For Good and For Evil

God's Oaths
Audio MP3

When God … could swear by none greater, he sware by himself.—Hebrews 6:13¹

James Parkinson

God swore to do great things more than a dozen times. Together these oaths make a hopeful picture for all mankind.

God’s first instruction to man came without an oath: “And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou shalt surely [begin to] eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely [begin to] die” (Genesis 2:16,17).

After the wickedness of the fallen angels and man became hopelessly violent, God rescued Noah and seven family members and destroyed the rest of humanity with a flood. Thereupon, God made a covenant with Noah, that He would never again send a flood to destroy all flesh—man and animal, and gave the rainbow as a token of His promise. It is Isaiah who tells us God swore He will do it no more—the first of God’s oaths for the benefit of man (Genesis 9:9-17, Isaiah 54:9).

God promised that in Abraham’s seed all the families of the land shall be blessed, and all the nations of the earth shall bless one another (Genesis 12:1-3; 22:16-18; 26:4; 28:14).

Before sending Abraham’s seed, the Messiah, Jesus Christ the Redeemer, God chose first to show Israel their need for a redeemer. So He confirmed the Law with an oath to Moses (and the oath of the Law included its curses—Deuteronomy 27:15-26; 29:10-15; Daniel 9:11).

In addition to these three oaths, God swore that he would not leave unpunished the wickedness of foreign nations:

• He vowed enduring enmity against Amalek (an Edomite tribe in Sinai) because they ambushed Israel coming out of Egypt, when Israel was apparently helpless (Exodus 17:14-16).

• He would destroy Assyria in the land (and a century later Assyria was no more) (Isaiah 14:24-27).

• Bozrah and the rest of Edom’s cities were to become perpetual ruins (Jeremiah 49:13)

• Flee from Babylon; He has doomed it! (Jeremiah 51:1-14).

Sworn for Woe

However, many more times God spoke with an oath against His own people:

•  When Israel came out of Egypt, to the adults who murmured against the Lord, He swore that that generation should not be the one to enter into the promised land, and they died in the desert (Numbers 14:1-38; Deuteronomy 1:34-39; 2:14; Psalm 95:11).

• In an exasperated moment, Moses disobeyed God at the rock and lost his privilege of entering into the promised land (Numbers 20:12; Deuteronomy 4:21,22).

• Because the ten-tribe Kingdom of Israel oppressed the poor, the kingdom was destroyed and the people taken far away from their land (Amos 4:1,2; 6:8; 8:7-14).

• Injustice would destroy Zedekiah and the house of David (Jeremiah 22:3-9).

• Those who defied the Lord and went into Egypt were cursed with sword and famine and death (Jeremiah 42:15-17; 44:26-28).

• Yet one more group, the Levites, had led Israel astray, even ministering to Israel before idols; the Lord swore² that "they shall bear their iniquity" (Ezekiel 44:10-14; compare Leviticus 16:21,22). Those who mislead the people bear the responsibility, rather than those who are deceived. (This vow calls to mind the Levites of Numbers 8:7 and the great multitude of Revelation 7:14, who wash their robes.)

The lesson for us today is clear: Meeting with the Lord’s people is good, but it is no substitute for changing our hearts to do that which is just and right and kind, and which is honoring to the Lord himself. The apostle Paul drives this point home: “Our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual food; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of a spiritual rock that followed: and the rock was [represented] Christ. Howbeit with most of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were types of us, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, even as they lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day twenty-three thousand … Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and perished by the destroyer. Now these things happened unto them typically, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come” (1 Corinthians 10:1-11).

Sworn for Good

On other occasions God swore to the good:

• To a man after God’s own heart, David, He swore that he would become king; He would also correct David’s son, and David’s house (in Jesus Christ, generations later) would be established forever (1 Samuel 15:28; 2 Samuel 3:9; 7:8-16; Psalm 89:3,4,49; 132:11).

• Added to Christ’s rule will be His role as the highest of high priests, for the ultimate blessing of the people, “Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4).

• Christ’s rule will not be limited to heaven but will include Jerusalem on earth, “For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burneth … Jehovah hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy grain to be food for thine enemies; and foreigners shall not drink thy new wine, for which thou hast labored” (Isaiah 62:1-8).

• Mercy, after the wrath, is assured for all Israel: “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in lovingkindness. He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the lovingkindness to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old” (Micah 7:18-20).

• “All Israel,” whether from Diaspora or from the dead, will return to the land and begin living righteously: “I have sworn, saying, Surely the nations that are round about you, they shall bear their shame. But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come … and I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded; and I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former estate, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah” (Ezekiel 36:7-11).

In these last five sworn promises of God, we have His assurance that Jesus Christ will be both king and priest to rule and to bless the people, that Jerusalem is to be the earthly capital of Christ’s kingdom, that the promises extend at least to all Israel, and that those who come back from the Diaspora (dispersion among the nations) or from the dead will also be a part of Israel. God’s other oaths assure us that all opposition will be suppressed. The stage will thus be set for the fulfillment of God’s great promises to Abraham that in Christ shall all the families of the earth be blessed, and that the nations will even bless one another! God promised it; God swore He will do it. The Israelites are already coming back to their land; so these other marvelous promises will also shortly come to pass.

Which of these eighteen oaths has Satan or man thwarted? God has promised, God has sworn; it is up to us, His human creation, to enthusiastically embrace His promises, and to rejoice as His great plan unfolds!