Numbers 30

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

Laws Concerning the Taking of Vows

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. God expects His structure of authority for the family to be honored.

  2. God expects the vows people make to be honored.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. Don’t make rash vows.

QUESTIONS

  1. Explain the Law of Consecration or Dedication.

  2. Was there ever a time when a dedication could be invalidated or annulled?

  3. How were the laws different for men and women?

  4. What was the law concerning the vows of widows and divorced women?

  5. List the areas of God-given authority.

  6. What is God’s line of authority in the home?

ANSWERS

  1. Any man or woman in Israel could make a vow of dedication of their material possessions to the Lord (Leviticus 27). If they chose to continue to use that possession, they could redeem it by paying its market value plus twenty percent. Furthermore a person could dedicate himself or herself to the Lord (Numbers 6).

  2. Yes, these situations are outlined in Numbers 30.

  3. If a man took a vow of dedication, that vow was binding – it could not be annulled. A woman’s vow was also binding unless it was annulled by her father or husband.

  4. The vows of widows and divorced women were binding.

  5. There is God-given authority in the family, the state, and the church.

  6. The children are to be subordinate to the parents. And the wife is to be subordinate to the husband.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. This chapter addresses God’s authority structure within the family. It is clearly seen here and elsewhere that children are to be subordinate to the parents and the wife is to be subordinate to the husband. Discuss this structure within today’s society. Remember, subordination does not mean inferiority. The Lord Jesus was subordinate to God the Father, but in no way inferior to Him (1 Corinthians 11:3).

  2. Review the account in this chapter and the principle it teaches. Discuss: Godly commitments of time and talents to the Lord must be subject to God-given roles and responsibilities within the family.

CHALLENGE

  1. Have you made a vow before the Lord? Perhaps a vow of marriage or a vow of daily time with the Lord? Recommit yourself to your vows this week. God expects the vows people make to be honored.

KEY VERSES

  • “If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” Numbers 30:2

  • “These are the statutes which the LORD commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter in her youth in her father’s house.” Numbers 30:16

Numbers, Old Testament, TalksRon ReidNUMBERS 30