Leviticus 27:8: “But if he is too poor to pay your valuation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall set a value for him; according to the ability of him who vowed, the priest shall value him.”

January 10th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

This closing chapter of the book of Leviticus deals with a set of instruction about vows. Vows were voluntary acts, resolutions or promises made by a believer to devote himself or his property to God.

We must be careful to not assume from these instructions that somehow we need to make a vow to get something from God. That is not the case. You don’t have to promise God anything in order to get something from Him or to get closer to Him. God is, by His very nature and character, the Giver. He wants to give good things to His children, just as a human father enjoys giving his children good gifts. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17). Our heavenly Father derives and receives pleasure and joy in giving to us.

Because this is true, Jesus makes it clear in the Sermon on the Mount that a vow is not a wise thing to make. “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one” (Matt. 5:37). Jesus is warning against the careless use of oaths in everyday speech. James writes something similar in his letter. “Above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ be ‘No,’ lest you fall into judgment” (James 5:12). In James’ day some tried to make distinctions between binding oaths and non-binding oaths. In their minds, somehow an oath that did not include the name of God could be considered non-binding. They would use these oaths as a way of crossing their fingers behind their backs when telling a lie.

“LORD, we want to be truth speakers today, so please be a sieve to our minds and mouths. Make us people of integrity, walking close to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

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Leviticus 27 KJV

¹ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, ² Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the LORDby thy estimation. ³ And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. ⁴ And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels. ⁵ And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels. ⁶ And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver. ⁷ And if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels. ⁸ But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him. ⁹ And if it be a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the LORD, all that any mangiveth of such unto the LORD shall be holy. ¹⁰ He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy. ¹¹ And if it be any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the LORD, then he shall present the beast before the priest: ¹² And the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it, who art the priest, so shall it be.  ¹³ But if he will at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth part thereof unto thy estimation. ¹⁴ And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the LORD, then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good or bad: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand. ¹⁵ And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his. ¹⁶ And if a man shall sanctify unto the LORD some part of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof: an homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.  ¹⁷ If he sanctify his field from the year of jubile, according to thy estimation it shall stand. ¹⁸ But if he sanctify his field after the jubile, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the year of the jubile, and it shall be abated from thy estimation. ¹⁹ And if he that sanctified the field will in any wise redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured to him. ²⁰And if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more. ²¹ But the field, when it goeth out in the jubile, shall be holy unto the LORD, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest’s. ²² And if a man sanctify unto the LORD a field which he hath bought, which isnot of the fields of his possession; ²³ Then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation, even unto the year of the jubile: and he shall give thine estimation in that day, as a holy thing unto the LORD. ²⁴ In the year of the jubile the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land did belong . ²⁵ And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel. ²⁶ Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the LORD’S firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox, or sheep: it is the LORD’S.  ²⁷ And if it be of an unclean beast, then he shall redeem it according to thine estimation, and shall add a fifth part of it thereto: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation. ²⁸ Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the LORD. ²⁹ None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but shall surely be put to death. ³⁰ And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD. ³¹ And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. ³² And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD. ³³ He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed. ³⁴ These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.