THROUGH THE BIBLE - Numbers..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Numbers chapter 30 from verse 1. Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel saying, this is what the Lord has commanded.

If a man vows a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. If a woman vows a vow to the Lord and binds herself by a pledge while within her father's household in her youth and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. But if her father opposes her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. And the Lord will forgive her because her father opposed her.

If she marries a husband while under her vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. But if, on the day that her husband comes to hear of it, he opposes her, then he makes void her vow that was on her, and the thoughtless utterance of her lips, by which she bound herself, and the Lord will forgive her. But any vow of a widow, or of a divorced woman, anything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her. 10. And if she vowed in her husband's house or bound herself by a pledge with an oath, and her husband heard of it and said nothing to her and did not oppose her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she bound herself shall stand.

But if her husband makes them null and void on the day that he hears of them, then whatever proceeds out of her mouth concerning her vows or concerning her pledge of herself shall not stand. Her husband has made them void, and the Lord will forgive her. Any vow and any biding oath to afflict herself, her husband may establish, or her husband may make void. But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows or all her pledges that are upon her. He has established them because he has said nothing to her on the day that he heard of them.

But if he makes them null and void after he has heard of them, then he shall bear her iniquity. These are the statutes that the Lord commanded Moses about a man and his wife, about a father and his daughter while she is in her youth within her father's house. Amen. This is the word of the Lord. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord remains forever.

So brothers and sisters, we're still working our way, as we're all well aware, through the Book of Numbers. We know the context. We're pretty familiar, I'm hoping, with the background. These are the people of Israel. They've been rescued from the land of Egypt.

But this now is the second generation, you might say. Because now they've been wandering in the land or in the wilderness, the desert wasteland, for some almost 40 years. They're on the brink. They're on the brink of being sent into the land of Canaan and to conquer by battle and by war the enemies so that they would be receiving by Yahweh the land promised to Abraham, to Isaac and Jacob. That land flowing with milk and honey.

And it's exciting times for these people. However, as we work our way through Numbers, and we'll see this in particularly true as we work our way through the book of Deuteronomy, we will see themes recurring. You might say we've already seen themes like this before. Like, for example, vows. We've already addressed vows to some degree in Leviticus chapter 27, but we need to realize That because this is the second generation, the parents of these people who are now fallen under the judgment of God, where their bodies have been laid and scattered across the wilderness as God said they would.

This new generation, many of these were young people, they were under 20, many in their youth and many younger again. And so the laws of God have been, again, proclaimed, preached to these people. And we'll see this more so in the book of Deuteronomy. And the vows are the same. However, these vows that are before us are a little bit different.

A little bit different. But it's interesting to ask questions like, why is this chapter on vows, for example, a full chapter on vows expressly for men and women. Well, why is it settled in this area in the Book of Numbers? It could be any one of many reasons. I cannot be sure, but I would say that it's very likely because the children of Israel are about to engage in some pretty difficult times.

They're about to engage in battle, fierce battles against the Canaanites. And throughout the Bible, throughout history, we've seen that examples of men or women, women to come, who have engaged in vows to God. And a vow is a pledge or a promise to God, or a pledge or a promise to someone else before God, normally invoking the name of God. God is there. God hears it all.

It's always a promise before God. But when we see these pledges or these oaths given, it's normally been in a time of difficulty. Where someone would come before Yahweh and say, Yahweh, I pledge, I vow, if you, then I will. It's normally the way he goes. You might remember in Numbers, my apologies, in Genesis chapter 28, you might remember Jacob.

Jacob made a vow. After he needed to leave his father's home, to leave Esau behind, he needed to go because of what he did, his deception against his brother. And he was going up north to a place called Paddan, Iran, to be with his uncle Laban. You remember the story. And as he begins the journey, this Jacob is fearful and frightened.

He vows to God. He says, if you will be my provider, if you'll be my protector, if you bring me back to my father's home, if you do these things, among other things, I will give you a tenth of what you've given me. You might remember that in Genesis 28. Or even closer to home now in the book of Numbers, only a few chapters earlier in Numbers 21. The same generation of people that is before us make a pledge, make a vow.

That's the word used there in Numbers 21. And they say to Yahweh, Yahweh if you would give us victory over the Canaanite, the king of Arad. And then we will devote everything to destruction. This king had already fought against Israel to some degree and taken some of their number captive. And of course, God gives and He's pleased to give them that victory.

