He said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!”

• 2 Kings 6:31

“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

• Matthew 5:33-37

Have you ever read a story in the Bible and you get to where someone makes an oath or vow, and they say “May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if …”  Jesus says to make no vow.  Let our “Yes” and our “No” stand on their own.  Being a person of our word used to be a highly honored position.  But the world has changed.  If someone was that trustworthy today, would you give them a pay raise, or would you distrust them, thinking they were hiding something up their sleeve?

The verses are in biblical order and all from the Old Testament.

The Questions:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Who is the person who vowed that even death would not separate her from her mother-in-law?
2	Who wakes up the priest in the night and the priest says that God will deal with this boy if he did not tell the priest what God had told him?
3	Who did Saul say this oath about if this person did not die?  Saul wanted no one to eat until the Philistines were routed, but this man ate some honey, not knowing the oath had been made.
4	The answer to question 3 makes the same oath in regard to sending his friend away to a safe place, far from his father.  Who is being protected from the father of the answer to question 3?
5	When David and his men were protecting the people living in Judah, a member of Caleb’s descendants refused to give David food.  David swore this oath against this man, whose name means “fool” if any person in his household would live through the night.  The man’s wife provided the food and begged for mercy.  Who was this man and his wife?
6	Ish-Bosheth accused Abner of sleeping with Rizpah, Saul’s concubine.  As a result. Abner swore to do what?
7	David swears this oath to make Amasa the commander of the Army instead of whom, and for what recent transgression?
8	What had Adonijah requested that made Solomon angry enough to swear an oath that Adonijah would die for his request?
9	Who swore the oath against Elijah when hundreds of Baal and Asherah prophets were killed on Mount Carmel?
10	Ben-Hadad swore the oath to Ahab that he would destroy Samaria so badly that there would be little dust left. Who won the battle?

Questions 6 and 8 both deal with someone sleeping with someone who had slept with the previous king.

Ish-Bosheth accused Abner, commander of his army, of sleeping with Rizpah, a concubine that had produced sons for Saul.  Two verses earlier, Abner was solidifying his position as the army commander, but it does not say by what means.  Sleeping with Saul’s concubine was a powerful way to strengthen your power in those days.  While the Scriptures make these two statements, we are left to wonder whether Aber had done what Ish-Bosheth accused him of doing.

Adonijah had set himself up as the king before David passed away.  Nathan and Bathsheba went to King David to clarify that Solomon was the intended successor.  Solomon is anointed King, and Adonijah is forced to accept the kingship going to Solomon.  But in those last years of David’s life, a virgin slept with David to keep him warm at night.  She was then sent to live with David’s concubines.  She had slept with David, but she had never become intimate with him.

Bible References:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Who is the person who vowed that even death would not separate her from her mother-in-law?	Chapter 1, verse 17
2	Who wakes up the priest in the night and the priest says that God will deal with this boy if he did not tell the priest what God had told him?	Chapter 3, verse 17, the first book of two by that name
3	Who did Saul say this oath about if this person did not die?  Saul wanted no one to eat until the Philistines were routed, but this man ate some honey, not knowing the oath had been made.	1 Samuel 14:44
4	The answer to question 3 makes the same oath in regard to sending his friend away to a safe place, far from his father.  Who is being protected from the father of the answer to question 3?	1 Samuel 20:13
5	When David and his men were protecting the people living in Judah, a member of Caleb’s descendants refused to give David food.  David swore this oath against this man, whose name means “fool” if any person in his household would live through the night.  The man’s wife provided the food and begged for mercy.  Who was this man and his wife?	1 Samuel 25:22
6	Ish-Bosheth accused Abner of sleeping with Rizpah, Saul’s concubine.  As a result. Abner swore to do what?	2 Samuel 3:9
7	David swears this oath to make Amasa the commander of the Army instead of whom, and for what recent transgression?	2 Samuel 19:13
8	What had Adonijah requested that made Solomon angry enough to swear an oath that Adonijah would die for his request?	1 Kings 2:23
9	Who swore the oath against Elijah when hundreds of Baal and Asherah prophets were killed on Mount Carmel?	1 Kings 19:2
10	Ben-Hadad swore the oath to Ahab that he would destroy Samaria so badly that there would be little dust left. Who won the battle?	1 Kings 20:10

While most of these oaths are given in anger, the first question speaks of love.

