Mateus 5
Kent Hughes · Citado em PreceptAustin
Mateus 5:33-35
Hughes illustrates the desire for truth in the prayer of the chaplain of the Kansas Senate - "Omniscient Father: Help us to know who is telling the truth. One side tells us one thing, and the other just the opposite. And if neither side is telling the truth, we would like to know that, too. And if each side is telling half the truth, give us the wisdom to put the right halves together. In Jesus' name, Amen. (Hughes, R. K. Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom. Crossway Books) This prayer highlights what we all know to be just as true in America as it was in Israel in Jesus' day...truth is a vanishing breed. In fact a recent book, The Day America Told the Truth-What People Really Believe About Everything That Really Matters Hughes agrees and goes on to add that "Today there is an urgent truth shortage! There was a time when western culture was distinguished from other cultures by at least a conventional outward sense of obligation to tell the truth. But now there is a pervasive indifference to truth-telling, and this has not only infected day-to-day conversation but the most solemn pledges of life. Perjury under solemn oath is epidemic. The sacred vows of marriage are broken almost as often as repeated. God's name is invoked by blatant liars who purport to be witnesses to the truth. There is, indeed, a crisis, but we must not make the mistake of thinking it occurs only out there because it happens among us too. It is difficult to always tell the truth. The great preacher and writer George Macdonald wrote to his son on December 6, 1878, "I always try - I think I do - to be truthful. All the same I tell a great many lies." I identifywith that. I am speaking to someone and suddenly realize that what I am saying is not the truth. Perhaps you have experienced the same. The difficulty comes from the combination of my own deceitful nature and the pervasive deceptiveness of the surrounding culture. (Hughes, R. K. Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom. Crossway Books) BACKGROUND OATHS & VOWS OATHS - A solemn affirmation accompanied by an appeal to the Supreme Being. God has prohibited all false oaths, and all useless and customary swearing in ordinary discourse; but when the necessity or importance of a matter requires an oath, he allows men to swear by his name, Exodus 22:11 Leviticus 5:1 . To swear by a false god was an act of idolatry, Jeremiah 5:7 12:16. Among the Hebrews an oath was administered by the judge, who stood up, and adjured the party who was to be sworn. In this manner our Lord was adjured by Caiaphas, Matthew 26:63 . Jesus had remained silent under long examination, when the high priest, rising up, knowing he had a sure mode of obtaining an answer said, "I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ." To this oath, thus solemnly administered, Jesus replied that he was indeed the Messiah. — — An oath is a solemn appeal to God, as to an all-seeing witness that what we say is true, and an almighty avenger if what we say be false, Hebrews 6:16 . Its force depends upon our conviction of the infinite justice of God; that he will not hold those guiltless who take his name in vain; and that the loss of his favor immeasurable outweighs all that could be gained by false witness. It is an act of religious worship; on which account God requires it to be taken in his name, Deuteronomy 10:20 , and points out the manner in which it ought to be administered, and the duty of the person who swears, Exodus 22:11 Deuteronomy 6:18 Psalm 15:4 24:4 . Hence atheists, who profess to believe that there is no God, and persons who do not believe in a future state of reward and punishment, cannot consistently take an oath. In their mouths an oath can be only profane mockery. God Himself is represented as confirming his promise by oath, and thus conforming to what is practiced among men, Hebrews 6:13,16-17 . The oaths forbidden in Matthew 5:34-35 James 5:12 , must refer to the unthinking, hasty, and vicious practices of the Jews; otherwise Paul would have acted against the command of Christ, Romans 1:9 Galatians 1:20 2 Corinthians 1:23 . That person is obliged to take an oath whose duty requires him to declare the truth in the most solemn and judicial manner; though undoubtedly oaths are too often administered unnecessarily and irreverently, and taken with but slight consciousness of the responsibility thus assumed. As we are bound to manifest every possible degree of reverence towards God, the greatest care is to be taken that we swear neither rashly nor negligently in making promises. To neglect performance is perjury, unless the promise be contrary to the law of nature and of God; in which case no oath is binding. See CORBAN. A customary formula of taking an oath was "The Lord do so to me, and more also;" that is, the lord slay me, as the victim sacrificed on many such occasions was slain, and punish me even more than this, if I speak not the truth, Ruth 1:17 1 Samuel 3:17 . Similar phrases are these: "As the Lord liveth," Judges 8:19 "Before God I lie not," Romans 9:1; "I say the truth in Christ," 1 Timothy 2:7; "God is my record," Philippians 1.8 . Several acts are alluded to as accompaniments of an oath; as putting the hand under the thigh, Genesis 24:2 47:29; and raising the hand towards heaven, Genesis 14:22,23 Deuteronomy 32:40 Revelation 10:5 . VOWS - A promise made to God of doing some good thing or abstaining from some lawful enjoyment, under the influence of gratitude for divine goodness, of imminent danger, the apprehension of future evils, or the desire of future blessings. To fulfill a vow binding one to sin, was to all sin to sin; but no considerations of inconvenience or loss could absolve one from a vow, Psalm 15:4 Malachi 1:14 . Jacob, going into Mesopotamia, vowed the tenth of his estate, and