Shabbat Shalom beloved of Yeshua Messiah.

 

This week’s Torah Reading is the 121th portion of the 3-year Torah Portion reading cycle. Num 30:1-31:54 contains this week’s Torah Reading.

 

I’ve entitled this teaching: What God Expects from us When We Make Vows — Thoughts and Reflections on Torah Reading 121

 

(30:1-16) — The Torah Regarding the Making of Vows and Oaths

 

The Torah regarding the making and keeping of vows, oaths, and obligations is a carryover from the instructions Yah gave us regarding the required sacrifices and offerings we are to render on various set-apart/feast days (i.e. Torah Reading 120):

 

39‘These you prepare to יהוה at your appointed times, besides your vowed offerings and your voluntary offerings (some English translations render as votive offerings), as your ascending offerings and your grain offerings, as your drink offerings and your peace offerings.’ (The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Nu 29:39.)

 

 

The Expectations for the Vows – Oaths – Obligations That Men Make

 

We cannot revoke or nullify the vows, oaths, and obligations that we, as men, make unto Yehovah. They are binding, especially upon men. To swear a vow or oath is no small matter, but is done on one’s life, whether male or female (vv. 4, 6). (John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Nu 30:2.)

 

The making of vows and oaths is serious business and is never to be taken lightly by us. In fact, it behooves us as we examine the binding potential of vows and oaths to always be careful to guard that which comes out of our mouths as commitments.

 

 

The Expectations for the Vows – Oaths – Obligations That Women Make

 

However, Yehovah delineated the following exceptions for women.

 

Any female living in her father’s house (the LXX stipulates this applies to a female in her youth) who makes a vow that her father hears about, but he says nothing to her about it, her vow or oath will stand. However, if her father hears about it but disagrees with the vows or oaths she’s made, he may invalidate them, and she will not bear any responsibility for it. “Any vow and any sworn oath or a pledge to inflict on herself, her husband can confirm it or her husband can nullify it. But if her husband is completely silent from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all her pledges that are on her; he confirms them because he was silent to her on the day he heard them. But if he indeed nullifies them after he hears them (i.e. days after hearing them), then he will bear her guilt” (30:13-15 LEB).

 

The same principle applies today, whereby children cannot enter nor be bound to contractual agreements for obvious reasons. They are young and they are often unaware of the consequences of their life decisions. We have total responsibility for our children until the day they are emancipated or get married. Yah has given them to us to oversee.

 

The same provision applies to a married woman as applies to a young female living in her father’s house. A married woman who has made a vow that her husband disagrees with has the authority to nullify such vows. Why is this so? Yah placed the man ahead of the woman in terms of the family unit. He makes the decisions for the home. It is the order that Yehovah established for the family unit. Any vows or oaths that his wife makes will have a direct effect on the family, and since the husband is responsible for the wellbeing of his family, he must ensure that his wife hasn’t involved herself into something that will adversely affect the shalom of the home.

 

Vows, oaths, and obligations made by a widow or a divorced woman will remain valid as they would for a man.

 

The provision in Torah, whereby husbands and fathers may annul their wives’ and daughters’ vows, oaths, and obligations, respectively, protected the women in a man’s life from the legal ramifications of commitments that they may have made in error or because of naivete. This provision also aims to protect the integrity and security of the family.

 

Why were special, restricting provisions made by Yah regarding women making vows and oaths? Females who were married or underaged living in her parents’ home lived under the authority of their husband and father, respectively. However, any husband or father that nullifies their woman’s vow or oath is subject to the consequences that may come from his nullification.

 

Let us not forget that in ancient times, and to a greater and lesser extent today, the wife in a family cares after her husband and raising the family’s children. Daughters focus on becoming good wives and partners to their future husbands. If a wife or underaged daughter get caught-up in an obligation, she is incapable of fulfilling; she risks bringing financial harm to the family or being enslaved for failure to meet the terms of her obligation.

 

Widows and divorced women followed the same standards as men, as they didn’t have any domestic male authority governing their lives.

 

 

Biblically Defining Vows and Oaths and Obligations

 

Oaths (aka shevu’ah) are formal, binding promises we make to another individual or entity, such as Yehovah. Oaths then are a fulfilling of a sacred duty or responsibility without a condition precipitating the oath. We can find an example of an oath in the Psalms.

 

132 O יהוה, remember Dawiḏ,

All his afflictions;

2How he swore to יהוה,

Vowed to the Mighty One of Ya‛aqoḇ:

3“Not to enter into my dwelling-house,

Not to get into my bed,

4“Not to give sleep to my eyes,

Or slumber to my eyelids,

5“Until I find a place for יהוה,

A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Ya‛aqoḇ.” (The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Ps 132.)

