Numbers 30
Men never break a vowverses 1-2
And Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes concerning the
children of Israel – saying
This is the thing which the LORD has commanded
IF a man vow a vow unto the LORD
or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond
He shall NOT break his word
he shall do according to all that proceeded
out of his mouth
Young woman’s vow – fatherverses 3-5
IF a woman also vow a vow to the LORD
and bind herself by a bond
being in her father’s house in her youth
And her father hear her vow
and her bond wherewith she has bound her soul
and her father shall hold his peace at her
THEN all her vows shall stand
and every bond wherewith she has
bound her soul shall stand
BUT IF her father disallow her in the day that he hears
not any of her vows
or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound
her soul – shall stand – and the LORD shall FORGIVE her
because her father disallowed her
Young woman’s vow – future husbandverses 6-8
And IF she had at all a husband – when she vowed
or uttered aught out of her lips
wherewith she bound her soul
And her husband heard it
and held his peace at here in the day that he heard it
THEN her vows shall stand
and her bonds wherewith she bound
her soul shall stand
BUT IF her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it
THEN he shall make her vow which she vowed
and that which she uttered with her lips
wherewith she bound her soul – of NONE EFFECT
and the LORD shall FORGIVE her
Vow of a Widow or Divorced womanverse 9
BUT every vow of a widow – and of her that is divorced
wherewith you have bound their souls
shall stand against her
Married woman’s vow – husbandverses 10-15
AND IF she vowed in her husband’s house
or bound her soul by a bond with an oath
And her husband heard it – and held his peace at her
and disallowed here not THEN all her vows shall stand
and every bond wherewith she bound
her soul shall stand
BUT IF her husband has utterly made them void
on the day he heard them
THEN whatsoever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows
or concerning the bond of her soul – shall NOT STAND
her husband has made them void
and the LORD shall FORGIVE her
Every vow – and every binding oath to AFFLICT the soul
her husband may establish it
or her husband may make it void
BUT IF her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day
THEN he establishes all her vows – or all her bonds
which are on her – he confirms them
BECAUSE he held his peace at her in the day
that he heard them
BUT IF he shall any ways make them void
after that he has heard them
THEN he shall bear her iniquity
LORD’s regulations regarding vowsverse 16
These are the statutes which the LORD commanded Moses
between a man and his wife
between the father and his daughter
being yet in her youth in her father’s house
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 2 If a man vow a vow to the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. (5088 “vow” [neder] means to promise, to do or give something to God, or if not kept would bring dishonor)
DEVOTION: Promises, promises, promises. Too often we tell our children we will do something and then don’t do it. Too often we tell our spouse or friends we will do something and then don’t do it. There is a generation of people who don’t think that their word needs to be kept. We have a religion that tells those who follow it that it is OK to lie to those who are not followers of that religion. Lying is a sin in the Bible.
God doesn’t like HIS followers to say they will do something and then not do it. In fact, there is a penalty to those who lie to God. In this chapter we find that some people are not responsible for saying they will do something and then not do it.
The group that can do this are women who are living under the roof of their father or women who are married or engaged to be married. The rules regarding the giving of a promise to God are recorded in this chapter. When a man makes a promise to God it is to be kept. When a woman makes a promise to God, the father or husband can make the promise void. This was an act of submission.
The young daughter was not obligated to keep a vow made in haste if her father thought it was wrong. The wife was not obligated if she made a vow, if her husband canceled it.
One of the things that happen when we get into trouble is that we promise God that if HE will get us out of the trouble we will do something. HE ends the trouble but we don’t keep our promise to HIM. We need to keep our word to God.
We should not promise something to God if we don’t intend to keep our promise. When we give our word to God we should keep it. Are we maturing in our faith in relation to keeping our word to the LORD? Are we applying the truths we learn from the Word of God to our lives? We did promise to make HIM LORD and SAVIOR in our lives. IF HE is LORD and SAVIOR, then it would follow that we would keep HIS word.
CHALLENGE: Ask yourself what you meant when you promised the LORD your life. How are you doing on this promise? How much time are you spending with HIM?
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 4 And her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she has bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she has bound her soul shall stand. (631 “bound” [’acar] means bind, prison, tie, harness, obligation of oath, yoke, or swear)
DEVOTION: Remember that women were given in marriage at a very young age. This means that a daughter living in her father’s house would be just a teenager or younger when she swear an oath to do something.
The father was the authority in the home according to the LORD. He had to answer for all the training of his children. Many times the daughters were trained by the mother under the supervision of the father.
So we find that is his teenage daughter makes a sudden promise to do something and he considers it wrong for her to make such a promise he can make the promise null and void before the LORD with no repercussions.
