blasphemy — Faves of Dave - Bible Study

James 5:12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

Are you getting the hang of interpreting Scripture within its context? In this episode, we’re going to look at just one verse. On the surface, it may look like it has nothing to do with what is in the preceding text or the text that follows. At this point, you may want to stop reading or listening to the podcast version of this and ask yourself, “What does this teaching about swearing oaths mean, and what does it have to do with anything else James has to say to his audience? Is this some random thing that came into his mind that has no connection with what he’s already said or is about to say?” Go ahead and read it by itself and then read the surrounding context and jot down ideas of what you think this is all about.

OK. Here’s my take on this. Let’s first begin by taking it by itself and seek to understand its meaning without great consideration of its relevance to the rest of James’ letter. His statement, “But above all,” should tell us a few things. First, it seems to indicate a sense of importance. If I were to give my children a list of things I expected them to do, I would probably order the action list in such a way that I would conclude with the thing I wanted to be ringing in their ears after I stopped. I might say, “clean up the yard, clean up your rooms, but above all, get your homework done.” I might be thinking about how they might get distracted and not fully clean their rooms and then not have time to finish their homework. The homework has a deadline outside of my control and is important. So, I qualify it with a statement to emphasize the priority. The second thing it teaches us is that this is likely a conclusion of a thought. This is an indicator that what is “above all” to James is the final thought of a point he is making, and therefore, it teaches us that we should go back and read what James said before to ask ourselves what this has in common with the instruction given up to this point. What does “do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath” have to do with what James has already said? We’ll come back to this shortly.

Let’s take this command “do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath” by itself. It seems pretty clear, doesn’t it? Do not swear oaths. It doesn’t seem difficult to understand what this command means. For me personally, the real question is, “Why is this so important? Why would this be ‘above all?’” If this command is a higher priority, it will serve us well to pursue understanding what is so terrible about making oaths so that we are more able to value what is most important.

I think we get a clue from the immediate context of James’ prohibition. He follows this command with a statement of how one should respond, a statement of action that stands in contrast with swearing oaths. He says, “but let your ‘yes’ be yes and your ‘no’ be no.” (v. 12b) So, what is the difference between answering “yes” or “no” to a question and swearing an oath? In either case, you could be wrong. As well-intentioned as we might be in any specific situation, we can respond with integrity and answer honestly based on our limited knowledge and abilities. But an oath is something different, isn’t it? An oath is an absolute affirmation, a guarantee as if one was both all-knowing and all-powerful to bring about the promised result. Is this act of making oaths not an act of elevated pride or arrogance? If we make an oath “swearing by heaven,” are we not suggesting that God is going to back us up on whatever we swear? Now we’re getting somewhere. This explains James’ concluding explanation for not swearing an oath “so that you may not fall under condemnation.” (v. 12c)

I remember a friend from high school would occasionally act as though he was looking for a fight. I remember telling him that I’d back him up if someone messed with him but that he was on his own if he started it with his own words and actions. It’s an issue of pride and arrogance, and we shouldn’t act like we can do or say anything we want and treat God as though he is obligated to back us up. That is what I think James is telling his readers. Don’t be arrogant. Simply respond in a way that reflects what you honestly intend to do or not do. Don’t make an absolute promise and bring God into it. If you fail, you’re setting God up for the blame. God does not fail on his promises.

All of a sudden, this makes a lot more sense in the context of James’ previous instruction. Back in chapter 3, James compared the tongue to the bit in a horse's mouth and a rudder on a ship. He spoke of the importance of taming our tongues. Much of this book speaks about what we say to others and exhibiting humility instead of pride among others. Swearing oaths are a means by which pride and an uncontrolled tongue do their worst. So, the importance revealed by James’ “above all” qualifier is telling us that swearing oaths become most problematic because our uncontrolled pride and tongue invoke God’s support and reputation. Therefore, it may bring condemnation upon ourselves. If I’m not mistaken, it’s a form of blasphemy.

What about the greater context of the Scriptures? Do they say anything about swearing oaths?

The Ten Commandments state in Exodus 20:7, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.” Leviticus 19:12 says, “You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of God: I am the LORD.” Ah! So, these verses do not absolutely condemn making an oath. They condemn making a false oath. That seems reasonable enough to warn against using God’s name to make a statement or promise that you know to be false. But what if you intended well, and yet your oath was not true? That’s why James tells his readers, “don’t swear oaths.” Don’t put yourself into that position because you could easily blaspheme God. James, in fact, appears to be echoing Jesus’ own advice on the matter. (See Matthew 5:34-37)

God himself has made oaths. So, oaths themselves are not evil. But God is both all-knowing and all-powerful. He is absolutely faithful to his promises. The Law even made a specific case in which an oath was to be given. In Exodus 22:10-11, “If a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep safe, and it dies or is injured or is driven away, without anyone seeing it, an oath by the Lord shall be between them both to see whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor’s property. The owner shall accept the oath, and he shall not make restitution.” Given the serious nature of making oaths, the person responsible for the animal at the time of injury, death, or loss knows whether he was responsible or not for the loss of the owner’s livestock. Therefore, he is absolutely telling the truth or absolutely and intentionally lying and thereby deserving of God’s judgment upon him.

Hopefully, we will have a greater appreciation for James’ instruction on this matter. Perhaps it can foster a deeper appreciation for our use of God’s name.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us honor your name in our words, our thoughts, and our actions!