Swear Not At All

by George Battey

03 January 2018X

“33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool; neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil” (Matthew 5:33-37).

When Jesus addressed the subject of swearing, He was addressing a very ancient and abused practice.

The Custom of Swearing

The first Biblical reference to the practice of swearing seems to be:Genesis 14:22-23

"Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, . . 23 that I will not take any thing that is thine."

1. Lifting the hand signified that one was appealing to the God of heaven as his witness. Thus, to "lift the hand" meant to swear (cf. Deuteronomy 32:40). The custom of placing a hand on the Bible arose to indicate an appeal to the God of the Bible and that the Bible penalty for perjury found was accepted as punishment for violation of the oath.
2. Sometimes an oath was ratified by dividing a victim and either passing between the pieces, or distributing them (Genesis 15:10, 17; Judges 19:29). This symbolized the seriousness of the occasion and the punishment that would befall the perjurer.
3. Sometimes seven animals were sacrificed (symbolic of a sevenfold punishment that would befall the perjurer). The Hebrew verb "to swear" literally means "to seven oneself” (cf. Genesis 21:28-31).

• Sometimes the hand was placed under the thigh (Genesis 24:2-3). Scholars are divided over the significance of this act.

1. Some say this is a reference to the mark of circumcision (Adam Clarke).
2. Some think that because the thigh is the largest muscle of the body, placing the hand under the thigh signified that all one's strength would be used in fulfilling the oath.

Text (1)

“Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths” (Matthew 5:33).

forswear (epiorkeo) — "to swear falsely, break an oath, commit perjury."

(This is the only place in New Testament this word occurs, but a noun cognate (epiorkos) is found in 1 Timothy 1:10 and means, "a false swearer, a perjurer"—Thayer)

Although Jesus is not quoting verbatim from Old Testament Scriptures, He is presenting a summary of what Moses' Law taught.

Leviticus 19:12 "Ye shall not swear by My name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord."

To fully appreciate what Jesus teaches we must first become familiar with what the Old Testament taught about swearing.

Definitions

An entire chapter (Numbers 30) is devoted to the subject of vowing, swearing and oaths.

Numbers 30:2 "If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth."

Four important words are found in this verse: one "vows a vow," but "swears an oath."

1. Swear—"to make a solemn declaration or promise . . . to assert under oath . . . to affirm earnestly and with great conviction" (American Heritage).
2. Oath—"a formal promise to fulfill a pledge, often calling upon God as witness" (ibid.).

An oath invokes God's vengeance upon a person, if what he says is false.

The three steps of affirming truth among the Hebrews is seen in the case of Peter's denial of Jesus (Matthew 26).

1st— Peter simply affirmed that he did not know Jesus (v. 70). 

2nd— He denied with an oath that he did not know Jesus (v. 72). 

3rd— He began to curse and to swear (v. 74).

When Peter "cursed" he was progressing to the third stage of affirming his word. He put himself under a curse if what he spoke was untrue. Peter was following a perfectly legitimate procedure, but unfortunately everything he swore to was false.

3. Vow— (verb): "to promise or pledge solemnly" (ibid.)
4. Vow— (noun): "an earnest promise or pledge that binds one to a specified act or mode of behavior" (ibid).

Vows and Oaths

The verbs "swear" and "vow" with their corresponding nouns tend to be synonymous. In function they are all basically equivalent, but there are technical differences:

1. One vows to God, but swears to men.
2. A vow is voluntary (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5) whereas an oath is obligatory.
3. A vow is private: between a man and God. But an oath is public and the state has an interest in the affair.
4. A vow is positive: one is invoking a blessing upon himself from God if he performs a certain action. An oath is negative: one is invoking a curse to befall him if he does not perform a certain action.
5. The vow is promissory: that is, a man promises to perform a certain action. The oath is affirmatory: that is, it is used to affirm truth rather than to guarantee action.
6. Vows look toward the future, whereas oaths look toward the past (verifying a past event).

Genesis 28:20-21 "20 Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me . . .21 then shall the Lord be my God.”

Although these "rules" may not always prove true, they seem to be the "rule of thumb."

Summary

For all practical purposes swearing and vowing are equivalent.

(1) They are coupled together in Numbers 30.

(2) The same rules govern both.

(3) The same blessings are rewarded if the oath, or vow is kept.

(4) The same penalties apply if the oath or vow is violated.

For all practical purposes there is no difference between swearing and vowing — they stand or fall together. If one is wrong, both are wrong.

