The Sermon on the Mount, Section 42 D, Oaths

Section 42 
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
 (A Mountain Plateau not far from Capernaum) 
Subdivision D. 
RELATION OF MESSIANIC TEACHING TO OLD TESTAMENT AND TRADITIONAL TEACHING

OathsMATT. 5:33-37

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil. " -Matthew 5:33-37

Some passages come easier than others--this one goes down smooth for me.  I dislike pretense and double meanings.  As a child, I hated puns and funny tricks---just the facts please, as they really stand.  I like the thought that a person's word should alone be enough.  If we are careful with our words, this will inherently be the case.  Simplicity is good.  It gives you a solid place in a relationship from which to work and live at peace.

Deuteronomy connects the reasoning back to the authenticity of our relationship with God.  Our promises to others are also promises to the Lord:

"You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God what you have promised with your mouth." Deuteronomy 23:23

This concept is foreign to our culture, and Matthew Henry's Commentary expands upon it:

"Of those promises made to our brethren, to which God was a Witness, he being appealed to concerning our sincerity; these must be performed to the Lord, with an eye to him, and for his sake: for to him, by ratifying the promises with an oath, we have made ourselves debtors; and if we break a promise so ratified, we have not lied unto men only, but unto God." -Matthew Henry

In other words, God as our witness has been dragged into our mess and promises.  Nothing escapes His notice--not great injustices or casual promises.

Deuteronomy 30

God tells Moses to teach the people a song:

"In the song that Moses would teach them they would find the reason for their judgments and the path of repentance (Deu_31:19-22). The song would also serve as a warning of the judgment to come for apostasy. God is fully aware of the tendency of the human heart to stray from Him: I know what they are disposed to do."  -BKC

Song was used to teach people truth that needed to stay in their hearts.

Also interesting:

"After a life of service to the nation Moses heard saddening news from the Lord… these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering."  -BKC

Moses spent his life ministering to this group of people and the next generation of people only to

Deuteronomy 20

Interesting little tidbit on stewardship:

Deu 20:19  "When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you?
Deu 20:20  Only the trees that you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.

"Why should Israel cut down trees whose fruit she could eat? And why should trees, that were not men, be besieged? Even in lands outside Canaan the practice was to be avoided because it showed a lack of respect for God’s creation and an infatuation with the harsh and excessive use of destructive power." -BKC

To me, it boils down to not infringing upon His creation in insensitive ways.

Deuteronomy 19

"The law of retribution, known in Latin as the lex talionis, was previously given in Exo_21:23-25 and Lev_24:17-22. This law was given to encourage appropriate punishment of a criminal in cases where there might be a tendency to be either too lenient or too strict. The law codes of the ancient Near East did provide for the maiming of a criminal (e.g., gouging out an eye, cutting off a lip, etc.). With one exception (Deu_25:11-12) Israelite law did not explicitly allow such mutilation. Apart from this one instance, therefore, only the first part of this law, life for life, was applied to indicate that punishment ought to fit the crime (punishment in kind). Thus a slave who lost his eye was freed (Exo_21:26). The lex talionis also served as a restraint in cases where the punisher might be inclined to be excessive in administering punishment. Jesus did not deny the validity of this principle for the courtroom, but He denied its usage in personal relationships (Mat_5:38-42). There should be no personal retaliation or revenge." -BKC
***************

Never teased this out before, but there is a difference between corporate justice and private justice. Jesus asks us NOT to demand private justice, to turn the other cheek, to go the extra mile.

Also intrigued that this seems to indicate that beyond "life for life" mutilation as punishment was discouraged. type thing never was applied except for the one bizarre case.

And as I thought "eye for eye" was pretty severe, it never occurred to me that such stipulations were also helpful in limiting MORE severe reactions and punishments.

Lots to think about in this piece of scripture and commentary...

Deuteronomy 6

Heard a good discourse on the self-centeredness of God yesterday with John Piper.  I can't even begin to quantify it as it's such an abstract deep thing.  It's certainly not about the narcissistic self-centeredness that plagues the best of us, but more about God's self-existent and fully satisfactory, complete nature, His glory and desire to bring all things to Himself and that those things glorify/magnify Himself.

Anyway, this passage from Deuteronomy touches back unto this for me (the jealousy as part of His nature)

Deu 6:13  It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.
Deu 6:14  You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you--
Deu 6:15  for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God--lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.


"And this act of unfaithfulness would result in judgment since the Lord… is a jealous God (cf. Deu_4:24; Deu_5:9; Deu_32:16, Deu_32:21). This means He is zealous to protect what belongs to Him alone. Jealousy in this sense is ethically right. Jealousy in the sense of envy for another’s possessions or privileges is, of course, wrong."  Comment from BKC

In the discourse, they mentioned that before his conversion, C.S. Lewis found this self-centered praise to be like an old lady who needs to hear compliments about herself all the time....praise Him for this, praise Him for that...kind of thing.  Interesting...