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.<\/p>\n
We must be careful to not assume from these instructions that somehow we need to make a vow to get<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n 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 \u2018Yes\u2019 be \u2018Yes,\u2019 and your \u2018No,\u2019 \u2018No.\u2019 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<\/em> \u2018Yes\u2019 be \u2018Yes,\u2019 and your<\/em> \u2018No,\u2019 be \u2018No,\u2019 lest you fall into judgment” (James 5:12). In James\u2019 day some tried to make distinctions between binding oaths<\/em> and non-binding oaths<\/em>. 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.<\/p>\n “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.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leviticus 27 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0spake unto Moses, saying,\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons\u00a0shall be\u00a0<\/em>for the\u00a0LORDby thy estimation.\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0And 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.\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0And if it\u00a0be\u00a0<\/em>a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels.\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And if\u00a0it be\u00a0<\/em>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.\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0And if\u00a0it be\u00a0<\/em>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\u00a0shall be\u00a0<\/em>three shekels of silver.\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0And if\u00a0it be\u00a0<\/em>from sixty years old and above; if\u00a0it be\u00a0<\/em>a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0But 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.\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0And if\u00a0it be\u00a0<\/em>a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the\u00a0LORD, all that\u00a0any man<\/em>giveth of such unto the\u00a0LORD\u00a0shall be holy.\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0He 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.\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0And if\u00a0it be\u00a0<\/em>any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the\u00a0LORD, then he shall present the beast before the priest:\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0And the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it,\u00a0who art\u00a0<\/em>the priest, so shall it be.\u00a0\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0But if he will at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth\u00a0part\u00a0<\/em>thereof unto thy estimation. 14<\/sup>\u00a0And when a man shall sanctify his house\u00a0to be\u00a0<\/em>holy unto the\u00a0LORD, then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good or bad: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand.\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth\u00a0part\u00a0<\/em>of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his.\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0And if a man shall sanctify unto the\u00a0LORD\u00a0some part\u00a0<\/em>of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof: an homer of barley seed\u00a0shall be valued\u00a0<\/em>at fifty shekels of silver.\u00a0\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0If he sanctify his field from the year of jubile, according to thy estimation it shall stand.\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0But 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.\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0And if he that sanctified the field will in any wise redeem it, then he shall add the fifth\u00a0part\u00a0<\/em>of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured to him.\u00a020<\/sup>And if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more.\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0But the field, when it goeth out in the jubile, shall be holy unto the\u00a0LORD, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest\u2019s.\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0And if\u00a0a man\u00a0<\/em>sanctify unto the\u00a0LORD\u00a0a field which he hath bought, which\u00a0is<\/em>not of the fields of his possession; 23<\/sup>\u00a0Then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>unto the year of the jubile: and he shall give thine estimation in that day,\u00a0as\u00a0<\/em>a holy thing unto the\u00a0LORD.\u00a024<\/sup>\u00a0In the year of the jubile the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>to him to whom the possession of the land\u00a0did belong\u00a0<\/em>.\u00a025<\/sup>\u00a0And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel. 26<\/sup>\u00a0Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the\u00a0LORD\u2019S\u00a0firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether\u00a0it be\u00a0<\/em>ox, or sheep: it\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>the\u00a0LORD\u2019S.\u00a0\u00a027<\/sup>\u00a0And if\u00a0it be\u00a0<\/em>of an unclean beast, then he shall redeem\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>according to thine estimation, and shall add a fifth\u00a0part\u00a0<\/em>of it thereto: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation.\u00a028<\/sup>\u00a0Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the\u00a0LORD\u00a0of all that he hath,\u00a0both\u00a0<\/em>of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>most holy unto the\u00a0LORD.\u00a029<\/sup>\u00a0None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed;\u00a0but\u00a0<\/em>shall surely be put to death.\u00a030<\/sup>\u00a0And all the tithe of the land,\u00a0whether\u00a0<\/em>of the seed of the land,\u00a0or\u00a0<\/em>of the fruit of the tree,\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>the\u00a0LORD\u2019S:\u00a0it is\u00a0<\/em>holy unto the\u00a0LORD.\u00a031<\/sup>\u00a0And if a man will at all redeem\u00a0ought\u00a0<\/em>of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth\u00a0part\u00a0<\/em>thereof.\u00a032<\/sup>\u00a0And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the\u00a0LORD.\u00a033<\/sup>\u00a0He 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.\u00a034<\/sup>\u00a0These\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>the commandments, which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5579"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5579"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15938,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5579\/revisions\/15938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}