The Contracts

Studies in Numbers

III The Finale

B The Celebrations

2 The Contracts, Text: 30:1-16

Title: Promises Matter

INTRODUCTION

This whole chapter is about vows. Most of the chapter refers to vows women make, and the relationship of the men in their life to those vows. Unfortunately we are likely to spend an inordinate amount to time and energy on the issue of women’s rights because of the political and moral climate in which we live. As far as the feminist movement is concerned this chapter is anathema. They would say it is an unenlightened and archaic viewpoint and that would be the nicest thing they could say about it. I want to talk today about vows, the answerability, the authority, and the awesomeness.

I THE ANSWERABILITY

We are responsible for what we promise. Verses 1 and 2 state, 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 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. We are answerable to God. I have long wondered what would happen to oath taking if the penalties were announced at the time of swearing in, however, that is God’s prerogative. I have been listening recently to the officers of our government being sworn in. I often wonder how many attorneys have heard their clients or witnesses intentionally lie in court. I know for a fact that clergymen lie in ordination vows. They swear to believe and uphold and propagate the doctrinal statement of their denomination and they end up later trying to change it even though it might have been there for hundreds of years. They wish to accommodate popular opinion so they can be popular. Medical doctors vow to uphold the Hippocratic oath but they end up violating it. It’s true of every calling. Well, the thing I focused on in the swearing in of our government officials was part where they state under oath that they make the vow “Without any reservation or purpose of evasion.” I love that part of it because it is often the case that people have reservations, and we don’t know it, but I assure you God does. He counts it as a lie, and in the end, a broken vow. Obviously we would not have the current divorce rate if people took their marriage vows seriously, without hesitation, reservation, or purpose of evasion. We must answer to God for all of these broken promises, oaths and vows, both to men and to God. We know that Jesus cautioned about vow taking in Mathews 5: 33-37, Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. This has often been misinterpreted today as forbidding all oaths and vows. In Jesus day he spoke against an abuse, because absolution from vows was claimed as a prerogative by some rabbis; against this, others protested. One would say that if a man vowed by Jerusalem or by the Law he had said nothing; but if he vowed by what is written in the Law, his words stood. The “wise men” declared four kinds of vows not binding- incentive vows, as when a buyer vows that he will not give more than a certain price in order to induce the seller to take less; meaningless vows; thoughtless and compulsory vows. In such ways the practice was reduced to silliness and nonsense. It even came to this, that if a man wished to neutralize all the vows he might make for the course of a year he had only to say at the beginning of it, on the eve of the Day of Atonement, “Let every vow which I shall make be of none effect,” and he would be absolved. As you can see they didn’t take vows any more seriously than our culture. The upshot of all of this is that vows and oaths are serious. You will have to answer to God. Don’t take them unless you are sincerely committed to keeping them, and don’t make vows you cannot keep. Let men promise and perform, declare and stand to their word. He lifts even ordinary life to a higher plane.

II THE AUTHORITY

The majority of this chapter is concerned with vows women make. We read in verses 3-15, 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 with which she has bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond with which 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 with which she has bound her soul, shall stand: and the LORD shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her. And if she had at all an husband, when she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips, with which she bound her soul; 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 with which 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, with which she bound her soul, of none effect: and the LORD shall forgive her. But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, with which they have bound their souls, shall stand against her. 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 her not: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond with which she bound her soul shall stand. But if her husband has utterly made them void on the day he heard them; then whatever 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. In God’s sight the authority belongs to the man. This will obviously aggravate feminists in our current culture. I will not make any attempt to justify the practice, It is God’s Word and God’s will. That’s all that need be said. It should end all arguments, but obviously it will not. This Scripture is pretty clear, but i need to re-enforce a couple of points.
First it is clear that greater authority brings greater responsibility. If he does not disallow them, then the Father or the Husband of a woman is responsible for her promises. In a bygone age when it was perfectly safe for commentators to make statements which implied male leadership in the family, puritans such as Matthew Henry made comments like this, “The connecting link between this chapter and the preceding is the offering, since the vows would mainly relate to offerings. We think, however, that we may assume that the prospect of the rich blessing, the abundance which should fall to the people of Israel in Canaan forms the connecting link. In the wilderness they could make no great offerings, at least the women could not; in Canaan, on the contrary, rich offerings could and should be brought, and how like woman’s nature it is, in the enjoyment of plenty, to make arbitrary and lavish offerings.
Secondly, This legislation surely promotes proper communication in the family. No lady would want her Father or Husband shocked to find out suddenly that he has been burdened with a debt of her making. It has been noted how carefully the divine law respects the good order of families, and preserves the power of superior relations and the duty and reverence of inferiors! Rather than break these bonds, God Himself would surrender his right and release the obligation of a solemn vow.” I observe that the Church should, by every means in its power, purify and uphold family life. To undermine the unity of families by laying obligations on women, or obtaining promises apart from the knowledge of those to whom they are bound in the closest relationship, is an abuse of privilege.
We note Thirdly, this passage was applied during the Protestant Reformation in a very specific way to the Roman Catholic practice of auricular confession. And so Calvin and others wrote as follows, “It would have been well if the wisdom of this law had ruled the Church, preventing ecclesiastical dominance in family affairs. The promises, the threats of a domineering Church have in many cases introduced discord between daughters and parents, wives and husbands. The amenability of women to religious motives has been taken advantage of, always indeed with a plausible reason, — the desire to save them from the world, — but far too often, really, for political-ecclesiastical ends, or even from the base motive of revenge. Ecclesiastics have found the opportunity of enriching the Church or themselves, or under cover of confession have become aware of secrets that placed families at their mercy. No practice followed under the shield of religion and in its name deserves stronger reprobation.”

III THE AWESOMENESS

The last verse of this chapters is more or less a summary of the far reaching and awe inspiring authority and power of our God. Verse 16 declares, 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. We love to sing gospel songs about the awesomeness of God, but do we reflect this in our actions when we fail to keep our word, and remain faithful in our promises and vows? In these verses God surrenders and grants to humans, mostly men and somewhat to women great responsibility to act on His behalf. If we are serious about serving Yahweh, the God of the Scripture, then we must be serious about listening to His commands. Our society is not a theocratic one like Israel’s. It is governed by different laws. However, it is incumbent upon Christian homes to model the openness and honesty, and the leadership of God’s Word in everything including our appointed leaders. As young people mature it is wise of parents to leave more and more decisions to their judgment, even if we do not agree. Trust is an important part of teaching honesty and submission. Most mistakes are not fatal and without them we seldom learn. Let us all vow to honor God in our relationships.