The Seriousness of Vows and the Character of God

Numbers Chapter 30: The Regulations of Vows

Numbers 30:1-16

Day 88. Ontario is dragging its feet. Churches re-opened but a number need a week or longer to be able to get ready to meet all the requirements. My wife still can’t get an appointment at her hair salon. At least up to ten people (from different families) can actually get together now – but I guess they still need to keep all the safety requirements. Meanwhile, Covid-19 global statistics continue to improve, and the mortality rate is now only 5.46% of all those that have been tested and were positive. [Or put another way, approx. ½ of 1/100 of 1 percent of the world population – not exactly a real pandemic in my view.]  While the world worries about all the permanent impacts this will have on our world, our economy, our cultures, etc., we press on with what really matters. And that is, knowing God and His word. Our study in Numbers, looking for scriptural gems continues. Thanks for joining us as we look at Numbers chapter 30.

The Passage

30 Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the word which the Lord has commanded. ² If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

³ “Also if a woman makes a vow to the Lord, and binds herself by an obligation in her father’s house in her youth, ⁴ and her father hears her vow and her obligation by which she has bound herself, and her father ^[a]says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand and every obligation by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁵ But if her father should forbid her on the day he hears of it, none of her vows or her obligations by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the Lord will forgive her because her father had forbidden her.
⁶ “However, if she should ^[b]marry while ^[c]under her vows or the rash statement of her lips by which she has bound herself, ⁷ and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day he hears it, then her vows shall stand and her obligations by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁸ But if on the day her husband hears of it, he forbids her, then he shall annul her vow which ^[d]she is under and the rash statement of her lips by which she has bound herself; and the Lord will forgive her.
⁹ “But the vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, everything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her. ¹⁰ However, if she vowed in her husband’s house, or bound herself by an obligation with an oath, ¹¹ and her husband heard it, but said nothing to her and did not forbid her, then all her vows shall stand and every obligation by which she bound herself shall stand. ¹² But if her husband indeed annuls them on the day he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning the obligation of herself shall not stand; her husband has annulled them, and the Lord will forgive her.
¹³ “Every vow and every binding oath to humble herself, her husband may confirm it, or her husband may annul it. ¹⁴ But if her husband indeed says nothing to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all her obligations which are on her; he has confirmed them, because he said nothing to her on the day he heard them. ¹⁵ But if he indeed annuls them after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt.”
¹⁶ These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses, as between a man and his wife, and as between a father and his daughter, while she is in her youth in her father’s house.

Footnotes

1. Numbers 30:4 Lit is silent to her, and so throughout the ch
2. Numbers 30:6 Lit be to a husband
3. Numbers 30:6 Lit her vows are on her
4. Numbers 30:8 Lit is on her

Thoughts on the Passage

Moses is still around even though Joshua has been appointed as the one to take over after Moses dies. And he calls the heads of the tribes together to give them what God has instructed with respect to any vows that is made a) to the Lord, and b) the person with an obligation.

Before we proceed, it may be worth our while to get a decent definition of the word ‘vow’. Generally, we find that it means to make a solemn promise to do a specified thing. It also means to make oneself be dedicated to someone or something, especially a deity.

Do you ever wonder why God says certain things to Moses at certain times? I do. Why on earth does the topic of vows come up here and now, following a chapter or two on offerings and special days? Matthew Henry proposes this idea: he suggests that since God’s instructions regarding vows in this chapter are presented to the leaders of the various tribes, it is possible that an issue had arisen with respect to vows and the leaders had asked Moses to settle it, and he in turn, went to God. That is a possibility. We do not know. Nor does it matter – but it does help to explain the order and timing of these things.

So, the first instruction is really the bottom line and it is addressed primarily to men [“If a man makes a vow. . . vs. 2] – you vow, you don’t violate that vow, and you do according to what you voiced you would in your vow.

Chuck Smith points out that elsewhere the Bible tells us that it is better not to vow at all than to vow and to break it (Ecclesiastes 5:5). Also, Smith reminds us that vows, even to God, are always voluntary. There’s no requirement to make a vow. Think of marriage vows. Or think of a vow a Catholic nun may make.

Smith also reminds us that some vows in the Bible were really unfortunate ones and ended up tragically. One excellent example is the one made by Jephthah in Judges 11:30-40.

Then God turns His attention to the vows of women. First to those who make vows while still in their father’s household. Her vow stands if her father hears it and says nothing. But if he objects and forbids it, the young woman is freed from her vows.

