Scripture Reading - Numbers 30

Good morning Today, we'll be reading numbers 30.

It's a passage about vows You'll be able to find it in page 138 in your pew

Bible. I will too.

All right. So how'd we get here? So the

Israelites here have made it to the promised land or about to enter a promised land And the

Lord is giving Moses some last commands for them These are commands about vows and oaths.

So what is a vow? So a vow is a promise that's made to the Lord It could be in the form of an action an offering or an abstention such as fasting

Some examples the Nazarite vow Was a vow where men or women would abstain from alcohol dead bodies or cutting hair

When people get married, they also make vows They were often made when you were asking God for help

Often in battle and they were intended to be an external sign of significant commitment and devotion to the

Lord so an oath Is a promise made to a person with the additional authority of another entity or an object

Example this is in the recent presidential inauguration where both Donald Trump and JD Vance gave a vice presidential and a presidential oath

Where they swore on Bibles They are tended to give weight of religious authority to the statements

You may not think it but there are plenty of vows that we make in our lives as Christians As I said before marriage, it's a promise made to the

Lord about your spouse And baptism being a pledge of commitment to as a follower of Christ in the presence and affirmation of a local church

We also think of the Lord's Supper as a vow It's a reminder of the covenant of grace in a regular renewal of the pledge of faithfulness to God Normally a lot of people think of the

Lord's Supper is simply a time of remembrance But many of the ordinance and festivals that we talked about in the

Bible Especially the Old Testament were seen as renewals of covenants and commitments to service that were punctuated by oaths and vows

So in Nehemiah after the exiles had come back From Persia the people renewed their vow to the

Lord by having the Feast of Booths and letting the Torah be read So from Nehemiah 10 all these now join their fellow speaking of the returned

Israelites All these now join their fellow Israelites the nobles and bind themselves with a curse and an oath to follow the law of God Given through Moses the servant of God and to obey carefully all the commands regulation and decrees of the

Lord our Lord So this is also Why church discipline involves not taking the cup one of the ways that we can think about it

Is that it's a church's way of saying that they cannot in good conscience Affirm that this person is able to commit to be faithful to the

Lord when they take communion So in this passage

God establishes rules about vows and oaths and how there are two standards for women and men in the responsibilities to their oaths

Numbers 32 Establishes the general principle and the rule for men When a man makes a vow to the

Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge He must not break his word, but must do everything he said

Here we see that men have a greater responsibility to or less protections from their word when making vows

Men were expected to start being held to their vows without examination at about the age of 13

In addition men were also tasked with the responsibility of affirming or opposing the vows of their daughters and wives

So for women, there's four categories Unmarried women if they made a vow and their father hears it and approves it then they are to keep it

Newlywed women if they have made a vow and when their husband hears about it

He approves it then they must keep their vow For married women the pattern continues

If a married woman makes a vow and her husband Approves it and does not oppose it. Then they all must also keep their vow and Divorced women or widows must keep their vows as a man would

So a woman's responsibility to her vow is filtered through her father or husband's authority.

So what does this all mean? First of all, the general principle is that our word should be treasured

We get this both in the New and the Old Testament where Jesus talks about making vows saying Again, you have heard that it was said of those of old

You shall not swear falsely that shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn

But I say to you the do not take an oath at all either by heaven For it is the throne of God or by the earth for it is his footstool or by Jerusalem For it is the city of the great king and do not take an oath by your head for you cannot make one hair white or black

Let what you say be simply yes or no Anything more than this comes from evil, but vows are good and they have their place

Matthew 5 is not prohibited vows or oaths entirely But rather put into context what we should swear by God alone and our hearts when we swear with honesty and integrity and at the proper time

The 1689 London Baptist Confession confirms this as well it says the name of God only is that by which men ought to swear and Therein it is to be used with all holy fear and reverence

Therefore to swear vainly or rashly by that glorious and dreadful name or to swear at all by any other thing is sinful and to be abhorred yet as in matter of weight and moment for the confirmation of truth an

Ending of all strife an oath is warranted by the Word of God So a lawful oath being imposed by lawful authority in such matters ought to be taken

So in certain matters of weight or moment lawful oaths are to be taken so given that We should consider the proper weight of our vows in the ones that we make

Consider that the breakers of vows in the Old Testament were well understood to implicate themselves in sin with the expectation of God's wrath