 

Vows (aka neder) are expressions of devotion or piety that we make towards Yehovah, such as offerings, pledges of abstinence (e.g. Nazarite Vow), and other forms of spiritual or physical actions (e.g. praying, committing to serve the Body, etc.). We pledge to do something in response to something the other party (namely Yehovah) promises to do for us. Vows that involve financial commitments would be a direct concern for the head of household, since more times than not, he was the bread-winner for the family. Unfortunately, because we may get caught-up in our piety and zeal towards Yah from time-to-time, we may make vows in haste and later on find that we’ve over-committed ourselves or simply forget to fulfill the vow.

 

Often, vows involve our dedicating something or someone to the service of the sanctuary, as in the case Abshalom (ref. 2 Sam 15.7-8), Hannah and Elkanah (ref. 1 Sam 1:19-27), and in the case of those who took on the Nazarite vow (Num 6:2-21).

 

 

Our reading also addresses general contractual and dedicatory commitments or obligations (aka ‘issar/’esar) which is any binding agreement that is executed in writing or by official proclamation.

 

When Yah delivers an edict, for instance, we must carry out and obey that edict, such as fulfilling our obligation to present the firstfruits of our increase on its appointed day (Num 18:12-13) and presenting our tithes unto Yehovah (Lev 27:30-33). When Yah prohibited us from taking the spoils of war and devoting to destruction, the inhabitants of the various nations and cities Yah directed us to war against. Then there are financial, contractual obligations that we enter into that we are required to fulfill.

 

We must mention that certain vows, oaths, and obligations overlap from time to time. That to break any of these commitments is tantamount to profaning Yehovah. Why? It is tantamount to profaning Yehovah because He is a direct witness to the vows, oaths, and obligations we attach ourselves to.

 

Recall that our reading addressed exemptions or reversals to the vows, oaths, and obligation rules, which applied only to those commitments that a father or husband overrules. But were you aware that the Rabbis took it upon themselves to provide an escape from obligations that we commit ourselves to by assuming religious authority to nullify certain vows, oaths, and obligations? When petitioned to do so, these treaded lightly, knowing that they really had no wiggle room to nullify vows, oaths, and commitments. Thus, these took advantage of word-plays to circumvent the validity of certain commitments, which, of course, violated Yah’s prohibition against adding to and subtracting from His Torah commands (Deu 4:2; 12:32; e.g. m. Nedarim 1.1-3).

 

Master Yahoshua pushed back on this profane practice of the Rabbis when He directly addressed this issue of making vows and oaths and obligations in His Sermon on the Mount, which also is our apostolic reading for this week:

 

33“Again, you heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to יהוה.’ Way. 19:12; Bem. 30:2; Deḇ. 23:21

34“But I say to you, do not swear [vainly] at all, neither by the heaven, because it is Elohim’s throne;

35nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; Yesh. 66:1 nor by Yerushalayim, for it is the city of the great Sovereign; Teh. 48:2

36nor swear by your head, because you are not able to make one hair white or black.

37“But let your word ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ And what goes beyond these is from the wicked one. (The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Mt 5:33–37.)

 

Here we see the Master’s corrective instructions are quite simple: Avoid making commitments we know we are incapable or have no intention of keeping. Rather, ensure that our yeses are yes, and our no’s be no.

 

 

(31:1-12) — We War Against the Midianites

 

Yah left instructions with Moshe that we were to seek vengeance against the Midianites just before he dies. Men were to assemble themselves before Yehovah, arrayed for battle, to execute vengeance from Yehovah against Midian. We were to muster 1,000 men from each tribe to go up against Midian, totaling 12,000 soldiers. Phinehas the Priest, upon whom Yah conferred His covenant of peace, led us into battle along with the holy elements of the sanctuary. Shofars were used to communicate our maneuvers against Midian (LXX).

 

(31:13-24) — The Outcome of our War with Midian

 

We killed every Midian male, along with their leaders and princes. Balaam of Peor we also killed. (I guess Balaam either did not make it back to Peor or he had returned to Moab by that time.) No Israelite warrior died in the battle (31:49).

 

We took captive the Midianite women along with their children and took unto ourselves all their domesticated animals and articles of wealth. We burned all their cities and encampments. We brought all that we’d taken from the Midianites and presented them before Moshe and Eleazar the Cohen Gadol just outside our encampment on the desert-plateau of Moab at Araboth.

 

Moshe was outraged that we had taken captive the Midianite women. He reminded us it was these women who were instrumental in our apostacy with Ba’al of Peor. (Reference Num 25:1-9) We learned that Balaam of Beor was the mastermind behind the plan to lead us into apostacy with Ba’al of Peor. That apostacy resulted in the deaths of 24,000 souls.

 

Thus, Moshe instructed us to execute every woman who has ever engaged in a sexual relationship with a man. Those women who had not engaged in a sexual relationship with men, we were to spare them and we could take them as wives.

