:3, “The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth” (NASB).
• Psalm 62:4, “They have counseled only to thrust him down from his high position; They delight in falsehood; They bless with their mouth, But inwardly they curse” (NASB).
• Jeremiah 9:3-5, ““They bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,” declares the Lord. (4) “Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; Because every brother deals craftily, And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. (5) “Everyone deceives his neighbor And does not speak the truth, They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves committing iniquity” (NASB).

We live in a culture where credibility comes into question in nearly every vocation, commercial and advertisement. We see gaps in credibility in systems such as education, politics, government, business and even religion. If we are honest, we have to admit that our whole American system is built on a network of lies, fabrication and exaggeration. Due to these injustices, most cultures have a system of checks and balances called courts.

We want the truth, but is it possible like in the movie, A Few Good Men, we can’t handle the truth? In Jesus’ day the religious leaders considered lying, along with scoffing, hypocrisy and slander to be the four great sins that would keep a person from God. And though the religious leaders of Jesus day appeared to revere the truth, they often distorted it to suit them, benefit them and give them the upper edge. In Matthew 5:33, Jesus makes reference to the “ancients were told.” What were they told? He is referring to the following Old Testament passages:

• Leviticus 19:12, “You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the Lord” (NASB).
• Numbers 30:2, “If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth” (NASB).
• Deuteronomy 23:21, ““When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the Lord your God will surely require it of you” (NASB)

In Matthew 5:33, Jesus uses two different words translated as “vows.” The first is the Greek New Testament word [ἐπιορκέω, epiorkeo]. This word means “to swear in a way to perjure oneself.” The second is the Greek New Testament word [ ὅρκος, horkos]. This word  literally means to enclose, as with a fence, or to bind together. The truth of an oath or vow is enclosed, bound, and therefore strengthened by that which is invoked on its behalf. If you want a better description of an oath, read Hebrews 6:16, "For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute” (NASB). The New Living Translation puts it this way, “Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding.” This is why when people make an oath, they invoke a name bigger than themselves.

Pastor and author John MacArthur writes this:

“The name of something or someone greater than the person making the oath is invoked to give greater credibility to what is said. Any oath calling on God invites Him to witness the truthfulness of what is said or to avenge if it is a lie. An oath was therefore generally taken to be the absolute truth, which made “an end of every dispute,” because it invited judgment on the one who violated his word. The Jews who returned from the Babylonian Exile to Israel took “on themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God’s laws” (Neh. 10:29)” – Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 321).

Is it wrong to invoke the name of God when making a promise? No. God made provision for this in the Old Testament Law in Leviticus 19:12, “You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the Lord” (NASB).The Old Testament is full of God’s people invoking God’s name in an oath. Abraham does in Genesis 14:22-24. Jacob and Laban did this in Genesis 31:34-43. Isaac does it in Genesis 24:1-4, 10. David did in Psalm 132:2. To invoke God’s name in an oath is to say that God is witnessing this as being truthful. Yet, that is no guarantee the person is telling the truth. Think about the number of people on the witness stand who took the oath to tell the truth, lied: “I swear the answers I am about to give are truthful so help me God.” 

Remember Peter in the courtyard lied three times about knowing Jesus. The third time we are told this in Matthew 26:73-74, "A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away.” (74) Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” (NASB). It says he swore – meaning Peter invoked God’s name in his lie, “As God is my witness, I do not know that man.” Peter did not use profanity, but an oath to support his lie. Peter’s oath was not some simple oath, but an oath given with special vehemence. Peter increased the strength of his oath, but that did not increase the truth of what he said. It was bad enough to have lied; it was even worse to call God as a witness to the lie. In addition to denying His Lord, Peter used God’s name in vain. It is small wonder that he “went out and wept bitterly” (v. 75).

We all have made a promise with the full intent of keeping it but we didn’t for various reasons. Sometimes we make an oath seriously but foolishly without considering the consequences as these people of God did in Scripture. These rash oaths were made by Joshua (Josh. 9:15), Jephthah (Judg. 11:30–31), Saul (1 Sam. 14:24), and Herod (Matt. 14:7). Oaths were to be made in God’s name. Look at Deuteronomy 6:13 and Deuteronomy 10:20, “You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name” (NASB). See also Isaiah 65:16 and Jeremiah 12:16.

God even laid out in the Old Testament the seriousness of keeping an oath in Leviticus 5:4-6. As we have already seen, if the Jewish religious leaders and Jewish people were lax on marriage and divorce, committing murder and adultery in their heart, as pastor and author Chuck Swindoll writes:

“. . . imagine how permissive they were when it came to taking vows to seal the earnestness of their words. An oath was a promise, pure and simple. But it wasn’t just a “See you at the market in a little while” kind of promise. It was specific, intentional, clear, and solemn: “I promise I will be at the market at the sixth hour to deliver the three sheep you purchased.” Jesus stressed the importance of keeping our vows. He first paraphrased Leviticus 19:12, then stripped the first-century practice of oath taking of its elaborate forms” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” Vol. 1A, p. 102).

New Testament scholar Kent Hughes adds to our trouble, anxiety and frustration with knowing if someone is telling us the truth:

“Jesus here speaks of truthfulness and integrity of speech, a subject that is eminently relevant for us today because we live at a time when “truth [is] forever on the scaffold,” to use James Russell Lowell’s phrase. We see this internationally in news coverage of smiling diplomats shaking hands as they sign treaties they will almost certainly not keep. Most people believe nations will honor their word only when that serves their best interest. International politics seems to be the art of lying. Things are not much different within our own land. Some years ago UPI reported this prayer by the Chaplain of the Kansas Senate:  Omniscient Father: Help us to know who is telling the truth. One side tells us one thing, and the other just the opposite.  And if neither side is telling the truth, we would like to know that, too.  And if each side is telling half the truth, give us the wisdom to put the right halves together. In Jesus’ name, Amen” (Source. Kent Hughes, Preaching The Word New Testament Commentary, “The Sermon On The Mount: The Message of the Kingdom,” p. 123).

Tomorrow we will look more at this issue of oath taking and credibility. 

Questions To Consider

1. When you give a promise or make an oath, do you invoke God’s name as a way to stress how intentional you are in honoring this oath or promise? Why or why not?
2. When we think of some of the biggest lies in history such as Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme, the Tobacco industry on the safety of smoking cigarettes, The Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky Affair, Watergate, and the Nazi propaganda about Jews, we see how vulnerable we are to believe that a lie is the truth. Why do you think we are that vulnerable? Has your vulnerability on this ever been embarrassing to you when you believed a lie was the truth? How did you handle it?
3. The Apostle Peter often gets smacked down for lying 3 times in that courtyard that he did not know Jesus Christ, especially when he gave an oath taking God’s name as a means to emphasize that he was telling the truth. Have you ever told a “whopper” like Peter did hoping someone would believe it? Why did you do that and what happened?
4. What do you think would happen if all people were completely honest about everything all the time? Do you think we could handle such truth? Why or why not?

Scripture To Meditate On: Numbers 30:2, “If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth” (NASB).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, please help me to always be truthful and when I am not sure if I can keep my promise to let the person know as I make the promise. Lord, I want to have credibility and I want people to trust me and believe I am telling them the truth. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside–Pastor Kelly