Matthew 5:34-37 New International Version 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
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Yes, it most certainly is. You should notice in the last verse of that passage that Jesus even says directly that 'only evil' ever comes from doing it, (Matthew 5:37). Brother James concurs in the Holy Spirit and includes that 'condemnation' is an unavoidable consequence of oath swearing, telling us that 'above all else' we should never do it, (James 5:12). Jesus even separated out the various 'types' of oaths to make sure we understood and didn't get talked into swearing them anyway. So why are we doing this almost 'universally' across every segment of human society from criminal gang culture, to law enforcement and military, to judges and juries, to trade unions, to the medical community and all the way up to the President of the United States! Everyone is 'oath-crazy.' It appears to be the one thing we all agree on. Why? When we just use 'Yes' or 'No' instead, Satan's 'tricks' get exposed and evil is defanged. Think about this in a courtroom. What if you could only answer every question with a simple 'yes' or 'no.' It would be so obvious that questions were being unfairly 'loaded' with carefully guided intent and 'slanted' viewpoints. Lawyers would be flummoxed. They would have to just seek the truth and let the chips fall wherever they may. No exaggerated stories, no 'twisted' logic, no 'spin,' no 'legal technicalities' required or permitted---just the simple truth. Did you know that this is actually the origin of the term 'exorcism?' The term comes from Biblical Greek: 'ex-' meaning 'out or away' and 'horkos' meaning 'oath.' Satan has us imagining virgins babbling in ancient Aramaic with heads spinning projectile vomiting and crawling around on the ceiling. In reality, the 'exorcised demon' mentioned was the 'judge' in the courtroom along with the entire 'spirit' of their influence that was condemning us, negatively influencing the opinions of those around us, slanting things against us, creating a 'narrative' we cannot break through to restore our personal dignity, our community good will and our righteousness. That entire 'influence' is the 'demon' that we 'cast out' when we strip away EVERYTHING except for the 'yeses' and nos.' Does it have a 'mind' of its own too? Yes, but it no longer has any place of influence or 'home' when we acknowledge Christ there through our simple 'yes' and 'no' approach. Spiritual 'demons' require the physical 'human' ones to exert any actual influence over humans. They use 'oaths' to do it. Human judges don't like to be 'contradicted' or exposed as weak and morally 'imperfect' themselves. They prefer to hide behind 'legal expertise' and 'arcane legal technicalities' while everyone assumes them to be 'perfect' in some way. That is what every 'oath' does too, regardless of who is making it, enforcing it or requiring it. It 'pretends' on behalf of a person, entity or belief that it is somehow 'perfect' and beyond all reproach. Oaths link us to 'imperfect' earthly authorities. 'Yes and 'No' links us to GOD through Jesus Christ. "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons." (1 Corinthians 10:21). "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14). Those 'yokes of instruction' arriving through oaths are heavy and difficult to bear. That's how we can know they don't 'connect' us to Christ. Returning only to 'Yes' and 'No' makes the yoke easy and the burden light, (Matthew 11:28-30).
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