In fact, the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia could not define a vow without using the word oath to do it: "an obligation which one voluntarily assumes by means of an oath and which concerns the person of the one taking it (vol. 10, p. 434)." These points will be important a little later in our study.

The Various Formulas

When an oath was taken it was to be in God's name and none other:

Deuteronomy 6:13 "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name."

Common formulas included:

— "As the Lord liveth" (Judges. 8:19)

— "The Lord watch between me and thee" (Genesis 31:50)

• "The Lord do so to me" (1 Samuel 3:17)

— "Let the Lord even require it" (1 Samuel 20:16)

— "God is my witness" (Romans 1:9)

Note: All of these formulas appeal to God.

Implications of Swearing

By swearing in God's name the worshiper implied several things:

1. God's existence was acknowledged.

2. God's attributes were acknowledged: His omnipresence, omniscience, justice and power.

3. God's moral government over the world was acknowledged.

4. Man's accountability to God as Judge was acknowledged.

Because of these implications, to swear by the name of God was an acknowledgment of Him as the only true and living God. In essence, it was an act of worship.

In contrast, to swear by a false god implied that the idol:

__ actually existed

— was omnipresent, omniscient and powerful

__ was the moral governor of the world

__ was the supreme judge of men.

Thus, to swear by a false god is idolatry. The Scriptures warn against this practice repeatedly (Jeremiah 5:7).

The Old Testament Required Swearing

Not only did the Old Testament allow one to swear and take vows, it actually required it in three different situations:

1. The Exculpatory Oath — an oath to clear oneself from guilt when no witnesses are available. This was used to prove:

__ a man had not stolen his neighbor's property (Exodus 22:11)

__ no citizen of a city was guilty of shedding innocent blood (Deuteronomy 21)

__ a woman had not violated her marriage vows (Numbers 5).

If the defendant took the oath, the suit was decided in his favor. If he refused to take the oath, it was an admission of guilt and he was automatically branded with the crime (cf. Ecclesiastes 9:2, "He that feareth an oath").

If a perjurer of the exculpatory oath desired to clear himself of his perjury he had to follow the prescription of Leviticus 6:1-7.

2. The Adjuration —this was an adjuration (or summons) to appear and give testimony or information. The summons was announced to the entire community: "If a person sins because he does not speak up when he hears a public charge to testify regarding something he has seen or learned about, he will be held responsible" (Leviticus 5:1, NIV).

This is apparently why Achan's entire family was destroyed (Joshua 7). Apparently the camp was placed under the adjuration to testify and Achan's family withheld information.

If someone withheld information and later repented, he had to follow the prescription of Leviticus 5:5-13.

3. The Voluntary Oath—although the taking of this oath was voluntary, once it was made it was obligatory (Leviticus 5:4). One was required to keep his rash oath even if it resulted in his harm (Psalms 15:4).

“2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thouupon earth: therefore let thy words be few. 3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. 4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. 5 Better it is that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay” (Ecclesiastes 5:2-5; cf. Leviticus 5:5-13 for atonement procedures).

Penalty For Perjury

The penalties for perjury were very serious:

Exodus 20:7 "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain."

The meaning of this passage is uncertain. It means either: "Thou shalt not utter the name of God in an irreverent way," or "Thou shalt not utter the name of God to a lie." Either way the name of God is used in vain.

No specific punishment is given for one who swore falsely in God's name. There seems to be one of three punishments that befell a perjurer:

First: If under the adjuration one was found to be a false witness, he suffered the same penalty being sought against his victim (Deuteronomy 19:18-21).

Second: Vengeance was often rendered by the providential hand of God:

1. When Saul violated the oath to the Gibeonites a famine was sent upon the land (2 Samuel 21).
2. When Hiel defied Joshua's adjuration to not rebuild Jericho, his two sons suffered a "mysterious" death (1 Kings 16).

Third: A case might be made that violating an oath was desecrating/blaspheming God's name and should result in death if the offender is discovered:

Leviticus 24:16 "And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him."

When Jonathan violated Saul's adjuration it is clear that a death penalty was expected (1 Samuel 14:43-45).

Illegal Oaths

In contrast to breaking a bona fide oath, men were required to violate illegal oaths.

“10 Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: 11But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. I2And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother” (Mark 7:10-12)

"Corban" (in this passage) was a vow/oath in which one vowed his property to the temple in order avoid supporting his aging parents. Jesus implies that such an oath is illegal and one must support his parents in spite of such an oath. The sin is not in violating the oath, but in making such an illegal oath to begin with.

llegal oaths and vows were uttered by:

King Herod—swore to give whatever Herodias' daughter asked (Matthew 15:9). 