But Jesus tells us not to make an oath at all.  We do not always have the wherewithal to accomplish what our mouth says.  And if it is not in God’s will why bring God into the equation?  And if it is God’s will, He will ensure that it is done with or without our help.

It is God accomplishing the task, so why say words that make it look like it is our will that gets the job done.  Swearing oaths just muddies the waters.

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The Answers:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Who is the person who vowed that even death would not separate her from her mother-in-law?	Chapter 1, verse 17	Ruth
2	Who wakes up the priest in the night and the priest says that God will deal with this boy if he did not tell the priest what God had told him?	Chapter 3, verse 17, the first book of two by that name	Samuel
3	Who did Saul say this oath about if this person did not die?  Saul wanted no one to eat until the Philistines were routed, but this man ate some honey, not knowing the oath had been made.	1 Samuel 14:44	Jonathan, Saul’s son
4	The answer to question 3 makes the same oath in regard to sending his friend away to a safe place, far from his father.  Who is being protected from the father of the answer to question 3?	1 Samuel 20:13	David
5	When David and his men were protecting the people living in Judah, a member of Caleb’s descendants refused to give David food.  David swore this oath against this man, whose name means “fool” if any person in his household would live through the night.  The man’s wife provided the food and begged for mercy.  Who was this man and his wife?	1 Samuel 25:22	Nabal, who died ten days later, and Abigail, who became a wife of David
6	Ish-Bosheth accused Abner of sleeping with Rizpah, Saul’s concubine.  As a result. Abner swore to do what?	2 Samuel 3:9	Make David the new king of all Israel in the place of Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth.
7	David swears this oath to make Amasa the commander of the Army instead of whom, and for what recent transgression?	2 Samuel 19:13	Joab who had just killed David’s son Absalom against David’s orders.
8	What had Adonijah requested that made Solomon angry enough to swear an oath that Adonijah would die for his request?	1 Kings 2:23	Adonijah wanted to marry Abishag, the virgin who kept King David warm at night in David’s old age.
9	Who swore the oath against Elijah when hundreds of Baal and Asherah prophets were killed on Mount Carmel?	1 Kings 19:2	Jezebel, but may the gods deal with her, rather than God
10	Ben-Hadad swore the oath to Ahab that he would destroy Samaria so badly that there would be little dust left. Who won the battle?	1 Kings 20:10	Ahab defeated Ben-Hadad, but Ahab let Ben-Hadad return to Damascus to reverse the conditions to Ben-Hadad serving Ahab.  God wanted Ben-Hadad destroyed, and a prophet cursed Ahab for sparing Ben-Hadad.

Whether you did well on this quiz or, ummm, not so well, for the first video, here is Lydia Walker singing I Surrender All.

Here is Hearts Praise singing Not My Will, But Yours

Here is Hope Zora singing God, I Surrender All My Fears to You.

The Heidelberg Catechism asks whether there is any time when we can swear an oath to God.

The answer is “Yes.”  The oath must be reverently made.  It might be required by the government.  And the oath is binding.

The next question in the Heidelberg Catechism asks if we can swear by anything else.  The answer is “No.”  For God made everything else.  Nothing other than God is worthy of that honor.

But many people swear oaths during their lives that are reverently made, and sadly some of those same oaths are flippantly made to the person’s discredit.

I swore an oath to serve as an officer in the United States Army.  I swore to protect the Constitution.  There is no expiration date to that oath.

When I married my wife, I said the wedding vows.  I swore “until death do we part.”  My wife has been gone nearly three years, and somehow the vow still feels binding.

If you like these Saturday morning Bible quizzes, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Saturday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.