1 Kings 8:31-32 Oaths

 ““When anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take an oath, and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple, then hear in heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.” ‭‭I Kings‬ ‭8‬:‭31‬-‭32‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. And comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple: The temple grounds were used as a place to verify and authorize oaths. When a dispute came down to one word against another, Solomon asked that the temple would be a place to properly swear by.

b. Hear in heaven, and act, and judge Your servants: Solomon asked the God who can see what man can’t – who knows the hidden heart of man – to enforce from heaven the oaths made at the temple.

i. The old Puritan commentator John Trapp could not resist mentioning a fulfillment of this principle in his own day: “Anne Averies, who, forswearing herself, a.d. 1575, February 11, at a shop of Wood Street in London, praying God she might sink where she stood if she had not paid for the wares she took, fell down presently speechless, and with horrible stink died.” (Guzik)

Oaths

“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.” ‭‭James‬ ‭5‬:‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We’ve all had people that made promises and never fulfilled them. Maybe you are one of those? I have always tried to be a man of my word but I am still human with a sin nature.

It’s good advice from James 5:12, “let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,”.

If your inbox is full and someone asks you to do something it’s better to tell them you’re too busy than to say yes and not show up.

Have you ever made a promise and not kept it?

Blessings