The-40 men —bound themselves under an oath to kill Paul (Acts 23).

Such oaths are illegal from start to finish. Men only compounded their sin by fulfilling such oaths.

Summary

To summarize, the people of the Old Testament were told to make few vows, and they were commanded to keep the vows and oaths they did make. Serious punishment was promised to those who violated the vow, or oath they had made. These teachings are what Jesus referred to in Matthew 5:33.

Text (2)

“But I say unto you, Swear not at all” (Matthew 5:34).

To begin our study of this verse we notice this critical point: some people swore, even in the New Testament, with God's approval, even though Jesus said, "Swear not at all."

New Testament Examples

1. Jesus answered a question under oath.

Matthew 26:63-64"But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the livipg God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. 64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said."

adjurc (exorkidzo)—"to charge someone under oath" (Rienecker).

Jesus did not denounce the high priest and say, "You shouldn't talk like that." He did not condemn him for using God's name in that manner, but seemed to regard it as perfectly legitimate. Then, and only then, did Jesus answer the question. To refuse this oath would have been looked upon as an admission that Jesus was not God's Son.

It seems rather strange that Jesus would answer under oath when He instructed His disciples to "swear not at all." Jesus usually practiced what He preached to others.

2. Paul swore in God's name.

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.”

2 Corinthians 1:18, 23 "18 As God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay . . . Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth."

If we used these same words in a court of law today, every civil authority present would accept it. They would agree we were taking an oath and swearing to the truth.

Galatians 1:20 "Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, 

I lie not."

Philippians 1:8 "For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ."

1 Thessalonians 2:5, 10 "5 For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloak of covetousness; God is witness . . . 10 Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holly and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves."

3. Paul applies an Old Testament passage on swearing to Christians.

Isaiah 45:23"Unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”

The historical setting seems to be that someday even Gentiles would swear allegiance to God; they would take a loyalty oath. This passage is quoted in the Roman epistle:

Romans 14:11 "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."

To confess to God is to "swear" to God according to Isaiah. Apparently, then, when one obeys the gospel he is in effect taking a vow/oath to be loyal to God. That is why falling away makes one worse off than before conversion (cf. 2 Peter 2:20-21 with Ecclesiastes 5:1-5). A man has lied to God when he quits! He has committed perjury!

4. Paul puts some Christians under oath.

1 Thessalonians 5:27 "I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren."

charge (horkidzo)—"to put to an oath" (Greenfield).

5. Paul and others made vows.

Acts 18:18 "And Paul . . . having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow."

Remember, a vow is equivalent to an oath, and Paul vowed to things.

6. An angel from God swore.

Revelation 10:5-6 "5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 6 And sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever."

7. God Himself swore.

Hebrews 6:13 "For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself."

This passage does not have the negative tone toward swearing that would be expected if all swearing of all kinds were forbidden.

A Limited Command

Note: The fact that God, Jesus, an angel and Paul all took oaths, swore and made vows shows that the prohibition on swearing in Matthew 5:34 is limited! Jesus was not forbidding all oaths and all swearing and all vows in all places for all time! He was only forbidding a certain kind of swearing — a certain kind of oath.

Ill: "Don't drink and drive." Does this mean no drinking of any kind, or no drinking of a certain kind? It means no drinking of alcoholic beverages while driving.

When Jesus said, "Swear not at all," He went on to specify exactly what He meant. He was saying, "Swear not at all”:

__ by heaven

__ by earth

__ by Jerusalem

__ by your head

No where does the NT forbid swearing, or taking oaths in God's name!

1. W. McGarvey said, "The universal prohibition, 'Swear not at all,' is distributed by the specification of these four forms of oaths and therefore most strictly included only such oaths."

Why This Prohibition?

Why did Jesus give this new prohibition on swearing? Because men were not only lying, but they were swearing to lies! Lying had become a plague among these Jews. They had developed a system of swearing. The more valuable the object by which they swear, the more binding the oath became.

Illustration: If one swears by the earth, that oath is not as binding as if he swore by heaven.

Only when they swore in God's name did they feel DUTY BOUND to tell the truth.

“Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?” (Matthew 23:16-19).

Their reasoning was this:

— If a man offers the temple in pledge for something, the creditor cannot seize the temple in compensation, but he can seize the gold that the worshiper placed into the temple treasury.

— If a man offers the altar in pledge the creditor cannot seize the altar, but he can seize the gift which the worshiper offers upon the altar.

