“When you make a vow to Adonai your God, you are not to delay in fulfilling it, for Adonai your God will certainly demand it of you, and your failure to do so will be your sin. If you choose not to make a vow at all, that will not be a sin for you; but if a vow passes your lips, you must take care to perform it according to what you voluntarily vowed to Adonai your God, what you promised in words spoken aloud.”-Deuteronomy 23:22-24
The reasons vows were made in ancient Israel varied depending on the person and situation.
In a nutshell, it usually just boiled down to…
…either wanting something to happen or…
…NOT wanting something to happen.
For example, a woman who desperately wanted to get pregnant, a general seeking victory in an important battle, a debtor wishing to get rid of his financial burdens or a person who desperately wanted healing from an illness would make a vow to the Lord in hopes of obtaining His divine assistance.
The idea was that if the Lord came through and made come true what was requested, the one who made the vow would then in turn do something for the Lord.
The upfront payment made to the Lord was normally something of high value that caused the vow maker to wince a bit when he offered it up.
A good example was the Nazarite vow.
The initial offering inherent in the Nazarite vow was a promise to abstain from all alcoholic drinks.
Since drinking wine whether alone or with others was such a pleasurable activity, this was considered quite a sacrifice.
However, the nuances of vow-making in the pagan world were quite different.
Amongst the gentiles, pagan vows were basically designed as bribes.
The worshipper was literally purchasing the favor of some particular god or goddess via the vow he was making.
Here’s the thing however.
The God of Israel, since He’s the Author and Owner of everything in existence, doesn’t need food or drink or anything of value from us human beings.
Offering Him money had zero value to Him.
Another important thing we have to keep in mind is that the Lord is sovereign and His Will cannot be bribed or purchased which is how the pagans thought.
Nevertheless, many Israelites did try to purchase the Lord’s Will through their vows and the results were more often than not quite catastrophic.
Don’t get me wrong though.
There isn’t anything necessarily wrong with vow-making.
It isn’t considered sinful to do it.
On the other, there isn’t anything wrong nor sinful if a person decides NOT to make a vow.
In fact, Yeshua even went so far as to say that it’s best to just make your “yes”, yes and your “no” no and just don’t make any vows at all.
Why would Yeshua say that?
Because of this little phrase in verse 24 which says in no uncertain terms that…
...”you must take care to perform it according to what you voluntarily vowed to Adonai your God, what you promised in words spoken aloud”.
If you make a vow, it’s kind of like putting your signature on a contract you can never get out of.
The next time we meet, we’ll take a look at the tragic consequences of one person who made a vow that cost him the life of his own daughter.
Making a vow to the Almighty Creator and swearing by His Name, what is the similarity and difference
same