Word of Salvation – March 2014

 

Numbers 30 – WHEN YOU MAKE A VOW…!

By Rev. John Westendorp

(Sermon 30 in a series on Numbers)

Scripture reading: Numbers 30.

Singing: Book of Worship 359 / 76 / 116a / 50 (1,2,5)

 

Introd: If someone had to put a value on your word… what would it be worth?

On a scale of 1 to 10 how faithful are you at carrying out your promises?

A colleague who worked for a para-church organization often spoke about “evangelical promises”.
A strange expression but I know exactly what he meant.
I came across those same “evangelical promises” at Ministers’ Fraternals.

Some local project or event is planned and pastors are asked to support it.
The response is often very positive… church leaders enthusiastically agree to come on board.
Hey… we want to be seen as active… and want to be positive about Kingdom activities…!
But when the date of the actual event comes there’s the phone calls with lots of excuses.
“Evangelical promises” are promises made with good intentions but easily broken.

In a way, that’s perfectly understandable… we Christians are shaped by the culture in which we live.
And in our culture promises and solemn vows don’t count for much.
Today we see that particularly in marriage.
Vows are made in terms of “until death us do part”.
But a man grows tired of his wife and someone more vivacious comes along.
And suddenly the “I do!” gets changed into an “I don’t!”
And he’s got his excuses: “She’s no longer the same person I married 5 years ago!”

We live in a society where we learn very early to be cynical about promises.
Who today still really expects election promises to be kept?
And the many promises spelled out in advertisements are taken with a grain of salt.
Even the promises that companies give to back up their products so often fail.

A] KEEPING VOWS AS PEOPLE OF INTEGRITY.

1. And now this morning we have a verse in the Bible that tells us that we are to be different.

Listen again to what the Lord says in verse 2:
When a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge,
he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

It is particularly addressing vows made to God… solemn oaths.
But in that context it speaks about not breaking one’s word and about doing all we’ve said.
IOW here is a mandate to be faithful to your word… with no ifs and buts.

But why do we have this here in Numbers… just as Joshua is about to lead Israel into Canaan?

They’re about to cross the Jordan but suddenly we have a whole chapter devoted to vows. Why?

Possibly because entering Canaan will involve these people in war and conflict.
And it’s often especially in times of great danger that vows are made.
I think of Martin Luther who once got caught up in a violent storm.
And in panic he vowed that he would become a monk if God saved him.

Notice too that the previous chapter listed all the regular sacrifices Israel had to make.
But it ended in vs.39 by adding that on top of that there would be special freewill offerings.
Sometimes an Israelite would vow to God a special sacrifice. So vows are now dealt with.

And of course once Israel entered Canaan there would be other occasions for making vows.
For example Numbers dealt in a previous chapter with the Nazarite vows of devotion to God.

2. So in all these situations God is now calling His people to be people of their word:

Your life is in danger and you say: “If God gets me out of this I’ll give 50 shekels to the priest.”
Well, you must not break your word. You must do all that you have said.

You’re thankful for all the blessings you’ve received and you vow to give God a prize bull.
In that situation you must be a person who is faithful to his word. Do it…!

If you make some special commitment to serve God for a time… then don’t renege on that promise.

Of course this isn’t the only place in the Bible where we are called to be people of integrity.
The consistent Biblical demand is that God’s people stick to their promises.
We are to be people whose word folks can count on. Let me quote just two OT examples.

In Psalm 15 we have a picture of someone who is blameless before God.
What does that kind of person look like? Well, he’s a person whose word is totally reliable.
The psalmist says: He keeps his oath… even when it hurts.

Ecclesiastes 5:4,5 gives us a very strong reminder of the importance of keeping vows and promises.
When you make a vow to God, do not delay fulfilling it; for he has no pleasure in fools.
Fulfil what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not fulfil it.

The same thing is taught in the NT by Jesus and the apostles.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus warns against frivolous oaths and vows.
And James in his letter picks up that teaching of Jesus: Let your yes, be yes and your no, no!

Today we need to take this on board and apply it to a whole range of issues. For example:
Vows made on your wedding day are non-negotiable. Previous generations understood that.
I recall an elderly Christian couple being interviewed on their 60th wedding anniversary.
A reporter asked the husband: Tell me honestly, in all those years did you ever think of divorce?
He said, “I can honestly say I never once thought of divorce. Murder? Yes! Divorce? No!”
This man knew that a vow is non-negotiable… even if you are angry enough to kill.

3. So why is there this strong emphasis in the Bible on keeping our promises and pledges?

Why was Israel called to be so particular when it came to oaths and vows?

