Beloved, I am glad to share with you today on the next window of the above mentioned temple, namely the control of speech. The Lord Jesus emphasizes the sacredness of every word, for every word commits, since it is pronounced before the Lord God who reigns in heaven and on earth, and even on all the hair of our head. The verse that concerns us today relates to lack of righteousness as one of the guilty attitudes of the human heart.
We read in Mat 5.33-37: “You have yet heard that it was said to the ancients: You shall not forswear yourself, but you will perform to the Lord from what you have sworn. 34 But I tell you to swear not at all, neither by heaven, because it is the throne of God; 35 or by the earth, because it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great king. Do not swear by your head either, because you can not make a single hair white or black. 37 Let your word be yes, yes, no, no; what we add to it comes from the evil one. “
These words of the Lord Jesus show that man sometimes tends to deceive others by false oaths. That is why the duty to keep to the Lord his oaths or vows, or his promises, as well as the defense of false oaths, are prescriptions of the Bible which we will quote below. The oath is therefore an honor given to God. Apostle Paul picks it up and remind us afterwards:
-Rom 1.9. “God, whom I serve in my spirit in the Gospel of his Son, is a witness to me, that I make constant mention of you”; Rom. 9.1” I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie, my conscience testifies to me by the Holy Spirit”; 2 Cor 1.23 “But I take God to witness on my soul, that to spare you I have not gone to Corinth;” ; 2 Cor 11.31 “God, who is the Father of the Lord Jesus, and who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.” ; Ga 1:20 “In what I write to you, behold, before God, I lie not.”
The above words show that we must always tell the truth in everything we do.
OBJECTIVES OF AN OATH
-confirms a contract: Gen 31.45-54. “Jacob took a stone and set it up for a monument. 46 And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones. They took stones, and made a heap; and they ate there on the heap. Laban called him Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called him Galed. 48 Laban said: May this heap serve today as testimony between me and you! That’s why he was given the name of Galed. 49 It is also called Mizpah, because Laban said, The LORD watch over you and me when we are both lost to sight. 50 If you mistreat my daughters, and if you still take other women, it is not a man who will be with us, take care, it is God who will be a witness between me and you. 51 And Laban said to Jacob, This is the heap, and this is the monument which I have set between you and me. 52 May this heap be a witness, and let this monument be a witness, that I will not go to you beyond this heap, and that you will not come to me beyond this heap and this monument, to act maliciously. 53 The God of Abraham and Nahor, let the God of their father be judge between us. Jacob swore by the one whom Isaac feared. 54 And Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and invited his brethren to eat; so they ate, and spent the night on the mountain.”
-confirming an alliance with the people: Jos 9: 3-6 “The inhabitants of Gibeon, on their part, when they heard how Joshua had treated Jericho and Ai, 4 resorted to deceit, and set out with travel provisions. They took old sacks for their donkeys, and old wine-carts torn and sewn together; they wore at their feet old mended shoes, and on them old clothes; and all the bread they had for food was dry and broken. 6 And they went to Joshua to the camp of Gilgal, and said unto him, and to all the men of Israel, We have come from a far country, and now make a covenant with us.”
– to settle a conflict Exo 22.9-10 “In any fraudulent case concerning an ox, a donkey, a lamb, a garment, or a lost object, about which one will say: It is that! the cause of both parties will go to God; he whom God condemns will do to his neighbor a double restitution. 10 If a man gives another a donkey, an ox, a lamb, or any animal to keep, and the animal dies, breaks a limb, or is removed, without anyone having seen,”
-confirming an covenant with God: 2 Chr 15.12-15 “They made a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul; 13 And whoever does not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, should be put to death, small or great, man or woman. 14 And they swore fealty to Jehovah with shouting, and with trumpets and horns; 15 And all Judah rejoiced at this oath, for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought the LORD willingly, and found him, and the LORD gave them rest on all sides.”
-ensuring obedience to the Lord: Neih 10.30 “We promised not to give our daughters to the people of the land and not to take their daughters for our sons;”
- Characteristics of the oaths of God:
He swears by himself, Gen 22:16, “and says, I swear by myself, O word of the LORD. because you did that, and you did not refuse your son, your only one”; Heb 6.13-15 “And when God made the promise to Abraham, and could swear by no greater than him, he swore by himself, and said, 14 Surely I will bless you, and multiply your seed. 15 And it was so that Abraham, having persevered, obtained the effect of the promise.”
-God does not lie: Numbers 23.19 “God is not a man to lie, nor the son of a man to repent. What he said, will he not do it? What he has said, will he not execute it?”
Hebrews 6: 18-18 “Now men swear by him who is greater than them, and the oath is a guarantee which puts an end to all their differences. 17 Therefore, God, wishing to show more clearly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his resolution, intervened by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we We found a powerful encouragement, the only refuge of which was to seize the hope that was offered to us.”
