Matthew 23:16-22; Blind Fools “Seven” Themselves to God

“Whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.” Jesus in Matthew 23:22

Inigo Montoya: But, I promise I will not kill you until you reach the top…I could give you my word as a Spaniard.  Man in Black: No good. I've known too many Spaniards... Inigo Montoya: I swear on the soul of my father, Domingo Montoya, you will reach the top alive. Man in Black: Throw me the rope.  (Princess Bride, 1987)

“No one demands an oath from those whose word is known to be their bond.”  (F.F. Bruce, Hard Sayings of Jesus)

 “I swear to God,” is an oath all of us have heard when someone is trying to convince a skeptical listener that they are telling the truth.  And many believe crossing our fingers behind our back negates any verbal oath, including swearing to God.  While mostly done in innocence or ignorance, this practice should be examined in the light of Holy Scripture.  

At least the scribes and Pharisees would not be so brash as to swear an oath directly to God, as we flippantly do today.   However, the fact that they swore oaths at all and swore by lesser things than God, they still profaned the name of God.   

  

Although Jesus said earlier that we should “make no oath at all” (Matthew 5:34), the Pharisees created a hierarchy of oaths that led to confusion and even at times, greater judgment (see James 5:12).  As usual, the scribes and Pharisees made the basic things of God complex, turning God’s value system upside down and robbing God of His glory.  They were more than hypocrites; they were blind guides (v. 16) since in their false teaching they led others astray.  

The scribes and Pharisees taught if one swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold in the temple is obligated (v. 16).  Likewise, whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated (v. 18).   In their corruption of oaths, they also revealed their idolatry.   For them, the gold was worth more than the temple that sanctified the gold (v. 17).  The offering was worth more than the altar that sanctifies the offering (v. 19).  They valued mammon over God and worshiped the lesser of two masters (Matthew 6:24).   

I was visiting a Orthodox Church in Timisoara, Romania some years back.  On the altar was a memorial for someone who had recently died.   I was a little amused that among the items on the altar was a can of Diet Coke.  According to the value system perpetuated by the Pharisees, that Diet Coke is more sacred than the altar on which it was placed.

Jesus explains: Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it (v. 20).  And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells in it (v. 21).   Jesus’ point is “the earth is the Lord’s and all it contains” (Psalm 24:1).  The majesty of God transcends who He is and flows into His creation. 

Unger’s New Bible Dictionary teaches that the word “oath” comes from the Hebrew word “ala” (where the Muslims get their word for God, “Allah.”)  To make an oath in Hebrew meant literally “to call upon God.”  Unger goes on to say “swear” is from the Hebrew “sheba” or seven.  To swear meant to literally “seven one’s self.”   The Pharisees would not “seven themselves” directly to God; rather they would swear by heaven or something one step removed from God.  Jesus’ responded: whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it (v. 22).

Whether one swears by the soul of his father, a stack of Bibles (as I heard said today on ESPN radio), the gold in the temple or by heaven, that person is essentially swearing directly to God.  When we make any oath or feel we must swear by the things of God, we are saying that our word given plainly is not trustworthy.  More importantly, we take the holy name of God in vain for our personal gain and thus violate one of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:7).  

Our Lord is passionate for His Father’s glory; Jesus is determined that His glory alone is to be exalted.  For God has said, “I am the LORD…My glory I give to no other” (Isaiah 42:8).   The use and abuse of oaths robs God of His glory.   As His redeemed, let our statement be, ‘Yes, yes,’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil, so says our Lord (Matthew 5:37).