The Bible Project

Sermon on the Mount E14 – In Matthew 5:33-48, Jesus offers three case studies about how people can work together in spite of conflict. The first case study focuses on the ancient practice of oath keeping. By the time of Jesus, ancient Israelites no longer spoke the divine name of Yahweh out of respect, but they would still swear oaths by things closely related to God—like the sky, land, temple, etc. Some people used these oaths as a loophole because they felt less serious to break (“I only swore by the temple!”). In this episode, Jon and Tim discuss Jesus’ teaching on oaths, which demonstrates God’s wisdom on the integrity of our words and the danger of even small deceptions.View more resources on our website →Timestamps Chapter 1: The Historical Background of Oaths (00:00-13:22)Chapter 2: The Heart Beneath Oaths (13:22-30:44)Chapter 3: Oaths From the Evil One (30:44-46:15)Referenced ResourcesThe Divine Conspiracy by Dallas WillardCheck out Tim’s library here.You can experience our entire library of resources