Oaths and the Bible
An
“oath is primarily self-cursing should one not be speaking the truth. It strengthens the human word and is meant to
give an assurance that what is said is true.
This may be done by swearing by what is held to be valuable and
sacred. Usually to strengthen a
statement the witness of a higher being, generally a deity, is invoked…The oath
is thus a declaration which backs up a human statement, which guarantees its
veracity, and which is affirmed by divine co-operation” (Kittel,
5:458).
1)
Many know that “oaths” are mentioned in the Bible, but
do not know much about them.
2)
Oaths may be divided into two categories: Those spoken by God and those spoken by man.
3)
An oath from God is the most solemn declaration that
what He has said will come to pass is true.
4)
Lk. 1:73 and Acts 2:30.
5)
Num. 23:19 and Isa. 45:20-24
show the seriousness of divine oaths.
6)
The New Testament also expresses this point in Heb.
6:13.
7)
Are there times in life when men use oaths – Heb.
6:16? ________________
8)
What do we learn from Isa.
44:26? ____________________.
9)
Oaths are a way of declaring that the certainty of some
truth cannot be disputed.
10) What
is the significance of divine oaths when it comes to blessings and
punishment? _____________
11) Men
have used oaths for a long time and often they have been used for noble
purposes.
a)
What was the oath in Gen. 24:1-4 for? ________________________________
b)
Gen. 47:30-31 is an oath for
______________________________? Similar
to today? ________
c)
Can we ever be excused from keeping an oath (Josh.
2:17)? __________________________
d)
Have rulers ever appealed to oaths to get the truth(Mt. 26:63)?
____________
e)
Did Paul ever take an oath (2 Cor.
1:23; Gal. 1:20)?
_________________________
f)
Does Lev. 5:4 condemn oaths or a specific type of
oath? ___________________________
12) The
preceding points show that oaths are not wrong.
13) How
do we reconcile the preceding information with Jas. 5:12 and Mt. 5:34?
14) Jews
often restored to oaths versus a simple “yes or no” (Jas. 5:12).
15) Not
only did Jews appeal to the “fine print,” they used God and spiritual things.
16) Mt.
23:16-19.
17) Today
many think all oaths are wrong; we can believe this, but this is not what James
meant.
18) This
point is virtually identical to what Jesus described in Mt. 5:33-37.
19) Both
Jesus and James meant we need to be people of our word.
20) We
do not need lots of talk and high sounding language to confirm we will do what
we say.
21) We
can make oaths that are sinful.
a)
Some Bible examples of this include Peter (Mt. 26:72).
b)
Some oaths can be reckless (Mt. 14:6-10); give a reason for reckless oaths: ________________
c)
One Bible reasons is found in
Acts 23:12-15 – this reason was ________________.
d)
Sometimes reckless oaths can involve family members – 1
Sam. 24:24-29.
e)
Rather than forbid oaths, it is better to say the New
Testament regulates them.
22) Jas.
5:12 seems to be directly related to our interaction with fellow Christians.
23) We
should need to speak an oath when dealing with fellow saints.
*We may not think about it, but the “Hippocratic oath” that
is often taken by doctors is also an “oath.”