II. OATHS IN THE ALLIANCES
- what he swore by oath: Psa 105: 44-45 “He gave them the lands of the nations, and they possessed the fruit of the labor of the peoples, 45 that they might keep his ordinances, and observe his laws. Praise the Lord!”
Luke 1:32-33; 69-75 “He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end. 69 And he raised up a mighty Savior in the house of David his servant, 70 as he had announced through the mouths of his holy prophets of old, – 71 a Savior who delivers us from our enemies and from the hand of all those who hate us! 72 Thus he shows his mercy to our fathers, and remembers his holy covenant, 73 according to the oath by which he swore to Abraham our father, 74 to allow us, after we were delivered from the the hand of our enemies, To serve him without fear, 75 Walking in front of him in holiness and justice all the days of our life.”
Heb 6.19-20 “This hope we possess as an anchor of the soul, sure and solid; it penetrates beyond the veil, 20 where Jesus entered for us as precursor, having been made high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”
James 5:12 “Before all things, my brethren, swear not by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath. But let your yes be yes, and your no be no, so that you do not fall under judgment.”
- The holy vows must be respected: Num 30.3 (30: “When a man shall make a vow to the LORD, or an oath to bind himself by a covenant, he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that is out of his mouth.” ;
Deut 23.20 “Thou shalt draw an interest from abroad, but thou shalt not bring it out of thy brother, that the LORD thy God may bless you in all that thou turnest to the land which thou shalt enter into possession.” ; Job 22.27 “And you shall pray to him, and he shall hear you, and fulfill your vows.” ; Psa 50.14 “Give thanks to God for thanksgiving, and fulfill your vows to the Most High”. Ps 76.12 “Give vows to the Lord your God, and fulfill them. May all those around him bring gifts to the terrible God!” ; Ecc 5.3 “When you have made a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, for he does not love fools: fulfill the vow you have made.”
It must be said that a vow is a promise made to God, by which one commits oneself to some work which one thinks to be pleasant to him, and which is not precept. It’s a promise made to oneself, a firm resolution that one has taken to do or not to do a thing. An oath is an affirmation or promise made by attesting to God, a being, or a sacred object.
- Examples of oaths among the Hebrews: a fairly ordinary way of establishing, whether in public affairs, private life, or the presence of the courts, the truth of one’s past or present words, as we read in Genesis 24:37, Genesis 50.5 Exodus 22.11, Leviticus 6.3-5, Judges 21.5, 1 Samuel 19.6, Leviticus 20.17, 2 Samuel 19.23, 2 Samuel 15.21, 1 Kings 18.10, Ezra 10.5 and Matthew 26.74. We see confirmed by oath a treaty of covenant in Genesis 31:53, Joshua 9,15 and 2 Kings 11: 4; and a promise of help and assistance to life and death, mentioned in 2 Samuel 15.21.
- The throne of God is the symbol of His sovereignty: Psa 45.7 “Thy throne, O God, is forever; The scepter of your reign is a scepter of equity.” ; Psa 103.19 “The LORD hath set his throne in heaven, and his kingdom is ruler over all things.” ; Isa 66.1 “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What house could you build for me, and what place would you give me for dwelling?” ; Mat 5.34 “But I tell you to swear not by heaven, because it is the throne of God;” ; Rev 4.2 “Immediately I was delighted in spirit. And behold, there was a throne in heaven, and on that throne somebody was sitting.” ; Rev 20.11 “Then I saw a great white throne, and the one sitting on it. The earth and the sky fled before his face, and no place was found for them.”
- Perjury is condemned: Lev 6.3 “denying having found a lost thing, or by making a false oath on any thing of a nature to constitute a sin;” ; Lev 19.12 “You shall not swear falsely by my name, for you will profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.” ; Zah 5.4 “And I will give it away, saith the LORD of hosts, that it may enter into the house of the thief, and of him that swear falsely in my name, that he may dwell therein, and that she burn it with wood and stones.” ; Malachi 3.5 “I will come to you for judgment, And will hasten to testify against the enchanters and the adulterers, Against those who swear falsely, Against those who retain the wages of the hireling, Who oppress the widow and the fatherless, Who do wrong abroad, and do not fear me, saith the LORD of hosts.” ; 1 Tim 1.10 “the immorality, the infamous, the robbers of men, the liars, the perjurers, and all that is contrary to the sound doctrine,” –
- Human limitations: Man is subject to human limitations:
-Closed Path Job 3.23 “To the man who does not know where to go, and whom God knows on all sides?”
