Today's Light Reading: Numbers 30 (Vows)
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In reading through this passage, God gives pretty stern instructions regarding the keeping of vows. While he does provide a few safeguards for women making vows, God makes it clear that he expects vows to be taken seriously.
Humanity must have a hidden need buried deep within the soul. This need causes people to feel they have to validate their commitments by arbitrarily making vows. I have known several people who have made vows that God did not require of them. I even knew a minister who made a vow to keep preaching as a show of his obedience to God. In reality, God wanted him to stop preaching! It turned out to be a very ugly situation to say the least.
When we turn our attentions to Scripture we see another example of making a hasty vow in the person of Jephthah. In Judges 11 we learn the story of this mighty warrior who felt the need to prove his appreciation to God by vowing to sacrifice the first thing that came out of his house. Of course, Jephthah never considered the first thing out of the house would be his beloved daughter rushing to greet her returning father. Again, good intentions resulted in an ugly situation.
God does not want people to make careless vows. In Ecclesiastes, He instructs that we should not make any vow than make a vow we cannot fulfill. Furthermore, the only vow God really wants from us is the vow of our faith in him. This vow requires no other proof of fidelity than our placing our lives into his hands.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
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