To Swear or Not to Swear: That is the Question

April 15, 1999

Dear Karl,

Before I quote any of the first testament of Christ, more commonly known as the Old Testament, I will quote Christ in the second or New Testament to Him.

Matt. 5:17-19 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Also consider:

Heb. 13:8, 9 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.

And if you refuse to swear now you will when you go before the judgement bar of God.

Isa. 45:23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

The answer to your question concerning Matt. 5:33-37:

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: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

It does not tell us not to swear in God’s name and for, what I believe are good reasons.

Deut. 6:13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.

Deut. 10:20 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.

Pretty plain! We are, however, commanded not to swear by false gods:

Josh. 23:7 That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them:

Nor are we to swear falsely:

Zech. 8:17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.

But swearing happened a lot...

Josh. 9:19 But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them.

And they were not condemned for it...

1 Kgs. 8:31 If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house:

It was common place and proper and not a sin at all. It was even done in the House of the Lord.

II Kgs. 11:4 And the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the rulers over hundreds, with the captains and the guard, and brought them to him into the house of the LORD, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of the LORD, and shewed them the king’s son.

God did it with Isaac also.

1 Chr. 16:16 Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac;

And the Lord blessed them for it.

II Chr. 15:14, 15 And they sware unto the LORD with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets. And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about.

And the priests approved of it.

Neh. 5:12 Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.

1 Sam. 24:21,22 Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father’s house. And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold.

And I do not want this nation destroyed so I will swear by His name.

Jer. 12:15-17 And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, this is speaking of our day and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land. And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people. But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.

Also:

Lev. 19:12 And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

Notice it does not say we cannot or must swear by His name but that we cannot swear by His name falsely.

Why in God’s name?

Heb. 6:13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,

Gen. 26:3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;

Acts 2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;

Heb. 6:13-20 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

I figure that if we are to be like God and he swore an oath by his own name then we can also for God cannot sin and if swearing an oath in His name is sinning God sinned and is no longer God.

Why without oaths we would not even have Christ.

Heb. 7:28 For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.

Gen. 24:3 And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:

Abraham was a Prophet of God and talked with God and understood by whom one should swear.

And swearing was required by the prophets of God.

Ezra 10:5 Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they sware.

Num. 30:1,2 And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded. 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.

In numbers we are even led to believe that those will who will not swear are in the ranks of evil.

Eccl. 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

James 5:12 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.

I don’t fully understand what it means not to swear when God Himself does so. And I do not understand what it means to let my communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: because more than these cometh of evil. If the apostles followed this counsel then their writings would have been pretty short. Why did Christ say more than Yeas and Nays. Were His teachings of evil. I believe that this and the other verse in Matthew are mistranslated or have more explanation that was not included. The Bible is not perfect and has many missing books and letters that the letters themselves say we need for our salvation so if the Bible has two opposing laws. I will look at the history of God’s people with a broader view than one scripture or a single quote that is the size of a gnat and give more weight to those scriptures that have the weight more like a camel.

Jer. 12:10 Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

If you want even more weight on the side of swearing in God’s name I will supply you with them. I barely scratched the surface here.

In closing though I will say this: If you feel uncomfortable swearing an oath because you feel that in doing so you violate God’s law then you must, and I repeat MUST, follow your conscience. Pray about this and follow the answer God gives to you personally.

Christopher Holloman Hansen for The First Christian Fellowship of Eternal Sovereignty

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