Lookahead:  And the judgement that swearing a vow would incur is also implied in the option descriptions:  1.  You will be considered a hypocrite–and we know how Jesus felt about hypocrites;  2. You risk a reaping-what-you-sow backlash (losing your precious and only child, or your own life and limbs. Judges 11:34/12:7);  or 3. You risk someone standing their ground and calling your bluff. My theory, I think this swearing was part of the complaining and grumbling process we described in the last post–along the lines of, “If this persecution isn’t going to stop, I swear to God, that I’ll….”  On one embarrassing occasion, I came very close to filling in the blanks with “I’ll handle it myself.”  (“Handling it” would probably have meant taking on corporate HR and hiring a lawyer. :-)) Thank the Dear LORD, something in me wouldn’t let me cross that line.  

James 5:12 – 20 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment. Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. NKJV

12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment. NKJV

The contemporary Paraphrase Translations perhaps convey more a sense of what James may have intended to say here.  

Above all, my friends, do not use an oath when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Say only “Yes” when you mean yes, and “No” when you mean no, and then you will not come under God’s judgment.  Good News Translation

Above all we must be those who never need to verify our speech as truthful by swearing by the heavens or the earth or any other oath. But instead we must be so full of integrity that our “Yes” or “No” is convincing enough and we do not stumble into hypocrisy.  The Passion Translation

All three translations start out with “above all.”  James assigns top level priority to this swearing-NOT injunction.  Why would that be so critical?  

The Lexicons say that the “above” word has several aspects–of place, of time, and of superiority.  

πρό, before; used

a. of place:  before (the face of) one (who is following); motion forward, before another who follows, in advance; in public view, openly

b. of time:  before this, previously; in reference to the time of an occurrence, beforehand, in advance, before six days reckoning from the Passover

c. of superiority or pre-eminence: above all things, superiority or preference

It almost seems like it might mean “First and foremost, do not….”

ὀμνύω – to swear; to affirm, promise, threaten, with an oath; absolutely, followed by direct discourse, to one, to whom one promises or threatens something with an oath; in swearing to call a person or thing as witness; to invoke, swear by, in imitation of the Hebrew; to swear, i.e. take (or declare on) oath; to take an oath or promise with an oath.

In looking at definitions, three options come to mind with respect to meaning: 

1.  Don’t make a (frivolous or) false vow that you don’t intend to keep or this will make you a hypocrite…or, for that matter, a potential perjurer/criminal. 

2.  Don’t make a vow that is going to be too difficult to keep.  We are reminded of the sad misfortune of Jephtah:  

1 Judges 11:30-31 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

Jephthah made an irreversibly unbreakable vow.  

When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing. Now she was his one and only child; besides her he had no son or daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me; for I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot take it back.” 

Judaic commentaries agree that the LORD would have allowed him to renege due to the fact that it was an extremely foolish vow plus human sacrifice was an abomination to God.  But his daughter wouldn’t even consider breaking the vow!  That’s how important a vow to the LORD was thought to be.  

3.  Don’t use a vow as a manipulative tool (“threaten something with an oath”).  This could stand alone or be an add-on to either Option 1. or 2.  

And the judgement that incorrectly swearing a vow would incur is also implied in the option descriptions:  1.  You will be considered a hypocrite–and we know how Jesus felt about hypocrites;  2. You risk a reaping-what-you-sow backlash (losing your precious and only child, or your own life and limbs. Judges 11:34/12:7);  or 3. You risk someone standing their ground and calling your bluff. 

My theory, I think this swearing was part of the complaining and grumbling process we described in the last post–along the lines of, “If this persecution isn’t going to stop, I swear to God, that I’ll….”  On one embarrassing occasion, I came very close to filling in the blanks with “I’ll…handle it myself.”  (“Handling it” would probably have meant taking on corporate HR and hiring a lawyer. :-)) Thank the Dear LORD, something in me wouldn’t let me cross that line. 😦

Next James appears to segue into formulas for suffering and affliction.  He then enjoins us to, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”  These scriptures came into my head one time when I was at the bedside of a beloved friend who had valiantly fought Stage 4 cancer for more than a year.  They had a massive infection from chemo side effects and had been to the ER twice in as many days.  After a grueling wait for treatment on the second occasion, they finally signed the papers for Hospice Care.  The two of us then went back to their home alone together and went into countdown mode.  On the second day, I noticed a major shift; they were having trouble focusing and appeared to be distancing from reality.  But they were very cheerful and hadn’t lost their sense of humor.  It was at that time that the “healing formula verses” in James 5 came to me.  We had been trusting God for a healing miracle for months and months, and I had unswerving faith that nothing was impossible with God.  At that time, I believed that we should confess our sins one to another, and then pray again for a healing.  

When my friend confessed their sins, there was nothing there!  They were utterly squeaky clean.  My sin had been of not cleaning out my bank account to get them the most progressive cancer treatment available.  Their sin had been…not being a good steward of their own money.  Those liberating words turned out to be my friend’s last ones to me.  I prayed for their healing, and then settled them back in bed.  In so doing, I found…a gummy vitamin that I had given them to take the previous day; they had hidden it under the pillow.  I kidded them around about it and they laughed.  Then they were gone! :-0

My friend was always concerned that if they didn’t make it, that would be a major faith hit for me.  And it is true that, literally, as I was praying and believing for their healing, my friend was “boarding the Glory train.” However, I can only say that what should have been the most traumatic event of my life–at the end of a long, torturous, gut-wrenching, gravity-defying roller coaster ride–was an experience of unbelievable PEACE.  The sun was rising in accordance with Malachi 4:2a  and the Holy Spirit’s presence had invaded the room. Everything had shouted within me for months that my friend would be healed if we followed James’ and others well-meaning Biblical instructions/recommendations.  And yet my friend had had to wait for their heavenly healing.  This should have been a bitter pill to swallow.  And yet I was totally at peace with it.  

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