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My Daily Blessing from My Daily
Bible Reading
with meditations
by my mother, Poetess Gertrude Sanborn
February 24
Numbers 28:13 -- Numbers 31:10
TO VOW OR
NOT TO VOW
Numbers 30:13-14
"Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul,
her husband may establish it, or her husband make it
void . . ."
Sometimes, in
those days, a woman made a vow to the Lord. It was a vow
of some kind concerning her life. If she be
unmarried, her father could say to her, "I don’t
think this is a good idea. I am going to disavow that
vow." So whether the woman wanted her vow voided or
not, it was. Now if the father said nothing, she was
obliged to keep that vow.
The same thing was true of a wife.
If the husband heard with his own ears her vow made with
her own lips and said nothing about it, her vow had to
be kept. But if he did not approve of such a promise or
pledge, he could disallow that vow. The Bible says in
verse 13 that "every vow and every binding oath to
afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her
husband may make it void."
Until I looked up this word,
"afflict" in my Webster’s dictionary, I had an
altogether different idea what this verse meant. I
used to think that if a woman made some kind of
commitment about something such as purchasing a product
at a store, or promising a friend she would do a special
deed, or if she were angry at someone and condemned them
in some way, that she was committed to follow through
with her word. But if her husband (or father) heard her,
he could disavow that commitment. Maybe that is what it
means.
Now that I have looked up the
word, I am beginning to see the verse in a different
light. The obsolete meaning of the word,
"afflict" is "to strike down, to overthrow."
The poet, Milton, is quoted. The next definition was
"to inflict some great injury or hurt upon, causing
continued pain or mental distress; to trouble
grievously." The synonym is "distress, harass,
torment, chasten."
Now I am seeing the wisdom of the
LORD in giving this rule concerning the vows that their
women were publicly making. The husbands, once
again, were to be the protection to their women. The
husband was to be the buffer between woman’s unkind
words and promises and God.
The next verse (vs 14) says
"But if her husband altogether hold his peace at her
from day to day, then he establishes all her
vows, or all her bonds which are upon her: he confirmeth
them, because he held his peace at her in the day that
he heard them." So there were some vows that were
made within ear-shot of her husband that must have been
approved by him. Those vows-–whether good or
vindictive-–were to be kept. The statute was commanded
by the LORD through Moses.
What is your opinion of these
verses? (ysw)
"DAILY FOLLOW
HIM"
(Luke 8:23)
"Take up thy
cross daily and follow me."
Every day we
must pick up that portion of care with which God has
entrusted us.
It is part of
the discipline of life to daily follow.
Though we are
not aware of it, the weight is helping to shape our
stature.
For He is the one we follow.
(GGS)
And
Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he
said, Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly
return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo,
Sarah thy wife shall have a son. (Genesis 18:10)
Under God's Care,
Yvonne S. Waite
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