And they commit everything to destruction. So it's likely that as these people, the people of Israel, are about to engage in some difficulty, some wars, some battles, when the men will go in arms and the women will be left behind, for their husbands and their fathers to go and engage in this war as the army of God, that it's likely, and it's in the very next chapter, chapter 31, we'll see a beginning of this battle starting, that it's likely that more vows, more pledges, more oaths will be made. And God is very serious about when His people make an oath or make a pledge. When His people say, I will do, I will pledge, Whatever it is, God is serious that we, his people, fulfill that pledge, fulfill that vow. Beloved, beyond the vow itself, what we find in the passage before us is quite a significant principle because it's not simply speaking of vows.

We'll get to that in a moment. But we find also a principle of headship. We find a principle of authority. We find how God has ordained a particular structure in the family, and He's ordained headship, and He's ordained submission. And this is what this chapter is really about.

How does it begin? Let's start with the inspired words in verse 1. Now Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, saying, This is what the Lord has commanded. If a man vows a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

In a nutshell, do what you said you will do. If you speak it, be well intended that you'll fulfill it and go all the way and fulfill it. If you speak a vow, that vow must not be broken. God takes vows very seriously. We'll see this as we work our way through the text of the Old Testament, in particular, even in you, and we'll get to that in a few moments.

The vows that God takes seriously must not only be only when men utter those vows. Because He says, when a man, it's unbreakable. But the principle is for women as well. That when a woman utters a vow, whether it's a man or a woman, It must not be broken in the sense that the person uttering the vow must have every intention to fulfill the vow. To be honest, to be integral, it is a matter of integrity, whether you're a man or whether you are a woman.

The intention is to fulfill, to see through that the vow is being fulfilled. Now, women aren't mentioned in verse 2 for a reason. Not because they're not meant to fulfill the vow. They are. In fact, if a woman utters a vow, just like when a man utters a vow, in and of themselves, they can't break it.

So if a man utters a vow, he can't break the vow. And if a woman utters a vow before the Lord, she can't break the vow, but her husband can. And if she's a daughter in her father's household, then her father can also. It's a matter of headship. Only the father of a daughter in his household or the husband of his wife are able to annul the vow made by either the wife or the daughter, and the person making the vow is forgiven, or is, in other words, probably released from the binding aspect of the vow.

Let's first look at the vows themselves and realize how serious it is when one utters words to the Lord that we make sure we don't utter empty words or words we have no intention of fulfilling. You see, the reason why God takes vows so seriously is because he is a God of truth. He is a God of truth. Every word He utters, every word that comes out of His mouth is absolute truth. And He intends for His people to replicate or to reflect His own nature and His own character, integrity, truth and righteousness.

God made Adam, He made Eve, He made the male and female in His own image, in His own likeness He made them. expected as his people to reflect his goodness and to speak truth when we open our mouth. That's the intended purpose that we speak the truth. God does every word. Every word that comes out of his mouth is absolute truth.

We can guarantee it. Every promise, every word he speaks, we can know that it is good as done. If it comes from his mouth, if he utters those words, then we can bank on it being fulfilled, being fulfilled or yet to be fulfilled if he's spoken it and he's yet to fulfill them. But we can guarantee when God speaks, we can know it will come to fruition. And that's what he expects from his people.

I want us to realize something else. When vows are uttered or spoken of, we also have to realize that they are completely voluntary. No one is coerced into making a vow. No one is coerced into making an oath. It is a product of the freedom of a person.

They are free to make the vow, and they're free not to make the vow. Now, in this day, a vow would have been a pledge for someone to do something, to commit particular resources. The vows that we've seen in the past, like in Leviticus chapter 27, was a pledge to commit or to give offerings, in particular, animal sacrifices. Right? That's really what we're looking at.

But no one is coerced into making the vow. No one is forcing someone else to make a vow. But this is the thing. You don't need to make it, is what is being said. But if you do make it, make sure you fulfill it.

You don't make a vow, it's fine. But if you make it, now you're binding yourself. And if you don't fulfill the vow, you are guilty of transgressing the law of God. You're guilty of sin. God will hold you to it.

Solomon makes that very clear in Ecclesiastes chapter 5. Listen to what he says. He says, When you vow a vow to God, do not delay in paying it, for He has no pleasure in fools. You love that language. Pay what you vow.

