An oath is a self-maledictory promise. When one takes an oath, he promises to preserve the covenantal relationship and seals the promise with words that call a curse upon himself if he should fail to keep his promise. The curse of the covenant is death. Many Christians may not realize that a curse is part of the traditional Christian wedding vow. Another aspect of the traditional wedding vow illustrates the kind of commitment demanded in a covenant.
Marital love is self-sacrificial.
There is no basis for dissolving the relationship except when one of those who took the vow betrays it and undermins the whole relationship. Sickness, poverty, or an unpleasant person-ality cannot undo the oath. In marriage, each person takes an oath to give himself or herself sacrificially to the other, without thought of personal profit. His commitment to bless her cannot be shaken. But it is not in God's relationship with Israel that we see the full meaning of love, for the Bible does not unfold the full meaning of covenantal love until the coming of Christ.