If we rush past this part of the passage quickly, we’ll miss something very important about the character and values of God Himself. First, God is aware that oftentimes young people make rash vows that are not always in their best interests. He created us and thus He knows us well.  Secondly, He instituted the family unit and values the role of the father in that unit. So, if dad forbids the vow, it no longer stands. God is not interested here in having a young maiden overrule the head of the family.

Robert Jamieson tells us that according to Jewish writers, the rules of vows that pertain between a father and a daughter also included vows made by male children that were minors. That makes sense to me. And is easy to think of examples were a clever lad may make some oath to someone, or God, and give the farm away to the dismay of his parents. Well, I’m sure dad would have something to say about that. And the wonderful thing is that God understands that.

Then God describes what happens if the girl’s father is okay with the vow, but then she gets married. Now if her husband hears of her vows and does not object, then her obligation to the Lord stands. But if when he hears her vows, he forbids her to adhere to them, they are annulled, and she is forgiven by the Lord.

In verse 9, God deals with a widow or a divorced woman and indicates that her personal vows, and I am assuming (based on verses 10-12) that means if not nullified earlier by her father or husband as per the earlier verses, are still valid and remain her obligation, even though she may return to live with her father’s family.

Verse 14 tells us that awareness of the vows by the husband and his subsequent silence, keeps them in place. But then verse 15 says, if he hears them and then annuls them – “he bears her guilt”. What does that mean? David Guzik says, “If the husband confirmed his wife's vow (either specifically or by silence), then he was responsible to make sure the vow was fulfilled”, otherwise he himself is just as guilty.

Now some students of this chapter may be asking themselves as I did, “Why would God only address the vows of women here?”. Well, I’ve always believed that when one has a question about something in the Bible, just keep reading ahead or go back and read what came before, and the answer will show up.  Or put another way, “scripture answers scripture”. And that it does here as well. In verse 16 we read that these specific statutes were intended to be between a man and his wife, or between a father and his unmarried daughter. Well, what about men and their vows? Read back to verse 2 of the chapter.  Men have no option – the cardinal rule of making an oath applies to them. Their daddies can’t get them out of it, nor t heir grand-daddies, and neither can their wives. There’s no room for making insincere or rash vows to God for men. So, ladies, before you go on about God being unfair to women, think again – here’s another case where, in His benevolence, and His desire, to maintain the family unit – first between husband and wife, and secondly between father and child – allows grace in the case of vows that need to changed or annulled for women.

The question also arises here as to whether or not Christians should ever make oaths. Some take Matthew 5:34-37 as their rationale and say Jesus was forbidding oaths or vows. David Guzik says a closer look at that passage and a review of the rest of scripture may suggest that this passage was really not forbidding vows or oaths, but promoting that we live a life of total integrity (let our yes be yes and our no be no) so that vows and oaths become unnecessary in daily living. Having said that, we are reminded that Jesus answered under oath in a court (Matthew 26:63-64), and God Himself swears oaths (Luke 1:73, Acts 2:30, Hebrews 3:18, 6:13, 17).

There are more lessons for us to consider or gems to gather. Henry suggests we need to be careful that we don’t make vows we can’t keep out a zeal for God that we cannot maintain. Again, best not to have made it. Secondly, sometimes we make vows or oaths out of shame for a sin that we have committed. I understand the psychology involved and the urge to feel that you are paying for your sin, but woe to you or me, if we can’t keep that vow. Better to just repent and do all we can not to repeat the sin.

Thirdly, we should consider some benefits of making reasonable vows. For example, if I were a gambling man, I’d lose a lot of money. I’d probably at some point promise my wife (not to mention God) that I would never gamble again. That vow or promise may well keep me from sinning that way in the future. You can place in that example any sort of vice that is a greater temptation to you. If you have any self-respect, any love for your wife, and any desire to please God, that vow not to be involved in _________ again, can well help you.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to watch a 2018 documentary entitled “American [Christ Alone] Gospel”.  I highly recommend it for Christians – it may be too confusing for non-Christians. Anyway, one of the many things that I learned was the entire Bible only has one Hero in it – God. And while our Sunday School teachers may have taught us otherwise, as adults we need to read every story looking for how God (or His Son or the Holy Spirit) stars in it and no one else. So, I decided yesterday that often we miss the real point of a passage of Scripture, because we are caught up with the action that took place in it, rather than how God was being presented and glorified in it.

With that in mind, we can then ask ourselves, what does this passage tell me about God and how does it confirm His character and attributes in a way that makes me want to love Him more and serve Him better?

For me, Numbers 28 points out our God is a serious God and we are not play games with Him. And it points out that our God is a loving God who often gives us an out when we act rashly because of brevity in years and the experiences that go with it.

I’d love it if you shared what this passage tells you about God. Thanks for joining us.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.