I swear!

James 5:12
But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

This is an interesting passage of scripture that tells us how we should conduct ourselves as believer.  James tells us that we are FORBIDDEN to swear.  He rather cautions us to simply let our Yes be Yes and our No be No.  But do you know WHY he says this?  He got this command from Jesus who said:

Matthew 5:34-35
But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

Making oaths and swearing was a very powerful thing during this time that carried huge implications.  When one made an oath it was binding.  One could only make oaths if one had power to perform these oaths.  Consider Jesus' next statement:

Matthew 5:36
Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

Making oaths and swearing had to do with power to perform the oath. When one said 'I swear' one was ALSO declaring that 'I HAVE THE POWER TO PERFORM' what I am swearing to.  This is evident in verse 36 above where Jesus said 'do not swear by your head because you DO NOT HAVE THE POWER to make one hair black or white'.  Jesus is telling you NOT to swear because you cannot perform anything or cause anything to happen.  

Consider our frivolous declarations when a man tells his intended, 'I swear to love you for the rest of my life', and on the night before they marry he fornicates with a stripper.  He might have had good intentions with his oath and may have sincerely believed his words BUT HE HAD NO POWER TO ENSURE THAT WHAT HE SWORE TO COULD BE PERFORMED.  This is why Jesus tells us to just say Yes or No, because beyond that is evil.

Consider this:

Isaiah 45:23a
I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, 

God speaks!  The only one with the power to perform, declares.  In this verse he tells us that he has sworn by himself.  Now why is that?  It's because he is the ONLY one with power.  But why would God take such an over the top stance, you see when God swears it is a measure BEYOND his normal speech.  Since God will always have what he says, for him to swear in addition to speaking is akin to him killing a mosquito by tying it to a lit stick of dynamite.  Therefore, whatever God is swearing to do MUST be of huge importance for God to intensify his words in such a manner.  Before we examine what he swears to, let us examine the context of his words:

Isaiah 45:22
Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.

God is talking about saving all the people of the earth.  He then swears by himself.  But what does he swear to accomplish?

...That to me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.

In this rare instance on this occasion of occasions we have the God of heaven who created all with his mouth, SWEARING that every human being will swear allegiance to HIM.  Will God do this?  He says that:

...the word has gone forth from my mouth...

Where do we see this happening?:

 John 3:17
For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

Here is the word of God going forth from his mouth and what is it's purpose?  TO SAVE THE WORLD!  And what does the Word of God (Jesus) say of his task:

John 4:34
Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.

GOD SWEARS, DO YOU BELIEVE HIM?