 

Because we had become ritually defiled in our war against Moab, we were required to remain outside the encampment for 7-days and undergo the purification ritual along with the captives and the confiscated booty. (Reference Num 19:11-22) We must return to a state of ritual purity and anything that we brought into the camp had to be purified according to the Yah’s Torah.

 

(31:25-54) — Divi’ing Up the Spoils of War

 

In obedience to Yehovah’s instructions, we took inventory of all that we took possession of in our war against the Midianites and divided those items between those of us who fought and the rest of our community. From the spoils of war we provided Tribute (Me-kes, meaning a tax on spoil to be rendered unto Yehovah; religious dues or taxes in support of the priestly servants of Yehovah) to Yehovah through our High Priest Eleazar. (Yah must always receive first portion of our increase.) Still, quite a bit of the war-booty remained after we gave Tribute of it to Yah and our warriors received their portions. That which remained included thousands of sheep, heads of cattle, donkeys, and virgin females.

 

Still yet, our warriors rendered unto Yehovah all the valuables they’d collected as booty from the Midianites a memorial and to make atonement for them before Yehovah (31:50). Our hearts, for once, were in the right place. Yah came first in our hearts, minds, and souls. We were ready to go in and receive the Land.

 

Yah instructed us to eradicate the men, male children, and sexually active women of the Midianite confederacy. Let us not forget that it was Balak, through the instigation of Balaam, used the Midianite women to seduce our men into apostacy. These women brought a curse upon us that resulted in 24,000 members of our nation perishing. His retribution against the Midianite confederacy through our warriors was a fulfillment of His promise to Avraham that He would curse those that curse him, and by extension, his seed (Gen 12 and 27). Yah has always been clear that vengeance is His to be had (Isa 63:4; Rom 12:19), and Yah does not forget.

 

You may agree that one of the biggest complaints the uninitiated members of society and the Christian religion have against Yehovah is that He is a mean, vengeful, hateful, always-angry, unforgiving God. Some go as far as saying that they want nothing to do with such a God and that they much prefer to deal with the loving God who they identify as Jesus Christ.

 

 

But these individuals are sorely lacking in their understanding of the wholeness of Yah’s sovereignty, His holiness, and His righteousness. You see, Yehovah doesn’t operate on the same scale and with the same convictions and mindset that many of us do.

 

Of Himself, through the Prophet Isaiah, Yah stated:

 

6Seek יהוה while He is to be found, call on Him while He is near.

7Let the wrong forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to יהוה, who has compassion on him, and to our Elohim, for He pardons much.

8“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares יהוה.

9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. (The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Is 55:6–9.)

 

We try to hold Yah to our personal standards and sense of righteousness. But we must not overlook the fact that “we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags” (Isa 64.6; KJV). For our Elohim is irresistibly holy and righteous beyond compare. Thus, because of his unrestricted sovereignty and holiness and righteousness, He deals with people and nations under these immutable character traits.

 

Indeed, there are certain sins and transgression of the creative order (such as the defilement of all flesh that took place when the Watchers descended to earth and disrupted Yah’s creative order) that prompt Yah to act in ways that may offend our delicate western sensibilities. But our sensibilities and our opinions don’t amount to a hill of beans when it comes to Yah exercising His sovereign will and purpose.

 

 

The purification that our warriors underwent before being permitted back into the encampment was demonstrative of Yah’s character. Our God is a God of life and holiness. He does not take pleasure in the deaths of any human soul. However, to propagate His pro-life agenda, He occasionally spills blood in accordance with His divine will and purpose. And in order for Him to dwell in our midst, we must be in a state of ritual purity. Death, the precipitate of sin, is impure. Any contact that we have with human remains requires that we be purified in order to dwell in His midst and be of service to Him.

 

 

If you have not established and are not walking in a true and substantive covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe through Yeshua Messiah, I invite you to do so today, for today is the day of salvation. Simply turn to Yah, repent of the sins of life, and ask Him to forgive you of those sins. Then seek Abba Yah for opportunities for you to be water-immersed (aka baptized) and receive Yah’s indwelling, Set-apart Spirit. Become a disciple of Yeshua and begin walking in His and His Father’s ways. Seek out opportunities for fellowship with likeminded believers and engage yourself in growing and learning how to walk this narrow path that leads to the Kingdom and to salvation.

 

Please, don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or need guidance in the True Faith once delivered. (perceptionwp@gmail.com) But don’t let another day go by without acting on you convictions. The time for coming to faith in this dispensation is coming to a close and you need to be on the right side of life that only Yeshua can provide.

 

It is my heartfelt hope, trust, and prayer that you have a blessed day of rest in Yeshua Messiah.

 

Faithfully,

 

Rod