It’s because we are made in the image of God and God is always faithful to His Word.
When you honour the vows you made at the baptism of your children you are being like God.
When you keep the vows made at your Public Profession of Faith
and don’t walk away from the Church then you are being like your Father in heaven.

Please turn with me to Hebrews 6 where we have a lovely picture of the character of God.
It shows us that His promises are absolutely trustworthy. We can be doubly sure of that.
<<< Read Hebrew 6:13 & 14 and 17 & 18. >>>

Do you hear what the writer to the Hebrews is saying:
He’s saying we have confidence in God’s promises because it is impossible for God to lie.
But we have even more confidence because God added to that certainty an oath.
God is a God whose Word can be trusted and we are to be like Him whose image we bear.
In contrast Jesus said in John 10 that Satan is a Liar and he’s the Father of lies.

That means that when people see us being faithful to our word they see God in us.
When we honour our promises and vows then that is a public testimony to our God.
It shows that we are different from the culture that so easily reneges on promises.
I read awhile back of an unbelieving nurse who was convicted because of that.
A man faithfully visited his wife every day in an Alzheimer’s ward of a nursing home.
The nurse once asked: “Why do you bother coming? She doesn’t even know you?”
He replied, “But I still know her… and I once made a vow to love her to the end.”

B] THE SEPARATE ATTENTION TO WOMEN’S VOWS.

1. This morning in our reading you would have noticed that most of Numbers 30 is about women.

Verses 1 and 2 set the scene and deal with vows and oaths in general.

But then the next 13 verses regulate the vows that women make.

That is certainly not because women are more unreliable when it comes to vows.
Or as if the vows of women are less binding because women are inferior… or less rational.
Verse 9 contradicts that by putting some women’s vows on a par with those of men.

In fact, when I think of the various vows in the Bible some of the worst vows were made by men.
There was Jephtah in the book of Judges who makes a vow in the context of war.
He vows to God that if God will give him the victory
then he will sacrifice to God the first thing that comes out of his house when he returns.
And unbelievably, it is his daughter… his only child that comes first out of his house.

King Saul once made a vow that no one was touch food until he had beaten his enemies.
But that foolish vow almost cost his son Jonathan his life.

Men have made some outrageous vows.
Like King Herod… vowing to give Salome up to half his kingdom.
All because he was besotted by the little minx’s erotic dancing.

On the other hand some of the most wonderful vows were made by women.
There’s Ruth… vowing not to leave Naomi.
“Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.
Your people will be my people and your God my God.
May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”

2. In Numbers 30 four case studies of women making vows are listed.

The first case study is of a young woman of marriageable age who is still living at home.
If her father hears what she promises and remains silent the girl’s vows will stand.
But if her father hears what she promises and objects he effectively nullifies her vow.

The second case is where this young lady marries after she has made a vow.
If her husband hears of it and is silent then the vow the woman has made will stand.
But if he hears of it and takes exception to her vow he cancels that vow and she is not guilty.

The third case is of widows or divorced women – their vows are always biding.

Then the fourth case is similar to the second and deals with vows of a woman who is married.
The husband can cancel the vow or he can confirm it by his silence.
However he must do at the time the vow is made.
If he later says, “Well, you know I didn’t think that was a good idea”, then he is held guilty.

You’ll understand that three of these case studies are a huge problem for some.
Some feminist have strongly opposed this chapter.
They say, “This is typical of male chauvinist society and today we should just forget this.”

Okay! You can dismiss this as a bit of a museum piece from a more primitive society.
But if you do you’ll miss the blessing that is evident in this passage.
One of the blessings is that this is first of all an act of grace.
A woman has some safeguards and protection that husbands and father’s don’t have.
Anyone can make a bad vow… but at least for these women there is a safety check.
The father or the husband can assess the situation and cancel it if it’s not a good vow.

3. But that doesn’t answer all our questions.

Why, for example, shouldn’t the wife have the option of cancelling a husband’s foolish vow?

Some people have suggested that the reason here is an economic one.
Imagine you’re in Israel in this situation and the wife feels she has been greatly blessed.
In her enthusiasm she vows that she’ll sacrifice a lamb to the Lord every week for three months.
The husband quickly does some sums and he says: Sorry, sweetheart we can’t afford that!

IOW her generous vow will have a huge economic impact on the family.
So the husband disallows the vow and it is effectively cancelled.
We might concede that this is a good economic safeguard to have in a family.

But it still leaves the question: What about a husband’s frivolous vow?
That will also have a negative impact – both on his wife and on the whole family.
So why is there nothing there to give the wife a right of veto?

