2011-08-12
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, we revisited Christ’s teaching on the taking of vows. He recommends against it unless the matter is very serious, e.g. wedding vows, vows of friendship between two houses, like David’s with Jonathan which united the house of David with the house of Saul [1 SAM 18: 1-4]. These types of vows are vows unto to death made in love, cut in blood. God is always a third party, even if He remains in the background. His position is always with greater power than the humans involved. We are basically told, “Don’t make a promise unless you know you can keep it, and don’t break any promises you make.”
Today we will look at what a covenant as a pledge made unto death and made in love and cut in blood actually means. LV 19: 2 is the second of several times this teaching comes down from God. “Be holy, because I am holy.” We also see it in LV 11: 44-45 and 1 PET 1: 16. You’ll remember that when something is repeated in the Bible, that’s God’s way of saying, “Pay particular attention, because this is very important.” For humans to be holy, they must mimic the way God does something. We already know from PS 138: 8, “You will do everything you have promised, Lord, Your love is eternal. Complete the work that you have begun.” What all of this is saying is that we should keep promises, just as the Lord keeps His promises. Now look at NU 30: 1-2, which are the words of Moses to the heads of Israel’s 12 tribes. “This is why the Lord commands. When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.” When considering the actual ramifications of that, it’s very important indeed. This is a good reason why it’s perfectly appropriate to hold pastors, teachers, leaders of a group of people to a higher standard that the average people. Think about it; those people’s words and actions have an influence on a greater number of people.
God makes His will in these matters crystal clear. Consider DT 23: 21, “When you make a vow to the Lord, do not put off doing what you promised; the Lord will hold you to your vow; it is a sin not to keep it.” God wants us to learn to think first, then act. Sadly, most humans act first then maybe they think. IS 66: 1 draws us right back to the “Be holy because I am holy” instruction. “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will My resting place be?” These two questions are powerful in their nature, because they apply to every way we lead our lives. I’m sure there are some people who think I’m a Jewish lady too steeped in ritual when they hear the story of how I chose to celebrate my 60th birthday several years ago. My situation is unique in that I’m a Messianic Jewish lady serving God in ministry in a Lutheran environment. It’s just where He placed me. We had moved into a new place, and I asked a friend who is a Lutheran pastor to join with me and our 25 guests in dedicating our new home to God. He blessed the house, using the traditional blessing the Lutherans have. Then, my husband and I did the Jewish part of the ceremony by nailing a small mezuzah [hollow metal device with DT 6: 4-13 rolled in a tiny parchment paper and inserted in it] to the door posts of our home. While doing this, I said age-old prayers for this purpose in Hebrew and in English. Interestingly, verse 13 reads, “Fear the Lord the Lord your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name.” The mezuzah I chose for this occasion has the 21st letter of the Hebrew alphabet, shin, on it, which is the first letter in God’s name in Hebrew. Peter [my husband] and I were making a vow that God would be a full-time Resident of our home, and He has been ever since. Few of any of our guests had ever seen this ceremony before, and it was a learning experience for all of us.
James, the half-brother of Jesus and apostle who wrote a tiny, but powerful book toward the end of the NT, is the one I call our “parent apostle,” because of his pronouncements. JAS 5:12 weighs in on the subject at hand. “Above all, my brothers, do not use an oath when you make a promise, do not swear by heaven or by earth, or by anything else. Say only ‘yes’ when you mean yes and ‘no’ when you mean no, under God’s judgment.” He repeats Christ, but he also emphasizes how serious this is. Since we believe the word of God is “God-breathed” [2 TIM 3: 16], then we are accepting that the writings of the OT and NT are inspired by God. Inherent in this teaching is a sanction against game playing, as some people do. They either prevaricate or throw up smoke screens or purposely leave doubt about their true intention/purpose in the way they respond to requests. These are things risk God’s adverse judgment, which is why both Christ and James have warned against this kind of behavior. DT 19: 21 serves as a reminder of how serious the judgment will be for an offense against God. “Show no pity; life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” I can’t help but think of David’s great loss for his great offenses, despite the fact that he was “a man after God’s own heart” [1 SAM 13 :13-14]. When David became smitten with Bathsheba, the wife of the solder, Uriah, he took her to his bed and impregnated her. Then he arranged for Uriah to be killed on the battlefield. The child that was born to Bathsheba months later, took ill and died [2 SAM 11: 1-27; 2 SAM 12: 1-18]. Yes, the taking of vows is a serious matter, but one not to fear when it is done for godly reasons.
PRAYER: O Lord, we are reminded of our need to acknowledge Your presence in and leadership of our lives. HO 6: 3, “Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge Him. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” This statement of Your faithfulness applies to Your presence in our lives, Your leadership of them, and Your right to judge us when we have offended You. It also acknowledges You power, superior to ours and never used without righteousness. We are, by Your grace, given choices to make when faced with a need to make a promise to another person. We can choose not to make the promise, or to make it with the understanding that, to be godly, we must keep it unless the other person releases us from that promise. You want us to remember the real freedom we have, due to our covenant relationships with You and with others who believe in Your Son. Christ has told us, in JN 8: 32, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” While You give us clear direction in the matter of taking oaths and making promises, You remind us to use godly wisdom in doing so. PR 9: 10, “To be wise you must first have reverence for the Lord. If you know the Holy One, you have understanding.” Dearest Abba, it is our desire to conform to Your teaching, to understand that Your words in both the OT and NT are meant to teach us Your will, and to accept that Your will is always righteous and in our best interests eternally. We understand that concepts repeated in the Scriptures are matters You deem important. We thank and praise You for being such a Presence in our lives and for Your righteous intervention in them. You are to be forever praised and thanked for the goodness You bring to earth. These prayers are said in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: What has been said so far about being pledged unto death, borne out of love, and cut in blood is foundational to a discussion of making commitments before God and man. So the latter will be the subject of next week’s message. In order to be in a true covenant relationship with the Lord, it is necessary for us to humble ourselves before Him, i.e. accept His supremacy in the relationship and thus, His superior wisdom. His supremacy undergirds every aspect of our covenant relationship with Him. We never have to worry that He is playing games with us, doing wrong, or in any way exhibiting evil, for God has no evil in Him. Sadly, we can’t say that about ourselves or other humans. PS 37: 11, “But all who humble themselves before the Lord shall be given every blessing, and shall have wonderful peace.” It’s my desire to live that way, and I’m hoping it’s yours too. But God knows we are not perfect, or else we would already be in heaven with Him. But through Christ’s Atonement, God has given us the hope of the resurrection [RO 8: 29]. That hope is what propels us to expunge sins from our lives and to work to live according to His teaching. I leave you this week with RO 15: 13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Our God is to be forever praised and thanked for the love He shows us!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15