Vows and Oaths

Vows and oaths in the time of Jesus were both legally binding and a sign of character. Swearing an oath or making a vow was a verbal contract that you would do something, provide money, or whatever exchange was taking place. There were vows and oaths people made to God, often dedications like baptism, covenant making via a sacrifice or circumcision. Often these vows to the Lord contained a promise a worahipper would tithe more to the Temple if they were healed of an illness or in some cases like the prophet Samuel, a child wasnoffered to be a priest and prophet if anwoman who was barren could give birth. Oaths were binding and contained heavy spiritual, social, and even physical demands. An oath breaker or vow breaker was considered untrustworthy and failing to keep a promise could result in alientation, shunning, and even one's business to be boycotted. Your reputation, revenue, and religious life wsd on the line when you made a vow, oath, or promise. 

Beyond vows between persons and vows to God, there was the sacred vow of matrimony. To wed thyself was considered the most sacred and honorable vow in Jewish culture becausecthe bond between man and woman in matrimony and the fruit of children produced were ordained by God, "Be fruitful and multiply, subdue the earth," (Genesis 1:28, Genesis 9:7) and, "when a man leaves his parents he is to be joined to his wife." (Matthew 19:5). The first couple, Adam and Eve umdoubtly was a model to Jews in the time of Jesus. They did not forget Adonai's words, "it is not good for man to be alone, I will make him a help mate." (Genesis 2:18). The fact the Lord decided this in paradise before man and woman fell and disobedied God and became tainted with wickedness and sin proves the union of man and woman is very important. 

Suprisngly, despite all these importang vows the Holy Bible actually discourages oath making. The sage Solomon said, "It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it."(Ecclesiastes 5:5). The risks of not keeping a viw as aforementioned was quite high; one could lose their business, friends, and favor with The Lord God of Israel. Jesus Christ, God incarnate, affirms Solomon's advice with these words, "But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, 'By heaven!' because heaven is God's throne; And do not say, 'By the earth!' because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, 'By Jerusalem!' for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. Do not even say, 'By my head!' for you can't turn one hair white or black. Just say a simple, 'Yes, I will,' or 'No, I won't.' Anything beyond this is from the evil one." (Matthew 5:34-37). Wow! The Word of God himself says to not make a vow or oath of any kind, not by heaven or earth; not by the unseen or seen. Christ even says to make vow instead simply saying yes I will or no I will not is of the evil one, is of the devil! 

Jesus is confronting the culture of oatj making. He calls it devilsh, but why? Because the Pharisees who were the religious elite broke oaths all fime, "you say if a vow if made by the altar it nothing, but if it is made by the gold on the altar the vow is bonding, you hypvrited which isnholier the gold or the altar that sanctifies it?" (Matthew 23). The relgious elite we breaking vows by using loopholes and trickery, and thus making oaths lose value, but tje common person, the averag Jew wadnscrutinized and expected to keep a pledge or vow even if circumstances changed unexpectantly; let me give an example, a Jewish farmer promises to give two tenths of his grain to the Priests in exchange for meat, but a castrophe happens and farmer cannot make quota promised and must instead keep his full harvest to survive, the Pharisee priests would call him an oatj breaker and mark him as a liar to the whole community and omit the details of why the poor farmer couldnt keep hiscontract (oath). These same Pharisees would in their private dealings break oaths with God on a whim because they decided they only swore by an altar, not gold and they even would break a vow based deal with people if they wanted, saying, "I vowed on the Sabbath to give you ten pieces denarri, but you know the Torah and Talmudic writings statem no work can teanspire on the Sabbath and so to make a bargain and promise of money is against the Law of Moses, so our contract is void and I owe you nothing." The Pharisees expectec their comgregants to keep their vows, but they could break them over a technicality, thus creating a double standard, this is why Jesus says og these cruel ecclesia, "You lay heavy burdens and yokes om others you will not carry yourself," (Matthew 23:4), and, "Do what the Pharisees say but not as they do, for they do not practice what they preach." (Matthew 23:3). 

Vow making and the pitfalls of binding yourself to a promise is best illustrated by Herod Antipas, "But at a birthday party for Herod, Herodias’s daughter performed a dance that greatly pleased him, so he promised with a vow to give her anything she wanted. At her mother’s urging, the girl said, “I want the head of John the Baptist on a tray!” Then the king regretted what he had said; but because of the vow he had made in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders." (Matthew 14:6-9). Herod being beguiled by his beautiful step daughter made a vow to give her whatever she wanted, in another Gospel account, Herod eve offers one third of his kingdom. Them when the request from Herodias' daughter is the head of John The Baptist, Herod regrets his oath but cannot break it due to witnesses, his guests, and if he did show clemecy and broke his vow, he would be known throught his kingdom and by his alloes and enemies as an oath breaker and untrustworthy, plus his wife Herodias would have been sore, "better to live in the corner of a rooftop than to live i house with a quarrelsome wife." (Proverbs 25:24). 

We see that vow making is dangerious, as God who is Jesus said, "anything beyond a simple yes or no is of the devil." (Matthew 5:37) Christ's words are supportef by the fact that Herod's oath allowed Satan through Herodias and her daughter the dancer Sialomi to slay the godly John the Baptist, whom Jesus said after his death, "there has never been anyone greater than John in the Kingdom." (Luke 7:28)

Vows are vicious, they put a load or yokr on person that causes them to fear not keeping the promise. God knowing our fraility and fallen state of our world said through His Son Jesus, "Come to me all who labor, are weary and whi need rest. Take my yoke (religious teaching and model of how to live) you, for  I am gentle and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden light." (Matthew 11:28-30). Oaths make our hearts and minds restless. The bills we have ho pay on time or else be fined are example of a written oath. Many people worry, lose sleep, and even get sick over fearing they cannot pay their utilities, groceries, and other balances. They fear because companies are not forgiving, they charge interest or will shut your electricty and water off if you fail to pay on time. This is a yoke, and everyone in the world (save some exceptions) are choking on these vows called bills. 

As for wedding vows and where they fall compared to Christ's words about not tskin a vow, many believers simply say a yes I do, instead of I vow to do this. Wedding vows were not intended in paradise, but because of the fallen world we live in and the evil nature in people, Hebrews created a ceremony eith witnesses to consecrate two people to one another. This was done to ensure a couple's property was protected and that the two could be held accoutable by a godly community to keep to themselves regarding sex, revenue, and to ensure a safe setting for child rearing. Jesus tells his disicex divorce was never intended, but because of hardness of men's hearts Moses made divorce comtracts. Ad for the clause "I wed you tell death due us part," this is based on Christ telling te Sadducees (relgious priests) theren is no marriage in heaven (see Matthew 22:30 ) because in the presence of God, in His perfection, ans surroundeed by all goodness, there is no need for oaths and marital status.