Day 184: Vows and Oaths 2

Transcript

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Welcome to the Canon Connected, where we read the Connections, see the connections, and study the connections of the Bible. Thank you for joining us here on day number 184 of the Canon Connected. And right now we're finishing up a two-day study on the theme of Through Connected readings, of vows and oaths and promises to God, which is surprisingly prevalent in the Bible, not as dominant as many other things we've studied, but there's two days' worth of passages on this to me at least. And um very practical information to me, even though the the vows and the oaths that people made in the Old Testament were in the context of, again, their their offering system. Um, and that's not something we practice anymore. The principles behind this, which can be seen in the history books as well, that had nothing to do with the sacrificial system, like Jephthah and like like Saul, um, and even like uh like Joshua today, um, these are things we can learn from, and we should be able to put him to practice very easily, I think, in 2026 when this podcast is first first launched. Um, so we saw many examples yesterday, bad examples. We saw how the law spoke to this, and today we see another bad example. Truly, the one, I think, big stain on Joshua's leadership is in chapter 9. Maybe there are others. I wouldn't claim to be an expert on the all of Joshua's, um, all of Joshua's biography. But this is a pretty big stain on on his leadership because the Gibeonites come in and deceive them, and it makes it clear they did not, you know, inquire of the Lord about them. And they, you know, promised to protect them and they sealed it with an oath. Um, and this this comes back, you know, again to bite them because they were rash and making a promise. This is why, as I alluded to yesterday, you can't do them foolishly. And in this case, I think a good application of this is before you get into anything, and this is definitely true when you sign, you know, any kind of contract or document or whatever, okay, that you do research and you find out exactly what you're getting yourself into. I mean, there there is no reason why a Christian should not be wise in in the area of promises, vows, and oaths, and for us, even contracts, because there is so much deception out there, okay? It just just the reality of the world we live in, and it's the reality of the how the world really has always been post-Genesis 3. And so we need to be slow into entering into these things because we need to do research. And of course, I'm not advising people to be jaded, okay? I mean, there's a publishing company I write for every once in a while, and they send me contracts. I don't read the fine print because I trust them. So I don't want people to go around, you know, with a sense of everybody's out to get me. But at the same time, you know, when we're going to talk about vows, you know, promises, oaths, contracts, that sort of thing, yeah, we we need to know exactly what we're getting ourselves into. Fascinating to me, there were four psalms today. It's crazy how much the idea, again, I never would have guessed this. Vows and oaths come up in many of the psalms. Four uh we read in their entirety and then four verses to close with because it says it so practically. And again, the idea that I see here, again, is like David Times is saying, God help me with the vows. And it it proves that vowing and and and making oaths and making promises to God can be, you know, a part of worship, and it should be. Part of worship should be, you know, God, you are great and glorious, and I thank you for saving me, but part of it should be I commit my life to you. You know, I commit, you know, what I'm going to do to you. And so um I was very fascinated by the Psalms approaching this subject several times. Proverbs 20, 25 goes so well with Ecclesiastes chapter 5. These is a very strong connection in my opinion. Proverbs 20, don't trap yourself by making a rash promise to God and only later counting the cost. Does that not say it, you know, perfectly? All we've been studying for the last podcast and a half now. Um and then Ecclesiastes chapter 5. I alluded to the Phillips Craig and Dean song. If you don't know it, um that that this is this is where it comes from. Let my words be few. I used to sing that congregationally back in Chicago years ago. But he says, um, don't make rash promises and don't be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. I almost want to think this sometimes when somebody's going on in a public prayer and it goes on and on and on and on and on. And I can't say that's wrong in every case. God may be leading a person to pray for 20 minutes, but and sometimes that's entirely appropriate. But sometimes I feel like people want their words to be many. Too much activity gives you restless dreams. Too many words make you a fool. When you make a promise to God, don't delay in following it through. For God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him. It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it. Don't let your mouth make you sin. You see how serious of an issue this is? Um, making promises to God. And of course, in this case, he even talks about when you enter the house of God. This again was a part of the offering, the sacrificial system. Um, and God took it seriously. When you say you're going to do something, your word again is your character, it's your integrity. I'll talk about some practical examples in a minute. And here in Jeremiah 44, a different kind of example. God's people making promises and vows. He says, You and your wives to the queen of heaven, presumably, you know, a false deity, a false goddess, you know, a fertility. I wrote the name down because I don't always remember these things well, but one of the big guesses is Ishtar was her name. Um but again it was vehemently condemned, regardless of who this may be. And God, you know, tells them, Um, you know, this is this is evil. Um, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord, that my name will no longer be spoken in any of the Judeans uh in the land of Egypt. None of you may invoke my name or use this oath as surely as the sovereign Lord lives, because of their sin in this specific area. And I will watch over you to bring you to disaster and not good. Again, this is false worship, of course, but the idea of oaths being a part of it reinforces how serious of an issue this is. And then Jesus, again, studying this basically, I think what he's talking about here, but I say, do not make any vows. Do not say by heaven because heaven is God's throne, and do not say by earth because earth is his footstool, and do not say by Jerusalem, but let your yes be yes and your no be no. Um, because they were told you must not break your vows, you must carry out the vows you make to the Lord. I don't think Jesus is never is saying never to make promises or anything like that or to vow things. I think he's saying not do it foolishly. And in their case, I think the Pharisees were, they were trying to get out of being committed to their vows by saying, I will do this by heaven, and not saying by God, because they knew they couldn't get out of it then. So they were looking for a loophole so they could seem serious and committed and then later, you know, backtrack, which again is the height of hypocrisy. It's disgusting to God. God is revolted by this because it's a matter of truth, it's a matter of integrity, it's a matter of honesty, and we have to reflect that. And when we don't, it's sin, okay? And then I thought Psalm 15 was the perfect way to end. Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter the presence of your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, and then a lot of these are how we use our mouth, James 3. This is the core of integrity, the tongue controls everything else. Speaking the truth from sincere hearts, those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends, those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord, and who keep their promises even when it hurts. Wow. Okay. So what are some practical applications of this? Well, again, it's I mean, this is the most obvious thing in the world, but don't make promises that you and then not keep them. I'll give an example of myself negatively from my life, two of them even. I remember when I was in Bible college, you know, right after I left USC, and I was just a mess of worldview, and uh young in the faith, but that's no excuse. There were so many times in chapel and, you know, in Bible conferences and things while I was down there where you'd have worship services and good fiery preaching and then an altar call. And so many times I would go down to the altar and promise God, I'm gonna do this or I'm gonna stop doing that, and then two or three days later it would fall through and I would backtrack. And I think sinfully I would do so. I remember specifically Bible conference my first year, follow uh spring of 99, 1999. I was going on spring break the after after Bible conference. I knew I was going to Myrtle Beach and a new movie had just come out that uh that had you know content in it. I knew would not be good for me, especially out of the sin that I was saved out of. I went to the altar last conference, uh, last night of the conference, and I prayed and I said, God, I'm I'm gonna be committed to to doing right. I'm not gonna do and spring break, Myrtle Beach around my old friends, and I absolutely went to that movie, and I think it was sinful. I remember another time, my senior year, and I was student body chaplain that year old, so super spiritual, right? Yeah. Well, in my local church, there was a young man who didn't have a father and whose older brother was just not, you know, good to him, and he really needed a male mentor. And so, you know, volunteering in the church and being who I was, we kind of set it up to where he could come and visit me on a weekend on campus and and and and spend some time with me and let me, you know, pour into him. And he asked me one thing, he's like, Can we go fishing on Saturday morning? And I was like, What time? He said 5 a.m. and I was like, Okay, I'll do it. And I promised him, you know, I'll do it. And when 5 a.m. came, I had stayed up late that night playing cards with my friends, Rook. I didn't get up at 5 a.m. And thank God for a freshman named Patrick, Patrick McDaniel, who went with that young man to go fishing that morning. He got up and went in my place. Um I didn't get up till like 10 o'clock, and I was so ashamed. Um, because I probably and I that that that young man needed me. I mean, he needed somebody, I shouldn't say me. He didn't need me. He needed something, and I I think God was calling me to be that person, and I failed. I didn't live up to my promise. And another way on the positive way, I think we can see this of the application of actually following through, you know, is like I think this is one that I think is good and healthy, not necessary. I'm not gonna say this is something as parents you have to do. But I was definitely raised with the with the idea if you sign up for baseball or whatever, you can't quit mid-season. If you're gonna sign up to do it, you've got to follow through to the end. And we've taken that approach with our kids as well. If you sign up for baseball, if you sign up for soccer, unless some injury or sickness or some major catastrophic event happens, you see it through to the end because we want to teach them to be people of their word. Okay. And again, there's been plenty of times, even as a parent, I have not, you know, led this or enforced this nearly the way that I should have. But it's just a very, you know, very trivial, mundane way, seemingly in one way, but I I can guarantee you that I think if kids learn that, you know, generally speaking, even if not in that specific kind of application, if they learn that if you if you say you're going to do something, if you sign up to do something, to do it and do it with all your heart to the very end, I think they can understand a lot of what I think the Bible's speaking to here. So whatever the applications are in your life, I hope that if you if you make promises and vows or you decide to do something and you know God's with you, that you'll follow through with it and you won't make rash vows and you won't make rash promises and not and not keep them or keep them in there in their something um ridiculous like Saul yesterday. So we're gonna have a day, uh catch-up day tomorrow. Very fascinating, you know, topic because tomorrow, if you're caught up on the reading plan, is July 4th. And so I'm gonna have my historian, my history teacher, brother Ashley on the podcast to talk about um how Christianity was uh a strong influence in the founding of America. I realized there were other influences, and not everybody who all not all the founding fathers were Christians, and some who were, you know, had some you know dubious beliefs and all that. I realize all of that's part of it, but there is zero doubt, I think, that Christianity was a heavy influence, especially with people like John Adams, who my brother loves deeply. And so we're gonna take tomorrow and read about you know liberty through the book of Exodus for the reading, and the podcast will be on, you know, Chris the Christian influence, uh, Christian influence in the in July 4th, 1776, 250th year anniversary. Should be a great topic. So come back and be with us again tomorrow as we continue to read the connections, see the connections, stay the connections. Thank you.