REMEMBER TO KEEP YOUR VOWS

Have you ever taken a vow to God?

Did you remember to keep those vows?

Stop for just a moment and think about any time that you have promised God that you would do such and such if he would do such and such.

That would be taking a vow.

Think about all the times that you have stood in public and said those words “so help me God.”   That too would be a vow.

Are you married?  If so; you have given God a vow to honor that marriage.

Were you baptized?  If so; you have given a vow to God to keep the covenant of your baptism.

There are many ways that we all make vows to God.

Did you know that God has rules for making vows?  He does; and God is reminding Moses to remind the people about the details around making vows one last time before Moses dies.  It seems that this vow making business matters and is very important to God.

There is a difference between a “vow” and an “oath” though.

An oath imposes an obligation to the one making the oath.  If he took an oath when he made the vow; it must be fulfilled; no matter what.

A vow is a conditional promise; such as “if you will pay me; I will paint your house.”  That vow would obligate me to paint your house, but only if all of our conditions were met first.  The condition would be the fact that you must pay me to paint the house.  If you decide not to pay; I am not obligated to paint the house.  If I change my mind and don’t paint the house; you are not obligated to pay.  Until it is fulfilled by both parties; a vow is merely a promise.

Numbers Chapter 30 organizes the different ways of vow-making before God.

Basically; there are four types of vows that can be made.

A grown man making a vow is simple and straightforward.  A man makes a vow and a man is expected to keep the vow.  There is no way around keeping the vow unless the man has not yet reached the age of accountability.  If the grown man breaks a vow to God; he is considered to be committing a sin when he does.  Nothing is over-looked or ignored.  The man’s word is expected to hold.  A man’s “yes” must mean “yes” and a man’s “no” must mean “no.”  Men keep their vows.

Then there is the case of an unmarried girl who is still living under her father’s roof.  If such a young girl makes a vow and her father knows about it and doesn’t care; the vow should always stand.  However; if her father hears of the vow and disapproves; he can annul the vow.  She is still young and under his authority.  If she makes an unapproved by her father vow; and does not keep it out of obedience to her father; she is not considered to be in sin when the vow is broken.

Say a young girl made a vow to God and her father didn’t care and then she decides to marry.  Her new husband has the right to either allow the vow or ignore the vow.  When a young girl marries the authority before God for her welfare is transferred from her father to her husband.  In this case if the husband annuls her vow before God; she is not in sin.

A woman who is widowed or divorced and makes a vow before God is under her own authority.  She has no man to answer to; therefore she must keep her vow before God or she will be considered to be in sin if she breaks her vow.

Then there is the case of a grown but married woman who makes a vow before God.  If her husband knows about the vow and doesn’t annul it; she is obligated to keep her vow before God.  If she doesn’t keep it she is said to be in sin. In this case; if a husband has let his wife make an unwise decision in a vow that violates the laws of God and dishonors the family; he is considered to be in sin also.  He is always held accountable for the actions of his household.

God wasn’t suppressing or oppressing any certain people groups by putting a final emphasis on these rules of making vows.  The effort was being made here to keep people who made mistakes in making vows from suffering unfair abuse.

In the days of the wilderness wonderings, vows had become so popular among ancient Israel that a system of redeeming a vow, rather than performing it, was developed.

We can remember studying the redemption of the Levites, where a person was being given as a vow for service to the Lord.  Then a father could do this, but if a father dedicated their child to the service of the LORD in a vow and this service wasn’t needed and there was no real way for this service to happen due to the fact that the Levites were already appointed to serve and they were enough; the man who had made the vow could redeem back that vow for a set price.  The money was paid to the priesthood.  Usually it was known that this vow could not be fulfilled and it was considered to be a symbolic offering.

The way of making vows that could not be fulfilled opened the door for public abuse.  These circumstances were almost comparable to that of  a current day politician volunteering to pay for a certain service for the people when he had no authority to promise such a thing without the vote of the other members of the prevailing government.

Later in time we hear Jesus speak against making vows or pledges as being a generally fruitless activity because of the fact that while it may have been frivolous to the worshiper; it was serious business before God.   A vow before God was and still is no small thing.

God expressly commanded that Israel should be careful to keep their vows.  Through Moses God is reminding them of this before they cross over to live in the land of promise.