5:33-37 | Oaths
Oaths Under the Old Covenant
Vows in the Bible
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What a vow is
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Calling on God as witness to the truth of a statement and invoking his punishments if it is not
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Positive to do something - negative to abstain from some practice
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Vows to dedicate a something for sacrifice - Lev. 7:16
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Nazirite vow - Num. 6:2-21 - Samson
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Samuel's mother vowed to give him back to the Lord
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Vows were very serious - Deut. 23:21-23
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Vows made must be kept
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Must not delay in keeping it
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We must be careful to do it
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God held the vow against them
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It was required of them
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To not perform the vow was to be guilty of sin
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Rash oaths were still to be kept - Lev. 5:4
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Punishments and fees for violating vows - Lev. 27
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To call on a vow was to involve God | Leviticus 19:12
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Calling on God as witness to uphold our word
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To break a vow is to profane God's name
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Shows a lack of fear for God
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Lack of faith in his punishment
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Calls into question his own honesty
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Abuse of Vows
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Swear by anything but God
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Had an entire Mishna Shavuot about oaths
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Not liable when saying "by heaven or earth"
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"May it be by Jerusalem" meant nothing
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Swearing by the life of one's head could be retracted
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They wanted to appear honest, without binding themselves
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This vow is unbreakable, unless I break it, but I won't, so trust me, because I took a vow
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Crossing your fingers
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Verbal agreement vs. contract or on film
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Jesus condemns the contemporary oath forms
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Because they're meaningless
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Because they had more meaning than they realized
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All of these oath forms still contain God | Isa. 66:1-2a
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Exemplified in Matthew 23:16-22
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Honesty Under the New Covenant
No Need for Swearing
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Our word needs to be the truth
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It is a reflection of who God in us | Num. 23:19
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Should reflect in our large commitments
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Marriage
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Binding contracts
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Should reflect in our everyday use
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Don't back out of helping people
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Is our door really always open?
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Can people really come to us for anything?
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Our integrity should not come into question without a promise
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No conditional honesty
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I was joking!
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Well, I never promised…
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Every word must be as sure as any promise
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We don't get out of our obligations because we did not make an oath
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Proverbs 11:1
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Deception is against everything God is
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Are we a delight in the Lord's eyes?
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