promised to offer it at Beth-el, to the honor of God, Genesis 28:20-22 . Moses enacted several laws for the regulation and execution of vows. "If thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee; that which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform," Deuteronomy 23:21,23 Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 . — — The vows of minors, etc., were not binding without the consent of the head of the family, Numbers 30:1-16 . A man might devote himself or his children to the Lord, Numbers 6:2. Jephthah devoted his daughter, Judges 11:30-40; and Samuel was vowed and consecrated to the service of the Lord, 1 Samuel 1:11,27,28 . If men or women vowed themselves to the Lord, they were obliged to adhere strictly to his service, according to the conditions of the vow; but in some cases they might be redeemed, Leviticus 27:1-34 . These self imposed services were more in keeping with the ancient dispensation, in which outward sacrifices and observances had so large a share, than with enlightened Christianity. See CORBAN, and . NAZARITES (American Tract Society Bible Dictionary) RELATED RESOURCES: — Interesting Comments by William Barclay on Jewish Oaths Holman Bible Dictionary = Oaths International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Oath BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD: (2SFAI) apodoseis (2SFAI) de to kurio tous orkous sou. Exodus 20:7; Leviticus 19:12; Numbers 30:2-16; Deuteronomy 5:11; 23:23; Ps 50:14; 76:11; Ecclesiastes 5:4, 5, 6; Nahum 1:15) But - Always stop and query this term of contrast, asking What is being contrasted (why?, how?, etc), and you will usually be forced to re-read the previous passage or clause. It is not a bad thing to read the inspired, eternal Word of God slowly and deliberately! I think sometimes we read the daily newspaper Stats of our favorite football team with more deliberation and inquisitiveness than we do the eternal Word of God! Newspapers will all BURN someday! Only God's Word endures forever! Read it like you really believe it! Slowly and judiciously. Keep in mind that in the Old Testament vows were encouraged and they were especially encouraged to be in God's Name. However, once the vow was made, it was final and could not be rescinded without consequences. Exodus 20:7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain Leviticus 19:12 You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the Lord. Deuteronomy 5:11 ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. Deuteronomy 23:23 “You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God, what you have promised. Psalm 50:14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High;
Mateus 5:33-35
Hughes writes that "The Mishna devotes one whole section called Shebuoth ("Oaths") to an elaborate discussion of when oaths are binding and when they are not. The swearing of oaths had degenerated into a system of rules as to when you could lie and when you could not. The results were incredible. There was an ongoing epidemic of frivolous swearing, and oaths were continually mingled with everyday speech: "By your life," "by my beard," "may I never see the comfort of Israel if . . ." There was an inevitable trivialization of everyday language and integrity. It became common practice to convince another that you were telling the truth (while lying) by bringing some person or eminent object into reference. The deception was very subtle....One rabbi taught that if one swore by Jerusalem one was not bound, but if one swore toward Jerusalem, it was binding - evidently because that in some way implied the Divine Name. All of this produced in its adherents a profound spiritual schizophrenia: "I'm not telling the truth, but I'm really not lying." Their use of oaths was like children saying, "I have my fingers crossed, so I don't have to tell the truth." (Hughes, R. K. Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom. Crossway Books) Hastings Bible Dictionary of the NT (G W Stewart) has and excellent entry on OATHS - Christ's teaching on the subject of oaths is set forth in one of the sections of the Sermon on the Mount, in which He contrasts His doctrine with that of the earlier dispensation (Matthew 5:33-37). The position of the Law on the subject is summed up in the statement, "Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths." This is a combination of different passages in the Law (Leviticus 19:12 , Numbers 30:3 , Deuteronomy 23:22), of which the first deals specially with oaths, the others with vows. But in point of obligation oaths and vows were recognized in the Rabbinical schools as on the same footing (Talmud und Midrasch), and the statement in which Christ here represents the position of the Law was, no doubt, the current formula in which, in these schools, the doctrine of the Law on the question was summed up. in opposition to this dictum of the Law, Christ lays down an absolute prohibition, "Swear not at all." Matthew 5:34 ), and proceeds to draw out the full meaning of the all by showing that His prohibition covers every appeal to anything beside us in confirmation of our word, and not merely such as expressly introduce the Name of Jehovah. The casuists among the scribes made a distinction between more and less binding oaths. The former class consisted of those which invoked the name of God; the latter used such forms as "by heaven," "by earth," "by Jerusalem," "by the life of my head." An oath by heaven and earth, for instance, was not considered to be binding, because one did not require to think of the Creator; whereas if one swore by one of the letters of the Divine name, or by one of the Divine attributes, that was regarded as binding, and he who treated such an oath lightly was punishable History of the Jewish People). (For full discussion see Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament -Oaths)