This chapter outlines vows and their importance.
“Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, saying, ‘This is what the Lord has commanded. If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. If a woman vows a vow to the Lord and binds herself by a pledge, while within her father’s house in her youth, and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. But if her father opposes her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. And the Lord will forgive her, because her father opposed her.’ ” (v1-5)
Vows (promises, commitments) were taken very seriously (and still are by many people). Anyone who made a vow was held to it, though there were two exceptions. Women who made vows were able to be released from them by their father (if they still lived with their parents) or by their husband (not quoted above). If they were not released from their vow by their father/husband on the day the vow was made known, then they had to uphold it. Men, it seems, have no way out of their promises, no matter how foolish the vow is…
One of God’s strongest attributes is His trustworthiness/integrity – the fact that He keeps His promises/vows/covenants. If we are made in God’s image (which we are), and we are to follow Jesus’ example in this world (which which are), then we too need to be people of our word.
Note: I realize the context of this scripture says “vows to the Lord”, though I’m going to suggest that vows we make to other people (who are God’s image bearers) are just as important to keep. Keeping vows to other people, as well as God, helps maintain our Christ-follower reputation. Those of the world will hardly think twice about breaking promises, so this characteristic helps set us apart from those of the world.
Of course for those of us who have broken promises (I’m not sure about you, but I have) we are forgiven through Jesus’ all-encompassing sacrifice. Does that mean we should continue breaking promises/vows going forward? No, of course not.
My challenge for today is to only make vows/promises/commitments that we are going to keep, and then keep them. I know it sometimes requires personal sacrifice to keep our promises, yet the fruit of fulfilling our word is trustworthiness and integrity. It’s worth keeping our word if we want the trust of those around us and we want to witness to them for the glory of God.
Father God, Almighty One, holy and awesome is Your name. Thank you for setting examples for us to follow, and thank you for teaching us Your ways. We wish to honor and serve You in all that we say and do, so please help us to be people of our word. Please give us the strength to keep our good promises, and confess our foolishness when we need to break our poor promises (those not in alignment with Your word). Jesus please guide us and be our salvation when we fail. Amen.
~ Conqueror in Training