Warning against Swearing (James 5:12)
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; so that you may not fall under judgment.

It was a common practice in Bible days to affirm the truth of one's statements by swearing upon something of great permanency, veracity, honor or authority. About the only way that this has survived down to our own day is in a court of law, when one swears upon the Bible that he is "telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God."

Yet, even this is a bit different from the way in which it was practiced in Bible days, for there, it had to do with the making and keeping of promises. A person would promise to do something, and, to give assurance that he would carry through with his promise, he would appeal to God, to heaven or to the temple.

Hebrews 6:16 –For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.

 

Genesis 21:23-24 –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." – Abraham said, "I swear it."

Genesis 24:3 –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,

Ruth 1:17 –"Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me."

2 Samuel 3:35 – Then all the people came to persuade David to eat bread while it was still day; but David vowed, saying, "May God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun goes down."

1 Kings 19:2 –Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time."

 

Deuteronomy 6:13 –You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.

Deuteronomy 10:20 –You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him, and you shall swear by His name.

Matthew 5:33-37 –"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

This passage brings up some other issues—

1. We should be very cautious about what we promise to do. Never make a promise that you cannot keep, or that you will later regret. To make a promise is very much like buying on credit—sooner or later, the bill will come due, and you will have to make good on it. There are times when it is appropriate to make a promise, but caution is always advised.
2. We need to be aware of our own sinfulness and frailty. God always keeps His promises, but we often do not or cannot carry out the promises we make to others. There is a great danger of arrogance in the making of such promises, for, despite our good intentions, we may lack the ability or perseverance to fulfill them. We need to remember James' admonition in an earlier chapter to speak cautiously, saying "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." (James 4:15).
3. When we swear by something sacred—God, the temple, the Bible, etc.—we are "profaning" these things—bringing them down to the level of what is commonplace—and not giving them the honor they deserve. We need to have a proper sense of the sacredness of God, His Word, His church, His ordinances, etc., and avoid treating them in a casual or disrespectful way.
4. When you swear by the Lord's name and do not carry out your promise, you bring reproach upon His name. It demonstrates that you do not truly hold God's name in reverence and awe. In effect, it makes God out to be a liar, since you are appealing to His faithfulness as a guarantee that you will follow through with your promise. If you don't make good on it, it suggests that God was unfaithful.

The command "Do not swear" is not a prohibition against everything that we associate with swearing...

1. It is not wrong, for example, in a court of law, to "swear" to tell "the whole truth, and nothing but the truth".  In this case, to "swear" is simply to affirm that you will be truthful—something which we, as Christians, ought to be anyway.  The Bible does not teach us that it is wrong to affirm truth.
2. The Christian should never "swear" in the sense of using coarse or vulgar language.  However, neither this passage nor the parallel passage in Matthew 5:34 is using the word "swear" in this way.  (See Ephesians 5:4).
3. The word "swear" is sometimes synonymous with the word "pledge"—as in the Pledge of Allegiance.  The problem with the Pledge of Allegiance is not that it is a form of swearing.  Rather it is that you are pledging your unconditional loyalty to a human institution.  In essence, it is writing a "blank check" to the government of your country—telling them that you will serve and obey them, no matter what they demand of you.  God alone has the right to such loyalty. (See Acts 4:18-20; 5:29).  Jesus teaches us to "render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s." (Luke 20:25).

James asks three questions and gives three answers…
 

Thus, in rapid-fire succession, James gives advice to us, covering nearly every circumstance we normally encounter in life. Notice that two of these circumstances are "negative" or "sorrowful" in nature, whereas the other is "positive" or "delightful" in character. In the "positive" situation, the proper response is to sing praises. In each of the two "negative" situations, the proper response is prayer. Suffering calls for personal prayer, but sickness calls for the church's prayers—in particular, the prayers of its elders.

Why is sickness treated as more serious than suffering? Perhaps the key lies in the meanings of the Greek words…
 

The word here translated "sick" seems to suggest the idea of being powerless, feeble, and needy. The elders are called upon to pray perhaps because the individual is unable to pray for himself, or because his condition is very desperate.

The three conditions of "suffering", "cheerfulness" and "illness" provide opportunities for ministry in the body of Christ…

 

Romans 12:15 – Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

1 Corinthians 12:26 –And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises. – The word "cheerful" or "merry" is euthumeo, which is formed from eu, meaning "good, well" and thumeo meaning "passion, glow, anger, wrath". The idea here is apparently that of a strong emotion of happiness and good feeling. Just as wrath is a powerful, consuming emotion of anger, so this word speaks of a powerful, consuming feeling of euphoric joy,happiness and good-will.

When the Lord has blessed us with good things, it is important that we acknowledge Him in our hearts by singing praises to Him. It is often difficult to sing praises when we are suffering great affliction, but times of blessing provide the perfect opportunity to praise the Lord for His goodness to us. Such songs should not be merely outward and audible, but should flow from hearts that are full of gratitude for the Lord's kindness to us…

Ephesians 5:19 –speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

Colossians 3:16 –Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord – This parallels the manner of healing during Jesus' earthly ministry. When Jesus sent out the twelve in pairs, they anointed the sick with oil and obtained healing for them…

Mark 6:13 –And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

There may not be anything spiritually profound intended in the anointing with oil here. Oil was commonly used as a medicine or a soothing agent in Bible times. We ought to make full use of whatever earthly means of healing is readily available to us, in conjunction with prayer. Those who reject such earthly means, trusting in prayer alone, have often been tragically disappointed. In the matter of physical healing, Biblical faith does not exclude the use of earthly remedies, for it is God Himself who has ordained and provided many medicines and treatments that may be effectively used to provide or promote healing…

1 Timothy 5:23 –No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.

the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up – Notice that it is the prayer and not the oil that restores the sick brother.
(Note: We will continue our study of this verse in our next lesson, as we consider the subject of prayer).