It is better that you should not vow, that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin. Did not say before the messenger that was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? But when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity.

But God is the one you must fear. In other words, you can even make a vow to someone else and not fulfill it. But ultimately, your sin is against God. Because God sees all things and He hears all things. It's God that you must fear.

Here's what you'll do. Psalm 15, 14 says, you fulfill your vows even if it hurts. Even if it hurts. Now, beloved, I said earlier that the vow to be fulfilled, when one utters a vow, it ought to be, the intention of the person ought to be to fulfill, to carry through the vow, whether it's a man or a woman, because the integrity is expected from both. That's the essence of our Lord's teaching.

It's very much the essence of our Lord's teaching in the New Testament, is it not? You remember that Sermon on the Mount when Jesus brings up the topic on oaths or vows? In essence, Jesus is saying, hey, as New Testament believers, you don't need to make a vow. You don't need to make an oath. You don't need to make a promise.

If it comes out of your mouth, it's as good as those things. Let your yes be yes and let your no be no. Mean what you say and do what you say. That's what Jesus is saying. We should be like our Lord.

When we say something, we should be well-intended and it should be as good as done, just like when he says something, and it's as good as done. But here in Numbers 30, beyond making a vow, we see that God-ordained authority is pictured. It's the headship structure of the family that is pictured for us in the few verses that we've read. Because although vows by men and women are expected to be fulfilled, there is a situation, or there are circumstances, where those vows are not necessarily fulfilled, and nor is it sin for them not to be fulfilled. And that is a situation where a daughter makes a vow, and the father is made known of it, and within the day, the father is aware of the situation.

It's not like weeks or months. He's aware of the situation, he deals with it seriously, and then he annuls the vow. or a situation where the wife makes a vow and the husband then hears of it. On that day, when the husband hears of the vow, he is aware of it now, he examines the vow, he thinks it through, and if his decision is to annul that vow, then that vow is annulled before the Lord, and the woman or the wife or the daughter, they're not held accountable before God as sinners in that sense. You see, beloved, it's a matter of headship.

You see, it's interesting also, when a daughter makes a vow in her father's home, you might have seen it in verse 6, but daughter makes a vow in her father's home, the father just lets it go, which means it carries. When she gets married and comes under the authority of her husband, her husband, once made aware of her vow, is able to annul it, and she is forgiven. You see, there's a transfer of authority. And that's something I'm not going to dwell on, but it's something we need to be thinking as Christian families, that when we do marry off our sons or our daughters, fathers, when you marry off your daughters, they come under the authority of their husbands. You no longer have that authority over them.

Their husband becomes that authority. And in this context here, Moses is telling these brides to be that if you carried out a vow and your father was okay with it and you come into your husband's household and he's not okay with it, then he can actually annul that vow. Because he's your head now. That's the authority structure. He's your head now.

Beloved, God has in his wisdom ordained this structure for us. Now we can look into the world and we know the world doesn't like to see what is in this passage. Actually the world hates it. And his people, his people who by faith have come to embrace his truth, his people don't care what the world is saying. They care of what God is saying.

And if God has ordained this structure, this authoritative structure in that household, then we ought to be obedient to God in that structure. Of course, there are stipulations to how this all works in the scripture. But we ought to be aware of the fact the world is always pulling against what the Bible speaks to, always. Because the world doesn't want to hear it. They don't want to know about it.

The world will say, no, if you're sitting under the authority of your husband and you submit to your husband, like the Bible says, that's oppressive. That's degrading. You're not equal in value. You're not equal in worth. But of course we know that's not true.

The Bible's so clear. Both men and women are of the same value before the Lord, of the same worth before the Lord. Remember I said earlier, and He made them male and female. He made them both in His image and in His likeness. No, the worth and the value of both man and woman before the Lord is the same.

It's a matter of the role that the Lord has given. Beloved, here in verse 9 we're even told that if it's a widower or a widow or a legally divorced woman, that when she makes a vow, it's exactly the same as if a man is making a vow because she doesn't have a head over her in the family structure. Value before the Lord is the same. And now, neither is it that the Lord is saying here that the man has the authority to annul a vow because the man somehow is more capable of making better decisions, so he's more intelligent or smarter than the woman. That's not true either.

