(Numbers 30:1-16) 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 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 marry while 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 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.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
God takes vows very seriously. And at a quick glance it might not look like it, but He looks out for the interests and welfare of women and children, as well as the interests and welfare of marriages. As single adults, women had full rights to make vows and decisions, obviously able to think and act on their own behalf.
Besides marriage vows, I'm trying to think what these vows might have been, and then consider what some modern-day scenarios might be. A lot of people will ask God for help and then promise Him to do or not do certain things IF he answers their prayer/s. This could be one way. It would be a direct vow between a person and God, yet any vow made between people is done before God, and therefore it would carry the same weight.
Another example might be when we step up and say we are going to support various missionaries. If there isn't a term of commitment stated, I would then recommend letting a missionary know at least a year in advance that you would no longer be able to send your support money. And here's why...
Years ago, deciding to be a missionary, along with my parents, we all went on deputation in order to raise the necessary support. Once we reached the amount needed, we were on our way. Sadly, not too long after we were working in the field, several people decided that they weren't going to support us after all. But now we were "stuck" in a foreign country without means! It did hurt us financially, for sure. Not only were we there, committed to working for the mission full time, but being in a different country without a working visa, we were not able to earn any money.
All we could do was keep trusting the Lord, and carrying out the work that we had committed to doing. He saw to our needs, and years later blessed our sacrifices so that we could recoup what we lost. But I can see how not fulfilling a promise would not be a "good look" in the Lord's eyes. When one promises to do something and then decides not to follow through, the impact can be huge.
In the same way, if we make some sort of financial or time commitment without first discussing it with our spouse, there could be implications that we don't know about or haven't thought of. That, and put oneself in the other person's shoes! We probably wouldn't be too pleased that something had been decided without our input or knowledge. Making any rash decision is rarely a good idea! There are benefits in talking things over with other believers. And asking for God's wisdom and guidance is ALWAYS a brilliant idea!
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