This reasoning lead to the following conclusions:

1. Only the oath offered upon the gold of the temple was binding.
2. Only the oath offered upon the gift of the altar was binding.

To swear simply upon the temple, or the altar was not binding and one did not have to keep his oath/vow. They did not believe they were obligated to tell the truth except under oath, and then it had to be a special kind of oath — an oath in God's name!

Jesus condemns their entire system. Their oaths were defeating the very thing for which the oath was designed to serve: truth!

Text (3)

“34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black” (Matthew 5:34-36).

Apparently as time progressed, the Jews became more and more reluctant to speak the name of God. To avoid pronouncing His name when swearing they began to swear by objects that had some relation to God.

1. "by heaven" — seems to indicate, "May a divine disaster befall me if I break this oath."
2. "by earth" — "May an earthly disaster befall me."
3. "by Jerusalem" — "May the civil authorities strike me." (Jerusalem being the capital city and symbolic of civil authorities.)
4. "by my head" — "May I lose my head/life." 

Jesus is saying you cannot get around God. If you swear by:

heaven—it is just as binding as if you had sworn by God, because it is His throne (Isaiah. 66:1; Matthew 23:22). "You're not going to get by with anything when you swear like this."

earth—it is just as binding as if you had sworn by God, because it is His footstool (Isaiah 66:1).

Jerusalem—it is just as binding as using God's name, because it is the city of the great King (Psalms 87:3).

your head—it is just as binding as using God's name, because He is controlling even the color of your hair!

Swearing by all these inanimate objects is improper. 

1. They cannot verify if you are truth.
2. They cannot exercise vengeance if you lie!

But, if I swear by God, He knows if I am telling the truth and He can exercise vengeance if I do not.

What James Taught

“But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation” (James 5:12).

any other oath —The Greek language has two words that are translated into the English as "other":

1. allos —"other (usually another of the same kind)" (Summers).
2. heteros —"other (usually another of a different kind)" (ibid.).

James used the word which means "another of the same kind" (altos). Had he wanted to forbid all oaths of all kinds he would have used the word which means "another of a different kind" (heteros).

Text (4)

“But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: 

for what-soever is more than these cometh of evil”

(Matthew 5:37).

Note: The oaths which Jesus condemned in the previous verses, were not judicial oaths. No court among the Jews required men to swear by their own heads. The oaths He is condemning have three qualities:

1. They are made in daily conversation
2. They are pronounced over trivial matters
3. They are made with the intent of circumventing the force of a solemn oath. In other words, you want to add force to what you are saying, but you do not want the penalty that accompanies a solemn oath.

What are some examples of these types of oaths and curses? Gosh, golly, gee, heck, darn, etc. The list could go on, but you are aware of what I mean. These are "curse words" and "swear words" in the purest sense. They are designed to:

— add force to what we say

— call down curses upon our heads if we lie

— BUT, they are designed to prevent saying the actual name of God!

— they are an attempt to circumvent the force of a solemn oath

__ they are used in daily conversation, not in courts of law

— they are pronounced over the most trivial and mundane matters 

—they desecrate God's holy name because of their frequent, casual use.

Argument: "But I didn't mean anything by this word. Besides, I didn't actually use the name of God."

Reply: That's exactly what the Jews were saying when they swore by heaven, by earth, toward Jerusalem and by their heads!

The exact wording does not matter. James said not to swear by any other oath of the same kind!

Daily Speech

communication (logos) — the context seems to indicate our daily conversation, our routine speech.

Jesus is forbidding habitual swearing to everything in our daily conver-sation. We may not use these "swear words" in our daily speech to emphasize the truth of our statements!

McGarvey states, "Instead of an oath for confirmation on ordinary oc-casions, Jesus enjoins a simple affirmation or denial—`Yea, yea; Nay, nay"

Question: Why can we not swear and take oaths to everything we say? 

Reply: "Whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."

Notice, the swearing that Jesus condemns comes from the Evil One. This cannot possibly refer to a serious, reverent, judicial oath uttered in the name of God. The solemn judicial oath originated with God, not the Evil One!

Question: Would God have sworn with an oath if judicial swearing originated with the Evil One? Would Jesus? An angel? Paul?

But swearing to everything in daily conversation does originate with the Evil One. (1) It desensitizes men to the solemn name of God. They become careless and use His name for the most trivial purposes. (2) It tends to make men feel that they are not obligated to tell the truth unless under oath, and then it must be a certain kind of oath.

Have you ever see a man who swears to everything?