This was known as bearing the weight One Of the vows the

Book of Common Prayer says Marriage is not by any to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently discreetly advisedly soberly and in the fear of God These things are serious to the unmarried consider the weight of what you are preparing for as you make decisions about marriage and Consider getting input from pastors and trusted elders sooner rather than later

To the married I would have you consider that this person is your greatest responsibility after the

Lord and should be treated as such For communion Consider that this is a church ordinance and you are promising to God that you are committing to covenant ting with a body of believers

Willfully skipping out on communion is a sign that one is unable or unwilling to commit to continent ting with this group of people

Now to the rest of the passage Men are being called to a higher standard They have been equipped and called by God to be responsible strong and rational leaders

It is a well understood principle from the Bible that men have the special role of being strong first Corinthians 16 13

Be watchful stand firm in the faith act like men and be strong Additionally, they must be wise to care for the spiritual health of the people under their authority and steer them away from making foolish choices

That said for the women the safest place for those who are weak

Is to be under the authority of a godly man or father These laws might appear restrictive but they are meant for great protection of those under authority in ancient

Israel and today Wives and daughters were meant to be in safety under the nurturing of a man who not only cared for their physical needs

But their spiritual health as well For a man though, he may make a thoughtless utterance

His vow will stand but a woman has the opportunity to have it annulled whenever her authority figure hears about it

Look specifically at the widow in verse 9. We see that her vows stand with the same weight as a man

And you might be thinking oh, isn't it great that she is a quality with the man Yes, this is a sign that her words stand alone

It is a sign of the equality of the essence of men and women that their words Stand as equal and that she does not need to return to her father's house

However, it's also the case that the Bible is full of reminders that widows are especially vulnerable if We understand these rules to be ones of protection authority

Then it makes this scenario one of these reminders that she does not have someone watching over her as a potential protector from thoughtless utterances

What does this look like today? Those who are weak should be under the protection of those who are strong in The Bible the covenants that are described as marriages covenants apply to those who are truly needy

God with Israel Christ with the church and husbands with wives For both men and women the safest place to be is under the authority of the one godly father

God Who is able to save us from sin and death? For both men and women the safest place to be is under the

I'm sorry Secondly, it's for our protection to put ourselves under the authority of godly elders who have watched over our souls

And then lastly for women and children To put ourselves it is good and safe to be under the authority of a godly father and husband who can spiritually guide and Financially provide for you.

So in the grander scheme of things We should all understand that we are needy and having a sin debt

We need someone to covenant with us and protect us from the wrath of God Jesus Christ has taken believers on as his bride

So that we might be protected from the pain of sin and death His work on the cross and his active obedience protect us from guilt and provide us with new life in him

There is no other safe place to turn There is no one strong enough who will save you from the immense burden that you carry

We have sinned against God and deserve his judgment God has sent his son

Jesus Christ to die on the cross in the place of sinners like you and me bearing their weight and guilt

Resurrecting on the third day to prove his power over death Only Christ is good enough and only

Christ is strong enough to bear your iniquity Believe in him and you'll be safe This is numbers 30

Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel saying This is what the

Lord commanded If a man vows 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

If a woman vows a vow to the Lord and binds herself by a pledge

While within her father's house in her youth 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 is bound herself shall stand

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 If she marries a husband while under her vows

Or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she is bound herself and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on The day that he hears then her vow shall stand and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand

But if on the day that her husband comes to hear of it He opposes her then he makes void her vow that was on her and the thoughtless

Utterance of her lips by which she bound herself and the Lord will forgive her But any vow of a widow or of a divorced woman anything by which she has bound herself shall stand against her and if she vowed in her husband's house or Bound herself by a pledge with an oath and her husband heard of it and said nothing to her and did not oppose her

Then all her vows shall stand and every pledge by which she bound herself shall stand But if her husband makes them null and void on the day that he hears them then whatever proceeds out of her lips

Concerning her vows or concerning her pledge of herself shall not stand Her husband has made them void and the

Lord will forgive her Any vow and any binding oath to afflict herself her husband may establish or her husband may make void

But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day Then he establishes all her vows or all her pledges that are upon her

He has established them because he said nothing to her on the day that he heard of them But if he makes them null and void after he has heard of them, then he shall bear her iniquity

These are the statutes that the Lord commanded Moses about a man and his wife and about a father and his daughter