“’When a man makes a vow to Adonai or formally obligates himself by swearing an oath, he is not to break his word but is to do everything he said he would do.’”
Numbers 30:3
This portion of the Torah, in all honesty, seems simple. But in looking again, it may only be simple to read and not simple to live. When was the last time we made a commitment and actually followed through with it? When was the last time that our yes was yes, and our no was no? That is in essence what is being spoken of in this section. Adonai told His people through Moshe the rules of making a vow.
When a man made a vow to Adonai, it was meant to be kept. It didn’t really matter what the vow was about. If the man vowed to obey Adonai’s leading, then His leading needed to be obeyed. Failure to keep the vow would bring about consequence. Now for the women, there was a pardon in certain circumstances. If a father or husband heard the daughter or wife vow, he could null and void it is he wanted. But if no null and void was given by the male figure, then like that of the man, the covenant was made and had to be kept.
As a man, trying hard to honor Adonai in all I do, you can bet that I am working hard to fulfill each vow I make. And you can also bet that I am working harder to watch what I vow. I want to honor Adonai in the words I say, but I also want to honor Him in being a man of my word. This is the hard part, because there are times when I speak out of turn, or promise something that I do not keep. The intention is right, but the follow through is lame. Adonai doesn’t want lame follow throughs but rather wants us to keep our covenants.
Numbers 30:2 – 31:12
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