Her promise was not to be kept. If the father thought the promise was something that would be good he could say nothing and it was binding on her to keep her promise to the LORD.
God holds us accountable for every word that comes out of our mouth. The good words and the bad words are judged by the LORD. HE expects HIS followers to produce good fruit which would include our words.
We should watch what we say because HE is listening and so is the world that doesn’t love HIM. They judge Christianity by what they hear coming from the mouths of believers.
CHALLENGE: Fathers take your responsibility seriously. Protect your daughters from saying things that would hurt them rather than help them in their growth in the LORD.
: 6 And if she had at all an husband, when she vowed, or uttered aught out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul (4008 “uttered aught out of” [mibta’] means thoughtless speech, an utterance that is made without thought, rash utterance, rash promise, hasty vow, words spoken in a foolishness or undisciplined manner or imprudent oath)
DEVOTION: Young people make promises without thinking at times. They feel they are obligated to keep whatever they said as a young lady. Remember we are talking about teenage girls promising God they will do something that they might not be able to do in the future.
Today we need young girls to pledge or promise to be virgins until they marry. This is a promise that would be good for young girls and boys to make. Too often they give in to social pressure to be like everyone else. This is wrong and they need to be taught that this is wrong by their parents.
Now we are talking about something that is promised before a woman is married and then she gets married. Some have promised to be missionaries. Some have promised other things that seemed good at the time. This has happened for centuries in many countries.
In the Jewish community the LORD gives the husband permission to cancel any promise that was made before marriage if it is not in keeping with what he thinks the LORD wants for his wife.
Here we have a rash promise given to the LORD that no one would expect to be kept once they matured in their understanding of what the LORD expects of them. We need to guard our words throughout our life. Parents need to make sure that their children don’t make promises they can’t keep because they might think that if they couldn’t keep one promise all the other promises don’t matter.
CHALLENGE: Teach that what we promise God is important but we need to be careful what we promise. Some promises are not good.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 7 And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it; then her vows shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. (632 “bonds” [‘ecar] means binding, vow of abstinence, a binding commitment to do or give or refrain from something, pledge, keep in confinement, or obligation)
DEVOTION: Under the Old Testament the husband in a marriage can cancel out something a wife has promised the LORD. This is to prevent something done in haste. If a wife says she will do something when she is in a hurry or mad or thinking it is something that the LORD would be pleased with it has to be approved by the husband.
If the husband approves than she can keep her vow. If he doesn’t approve than she will have to not fulfil what she has promised to the LORD.
Today we find that it is more of an agreement between a husband and wife. They should talk over any decision that is made by either one of them. This is no always easy but it should be done as often as things work out between them.
There are times today when the husband is not a believer and the wife is a believer. The wife will feel the obligation to serve the LORD in the local church but the husband might want her home instead. This has to be brought to the LORD for extra prayer by the wife and by the congregation that she is a member of to see what would be pleasing to the LORD and what would also help the husband become a believer.
We live in a world that teaches today that men and women can just do whatever they want whether they are married or not. The wife can’t tell the husband what to do and the husband can’t tell the wife what to do. These are not Biblical principles but worldly principles.
If both the husband and wife are saved, they need to take time to pray involving any decision made in the home. It is not easy but the LORD will honor Christians who genuinely want to do the LORD’S will in their marriage.
CHALLENGE: The LORD wants us to be agreeable with each other in our married life. There should not be bitterness or envy in a marriage.
: 9 But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her. (1644 “divorced” [garash] means to drive out, cast out, to be unmarried as a result of having a previous marriage dissolved, to expel, to put away, banish, or remove)
DEVOTION: These two types of women have no recourse but to keep their promises to the LORD or bring a sin offering to the Tabernacle for breaking a vow.
The LORD is not general in HIS commands HE is specific regarding these two groups of women.
The widow has lost her husband to death and she makes a promise to God to do something for HIM. It might be to serve HIM in the area of the Tabernacle and she must keep her vow. She might vow to be single the rest of her life and this has to be kept as well.
The divorced woman falls into the same category because she is not under the authority of a husband whatever she says she will do she must do.
The warning here is that these two groups of women had to make a special effort not to promise the LORD something they couldn’t do because the LORD held them accountable for their promises with no one to rescind their promise.
Every word we say needs to be examined before we say it because we can cause ourselves much grieve for saying things that later we realize shouldn’t have been said to the LORD.
CHALLENGE: HE keeps HIS word ALWAYS. HE wants us to be holy like HIM and keep our word too.
