Let Your Yes Be Yes

August 2, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the Lord involving the valuation of persons, ³then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. ⁴If the person is a female, the valuation shall be thirty shekels. ⁵If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. ⁶If the person is from a month old up to five years old, the valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female the valuation shall be three shekels of silver. ⁷And if the person is sixty years old or over, then the valuation for a male shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. ⁸And if someone is too poor to pay the valuation, then he shall be made to stand before the priest, and the priest shall value him; the priest shall value him according to what the vower can afford.” – Leviticus 27:1-8 ESV

As has been made clear from the rest of the book of Leviticus, God places a high priority on keeping one’s commitments. He is a God who keeps His word, and who never fails to follow through on all His promises.

God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? – Numbers 23:29 NLT

In making His covenant with the people of Israel, God clearly communicated the non-negotiable requirements that came with their preferred status as His chosen nation. In the first 26 chapters of this book, Moses records all the laws, statutes, and holy days that the Israelites were required to keep, then he closes with these words:

These are the statutes and rules and laws that the Lord made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai. – Leviticus 26:46 ESV

In the very next verse of the closing chapter, Moses records yet one more divine communication that addresses the topic of vows. Some scholars believe chapter 27 was a later addition to the book because it doesn’t seem to fit the prevailing narrative of the preceding chapters. It appears to veer off-topic, dealing with voluntary vows when the rest of the book has been focused on the mandatory laws ordained by God. Yet, upon closer examination, these closing verses provide an appropriate ending to the book.

From the day the people of Israel arrived at Sinai and began receiving God’s divine decrees from the mountaintop, they had repeatedly expressed their intentions to obey His commands.

“…if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” – Exodus 19:5-8 ESV

Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” – Exodus 24:3 ESV

Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” – Exodus 24:7 ESV

“Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say, and speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.” – Deuteronomy 5:27 ESV

The people of Israel had vowed to keep the commands of God. They had verbally declared their commitment to do all that God had said and to remain obedient to His revealed will. But it is interesting to note how God responded to their overwhelming vow of faithfulness.

“I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!” – Deuteronomy 5:28-29 ESV

God knew His people would have a difficult time keeping their commitments. He doesn’t question their sincerity, but He has serious doubts about their ability to keep their word. God understood that their hearts were in the right place, but He also knew that their hearts had been infected by sin. They fully intended to do the right thing but lacked the inner capacity to carry out their commitment. Yet, rather than simplify His laws or dumb down His requirements, God went on to stress their need for unwavering obedience.

“You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.” – Deuteronomy 5:32-33 ESV

It is important to remember that while the law was given to regulate the behavior of God’s people, it was also designed to expose their sinfulness. The apostle Paul points out this fact in several of his letters.

Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. – Galatians 3:19 NLT

…it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” – Romans 7:7 NLT

Paul understood that the law was holy, righteous, and good. It revealed God’s holy expectations for His chosen people. But sin took advantage of the law, using those divine decrees as a tool to condemn and defeat God’s people.

Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. – Romans 7:11 NLT

God knew that His people could not live up to His commands. That’s why He provided them with the sacrificial system as a means of receiving forgiveness and atonement for sin. He had made provision for their hard hearts and sin-prone dispositions. And even when it came to the making of vows, God provided a gracious means by which they could keep their word even when their hearts weren’t in it.

The topic of vows was important to God because it involved the keeping of one’s commitments. He had provided Moses with clear instructions regarding the making and keeping of vows.

“When you make a vow to the Lord your God, be prompt in fulfilling whatever you promised him. For the Lord your God demands that you promptly fulfill all your vows, or you will be guilty of sin. However, it is not a sin to refrain from making a vow. But once you have voluntarily made a vow, be careful to fulfill your promise to the Lord your God.” – Deuteronomy 23:21-23 NLT

A vow was a voluntary oath, a verbal commitment or promise to do or not do something. In many cases, the one making the vow would invoke the name of God as a witness or guarantee. It would be something like the phrase we hear so often today: “I swear to God…” But God warned His people about swearing oaths of any kind, either to Him or to others. These verbal commitments were to be taken seriously and the name of God was to be treated with reverence at all times.

In the opening verses of Leviticus 27, God addresses the issue of vows made specially to Him. These would have involved promises to be kept should God fulfill a request. The book of Judges gives an example of just such a vow.

