Curses, death, dismemberment and the LAKE OF FIRE, all for breaking a promise!?!?
Don’t be a victim of careless words…
A promise is a big deal, but people don't get this. From the beginning of time a promise or vow was a rare and holy covenant. In fact in Genesis there were only 6 times people Promised, swore, or made a vow. Vows, promises, and swearing are forms of making covenants, usually God is part of the Covenant, but sometimes there are covenants made between people. The question we will be looking into today is "What are the implications of making a Covenant or promise and what does God think of them"?
What the Bible has to say about covenants
In the Bible there are 4 types of Covenants or promises:
1. Between 2 people
2. Man making a covenant to God
3. God making a covenant to man
4. A mariage covenant
In the first type of covenant a person is obligated to do or give something to someone else, we see this in Genesis 24
2 And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, 3 that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, 4 but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
Genesis 24:2-4
This is the first reference of a covenant between 2 people, In the case of Genesis 24 Abraham lays out a way that his servant could get out of the covenant if certain criteria was met. Thankfully God provided for Abraham's servant and he completed his mission, later in Genesis 47 we see almost the same thing play out.
29 And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.” 31And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.
Genesis 47:29-31
In both instances things played out well and both parties kept the covenant but what are the Biblical implications for breaking a covenant?
The Bible likens breaking covenant to committing adultery, though it's usually in reference to breaking Gods commandments or marriage. A second way to think about it is if you promise someone that you will do something and you don't do it you lied to that person, and liars are an abomination to God, liars are put together with adultery, murderers, and robbers. The Bible says that these people will be thrown into the lake of fire. Now this is only your punishment if you don't repent and continue to repeat this sin. Repentance will reconcile you back to God in the event that you have broken a promise. Historically covenants were sealed by cutting an animal in half to symbolize what would happen to the party that broke the covenant (ref Genesis 15), or pilling up rocks to be a landmark or setting up a standing stone and saying something along the lines of "let God be a witness between us". (ref Genesis 31)
In Mat 5:33-37 it says
“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil."
Yeshua (or Jesus) reveals that you shouldn't swear, take an oath, or promise at all but should just say yes or no. If you always do what you said you will then there is no need to promise at all! Its a trust thing, people have to promise when their word isn't enough because they keep breaking their word, becoming untrustworthy, so keep to your word!
The second type is probably the most important one. These have more consequence than a promise between two people since you are making covenant to God! One example that went horribly wrong is the story of Jephthah.
Jephthah said in Judges 11:30-31 “30 If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”
2 verses later...
"34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.”
"39 And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year."
This is a horrible thing to have happen and that is why you don't make a vow to God and if you make a vow be VERY careful what you say. If you are a female there are provisions for vows to be revoked. In Numbers 30 the woman's father or Husband can cancel any vows she makes if they do so on the day the father or husband hears of it. If you are a Male watch what you say because there is nothing you can do to get out of your vow.
The 3rd is a very special covenant, one which we are still in. There are many times God makes a promise to man. One of his greatest promises is his promise for redemption through Yeshua! Besides that he also made promises and covenants to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses/the people of Israel, and King David just to name a few. One misconception is that the covenant he made with the Israelites in the desert doesn't apply anymore, no where in scripture does anyone say that Yeshua did away with that covenant. He even says in Mat 5:17 that he did NOT come to do away with the law and prophets but to fulfill them. In doing so he became the standard for us to follow. So since we are still under the Law (though not under the law of sin and death) we are liable to the consequences of sin which is the breaking of this covenant. In Deut 28 we see the blessings and curses for obeying or breaking the commandments, lets just say you don't want to be on the curses side of things.
The 4th is another very special covenant, the marriage covenant is a covenant designed from the beginning of the to be between a man and a woman, and the woman shall leave her father and mother and be joined to her husband, and the two shall become one, Echad. In this covenant there are very specific terms laid out on the consequences for breaking the covenant and other terms for the breaking of this covenant. Yeshua says that it was never intended for the covenant to be broken and that it was because of their hardness of hearts that Moses gave them a certificate of divorce.(ref Matt 19) Divorce is never supposed to happen, I like to reference Jacob and his two wives Leah and Rachel. If ever there was a time for someone to get a divorce it would be when Leah was called hated by Jacob. But Leah was faithful to Jacob, and there was no divorce.
In the Bible there is also a narrative that the church/Israel is Yeshua's bride, and that we are to stay pure to him by keeping his commandments. And that when we go astray we are likened to an adulteress, but we are constantly called back and he stays faithful to us even when we aren't. Praise Yah!
What does God think of covenants? (A.K.A Promises)
From what we have gathered, God values Covenants very highly, He would rather you don't vow at all rather than vow and not follow through. We know He treats us as his bride and wants us to stay faithful to Him. We also know there are consequences for breaking promises or making bad promises. Sadly in this day and age people don't value promises and covenants as much as they did less than a century ago. People say things that they can't follow through with and don't realize that they are lying. People also don't realize that they are breaking covenant with God every time they break the commandments that are laid out in the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) and are liable to the curses laid out in Deut 28. I hope this helps you realize the implications of making and breaking covenants or promises, and makes you think twice before saying "I promise..."
The reference for this article is from the Torah Portion Vayechi from Genesis 47:29 which is linked to Genesis 24:2-4! Life and Death: The power of the tongue
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