Nehemiah 10:28-29 - Oaths and Vows in Worship

Nehemiah 10:28-29 - Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons and their daughters, all those who had knowledge and understanding, are joining with their kinsmen, their nobles, and are taking on themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God’s law, which was given through Moses, God’s servant, and to keep and to observe all the commandments of God our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes;

Message: Oaths and Vows in Worship

Time: Nehemiah is the author and written from a first-person perspective. We meet him as an adult serving in the Persian royal court as the personal cupbearer to King Artaxerxes. It opens in the Persian city of Susa in the year 444 BC and concludes around 430 BC. Most of the book centers on events in Jerusalem. He was a layman not a priest and his life is a study on leadership. He gave God the credit for his successes.

What the Lord is Saying: What are oaths and vows and what place do they hold today in worship? This is a subject I have not ever considered. The Westminster Confession of Faith 21:5 mentions oaths and vows being a part of special occasions. The proof texts are:

Deuteronomy 6:13 Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.

Nehemiah 10:29 They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes;

Isaiah 19:21 And the Lord shall be known to Egypt,

And the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day,

And shall do sacrifice and oblation;

Yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it.

Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. 5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

And then one more scripture from Jesus:

Matthew 5:33-37 “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.

James 5:12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

As I look at these verses above, Deuteronomy 6:13 says to "swear by his name." Nehemiah 10:29 says "they entered in an oath." Isaiah 19:21 says "they shall vow a vow unto the Lord." Ecclesiastes 5:4 mentions "when you vow a vow unto God." But in Jesus' words he says to not make an oath at all. And James agrees maybe by saying do not swear no make an oath. 

Swear

I think to swear by his name it simply means to proclaim God as the only true God; believing in Him is the only way. Paul quotes in Romans 14:11 "that every tongue shall confess" from Isaiah 45:23 -- "Unto me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear." Thus, to swear is to confess. This type of vow seems proper and of good practice. 

Oaths

In these verses in Nehemiah 10:28-29 is the simple admonition that all the people that have chosen to live by the Law of God or who have separated themselves from the way of the world, it is these individuals that make an oath to walk in His law - to keep it and observe all that is written - but if one does not then they take on all the curses that are mentioned in this book of the law. Thus, on one hand is a promise to keep the law and conversely a curse if one breaks it. 

The only oath that I think is prevalent in society is the oath one takes when testifying in a court. In that context, it is a statement of fact or promise that the words one speaks will be true. At that time, it is interesting that one will place their hand on the Bible. It is not clear to me why the Bible is used. It seems to mean that if words are not true, then I have no defense. By placing a hand on the Bible I am stating that the Bible is true. 

Yet, Jesus says in Matthew 5:34 to make no oath at all. Is Jesus talking about all oaths here? He seems to be upping the ante as he often has been doing in these verses in Matthew 5, by looking at a principle from the law and then taking it to a new level. And yet in reading the passage, his statement does not end with "make no oath at all" but he clarifies that no oath should occur in the name of heaven or earth. 

There seems to be two views about what Jesus is saying here. Tabletalk and maybe other reformed thinkers don't think Jesus is outlawing all oaths. They think that Jesus is speaking to a specific issue among Jews that oaths that are sworn by anything other than the name of God do not have to be fulfilled. Jesus was therefore challenging the notion that one could get of keeping an oath if it was voiced by swearing upon something other than God. And so he is saying that as long as the oath is lawful it should be followed. And he ties this all up by saying, let your yes be yes and your no be no. By Jesus saying do not make an oath he is saying do not make light oaths that have no intention really of being kept. Thus, the ante that he is upping here is that all oaths, whether in God's name or not should be valid promises. The other view on this verse is that Jesus was in fact stating to never make an oath. But from the standpoint of what is mentioned elsewhere regarding the way he upped the ante on keeping commandments like adultery and murder it seems that this is also what he is doing here instead of repealing Moses' law.  

This line of thinking would be correct for Paul in Acts states that he was keeping a vow. Acts 18:18 -- Paul, having remained many days longer, took leave of the brethren and put out to sea for Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. In Cenchrea he had his hair cut, for he was keeping a vow.

I suppose in this lesson I am stuck on these words -- oaths, vows and swearing. Perhaps I am not looking at the principle which seems to be that we need to be people of our word, but also we need to be making promises to God or commitments. Maybe this is what is kind of missing in our lives. I think a few songs by DeGarmo and Key on this idea. One song was called Man of His Word -- the lyrics go:

Never a syllable wasted
Each and every promise was true
Every commandment He spoke of
He proceeded to do

He was a Man of His word

Blessed is the man who swears to his own hurt
Do what you say be a man of your word

Interesting words there that Jesus kept his promises and are we keeping our promise. Am I making promises to act or be a certain way? Another song was the Pledge. 

It's a world of choices, patterned to confuse
Distracting little voices whisper what to do
Searching for the pieces, one step from the edge
Turn your heart to Jesus, make this solemn pledge

He died for me, I'll live for Him
He died for me, I'll live for Him

Above all lords and regents, He is King of Kings
I'm pledging my allegiance through these words I sing
Take this oath of service, write it on your wall
It's our only purpose for living life at all

Wow. Look. It is right there. "Take this oath of service." "Make this solemn pledge." Tabletalk also gives the idea that this is what we do often in our church services each Sunday as we gather and choose to sing - proclaiming truths and listening to the Word of God, agreeing with what is said and not simply stimulation understanding but wanting to follow God. 

I was just about to give up on this lesson, thinking that I don't know how it applies, but it does apply. It is rich. And It makes me wonder about my words and my commitments. Am I really making many commitments in my life? I think I do. Each morning I have been walking to pray and also to pray the words of the fruit of the spirit, committing to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 

So that is my pledge, but what are my other pledges or oaths. I do want to live differently. Pamela and I made a pledge to not kiss till our wedding day, but we only made it to a few weeks after being engaged, succumbing to the pressure of others, like my dad. Maybe we made it a big deal when we should have kept quiet about it. 

Summary - In regards to oaths and vows in Worship, these are promises or pledges we make each Sunday as we gather, as we sing songs, about God but also about who we are in Christ. If we speak these words, may they be so in our lives. 

Promise: Our worship itself can be seen as a vow to serve God. That is one of the reasons why it should be taken seriously. Worship is a holy occasion on which we meet with our holy God to swear allegiance to Him. It is not a time for frivolity. 

Prayer: O God, you are Lord of All. I am stating this and swearing by this. Lord, help me in my words to be true to them and to be a man of my word and to be careful maybe about what I promise, but also to make sure that I am following through on what I am saying. I do often say things that people want to hear but then I don't back up those words with action. I need to be a man of my word at work, but also towards You. I pledge my allegiance to you. You died for me, I will live for You. I will live for You. I want to do this in my life.