Jephthah made a vow to the Lord. He said, “If you give me victory over the Ammonites, I will give to the Lord whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” – Judges 11:30-31 NLT

When God provided Jephthah with the victory he requested, the exuberant warrior returned home to find his young daughter coming out of the door of his house to greet him.

When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy. She was his one and only child; he had no other sons or daughters. When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. – Judges 11:34-35 NLT

Vows were not to be treated lightly or flippantly. It was a dangerous thing to attempt to bargain with God. But God, in His mercy and grace, provided His people with a way to fulfill their commitments when their hearts were no longer in it. In verses 1-7, God focuses His attention on those cases in which an individual vowed to dedicate someone to the Lord in return for divine intervention. The book of 1 Samuel contains a record of this type of vow. It involves a barren woman named Hannah. Unable to bear her husband a child, Hannah took her problem to the Lord.

Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime…” – 1 Samuel 1:10-11 NLT

God graciously fulfilled her request and gave her a son, whom she named Samuel. And when the day came for her to fulfill her vow, Hannah did as she had promised to do. When Samuel had been weaned, she brought him to the Tabernacle and presented him to the priest, saying, “I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life” (1 Samuel 1:27 NLT).

But God had provided an option. Had Hannah had second thoughts about dedicating her only son to the Lord, she could have purchased his freedom. According to Leviticus 27, Hannah could have given the priest 5 shekels of silver and returned home with her child. But it should not be overlooked that this exchange rate was very high. The average income of a common laborer in biblical times was about one shekel per month. So, this payment would have required five months’ wages.

And God outlined the various valuations based on the age and gender of the person whose life had been vowed. Extrabiblical texts reveal that these amounts reflected the going rate for slaves in those days. These purchase prices were high in order to discourage the making of rash vows. In His sermon on the mount, Jesus addressed the topic of vows, stating, “You have also heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not break your vows; you must carry out the vows you make to the Lord.’ But I say, do not make any vows!” (Matthew 4:33-34 NLT).

He discouraged the making of vows altogether, encouraging His listeners to simply do what they promise to do.

“Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.” – Matthew 5:37 NLT

Vows were dangerous. They could result in divine judgment. And even when God provided a gracious way of fulfilling a vow you had no intention of keeping, it came with a high price. God values truth. His word is truth. He does not lie and He expects His children to follow His example. But He also knows that they are incapable of living up to His holy standards. So, He graciously provides them with ways to fulfill their commitments even when they lack the heart to do so.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Power of a Promise.

March 9, 2018March 27, 2018 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. ² Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. ³For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words.

⁴When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. ⁵It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. ⁶Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? ⁷For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear. – Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 ESV

Up to this point, Solomon has provided us with a somewhat autobiographical and deeply personal look at life. He has revealed a perspective on life as seen from his unique vantage point as an aging monarch whose reflections are filled with regret and remorse. He sees himself as a preacher or teacher, whose responsibility as a leader of his people, is to share his mistakes and the insights he has gleaned from them.

In this section, Solomon moves into a slightly different mode, writing in more of a proverbial style, similar to that of the Book of Proverbs, which he wrote and edited. Proverbs are succinct, simple statements designed to teach powerful truths using few words, but in a memorable and impactful manner. Typically, proverbs are gathered in collections, with what appears to be little or no rhyme or reason as to their order or flow. They appear as isolated and seemingly unrelated thoughts, with each operating as a stand-alone statement of truth.

In chapter five, we have a series of these proverbs, and the first few all have something to do with making vows before God. As has been the case before, Solomon appears to be writing from experience. These are not simply words of wisdom he has run across and deemed worthy of inclusion in his book. They are written from personal experience. And the very first one he shares has to do with the attitudes one should bring into the house of God. When entering into the presence of God, attitude and actions should not be separated. He warns against offering sacrifices to God in a flippant and disrespectful manner, simply going through the motions while showing no reverence or fear for God while doing so. He recommends listening over sacrificing.

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. – Ecclesiastes 5:1 ESV

The Hebrew word translated as “listening” is shama` and it carries with it the idea of not just hearing, but obeying. Solomon knew that there was a real risk of showing up at the temple to offer the required sacrifices and failing to hear what God might be trying to say. You could end up going through the motions of sacrifice, while ignoring the very one to whom you were offering the sacrifice. There is little doubt that Solomon was very familiar with the words of the prophet Samuel, spoken to the first king of Israel, Saul.

“What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.” – 1 Samuel 15:22 NLT

Solomon’s own father, David, had discovered this same truth.

