“When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself to a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.”
~ Numbers 30:2
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you keep your word? Do you do what you say that you will do? Are you integrity minded kids? Have you ever made a promise? Have you ever made a pledge? Have you ever made a vow? Have you ever told a kid friend that you will keep the secret that your kid friend has told you? Ask your dad if he has ever made a money pledge to give a monthly gift for someone or for something. Have you made a vow to God that you will always do everything with integrity, veracity and honor? If one of your kid friends has asked you to keep a secret that he or she has told you and you promised to keep the secret by not telling another kid the secret, have you ever broken the promise that you made to your kid friend to keep his or her secret by telling another kid your kid friend’s secret? If your dad has made a pledge to give a monthly gift for someone or for something, ask your dad if he has ever broken that pledge by discontinuing to donate the monthly gifts for someone or for something that he had pledged to do. If you have made a vow to God – such as promising or vowing to God that you will read the Bible every day, have you ever broken the vow that you made to God by stopping doing what you told God that you will day every day? Do you think that it is okay to tell another kid friend the secret that another kid friend told you not to tell another kid? Do you think that it is okay for your dad to randomly stop fulfilling a pledge for someone or for something? Do you think that it is okay to snub your nose at God by not honoring a vow that you made to Him to do something every day for Him?
You probably will lose a kid friend if you pass on the kid friend’s secret that he or she told you not to tell to another kid and you promised that you would not but you did anyway. Your dad will probably experience a sense of guilt even though he will have more discretionary money for whatever he wants to do if he impulsively or arbitrarily stops honoring a pledge that he made to give a monthly gift for someone or for something. God – even though He exudes grace and mercy, takes very seriously a vow made to Him by one of His Christ-follower adopted kids so when one of His Christ-follower adopted kids no longer honors a vow that he or she made to Him, . . . Numbers 30 is Moses’ vow treatise for God’s specially chosen guys and gals – who are the Israelite people group guys and gals. This chapter’s primary focus is on how an Israelite people group gal can get out from under a vow that she made to God. An Israelite people group gal might vow to God that she will only serve Him versus getting married one day. Even though this Israelite gal people group gal might feel very strongly about her relationship with God, her vow to only serve Him versus getting married might be a rash vow as her dad might have another hope for his kid – such as having her marry an Israelite people group guy who would like to marry his kid. If the Israelite people groups gal’s dad had not known before about his daughter’s vow to God to only serve Him and not get married, the gal’s dad per the Levitical Law can nullify her vow to release her from the vow that his kid made to God and it will be okay. If the Israelite people group gal tells her dad about her vow and if he does nothing about nullifying the vow to release her from the vow, the gal will be obligated to the vow that she made to God. If an Israelite people group gal has made a vow to God – such as to never drink wine and she gets married, the gal’s husband – if he finds out about the vow, can nullify the vow to release his wife from the vow or he can do nothing which would mean that his wife would continue to be obligated to her vow. If the Israelite people group husband opts to nullify the vow to release his wife from her vow, the guy has to do it at the moment that he finds out about the vow otherwise he will be liable for his wife’s guilt of breaking the vow – if she breaks it, that she had made to God. Having a marriage relationship that is God centered and built on trust trumps any vow that a gal has made to God. Israelite people group guys had a higher standard in keeping any vow that they made. Verse 2 says, “When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself to a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.”
When a guy or gal is on a witness stand, he or she is required to raise his or her right hand to take an oath or make a vow to always tell the truth. If a guy or gal lies on the witness stand, the guy or gal will have committed perjury and he or she will be punished. When a guy or gal is being sworn into an elected office, he or she is required to put his or her right hand on a Bible and to repeat as an oath that he or she will always exhibit integrity, veracity and honor in everything that he or she does. After your grandpaa had read something from the Bible – which is now over 45 years ago (which is now over 60 years ago as of this editing), which had your grandpaa get on his knees in front of the sofa chair that was in the basement room in Marion Kredit’s house – in Sioux Center, Iowa, where your grandpaa vowed to God that whatever God asked him to do that he would to do it. Your grandpaa one day – years later, heard God’s still quiet voice reminding him that because your grandpaa was holding up his end of the vow or the promise that he had made to Him, that He would continue to use your grandpaa for His kingdom’s sake. Your grandpaa knows that committing to a missionary vocation and remaining in missions is the crux of the vow or the promise that your grandpaa was led to make to God. Your grandpaa does not want to know what his life would be like if he breaks this vow. Your grandpaa is very thankful that God is holding him to the vow that he made to Him.
Numbers 30 (922)