The terrible tragedy of making RASH VOWS to God
March 15 Bible
Reading: Judges Chapters 10-12
The terrible tragedy of making RASH VOWS to God
Jephthah
the Gileadite stands condemned in history as someone who made a rash and
foolish vow to God even though he was a mighty man who led the Israelites to
win a decisive battle against the enemy. We read in Judges 11:30-31 like this: And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and
said, "If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, then
it will be that whatever comes out of
the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of
Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I
will offer it up as a burnt offering.". By the very wordings of
this vow, it is clear that Jephthah expected an animal at his door when he
returned back victoriously from battle. Jephthah’s vow however turned out to be
rash and cruel as his only daughter was the one who greeted him at the door and
he had to ultimately consecrate her as a sacrifice to God (Judges 11:32-40).
In ancient
Israel, vows were solemn promises made to God (Psalms 76:11) in reference with devoting
a person (Num 6:2) or dedicating children (1 Sam 1:11) or devoting property to
God (Gen 28:22). Vows needed to be
voluntary (Deut 23:21-22), and performed faithfully (Num 30:2) without any
delay (Deut 23:21, 23). However there was danger of inconsiderately making vows.
"It is a snare for a man to devote
rashly something as holy, and afterward to reconsider his vows" (Prov
20:25)
Several important lessons are to be
learned from Jephthah's rash vow:
- There may be doubts in our hearts concerning our future but that should not drive us to make foolish vows to God.
- We should never make vows to God as a purchase of a favor we desire but only to express gratitude to Him.
- We need to carefully consider the consequences before making a vow, and the golden rule is: “we should only make vows that we can keep”.
- Finally, what we have solemnly vowed to God, we must perform even though it is hard – this is the least that God expects from us.
The BEST advice that we can receive from God’s word concerning making vows is found in Eccl 5:4-7: "When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed-- better not to vow than to vow and not pay. Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands? For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity…but fear God".