⁶“You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings.
    Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand—
    you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings.
⁷Then I said, “Look, I have come.
    As is written about me in the Scriptures:
⁸I take joy in doing your will, my God,
    for your instructions are written on my heart.” – Psalm 40:6-8 NLT

And it was Jesus who said to the Pharisees, “I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices” (Matthew 12:7 NLT), after they accused His disciples of breaking the law by harvesting grain on the sabbath. Jesus was condemning these men for placing higher priority on the sacrificial system than on the God to whom the sacrifices were being offered. And Solomon warns his readers: “Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few” (Ecclesiastes 5:3 ESV). There is a sense in which Solomon is sharing truth based on personal experience. He was not simply spouting a clever-sounding maxim, but revealing a painful, yet valuable lesson learned from real life. He reminds us that God is transcendent. He is in heaven and we are on earth. There is a great gulf that separates us, both literally and figuratively. God is holy and we are not. God is sinless and completely righteous in all He does. We are just the opposite. And we cannot afford to enter into His presence with a sense of dishonor or disrespect.

And one of the areas in which we can get ourselves into trouble with God is through the making of vows or commitments to Him. Vows were commonplace in Solomon’s day. They were verbal commitments made to God. A vow was a solemn promise to do something for God or to offer a sacrifice to God in the hopes of receiving blessings from Him in return. And Solomon warns, “When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow” (Ecclesiastes 5:4 ESV). Once again, this is most likely Solomon speaking from his own personal experience. There is little doubt that he had made many rash vows to God, promising to do something for God in return for blessings from God. But he had failed to keep his word. And he had learned the valuable lesson that God does not suffer fools lightly. The kind of vows to which Solomon refers could have been free-will offerings to God that would not have been part of the required sacrificial system. The vow or promise to present one of these free-will offerings would usually have beenmade during some moment of trouble or difficulty, in an attempt get God to provide rescue or relief. The book of Judges records just such a rash vow, made by Jephthah.

³⁰And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, ³¹then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord‘s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” – Judges 11:30-31 ESV

And the story goes on to record that God gave Jephthah victory over the Ammonites. But it also reveals the tragic outcome of Jephthah’s rash vow.

³⁴Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. ³⁵And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.” – Judges 11:34-35 ESV

Solomon wants his readers to know that God takes vows seriously, which is why he states, “It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay” (Ecclesiastes 5:5 ESV). Keep your mouth shut. Don’t be hasty. Treat God as holy and don’t be too quick to make promises you have no intention of keeping. Because God will hold you to your word. Again, Solomon seems to speak from experience when he writes:

Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? – Ecclesiastes 5:6 ESV

And it would seem from this verse, that Solomon has widened the application to include vows or promises made to other individuals. If you make a commitment to someone, keep it. You cannot simply tell them that your original promise was a mistake.

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had some serious things to say about the matter of vows.

³³“You have also heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not break your vows; you must carry out the vows you make to the Lord.’ ³⁴But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, ‘By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne. ³⁵And do not say, ‘By the earth!’ because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. ³⁶Do not even say, ‘By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black. ³⁷Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.” – Matthew 5:33-36 NLT

Do you see what Jesus is saying? The prevalent perspective in His day was to keep any and all vows made to God. But Jesus warns not to make any vows at all. His reason for this was that the Jewish religious leaders had developed a variety of loop holes and workarounds that would allow people to make vows without having to keep them. And Jesus lists just a few. They had developed a system by which you could make a vow that was legally breakable because you made it based on something that was non-binding. Through clever use of words, you could make a vow that sounded binding, but it wasn’t. It sounded serious and gave the impression you intended to follow through on your commitment, but you knew you would not. These kinds of vows were little more than lies, and Jesus warned His followers not to make them. Instead, they were to say “Yes, I will!” or “No, I won’t!”

Solomon wraps up this short section with a somewhat enigmatic verse.

For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear. – Ecclesiastes 5:7 ESV

The New Living Translation sheds some light on what Solomon may have been trying to say. “Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead.” Someone who experiences an abundance of dreams ends up struggling with whether what they have dreamed has true significance or meaning. What are they to believe? The same is true when we use too many words and make too many vows. No one knows whether what we say is true or to be believed. Remember what Solomon said: Let your words be few. Verbosity is no substitute for integrity. Why waste your time making promises, when you could simply do what it as you were going to promise?

Devotionary

The Bible Made Accessible and Applicable

commitments

Let Your Yes Be Yes

The Power of a Promise.