...answer
continues from...
...Why would one want to
swear
by anything anyhow? A Christian's word.(Matthew
5:37;
12:37; James
5:12).should
be good enough.(one's
word
is his or her bond).to
perform to the best of his or her ability:.Numbers
30:2-6.
Psalms
15:4 "...He that swears to his own hurt and changes not.(one
way to be good is to stick to the principles
of honesty that
one has determined
to:.Romans
3:4); Ecclesiastes
5:4 "When you vow a vow
unto God, defer not to pay it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that
which you have vowed."
Numbers
30:6 "And if she had at all an husband,
when she vowed or uttered ought
out of her lips, wherewith
she bound
her soul."
Ephesians
6:8 "...whatsoever good thing any man does, the same shall he receive
of God...".Why?
In man to man interactions
where words are taken as referring to oaths,
swearing
does not bring the Creator into the affair, so the One we commonly call
Emmanuel
said way back when, not to swear:.Matthew
5:34,36. It is not for man to command the Creator: James
5:12. Swear not in any of the common
and profane
ways customary
at that time:.Colossians
3:8.
One who may swear, thereby
implying
that he is fully able to bring to pass that which he swears about, involves
arrogant.conceit
regarding power lacking that one wishfully attributes
to himself to bring things to fruition.
In most countries, including
Canada, when asked in court to swear, one can simply say that he
affirms something to be true, if he indeed
does affirm
it to be true, "I affirm so".
The attitude typified:.Revelation
3:17 "Because you say, I am rich and increased with goods and have
need of nothing and knows not that you art wretched and miserable and poor
and blind.(blinded
by one's own ego).and
naked."
This attitude is an attempt
to force
appropriation
of that which one wishes he did not lack.(such
as, the power to control). This only
belongs to God. What one wants should be asked for from Creator-God.(James
4:2,3).who
has all things.
On the other hand, one's
word and reputation
should always be enough to provide assurance
performance will be made to the best of ability.
This involves.concern
for another to an extent
that one will do his best to provide
what he intends.
A
good principle from the
old covenant.
As Creator-God is in control
of all, what we may be binding ourselves to, we may not be in a position
to perform:.Ecclesiastes
5:2;
10:14.
Words from the Creator however
have all have the power of an oath:.Hebrews
6:13 "For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear
by no greater, he sware by himself." Hebrews
6:17,18 "Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show 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."
We often want life to be
a certain way for us, however God may have other plans.
It was
different under the old
covenant than it is now under the new:.Numbers
30:2; Matthew 5:33.
Why it is best not to swear:.Matthew
23:20-22 "Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, swears by it and
by all things thereon. And whoso shall swear by the temple, swears by it
and by him that dwells therein. And he that shall swear by heaven, swears
by the throne of God and by him that sits thereon."
For more on the vast subject
of swearing, see how the subject is handled in some Bible
Dictionaries.
There is also a difference
between the vain
words of cursing
that are prevalent
nowadays and swearing:.Matthew
26:74;
Mark 14:71.
There is also
a
difference in lying.
-Matthew
5:34 Where is God's throne?
Creator-God's Throne is in
heaven
where
He is. The word throne signifies the great, the greater than us at
the physical level:.Luke
1:32.