The basic issue here is the Biblical concept of family.
The family is basic building block of society… and the basic building block of the church.
And we may not like it… but the reality is that God has a structure for family life.
And part of that is the headship of the husband and father in the home.

Of course there is also the recognition that there are families without a husband and father.
So in vs.9 widows and divorced women are mentioned who are responsible for themselves.
But in other families it is the husband and father who is ultimately held accountable.

We see something of this Numbers 30 pattern already at work in the Garden of Eden.
Eve was seduced by the devil and she took the forbidden fruit.
But Adam stood right there beside her with his thumb in his mouth, not saying boo.
He did not use his right of veto as the head of the family when he should have used it.
Instead, by his silence he affirmed his wife’s actions… and his silence made him guilty.

C] DEEPER ISSUES FOR ISRAEL AND CHRISTIANS.

1. So the key issue in this chapter is the headship of the basic unit of society.

The last verse of Numbers 30 shows us that.

There it’s no longer about vows but about family relationships and the headship of the husband.

Today [it’s Fathers’ Day – but] we have this sad problem in our world.
So many father’s have abdicated their leadership responsibilities.
They think their job is just to provide half the chromosomes of their offspring.
And if they have to, to pay maintenance for that offspring – but there is no leadership.

And it’s just as sad that so many mothers have never let the fathers exercise leadership.
And we wonder why the family is in trouble today.
What we have here is God’s model for a healthy and stable family.
And Numbers 30 is just one of the ways that this arrangement works itself out.

Please understand that Numbers 30 was never meant to be worked out in a dictatorial fashion.

It’s worked out within the context of a marriage partnership.
When Hannah prayed for a child she vowed to give Samuel to God.
But her husband Elkanah never cancelled out Hannah’s vow…. he went along with it.
Even though he too would miss having his son at home to enjoy and to work with.

I guess that leaves one question: why are the male children not included in Numbers 30?

It is obvious that they too would be included under the father’s headship. Well there’s a good reason.

2. The more I thought about it the more I realised God wants this also to be a chapter of comfort.

We need to keep in mind that God repeatedly pictures deeper truths in very ordinary things.

One of these deeper truths is that husband and wife represent God and His people.
So often God illustrates His relationship to Israel as a husband to an adulterous wife.
The book of Hosea pictures that in a most graphic way.
Hosea is told to marry a prostitute… and she is repeatedly unfaithful to him.
But Hosea constantly pursues her to win her back.

And then God tells Israel that this is what their behaviour is like towards Him.
By running after idol gods they commit spiritual adultery.
In that way they abandon the Lover of their souls.
But God remains faithful to His people as a loving husband.
He refused to let go of His unfaithful wife.

We can now take that imagery and see it worked out here in Numbers 30.
Israel constantly bound herself by oaths to pagan gods.
Israel made sinful vows to the Baals and to many other Canaanite gods.
Yet God remained faithful and He kept on cancelling the foolish vows of His beloved.
And because He cancelled those vows to idol gods Israel was treated as not guilty.

So here God enshrines in these laws about vows a picture of His gracious dealings with His people.

3. Today that allows us to make another application to us as Christian.

In Ephesians 5 Paul shows that this picture of marriage now applies to Christ and His church.
So today we don’t just think of the many ways in which Israel broke its word.
We all sit here in church this morning as promise breakers.

For some of us it was a failure to keep some special vow we made to God in a moment of crisis.
“Lord if you only rescue me from this terrible situation I promise I’ll give up smoking.”
But it didn’t happen… we seemed powerless to fulfil our vow… we didn’t keep our word.

Some of us are here in church knowing that we didn’t keep those vows we made in marriage.
It all got too difficult and too messy.
And it wasn’t a matter of till death us do part… but till the law courts us do part.

There are those who have reneged on a business partnership deal.
Sure, we signed a contract that were in this together… but, well the business was losing money.
So we got out while the going was good.

The reality is that none of us are good at keeping our word.
Ah… but you see that husband who has the right of veto of his wife’s vows is a picture of Christ.
And He is the husband who carries the guilt for all our broken promises.

What a lovely picture of the gospel of our Saviour.
Just as the husband in Numbers 30 takes responsibility for the oaths and vows of his wife
so Christ takes the responsibility for all our idle words and all our unkept vows.

That means that we can relate to our Lord as those who are not guilty.

What a delight… and what an incentive that is for us to try even harder to be people of integrity.

Let’s be people who show in their lives the imagine of the God who never lies.

Amen