We'll see as we go on in our study that some men, some prominent, key prominent men in the Bible make some very foolish vows. Jephthah is one of them. You might remember the story. God give us victory over the Ammonites. And if you do the first thing that comes out of my home, I will dedicate to you, I will offer to you as a burnt offering is what he said.

I don't know if this guy actually had a herd of sheep in his household. I was hoping for a sheep to come out, but that's not what happened. Because in the story, his daughter comes out. And that's a foolish oath to make. Now there are some foolish oaths that are made by men, so it's not a matter that men are more wise than women.

It's a matter of how God has ordained things. And the question we need to ask ourselves as Christians is, will I accept what the Lord has ordained? Will I honor him in the family structure that he has put in place? And beloved, men Knowing that the Lord has placed that responsibility on your shoulders, fathers, husbands, that's a daunting responsibility. It should make us feel the weight.

and not the hunger for power, but rather it ought to make us feel the weight of that responsibility so that we can press always into the Lord and dedicate ourselves to His Word in prayer. That we would seek the Lord and the wisdom found in His Word so that we would lead our families in righteousness and integrity as Christ is. That everything we do would be honoring of God. That we raise our children in a way that honors Him. That we treat our wives in a way that honors Him.

That we're aware of what goes on in our household. We're aware and we're awake to what is going on because at the end of the day we will stand accountable before Him. These men weren't simply annulling every single vow that the wife came across or that the daughter was making. That's not what's written in the passage. Rather, in wisdom.

In wisdom. the father or the husband would have the discussion. Maybe the details aren't before us, but this is the wisdom of the Lord, to have those discussions and to see whether that vow is for the good of the daughter or the wife, or the good of the family, is it honoring of God? There are a lot of factors that need to be taken into consideration. And then maybe some counsel would be fitting, as long as it's done within the first day, and then a decision is made.

Not every vow that is made. Some are good and are let to go and we see that. But some need to be annulled. Some need to be annulled. Husbands, you are the heads of your family.

You need to take that responsibility seriously. As husbands. As fathers. Adam, where are you? You remember those words?

What was an Eve? No. Adam was created first. He was created to be the provider. Adam was created to be the protector in the garden.

Did he protect his wife? No, he didn't. He dropped the ball. And so God said, Adam, where are you? Come give an account, Adam.

Come give an account. So whether you're a father, a husband, a daughter, a wife, The fact of the matter is we are to honor the Lord in whatever role he has given us. Whether we are widowers, whether we are legally divorced, it matters not. This group, and this group doesn't include boys in the household of their parents. But we know that boys are to be submissive to their parents, submissive to their fathers who are the heads of the family.

This is the structure that the Lord has placed before us. And as I said, the world doesn't like it. The world will oppose it. But does it matter? Who are we living to please?

Are we living to please the world? Are we living to please our God? Do we trust that God's ways are better for us than our own ways? We trust the Lord in all His ways. Do we believe?

Beloved, we must believe. We must believe. that if Christ is among us, if the Spirit of God is in our household, that He intends to have peace and unity and love within our households. And beloved, I know that these things can be abused. And this is the awful reality of where we live today.

In the world, in the context, in the culture that we live in today, that these things can be abused. And fathers, And husbands, you know, we make bad decisions. We make hurtful decisions, but there is grace and forgiveness in the Lord. Wives, daughters, you don't submit to your husbands and your fathers because they're worthy. I'm telling you now, no husband is worthy of complete and utter submission of their wife or their daughters.

We are sinful human beings, but we do it. Because he honors the Lord. We do it because God is worthy. And that's why we're told in Ephesians that the wife is to submit unto the Lord. Because we live to please Him.

He's the one who is worthy, not us. As I said, husbands can make some very bad decisions, some hurtful decisions, but they will give an account before the Lord. They will stand before the Lord, and they will stand and give an account of how they yielded that authority as the head of the household. Did you abuse it? Did you abuse that power?

Or were you using that power only, or that authority only in the sense that God intended for you to use it, and in a second we'll get there. And wives will also be standing before the Lord. Have we, as wives and daughters, have we submitted to our fathers and our husbands from the heart, or is it just an external submission? Just to do what we need to do, but not really have a heart engaged in the process. Beloved, remember that everything we do for the Lord, we do unto the Lord.

We don't do it simply because our husbands or our wives are worthy. Praise God, we've got good marriages and our wives and our husbands are nice people. Praise God, but we're sinners. We're sinners. And it's only a matter of time that you're gonna be hurt by one or the other.

