“Israel’s soldiers had been driven to exhaustion that day; but Sha’ul issued this warning to the people: ‘A curse on any man who eats any food until evening, when I will have finished taking vengeance on my enemies.’ So none of the people even tasted food. Now the people came to a forest where there was a honeycomb on the ground.”-1 Samuel 14:24-25
Yesterday, I said that because of Middle Eastern resolve, there was no way Saul was gonna reverse the vow he had made.
However, there’s another part of the equation we shouldn’t overlook.
Even though the soldiers had been forced into taking an oath they wanted nothing to do with, at the end of the day, they said “Amen” to it.
This means they were duty-bound to God to obey it.
It didn’t matter how irrational, whimsical, and nonsensical the vow was.
There was no getting around the fact that Saul had declared an oath with a divine curse attached to it.
This meant that the terms and conditions were valid and the soldiers knew it.
This also underscores why Yeshua advised against vow-making and taking oaths.
He wasn’t speaking out against traditions or superstition.
Nor was this some revolutionary New Testament teaching.
This is a God-principle that goes back to the Torah, specifically the books of Exodus and Leviticus.
The book of Judges also demonstrates that God could care less about our vows as a sign of religious piety towards Him.
So remember that the next time you decide to go ahead and make some personal vow, or decide to participate in a group vow.
You WILL be under obligation to follow through, or the curse attached to that oath will be on your head.
This is NOT something to be taken lightly.
Take a look at how the Hebrew soldiers responded to Saul’s vow.
They feared God to the extent that they risked their own lives on the battlefield.
They chose to fight in a starved condition rather than break God’s vow.
And that’s your takeaway for today.
How much fear and awe do you possess for the Kingdom?
Unfortunately, if you were brought up in some Christian church, chances are high you were exposed to the early Roman Church doctrine which says “Faith in Christ means the end of your obligation to obey God’s commandments”.
And since obedience is no longer necessary, the consequences of that disobedience no longer exist.
That’s why when you visit a Christian church, God’s commands such as resting on the Shabbat or eating unclean foods are treated in a light-hearted manner, if not completely ignored.
Yeshua warned against this.
Anyways, getting back to vow-making, understand it is much safer to just say “yes” or “no”.
Anything else comes from the evil one.
Remember, a vow attaches the Lord’s Name to that promise…
This means you put both His name and reputation at risk should you break that vow.
Ya, feel me?
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