Swearing

James 5:12

12 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.(KJV)

Matt 5:33-37

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.(KJV)

Matt 23:20-22

20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.

21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.

22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.(KJV)

Exod 20:7

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.(KJV)

Lev 19:12

12 And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.(KJV)

Deut 5:11

11 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.(KJV)

Good morning! We are getting into two issues here, one of which is able to include the other. Swearing and taking the name of the Lord in vain. Swearing can encompass taking the Lord’s name in vain, but one can take the name of the Lord in vain without swearing.

First of all I want to ask you. Do you have problems keeping hold of your tongue? If so, go back and read James 3 and refresh your mind on the seriousness of the sins of the tongue In Jesus’ time as well as our time, people will often swear to something carelessly because they are trying to justify themselves. Or people will swear or even curse when they are angry at someone or something. James is telling us–let your yes be yes and your no be no, and don’t go any further than that to emphasize your point or that you mean what you say, because he says you will bring yourself into condemnation. In other words, in your vehemence or your stressing your yes or no, you can go too far as far as God is concerned. James is saying, your yes should be enough and so should your no be enough. And Jesus tells us directly that evil is behind further emphasis by you. Let’s look again at those verses Jesus spoke. He is talking about swearing by heaven or earth or by your head-or anything you are holding sacred-because the person doing this swearing is trying to convince others of the truth of what he is saying. Jesus says, don’t even swear. Don’t swear by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or even your own head. For you see, often people swear because they are agitated that someone is not believing what they say. Jesus also points out later that swearing by sacred things such as the altar, the temple, or even heaven obligates you to keep the vow that you are making when you are swearing a vow.

See, just as today, people then would swear to emphasize that they were either speaking the truth, or that they were making a commitment. And people did not always keep their promises even when swearing by the altar or the temple. When they did not keep their word, they were taking the name of the Lord in vain, because they were saying that God was even behind their promise. And Leviticus 19:12 says don’t you dare use God’s name in vain, meaninglessly. To do so is to sin and it brings God right into that sin. The second of the 10 commandments is Do not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Ex 20:7 and Deut 5:11.

What is another way people use the name of God in vain? They use His name carelessly as if it were a curse word. You have heard people say as an exclamation or reaction to something, "Oh, Jesus." "Oh my God." They are not talking to Jesus when they say that, they are not talking to God the Father when they say that. They are using His name as an exclamation because of something that occurs. That too is sin, for it takes God’s name and names lightly. Do you know that people now as well as in New Testament times and before even did not write out God’s name fully so as to be sure to treat His name with the holiness due His name. When a Jewish scribe wrote the word God, actually he avoided writing the word God itself many times, instead writing in a name that referred to one of His characteristics. This is why the word LORD is used some verses of some of the Bible translations. LORD is Adonai, referring to God being the Lord of the universe. Today, Jewish people write G-d when referring to Him because God’s name is Holy and they know it. Even pronouncing God’s name was avoided.

So you see, James knew what he was talking about when he said for people to watch what they say, and let the yes be just that-yes, and the same thing with the word no. James is telling us we need to remember to watch our speech. Why? Because we are representatives of the Most High God. Our character is expected to be above reproach. If we want God to be respected and what we say to be respected, our character needs to be above reproach, not only publically but privately. And if it is above reproach privately, it will naturally be above reproach publically.

Take some time today and think back on the ways you have expressed yourself and what things you have said. And if there is stuff that came out of your mouth that should not have, start changing that behavior. Work on it, and ask God’s help which He will give with generosity and delight. May God bless you in the reading the God’s Word today.

And may God give you a blessed weekend.  The Good News Lady