SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/7/2020 11:46 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “The
Principle of Mosaic Law”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 5:33
Message of the
verse: “33 "Again you have heard that it was
said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your
oaths to the Lord.’”
Now I have mentioned in an earlier
SD that one of the reasons that there are times that I go from the NASB95 to
other translations is because in the NASB95 quotations and thoughts that come
from the Old Testament are in all caps as they are in this verse, and so I used
the NKJV here because what is in all caps is not a quotation from the Old
Testament but it was a composite of ideas based on Leviticus 9:12, Numbers 30:2
and Deuteronomy 23:21. Perhaps it would
be good to quote these verses at this time.
Leviticus 19:12
“’You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your
God; I am the LORD.”
Numbers 30:2 “"If
a man makes a vow to the LORD, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding
obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that
proceeds out of his mouth.”
Deuteronomy
23:21 “"When you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay to
pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the LORD your God will surely require
it of you.”
John MacArthur
writes “The two vows mentioned here are from two different, but related, Greek
terms. The first is from the verb epiorkeo, which means to perjure
oneself, to swear falsely, to ‘make false vows.’ The second is from the noun horkos, which literally means to
enclose, as with a fence, or to bind together.
The truth of an oath or vow is enclosed, bound and therefore
strengthened by that which is involved on its behalf.”
Let us look at Hebrews 6:16 as this
is a clear description of an oath: “16 For
men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given
as confirmation is an end of every dispute.”
What we see here is the name of something or someone greater than the person
making the oath is involved in order to give greater credibility to what is
said. Now if we make a vow to the Lord
or an oath to the Lord then this invites Him to witness the truthfulness of
what is said or to avenge if it is a lie.
I suppose that everyone has heard the term “I swear to God,” and also
while a witness is testifying in court they must swear on the Bible in order to
show that their testimony is true. Now
if that person lies then we cannot expect that something right away will happen
to them from the Lord for lying under oath as the wheels of justice turn
slowly, but be certain that person will have to answer to that someday even if
it is in the Great White Throne Judgment.
John MacArthur explains “An oath was therefore generally taken to be the
absolute truth, which made ‘an end of every dispute,’ because it invited
judgment on the one who violated his word.
The Jews who returned from the Babylonian Exile to Israel took ‘on
themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God’s laws’ (Neh. 10:29).
Now
I want to look at Leviticus 19:12 and then give some examples from the Old
Testament of making an oath by God’s name.
“’You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of
your God; I am the LORD.” Let us now
look at Genesis 14:22-24 as Abraham is involved here: “22 Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have sworn to the LORD God
Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not take a
thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, ’I
have made Abram rich.’ 24 "I will
take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who
went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share.’” Next we look at Genesis 21:23-24 “23 now therefore, swear to me here by God that
you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity,
but according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me
and to the land in which you have sojourned." 24 Abraham said, "I
swear it.’” Next a more familiar section
that comes from Genesis 24:1-4 and also verse 10 “1 Now Abraham was old,
advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in every way. 2 Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had
charge of all that he owned, "Please place your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God
of heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from
the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, 4 but you will go to my country and to my relatives,
and take a wife for my son Isaac.’” “10 Then
the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and set out with a
variety of good things of his master’s in his hand; and he arose and went to
Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.” I
will just list several more verses with those who are involved in making an
oath to the Lord. Isaac in Gen. 26:31;
Jacob and Laban in Gen. 31:44-53; David and Jonathan in 1 Sam. 20:16; David
himself found in Psalm 132:2.
Lord
willing we will look at some oaths that God made and then even that Jesus made
in our next SD.
We
will not begin the last section from “The Battle of the Ages” as we begin to
look at “IV. The Battle of the
Incarnation.”
“The
scene of the battle now shifts to the coming of the second Adam. In Jesus Christ the seed of the woman
appears. This is He who shall bruise the
serpent’s head. It is to be a fight to
the death. Satan must either conquer the
Christ of himself be destroyed. Which
will succeed? We shall see.
“1.
The Slaughter of the Innocents was the first attack upon Jesus Christ
Himself. Scarcely has the music of the
angels died away on the Bethlehem hills than the hiss of the serpent is
heard. No sooner is the Babe born than
the enmity of the serpent appears in an effort to destroy his life. The decree of Herod for the slaughter of the
innocents was inspired by Satan himself.
It was a diabolical attempt to frustrate the plan of God by the murder
of the infant Christ. This was the first
attempt upon the life of Jesus and we know how it failed. But it shall not be the last.”
9/7/2020 12:29 PM
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