Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient. Exodus 24:7
One of the two young men charged with murder was called to the witness stand, where he placed his hand on the Bible that the clerk was holding, and, when asked by the judge, ‘Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?’ he responded, ‘I do.’ Then, under questioning by his lawyer, he told the story of how it was the other man who had done the killing. When he was finished, the other young man repeated the same procedure, accusing his buddy of the actual killing. Who was telling the truth? I had my opinion as I watched the performances. But one or both of those men had lied after swearing before God to tell the truth. That’s a solemn sin, but it is all too common.
We have only to read the record of the Old Testament to see how sadly the children of Israel failed to keep the promise they made in today’s text. Failure after disobedience after rank rebellion marked their history in the days and years and generations to come. And God did not look lightly on their lies before Him. Nor does He look lightly on the lies told by people today as they treat their dealings with God in such a careless way. Divorce courts reek of this sin as people toss aside the solemn vows they made on their wedding day. Doctors commit this sin when they ignore their Hippocratic oath to perform abortions and medically assisted suicides. Religious people of all stripes make pious sounds on Sunday and curse God’s holy Name on Monday.
Do we make promises to God? As Christians, of course we do. But how carefully do we actually keep those promises? The God to Whom we promised will carefully mark our obedience. -Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/i5F2gdi37Lo