Today we’re gonna finish up Numbers Chapter 30 which was all about vows and oaths and how to handle the different situations that could and would arise in the case of a female making a vow.
In ancient Israel, making vows became so widespread that eventually a system of redeeming a vow was established.
We first studied about this when we were in Leviticus chapter 27.
The basic idea was that via a vow a person was dedicated for service to the Lord.
For example, a common Israelite father might say “If you allow my wife to give birth to a son, I will dedicate him to the service of the Lord“.
Another probable situation is that a slave owner might dedicate one of his slaves for “service to the Lord“.
However, here’s the thing.
“Service to the Lord” was something reserved ONLY for the Levites.
Therefore, there was no way to LITERALLY make good on the vow because the person who had been dedicated for service to the Lord BY LAW could not serve (unless he was a Levite).
So what to do?
The solution was to allow the person who made the vow to redeem or purchase back that vow for a set amount of money which was paid to the priesthood (all vow money was paid to the priesthood).
This was a perfect solution because it effectively killed two birds with one stone.
It allowed the person who had made the vow to make good on his vow by paying the redemption price for the vow and…
….it made sure that the commandment that service to the Lord was reserved strictly for the Levites was NOT broken.
Per Torah, anyone other than a Levite who attempted to officiate at God’s Holy Place was to be put to death.
Hence, whenever a common Israelite made a vow, it was understood it was merely symbolic.
Because it couldn’t literally be fulfilled (again unless the person dedicated for service was a Levite).
Eventually, vow-making became synonymous with paying money to the Temple.
Why am I going into so much detail to explain this to you?
Because like all fallen human beings with sinful tendencies, the system became corrupt.
People began making vows they darn well knew they couldn’t fulfill just to appear pious or Holy in the public’s eyes.
They knew that all they had to do was pay the redemption price for the vow and they’d be off scot free.
Or so they thought.
Here’s the problem.
While the person making the vow may just have been going through the motions, from HASHEM’s perspective vow-making was deadly serious business.
Remember, God can see directly into the heart.
It was precisely this frivolous attitude that had developed towards vow-making that Yeshua spoke strongly against.
NEXT TIME WE’LL BEGIN NUMBERS CHAPTER 31
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