Chapter 6
Oaths and Covenants
God, willing more abundantly to shew
unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath.
—Hebrews 6:16–17
Foundational to the priesthood is a covenant with God. The Melchizedek Priesthood has a covenant associated with it and is also accompanied by an oath. Oaths and covenants are pledges or vows that guarantee the future behavior of the participant. In the case of a priesthood holder, this covenant with God should change him forever. His priesthood covenant is something he should prepare for, learn about, clearly understand, and absolutely honor.
Oaths are intended to guide an individual’s behavior. An account from the remarkable Lewis and Clark expedition is instructive. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led forty-three others from St. Louis up the Missouri River on a 7,700-mile journey to the Pacific Ocean. In 1804, they encountered the Yankton Sioux, a group of Native Americans who had virtually no contact with the outside world. In his book Undaunted Courage, author Stephen Ambrose provides a journal entry Captain Clark made on August 27, 1804, describing a group of braves: “They stayed by themselves, [are] fond of mirth, and assume a degree of superiority, [they are] stout likely fellows.”
The reason they stood out was that they had made a vow “never to give back, let the danger be what it may.” In other words, they would never retreat in battle. While their vow may not always have been strategically wise, their commitment to that vow made them different from the other tribe members.1 They identified themselves with this pledge. In many ways, the pledge dictated their futures. If they failed to fulfill it, everyone would know.
The scriptures offer many examples of individuals whose lives were changed because they made a promise. Nephi, for instance, gave his word with an oath to Laban’s servant Zoram that he need not fear, that he would be a free man if he went into the wilderness with Lehi’s group. Because of the oath, Zoram took courage. After Zoram made an oath that he would stay with the group, the fears concerning him ceased (see 1 Nephi 4:32–37). Nephi’s oath was an attestation that he would abide by his commitment to allow Zoram to be treated as a free man. Zoram’s oath was a pledge that he would not seek to return to Jerusalem. Their standing with each other was established.
The importance of an oath was also shown when the Lamanite armies under their chief captain, Zerahemnah, were surrounded by Captain Moroni’s army. The Lamanites were given an opportunity to leave if they would covenant not to fight anymore. Zerahemnah initially refused to take the oath because he knew he would break it (see Alma 44). Zerahemnah was asked to pledge his honor in the form of an oath. The purpose of the oath was to change Zerahemnah’s behavior.
An oath had a similar impact on the people of Ammon in the Book of Mormon. These people made a covenant to never take up arms again, even in their own defense. Their loyalty to the covenant defined them. On one occasion, when they were about to break that oath and fight in their own defense, their priesthood leader, Helaman—who himself would take up arms in the defense of the people—dissuaded them from doing so.
They had taken an oath that they never would shed blood more. . . .
But it came to pass that when they saw the danger, and the many afflictions and tribulations which the Nephites bore for them, they were moved with compassion and were desirous to take up arms in the defence of their country.
But behold, as they were about to take their weapons of war, they were overpowered by the persuasions of Helaman and his brethren, for they were about to break the oath which they had made.
And Helaman feared lest by so doing they should lose their souls. (Alma 53:11, 13–15)
How can breaking an oath, especially when it seems rational and expedient to do so, jeopardize one’s soul? Because a covenant or an oath is a pledge of self. This concept is the central plot in a 1960 play, A Man for All Seasons.2 In his preface to the play, playwright Robert Bolt indicates that some will wonder why he “takes as his hero a man who brings about his own death because he cannot put his hand on an old black book and tell an ordinary lie.” The play is set in England when Henry VIII is on the throne. Sir Thomas More, a counselor to the king, has been loyal to Henry VIII. The king has proposed an act of succession that would allow him to separate from the Catholic church and become the head of the church in England. When Henry VIII requires his subjects to accept his proposal and swear allegiance to him, More refuses.
Sir Thomas More greatly loved the Catholic Church and was loyal to the Vatican Papacy. In the introduction to his play, Bolt answers the question as to why he would take such a man to be the hero. He says: “For this reason—a man takes an oath only when he wants to commit himself quite exceptionally to the statement, when he wants to make an identity between the truth of it and his own virtue; he offers himself as a guarantee. And, it works. There is a special kind of a shrug for a perjurer; we feel that a man has no self to commit, no guarantee to offer.”
In the play, Sir Thomas More is jailed and his wife, daughter, and son-in-law come to visit. Sir Thomas’s daughter, Meg, has agreed to try to persuade her father to speak the oath to the act of succession while in his heart thinking otherwise.
More explains to his daughter: “When a man takes an oath, Meg, he is holding his own self in his hands. Like water. And if he opens his fingers then—he needn’t hope to find himself again. Some men aren’t capable of this, but I’d be loathe to think your father one of them.”
Sir Thomas More equates his oath with his identity and thereby defines himself. When a man makes this kind of promise, he is totally pledged to fulfilling it. Breaking the oath diminishes who he is, jeopardizing his very soul. The same is true for a priesthood holder who makes a covenant with God.
In Hebrews, Paul relates the historical precedent of God swearing oaths. Regarding the Abrahamic covenant, the scripture reads:
For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. (Hebrews 6:16–20; emphasis added)
While an oath may be defined in various ways, in this context, it is a solemn witness or declaration that God sincerely intends to do what He says. He makes a solemn attestation of the inviolability of His promises.
The terms oath and covenant are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are not interchangeable when viewed in the context of the oath and covenant of the priesthood. The word covenant is of Latin origin, con venire, and literally means a “coming together.” In the context of the priesthood, a “covenant” is a coming together or an agreement between God and man. It presupposes that God and man come together to make a contract, to agree on promises, stipulations, privileges, and responsibilities.
The Bible Dictionary entry for “Covenant” offers this insight: “It is important to notice that the two parties to the agreement do not stand in the relation of independent and equal contactors. God in His good pleasure fixes the terms, which man accepts.” There is an inequality between the parties of the agreement. God initiates, determines the elements, and confirms His covenant. Priesthood holders are called on to accept the agreement as offered.
A covenant made in this manner is immutable and unchangeable. It anchors the soul; it creates a steadfast and sure foundation for future expectations. Jesus Christ became a high priest forever through a covenant with God the Father. God the Father then confirmed His covenant by an oath (see Psalm 110:1, 4).
Heavenly Father still uses covenants with priesthood holders today. But in the conferral of the Melchizedek Priesthood, He actually makes an oath to cement the relationship between Him and man. This covenant is so solemn that only when a priesthood holder is ready to commit himself to God and His work is he ready for the Melchizedek Priesthood.
Notes