That is what happens with sins. And if we're looking at the other partner and thinking, is that partner worthy of my love or my submission? then we're always going to think once they've heard us, then they're no longer worthy. And I can tell you from the beginning, they're never worthy. God is.

God is worthy. Beloved, as we look through this, we can see that there can be many abuses. And this is wrought with danger if the parameters aren't placed around it. And this is why in the New Testament we are told so clearly. so clearly that it is Christ who is the example to follow.

Christ is the example to follow. Because everything we do as human beings, we're wrought with corruption. Everything we touch is tainted with blood and sinfulness. But Christ is the example to follow. If we're thinking perfection, then he is the perfect husband.

Is he not? Is the church not His bride and He is the husband? Ephesians 5 tells us that men ought to imitate Christ as the husband. What does it say that Christ has done in Ephesians 5? He lays down His life for His bride.

He washes His bride with the Word. Is that what we do as husbands? Lay down our lives for our wives? That's a high calling. That's a high calling.

to bring the Word of God to bear upon our wives, our daughters, our sons, our whole household. That is a high calling. But this is the example that we ought to imitate. Christ does it absolutely perfectly. And husbands, remember this, you're a bride also.

I say that to myself often. I look in the mirror and I think you make a very ugly bride. But we are. We are indeed. Because husbands, you are the bride of Christ.

Wives, you are the bride. Anyone who has come to trust in Jesus and embrace him by faith have been united in Christ and are his bride. So we ought to be thinking when we're dealing with our wives, how does Jesus deal with me? I'm not standing here and saying these words as though I've got it all together brothers and sisters. I know, I know the sinful heart.

I know how badly we can get this wrong because I've seen how badly I've got it wrong. But that doesn't mean we walk away from Scripture, because this is true. The principles in God's Word are good and true, not only for the glory of God, but for the good of man. And you cannot have health and peace and love and unity in the family if you walk away and decide to do things on your own understanding. If you walk away and somehow adopt the world's understanding and philosophies and try to drag them into the family.

The world will say, no headship, just go together, just make all the decisions together and there's no head in the family. I believe we should make the decisions together, but Christ has said there is a head. And the head would be absolutely foolish not to consult the immense resources the Lord has given him, the love for his wife and her understanding. Of course, you engage in that discussion, love, and for the most part you ought to come to a resolution. But ultimately you will stand before the Lord.

So I read this chapter and I don't see simply that God intends for husbands to go, okay, saw the vow, and no, and no, and no, I'm not interested, no. But I see a man who is walking after God's own heart, who opens the vow, reads it, thinks it through, prays it through, seeks counsel, and sees whether this is the best thing for my household or not. And if it's not through discussion and love, they put it aside. They put it aside. Christ is the perfect husband.

He's the one we ought to follow. Christ and women, wives and daughters, even men and sons. When we think about authority and what that submission should look like, he's also the example to follow. Is he not? Is he not the perfect son of God?

Did He not come into the world to do not His own will, but to do the will of the Father? And did He not accomplish the will of the Father in absolute perfection? Did He not submit in His incarnation to the Father's will? Not my will, He says, but let the Father's will be done in perfect submission to the Father. Christ is the perfect example of submission that he even submitted to the Father's will when his Father's will led him to the cross of Calvary, that cursed cross.

And he said, you'll die and you'll bear my wrath for the sake of your bride. And what did he do? He died and bore the wrath for the sake of his bride. He drank that bitter cup. That's the type of obedience our Christ, our Lord exemplified.

And that's the type of obedience not only wives, but we husbands ought to show towards our God and his word. Christ is the perfect husband. Christ is the epitome of what true obedience looks like in His incarnation. He's the perfect husband. He's perfect in obedience.

And He's perfect in fulfilling the promises of God. This started with oaths. This started with making promises. This whole chapter started with when you utter something, when you speak something, make sure you fulfill it. When Christ speaks, He will fulfill.

He says, all that the Father gives to me will come to me, and all who come to me I will by no way partake. This is the will of the Father, that those who believe in the Son, those who believe in Christ, He will raise on the last day. Beloved brothers and sisters, husbands, wives, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers. That's the promise for everyone who has come to trust in Jesus Christ. He's the one.

He's the only one who has kept his oath from beginning to end. Praise be his name. Let's pray.