This chapter is about the guidelines around dedicating people and possessions to God for His service.
“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the Lord involving the valuation of persons… If the vow is an animal that may be offered as an offering to the Lord, all of it that he gives to the Lord is holy. When a man dedicates his house as a holy gift to the Lord… If a man dedicates to the Lord part of the land that is his possession, then the valuation shall be in proportion to its seed.’ ” (v1-2,9,14,16 abr)
Basically, someone could voluntarily dedicate themselves, a family member, or property to God’s service. If they wished to be released from that vow, they had to pay a price to buy back that which they gave to God. The steep buy-back price is kind of like the penalty we would pay for early withdrawal of a GIC or RRSP – you can cancel your long-term commitment, but it will cost you.
I realize the penalties here are literal/physical/financial/temporal, but I believe they are representative of the eternal penalties as well – choosing not to devote ourselves to God’s service will have some immediate, but mostly long-term consequences (potentially eternal separation from God).
For me, this is a reminder that everything belongs to God, and there’s a steep cost if we wish to deny that truth.
My suggestion for us today is to renew any broken vows we have made with God, and then keep them (by vows, I mean in the high-level sense such as “I will obey and follow You”, not in the granular sense such as “I will serve in the meal ministry”, because those surface commitments are the outflow of our deeper vows). The price of failing to keep our end of a vow with God, may last for eternity. I would not wish that upon anyone, not even an enemy.
Father God, thank you for being a God of understanding and forgiveness. Thank You for enabling us to live up to our vows, since we can’t seem to keep them on our own strength. Father thank You for the grace and mercy You extend when we fail to keep our vows, and for gently helping us get back on track. Father all honor, praise and glory be to You, the one whose faithfulness is steadfast, and whose love endures forever. Amen.
~ Conqueror in Training