Making Promises (Numbers 30)

How important is telling the truth? Do we lie to others? Do we make promises that we fail to keep? Let’s look at Numbers 30.

How seriously did God take any promise to do something?

Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded. When a man vows a vow to Yahweh, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. (Numbers 30:1-2 WEB)

Was a woman under the same obligation to keep her promises? Could a father overrule her promises?

When a woman makes a solemn promise to the Lord or a binding obligation while she is young and in her father’s household, and her father hears her solemn promise or her binding obligation for herself and keeps silent—then all her solemn promises and any of her binding obligations for herself will stand. But if her father expresses disapproval to her on the day that he hears her, none of her solemn promises nor any of her binding obligations for herself will stand. The Lord will forgive her, because her father expressed disapproval to her. (Numbers 30:3-5 CEB)

Could a husband also overrule his wife’s promises? What about widows and divorcees?

Suppose a woman makes a promise to the Lord and then gets married. If her husband later hears about the promise but says nothing, she must do what she said, whether she meant it or not. But if her husband hears about the promise and objects, she no longer has to keep it, and the Lord will forgive her. Widows and divorced women must keep every promise they make to the Lord. (Numbers 30:6-9 CEV)

What if a husband did not object immediately to his wife’s promises?

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 them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips 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 binding 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 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.” (Numbers 30:10-15 ESV)

Did Moses just make this up or was this from the Lord?

These are the statutes that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the relationship between a man and his wife, or between a father and his daughter in his house during her youth. (Numbers 30:16 HCSB)

What did Jesus say about making such promises?

“Again, you have heard that it was told those who lived long ago, ‘You must not swear an oath falsely,’ but, ‘You must fulfill your oaths to the Lord.’ But I tell you not to swear at all, neither by heaven, because it is God’s throne, nor by the earth, because it is his footstool, nor by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the Great King. Nor should you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. Instead, let your message be ‘Yes’ for ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ for ‘No.’ Anything more than that comes from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:33-37 ISV)

How important is telling the truth? Do we lie to others? Do we make promises that we fail to keep? You decide!