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Afflict the soulverse 13
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Commandedverse 1
Statutesverse 16
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD (Jehovah)verses 1-3, 5, 8, 12, 16
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Iniquityverse 15
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Vow a vowverse 2
Swear an oathverse 2
Forgiveverses 5, 8, 12
Afflict the soulverse 13
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Mosesverses 1, 16
Heads of the tribesverse 1
Children of Israelverse 1
Father/ daughter relationships regarding vowsverses 3-5, 16
Held his peace
Disallow
Husband/ wife relationships regarding vowsverses 6-8, 10-16
Held his peace
Disallowed
Husband confirms vow
Widows/ Divorced women regarding vowsverse 9
Stand against her
Husband/ wife regarding vowsverses 10-15
Husband bears her iniquity
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
DONATIONS:
Remember that all donations to Small Church Ministries are greatly appreciated. The treasurer will send a receipt, at the end of the year unless otherwise requested. Please be sure to make check out to “Small Church Ministries.” The address for the treasurer is P.O. Box 604, East Amherst, New York 14051. A second way to give to the ministry is through PayPal on the website: www.smallchurchministries.org Also if you can support this ministry through your local church please use that method. Thank you.
QUOTES regarding passage
The term “vow” (neder) carries connotations of the verbal act of commitment to a task or to consecration of self or property to the Lord, sacrificial offerings (votive) as part of the obligation, or an oath of abstinence (e.g., Nazirite). A parallel term “pledge” (neder) occurs together with “vow” fourteen times in this chapter. T. W. Cartledge distinguishes between “vows” and “obligations” (NIV “oath to obligate”), defining the former as “a conditional promise, made in the context of petitionary prayer,” and the latter as “an oath of abnegation.” Terms of swearing and oath taking are not precise synonyms because they derived from a different Sitz im Leben and can have as its indirect object something or someone other than God. Biblical vows were made only to deity, intensifying the solemnity of the pledge. (Cole, R. D. (2000). Numbers (Vol. 3B, pp. 482–483). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
30:1–8. If an individual made a vow (neḏer, a promise to do something) or a pledge (’issār, a promise not to do something), he must keep it without equivocation (vv. 1–2). If an unmarried daughter made such a promise without contrary counsel from her father, she must keep it (vv. 3–4). If her father forbade her, however, her promise was null and void (v. 5). If she were married, her husband would bear the same kind of authority over her in such matters (vv. 6–8). (Merrill, E. H. (1985). Numbers. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 250). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
If the young woman entered into a vow or took an oath that she might not be able to fulfill or one that might cause hardship or embarrassment to the family, the patriarch could cancel the obligation. If he rescinded the vow, then she was released by God from her promise (sālaḥ, “forgive, pardon”). (Cole, R. D. (2000). Numbers (Vol. 3B, pp. 483–484). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
The terminology of v. 6, “utter a rash promise” (mibtāʾ śĕpāteyhā, “rashness of her lips”), implies the possible immature vow that might be made by a young woman or girl. (Cole, R. D. (2000). Numbers (Vol. 3B, p. 484). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
A woman who was no longer under the patriarchal authority of her father or her husband, whether by his death or by divorce, possessed the same status and responsibility of a man with regard to vows and obligations. Women were afforded a significant position in Israelite society, for they were permitted to buy and sell property, negotiate contracts, operate businesses, and make vows and pledges (Num 27:7; 36:8). That widows and divorcees are classified together implies that in the functional relationship, the former husband of the latter was viewed as if he were dead, like the late husband of the widow. Cole, R. D. (2000). Numbers (Vol. 3B, pp. 484–485). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
30:9–16. A widow or divorcee must stand by her vow in the same way as a man (v. 9). If a husband waited for a period of time after his wife made a vow, he must bear any guilt involved in nullifying it (vv. 10–15). That is, after an indeterminate period the vow was in force and could be abrogated only by an appropriate sin offering (Lev. 5:4–13). (Merrill, E. H. (1985). Numbers. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 250). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
Hannah, Samuel’s mother, provides a classic example of a woman who took upon herself a Nazirite vow of dedication and self-denial, which Elkanah her husband allowed to come to fulfillment by taking no action. Her vow was completed when she presented her son to Eli the priest for service of the Lord and offered sacrifices of bull, flour, and wine (1 Sam 1:3–28). In the New Testament, Jesus disparaged oaths that were detrimental to the well-being of others (Matt 15:3–9) and encouraged his followers to speak in resolute manner and avoid ambiguity (Matt 5:33–37; cf. Jas 5:12). (Cole, R. D. (2000). Numbers (Vol. 3B, p. 486). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
The point is that a woman was under the authority of her father or her husband, and he could nullify her vow. She did not have an absolute right in this matter. If a widow, however, who was not under a man’s authority, made a vow, she was bound by it. The NT requires Christian wives to submit to their husbands in the same way as Sarah submitted to Abraham, calling him ‘her master’ (Eph. 5:24; 1 Pet. 3:1–7). This is widely contradicted today, which only confirms the truth of Scripture (2 Tim. 4:3; cf. Pr. 31:10; Ec. 7:28) and provides a telling comment on the present age (2 Tim. 3:1–9). The NT teaching is sound in this matter and does not permit husbands to become overbearing. Rather, it commands the deepest love and self-sacrifice towards their wives, but only within the proper bounds of Scripture and never to the point of abdicating their biblical authority (Eph. 5:25–33). (Carson, D. A., France, R. T., Motyer, J. A., & Wenham, G. J. (Eds.). (1994). New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., p. 193). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.)
