King James Version
The Book of Numbers
Chapter 30
Translate This Page
04Num030.mp3
Commentary
Numbers 30
Vows are not to be broken
1 And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded.
2 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 proceedeth out of his mouth.
I think it’s important to comment on this concept of a man’s integrity. The People have not settled into their Land of Promise yet, and God is still training them to be Holy, to be set apart as a Holy nation under God, Almighty. At this beginning stage of what will become known as the Christian nation, God wants us to understand that a man’s word determines his dependability, his honor, his trust, in his value system or worth. It’s important we understand that no matter how insignificant it may seem at the time, our word is to be kept. There are people around us who will come to depend on the outcome that we have assured will come to pass. If we don’t follow through with our word, even if it’s not delivered in an “oath”, the people around us will come to expect us to fall short, or to not act upon our word at all. This is a lack of worth for the “oath breaker” and can result in alienation from the others.
Sometimes I wonder why people won’t believe me when I say something. Maybe God has accomplished a great thing in my life, or that I witnessed a great miracle. If my integrity is not good, then neither is my testimony any good. It is not a common skill, or “gift” for others to be able to determine when we will, or when we will not follow through with our word. It’s not common either, to be able to determine if the testimony of an “oath breaker” is valid.
If I were a notorious liar, and one day God did deliver me from the bondage of deceit, would people readily believe me? It is likely that they will not believe me, at least not until I have repetitiously and consistently, for a significant amount of time, did follow through with my oath, or that my testimony be found true.
It is important also, to make our words of integrity to be within our own bounds of authority. We cannot testify to that which we did not witness, or that what we witnessed would cause harm for the general public to be made aware. It is also a measure of our integrity as to how we present our experiences. We cannot present a positive thing in a negative way. We cannot present a negative thing in a positive way, either. This is also deceit.
The exception of a maid's vow
3 If a woman also vow a vow unto the Lord, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house in her youth;
4 And
her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her
soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her: then all her vows
shall stand, and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall
stand.
5 But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth; 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.
6 And if she had at all an husband, when she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul;
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.
8 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.
9 But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her.
10 And if she vowed in her husband's house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath;
11 And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her, and disallowed her not: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she bound her soul shall stand.
12 But if her husband hath 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 hath made them void;
and the Lord shall forgive her.
13 Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void.
14 But if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day; then he establisheth all her vows, or all her bonds, which are upon her: he confirmeth them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard them.
15 But if he shall any ways make them void after that he hath heard them; then he shall bear her iniquity.
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.
Num 30:1-16 (KJV)
Saturday, December 26, 2009 12:18pm
