Hebraic
Musing – How important is a vow? or Watch
what you promise.
Unfortunately, we’ve been
conditioned to not expect vows to be fulfilled, especially at election-time. But
"This is what the Lord commands:
When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a
pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.” Num.
30:1-2 NIV God goes to great lengths with His people to
emphasize the importance of keeping our vows, or pledges, or word. God knows
us; we’ll make vows in haste that will not be fulfilled. Leviticus chapter 27 deals with items vowed as
offerings to God (people, animals, houses, land and valuables). God knows that
we will often renege on our vows so he specifies a 20% penalty for not
fulfilling or redeeming as vowed. It’s His way of discouraging breaking of vows
by imposing “economic sanctions” to get our attention. Offering vows are
promises to worship God with certain offerings in the future, motivated by
gratitude to God, typically for grace He’s granted to the one making the
offering. Key point – these vows are voluntary responses motivated by love, not
law; for delight, not duty.
The words “vow/vows/vowed”
appear 85 times in the Bible. Here are classic and familiar examples:
·
Jacob
vowed to pay a tithe to God if He blesses him and takes care of him on the
journey. Gen.28:20
·
Samson
took the famous Nazarite vow in Judges 13 (defined in Num. 6).
·
Israelites
vowed to destroy the cities of the Canaanite King of Arad if God gave them
victory. Nu.21:1
·
Jephthah
made a tragic vow offering to God the first thing coming out of his tent to
greet him. Jg.11:29
·
Hannah
vowed that if God gave her a son, she would dedicate him to temple service for
life. 1 Sam 1
These offering vows were purely
voluntary and the objects became set apart as gifts the Israelites, and we, are
obligated to give to God. Vow-making was
and still is very common if we think about our word, pledges, promises and
marriage vows. So our Loving God has provided a way to break vows, but with a
punitive cost to discourage false and casual promises. He wants to teach us
that once a vow is made, it needs to be kept.
Deut.23:21-23 says “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do
not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you
and you will be guilty of sin. But if you refrain from making a vow, you will
not be guilty. Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you
made your vow freely to the Lord your God with your own mouth.” NIV That’s worth reading twice.
Lev.27 teaches four reasons for
us to be cautious when making vows. (1)
Do not be hasty; (2) Do not make foolish vows or say foolish things, like Jephthah’
s vow; (3) Realize that some vows cannot be reversed; (4) Teach men to do what
is right by making disobedience painful and costly with ‘economic sanctions.’ Sanctions
work i.e. traffic fines, withholding funds to nations and time-out for disobedient
children. Vows are legal agreements;
Lev.27 is the fine print we need to read and understand.
In the NT Jesus confirms the OT
in the Sermon on the Mount – "Again, you have
heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but
keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.'
But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven … or by the earth
… Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and
your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” NIV
Matt 5:33-37
In Lev 26 and Dt.27&28 God vowed
to provide blessings or curses based on the people’s respect for and obedience
to His Word. I think He meant it, and
still means it. Years ago, I made a vow
when I fell to my knees and said “Jesus Christ, you are real and I need to
learn more about you.” Have you ever
“…confessed with your mouth…Jesus…and believed…”? Was that a vow?
Points to ponder
How does being called “a man his word”
affect your ability to evangelize?
Are
there vows you have made but not yet fulfilled?
Is
there a vow you need to make? And keep?
Yosef a.k.a. Joe Brusherd May 27, 2014