– Feet locked in shackles: Job 13.27 “Why put my feet in the vines, Watch all my movements, Draw a limit to my steps,; Job 19.8 He has shut me no way out, and I can not pass; He spread darkness on my paths.”
-limited time: Ps 90.10 “The days of our years are seventy years old, and for the most robust, at eighty years old; And the pride they derive from it is only pain and misery, because it passes quickly, and we fly away.” ; Ecc 8.8 “Man is not master of his breath to be able to hold him back, and he has no power over the day of death; there is no deliverance in this fight, and wickedness can not save the wicked.”
-limits of life: Ps 139.5 “You surround me from behind and from before, And you put your hand on me.” ; Lam 3.7 “He has surrounded me with a wall, that I may not go out; He gave me heavy chains.” ;
-not able to change a single hair: Mat 5.36 “Do not swear by your head, because you can not make a single hair white or black.”
III. BAD CONVERSATIONS, CAUTION
– warn against the bad conversations: Eph 4.31 “Let all bitterness, all animosity, all wrath, all clamor, all slander, and every kind of wickedness, disappear from among you.” ; Titus 3.1-2 “Remind them to be subject to the magistrates and the authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, 2 to be no one’s mouth, to be peaceful, moderate, gentle to all men. James 3.6 “The tongue is a fire also; it is the world of iniquity. The tongue is placed among our members, defiling the whole body, and igniting the course of life, being itself inflamed by Gehenna.” ; James 4.11 “Do not speak badly of each other, brothers. Whoever speaks ill of a brother, or who judges his brother, speaks ill of the law and judges the law. Now, if you judge the law, you are not an observer of the law, but you judge it.” ; 1 Peter 2.1 “Therefore rejecting all malice and cunning, dissimulation, envy, and all malice,”
– The tongue must be restrained: Ps 34.14 “Preserve your tongue from evil, And your lips from deceitful words”; Pro 13.3 “He who watches over his mouth keeps his soul; He who opens great lips runs to ruin.” ; Pro 21.23 “He who watches over his mouth and his tongue Preserves his soul from anguish.” ; James 1:26 “If anyone thinks he is religious, but does not hold his tongue, but deceives his heart, that man’s religion is vain.” ; 1 Peter 3.10 “And if any man will love life, and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil, and his lips from deceitful speeches,”
-Written about speaking: Pro 17.27 “He who holds his words knows the science, and he who has a calm mind is an intelligent man.” ; Mat 5.37 “That your word be yes, yes, no, no; what we add to it comes from the evil one.” ; Col. 4.6 “Let your word always be accompanied with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how to answer each one.” ; 2 Tim 1.13 “Keep in faith and in the love that is in Christ Jesus the model of the sound words which you have received from me.” ; Titus 2.8 “a healthy, irreproachable word, so that the adversary may be confused, having no difficulty in saying anything about us.” ; James 3.2 “We all stumble in many ways. If someone does not flinch in words, he is a perfect man, able to hold his whole body in flange.”
-Against slander: Ps 15.3 “He does not slander with his tongue, he does no harm to his fellow man, and he does not cast shame on his neighbor.” ; Psa 50:20 “You sit down and speak against your brother, and you defame your mother’s son.” ; Psa 101.5 “Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly, I will destroy him; He who has haughty looks and a swollen heart, I will not bear.” ; Pro 25:23 “The north wind brings forth rain, and the mysterious tongue an angry face.” ; Jer 9.3 “They have their tongues stretched out like a bow and utter lies; It is not by the truth that they are powerful in the country; For they go from wickedness to wickedness, and they do not know me, saith the LORD.” ; Rom 1.30 “rapporteurs, slanderers, impious, arrogant, haughty, boastful, ingenious to evil, rebellious to their parents, devoid of intelligence,”; 2 Cor 12.2 “I know a man in Christ, who was fourteen years ago, delighted to the third heaven (if it was in his body I do not know, if it was out of his body I do not know, God knows it)”.
From what precedes, we measure the importance to give to the control of the speech and in particular to the oath, and to the given word. The oath serves to confirm an alliance with God, to settle conflicts, to obey the Lord. In addition, the sacred wishes must be respected and the perjury condemned. It is essential to master one’s tongue which is a small member of the body of which misuse could compromise our salvation. Our prayers support you all in the need to control your word at all times, by the grace of God.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite anyone who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me as follows :
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I acknowledge that I have sinned against you and ask forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as my Lord and personal Savior. I acknowledge that you died on the cross of Calvary and that you rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me each day to eternal life you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal to me and strengthen my heart and my faith so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me in your divine family so that I too can contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
To you all adoration, power, and glory, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to your questions and comments, before sharing with you next week on the following window of the temple of truth, which is non resistance.
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you profusely.
David Feze, Servant of the Lord Almighty.