James 5:12

Oaths

James 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; so that you may not fall under judgment"."But above all" -especially (Robertson p. 63). James is not saying that the abusing of oaths is worse than murder or adultery, but in light of the context, "in all one's attempts to avoid expressing impatience toward tormentors, he should first of all avoid swearing" (Kent p. 181). "he is saying that the most common response of the human heart to problems and difficulties is to say the wrong thing" (Draper p. 154). Note****Suffering doesn't exempt us from the need to control our speech. Unfortunately, some people seem to think that harsh and sinful words spoken during the heat of battle are excused or morally justified."do not swear" -"to affirm, promise, threaten, with an oath" (Thayer p. 444). Jesus emphasized the same truth (Matthew 5:34)."either by heaven or by earth" -"Much evidence exists that oathtaking was greatly abused at that time---not only in the form of profanity, whereby God's name was employed meaninglessly in flippant swearing, but also in the clever schemes of the rabbis to explain some formulas are more binding than others" (Kent pp. 181-182). "There was. distinction---especially in the Jewish world---between oaths which were binding and oaths which were not binding…..The result of this was that men became experts in evasive swearing; and it became. matter of skill and sharp practice to find an oath which was not binding" (Barclay p. 149). (See Matthew 23:16).

Points To Note:

1. "The danger is that when we use God's name in swearing, we are calling God to be. witness to what we are about to say. So we are asking God to give sanction to our lies, to our exaggerations, to our arrogance, to our pride" (Draper pp. 154-155). 2. "Furthermore, to swear by one's own head implied that failure to comply with the oath would bring some catastrophe upon him, but this is not within man's control" (Kent p. 181). 3. Hence it is arrogant to say, "If. am not telling the truth, may God strike me"-as if we can tell God what to do! This is just as arrogant as planning the future without God (James 4:13-17). 4. "the value of an oath depends to. large extent on the fact that it is very seldom necessary to take one. Its impressiveness lies in its exceptional character…..the practice of taking frequent oaths was nothing other than. proof of the prevalence of lying and cheating and falsehood and swindling" (Barclay p. 149). 5. Please note that God has nothing against oaths per se. They were allowed in the Old Testament (Leviticus 19:12; Numbers 2:2). God Himself has used oaths (Genesis 22:16; Psalms 110:4; Hebrews 6:13). Both Jesus (Matthew 8:12; Matthew 26:63) and Paul either used or submitted to oaths at various times (Romans 1:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:27). Hence we cannot say that submitting to an oath in. court of law is. violation of this passage. In addition, marriage vows are oaths. Rather, like Jesus, James seems to be condemning: A. Rash statements made during hardship or before one's accusers. B. Calling down divine threats upon one's opponents. C. The abuse of making oaths. "or with any other oath" -that is, another of the same sort. People swore by all sorts of things besides heaven or earth."but let your yes be yes, and your no, no" -Kent notes, "the point is clear that the believer's word should always be trustworthy without the need of an oath to make it believable. If reaction against accusers causes one to implicate God in his defense and to demand that God prove His support by some direct intervention that the swearer decides upon, the speaker has gone too far" (pp. 183-184). "Today it is hard to get people to say yes or no to anything. They want to ride the fence. Many of us have. hard time making. commitment. We say we have committed our lives to God, but we don't act like it, we don't live like it" (Draper p. 155). It is tempting to hedge what we say, to give ourselves. loophole out of. commitment we have made. But our yes is to mean yes, not perhaps or maybe."so that you may not fall under judgment" -"come under condemnation" (Thayer p. 510). 1. To make an oath or vow and then not to keep it is another form of lying (Ecclesiastes 2:2). 2. The careless and flippant use of the name of God can also bring us under condemnation (Deuteronomy 5:7). Once again we are reminded that we need to watch what we say especially during stressful times. Being in pain and under pressure is not an excuse to unbridle our tongue. God doesn't allow us to say anything we want when we are suffering. Profanity, taking the name of God in vain is still. sin when we are in the midst of hardship.

Point To Note:

Seeing that God is very concerned about His name being attached to various oaths, He certainly isn't pleased when we attach His name to. cuss word or use His name in. careless and flippant manner. We should cease from using the statements "O God" or "God" as expressions of surprise or frustration. The same is true for the name of Jesus. Woods reminds us that such expressions as Gee Whiz, Gosh, Egad, Golly, Good Gracious, My Goodness and Good Grief in times past were all mild forms of simply saying 'God' or 'Jesus'.