Do Not Swear by Heaven, Earth, or Anything . . .?

James 5:12 says, "But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your “Yes” mean “Yes” and your “No” mean “No,” that you may not incur condemnation."

Jesus was against oath-swearing (Mt 5:33-37), and his disciples echoed this call. The surprising thing here is that James, who rails against partiality, lack of wisdom, injustice, gossip, bad behavior, etc, introduces the issue of oaths with "But above all... do not swear."

For Jesus, echoed by James, the most important aspect of the life with God is that one fear God. As Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 puts it: "The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with[d] every secret thing, whether good or evil."

We fear God because He is truth, which means He is a judge to us before he is anything else. This is the foundational truth about God, that we know we will answer for our lives--our thoughts and actions. If we are to be judged, then we should conduct ourselves accordingly. To swear by heaven, that is, to declare ourselves as a source of truth, is to boldly proclaim one's righteousness and standing in God's presence. It is to reduce the eternal and the holy to the triviality of the present age.

So when James says, "But above all . . . do not swear," he means that above all, regard God as holy and understand that we are striving for that holiness without which we will not see the Lord.

Image: Holy Men (5th/6th Century Egypt)

---