Numbers 30:3-5 (ESV Strong's)
3 “If a woman vows a vow to the LORD and binds herself by a pledge, while within her father's house in her youth, 4 and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. 5 But if her father opposes her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. And the LORD will forgive her, because her father opposed her.
Make a Vow, Keep a Vow, With Respect to Others
When Jesus was asked to sum up the Law he stated:
Matthew 22:34-40 (ESV Strong's)
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
When reading any portion of the Law and the Prophets we should remember these exchange Jesus had with the religious leaders of the day. We should look at all teachings in the Law through this lens. This truth is really important to remember when reading the above text on “vows.” In our zeal we might want to make a vow to God. But, God warns us in this passage to make sure we understand that vows should be made in the context of community. We can’t commit ourselves to a vow that impacts those around us, without their knowledge or, in the case of a father-daughter, consent. Moses will go on to make the same statement, as above, in the context of marriage. A wife should not make a vow that her husband does not also agree with. Is is less about authority in the marriage and more about relationships. We are to love the Lord with all our hearts and love others as we love ourselves. If we do that we would not want to make a vow, even to God, that will hinder those relationships. God does not hold us to vows that are contrary to the relationship we have with others. He does not tell us to stop vowing. He does tell us that if those around us do not want the vow, for whatever reason, we are not obligated to keep the vow.
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