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
The CHURCH in an Age of CRISIS by James Emery White
A few years ago, I was listening to public radio and heard an interview with a juvenile court judge. He said that in his court, he had seen violent juvenile crimes triple over recent years. The reporter asked him why he thought that was happening. He replied, “First, kids lost the admiration of authority. Then, they lost respect for authority. Now, they’ve lost the fear of authority.” (p. 82)
The value system of autonomous individualism maintains that each person is independent in terms of destiny and accountability. (p. 82)
Intriguingly, Thomas Oden notes that this is the force behind the idea of heresy: The “key to hairesis (root word for heresy) is the notion of choice – choosing for oneself, over against the apostolic tradition.” (p. 82)
As Andrew Keen, the founder of the world’s largest privately owned public relations company, observed, “In this era of exploding media technologies there is no truth except the truth you create for yourself. The Silicon Valley entrepreneur calls it the “great seduction” … [the] chilling reality in this brave new digital epoch is the blurring, obfuscation, and even disappearance of truth. (p. 82)
MARKS OF A PERSON OF THE SPIRIT
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
The greatest test is that the true Spirit always glorifies Christ. Christ is always in the center; He is always given the preeminence. And the true prophet is not the man who talks about experiences and visions and what he has done and seen, but about Christ. And when you have heard Him you do not say, “What a wonderful man”; you say, “What a wonderful Savior!” You do not say, “What a wonderful experience this man has had”; you say, “Who is the Man of whom the Spirit is speaking?” The attraction is to Christ; the Spirit glorifies Christ.
I now mention what I believe to be the perfect balance in this matter. “God,” said Paul to Timothy “hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). This is discipline, balance. The man who has the Holy Spirit is the man who always manifests balance and proportion. “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18); there is power and balance, but no excess. Speak one at a time, says Paul to the people of Corinth. “But,” they say, “we cannot. Isn’t that quenching the Spirit?” “No,” says Paul; “let all things be done…in order” (see 1 Corinthians 14:40). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of order, not of disorder. Doctrine and love are required; experience and power, intellect and mind—the whole person is involved and functions as this perfectly balanced body with no schism, with no rivalry and competition, but with the whole manifesting and ministering unto the glory of the Lord and Sa vior, Jesus Christ. Make sure the Spirit of God is in you, and then make sure that it is the Spirit of God and not some false, evil spirit to whom you are listening.
A Thought to Ponder The greatest test is that the true Spirit always glorifies Christ.
(From The Love of God, p. 24, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones).
Mortify Your Fleshly Members
“Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” (Colossians 3:5)
This imperative command is very important for the twice-born. It is nothing less than an active execution of passionate, evil deeds born from the lusts of the flesh. “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8:13). The list that follows is unyielding.
Fornication (porneia) includes all deviant and extramarital sex (Leviticus 18:6-23; Romans 1:26-28).
Uncleanness (akatharsia) references that which is “dirty; foul, wanton, or lewd” (Ephesians 4:17-19).
Inordinate affection (pathos) is a word used only of homosexuality (Romans 1:26; 1 Thessalonians 4:5).
Evil desire (epithumia) describes evil cravings (1 Peter 4:3; Jude 1:17-19).
Covetousness (pleonexia) is simply greediness that is idolatry (2 Peter 2:12-14; 1 Thessalonians 2:5).
This evil behavior will surely bring the “wrath of God…against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18). That judgment will be carried out on such people because of an impenitent heart that is “treasuring up” the “righteous judgment of God” (Romans 2:5-6).
The most startling fact of this behavior is that those who willfully participate in it know “the judgment of God” and that “they which commit such things are worthy of death.” Not only does this behavior signify a rebellious heart but also an open desire to “have pleasure in them” (Romans 1:32).
“Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 5:6).
(HMM III, The Institute for Creation Research)
Visit our Facebook page for Small Church Ministries – please invite others to join us on Facebook. Thank you. Look for the logo from the devotionals.