__ "I swear I get up at 3 AM every day!" 

— "I swear I ate 10 eggs for breakfast!"

__ "I swear I drove 100 MPH to get to work!"

When we hear a man who swears to everything it is pretty good evidence that he is not telling the truth in anything and we should be on our guard because he is getting ready to tell us a whopper! He knows his reputation is not good and his simple affirmation is worthless. So he must add some weight to what he says.

We must develop a reputation of being truthful people. When we say, "Yes" in our daily conversation, we mean it just as much as if we were in a courtroom taking an oath!

Evasive Speech

As we look back at the text we will see that Jesus is not only forbidding the use of oaths in daily conversation, but He is also condemning evasive speech: "let your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay"

James words this a little differently: "Let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay" (James 5:12).

In other words, when we say "yes" we do not have a hidden meaning. "Yes" has but one meaning. It does not carry some "mental reservation."

Illustration: My Mom would always ask before taking me to town, "Did you wash face, brush teeth and put on plenty of deodorant?" I would answer, "Yes mam!" Then under my breath I would mutter (so she could not hear), "Last week." (Strictly speaking I said nothing false, but there was a hidden point I held back. It left a false impression.)

Catholics

This is what the Catholic church calls "mental reservation." The New Catholic Encyclopedia reads,

“If for example, a wife, who has been unfaithful but after her lapse has received the Sacrament of Penance, is asked by her husband if she has committed adultery, she could truthfully reply: "I am free from sin." In any of these cases the speaker does not question the hearer's right to know a truth. He presents the truth as discoverable but not disclosed. He has made no false statement, but has allowed an admissible ambiguity, foreseeing a possible, or probable, deception (vol. 9, p. 663)”. (They can call it the truth it they want to, but when you draw that bottom line, it's a lie!—GB)

Because deception of one's neighbor is an evil, one needs a just and proportionately grave cause to have recourse to evasive speech or writing. Simplicity in speech is to be regarded as obligatory under ordinary circumstances (ibid.)

(If we all thought long enough we would come up with a "just reason" to use evasive speech and deceive people!—GB)

"Jehovah's Witnesses"

The Catholics are not the only ones who teach their members may lie! The "Jehovah's Witnesses" do the same!

In Aid to Bible Understanding, it says: "Lying generally involves saying something false to a person who is entitled to know the truth. While malicious lying is definitely condemned in the Bible, this does not mean that a person is under obligation to divulge truthful information to people who are not entitled to it" (1971, pp. 1060-1061). (We could all figure out some reason why someone is not entitled to truth could we not?—GB)

Jesus forbids this very reasoning when He says, "Let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay."

All Oaths Forbidden?

Are all oaths forbidden today? Is it wrong to take a judicial oath in a courtroom, or before a notary public?

Answer: No!

On solemn occasions, before magistrates, even Jesus answered under oath (Matthew 26:63-64).

Hebrews 6:16 "For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife."

An oath puts a serious matter to rest. Paul does not say it is wrong to swear; he accepts it as legitimate and right.

It makes some cringe to think of taking an oath in court, but no one thinks anything of a couple taking "wedding vows," and we have already shown that vowing and swearing are equivalent.

The swearing Jesus and James condemned was: (1) by heaven, (2) by earth, (3) by Jerusalem, (4) by your head, (5) or any oath of a similar nature.

The object of Jesus' legislation was to stop this indiscriminate, glib oath-taking, and to show that to take an oath is a very solemn matter—something that must be reserved only for those occasions that are solemn and vital.

The Contrast

What then, is the contrast between the Old Testament teaching on oaths and Jesus' teaching? This:

Old Testament — guarded the sacredness of truth in court 

New Testament — guards the sacredness of truth out of court.

The truths Jesus taught here were not addressed in the Old Testament Scriptures. He taught:

1. Extra-judicial oaths are unnecessary. There is no need to swear when a simple affirmation is sufficient.
2. Extra-judicial swearing comes from the Evil One:

—it profanes God's name

—it desensitizes man's conscience.

3. Any evasive speech with the intent to deceive is wrong.

In essence, Jesus taught that a simple "yes," or "no" in our daily conversation is as serious and as binding as a judicial oath uttered in the name of God! The Old Testament never taught that!

Conclusion

Our world is starving for men of integrity and who are trustworthy. What we need worse than anything else is a restoration of old-time, down-right honesty!

Nothing is hurting the influence of the church more than the absence of truthfulness and honesty.

Psalm 24:3-4 "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully."

Psalm 15:1. 4 "Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? . . . He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not."

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