King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Taking Vows
Date: Saturday February 18, 2012
Today's Chapters: Numbers 30-32

Hello My Friend,

The word marriage is defined as the act of uniting a man and woman for life, wedlock, the legal union of a man and woman for life. Marriage was instituted by God Himself, it is a contract both civil and religious, by which both parties engage to live together in mutual affection and faithfulness, till death shall separate them. Much like the marriage between and man and woman is the marriage between Jesus and His bride, which is every believer, nothing shall separate them, but death, and since receiving Christ gives one eternal life that means death cannot even separate us from God.

“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 8:34-39.

God gave the Jews specific commands concerning vows, a vow was and still is a solemn promise of unchangeable love and faithfulness. Vows are very important to God and He expects everyone to fulfill their obligation, there were a few exceptions where God would release a person from a vow made by a woman.

“If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. If a woman also vow a vow unto the LORD, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house in her youth; And her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand. But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth; not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand: and the LORD shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her...But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her...Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void.” - Numbers 30:2-5,9,13.

In a moral and religious sense, vows are promises to God, as they appeal to God to witness their love and faithfulness to Him, and any violation of them would be a heinous offense. A vow constituted as three parts, of chastity, of poverty, and of obedience, of chastity, to remain pure and undefiled in the marriage, of poverty, to respect the property given to them, and of obedience, to be in submission to one another. Christ encourages the same vow in our marriage to Him, remain pure and undefiled, respect the Temple in which God dwells, and live in submission to Him. “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;” - Ephesians 5:22-25.

Lust lies within the confinements of the eyes, the more one focuses on what they see the more lustful they become of it. When the tribes of Reuben and Gad saw the beautiful land amidst them and how much there was of it, having possessed much cattle, they did not want to dwell in the land that God promised them, instead they asked if they could remain there. Moses got upset with them and reminds them of the fatal consequences of the unbelief and hardheartedness of their fathers, when they were, as themselves, just ready to enter Canaan and forsook it to stay in the wilderness.

“And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here? And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD hath given them? Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to see the land. For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the LORD had given them. And the LORD'S anger was kindled the same time, and he sware, saying, Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD... For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people...But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.” - Numbers 32:6-12,15,23.

When we vow a vow to God we must look beyond the things which are seen, otherwise we will be guided by the lust of the eye and the pride of life. The proposal of Gad and Reuben showed disregard to the land of Canaan, distrust of God's promise, and unwillingness to encounter the difficulties and dangers of conquering and driving out the inhabitants of that land. After some persuasion Moses grants their request, but warns them of the danger of breaking their word. Be sure your sin will find you out. Sin will surely find out the sinner sooner or later. It should concern us now to find our sins out for ourselves, that we may repent of them and forsake them, before they find us out to our ruin.

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” - Galatians 5:19-25.

The soul is the center of a person, it is dependent upon the flesh or the spirit for fulfillment, it is much more valuable to God than the flesh and why He expects a person who vows a vow to follow through with it. Why? The flesh is all about fulfilling the flesh and we all know how much trouble we can get ourselves into by giving into the desires of the flesh. God knows He cannot trust the flesh, but He can trust a soul who is dependent sole upon Him. “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.” -Galatians 5:16-18.

Today's Psalm: 61:5 - “For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name.”

Today's Proverb: 20:25 - “It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.”

Today's Prayer: God, When You vowed to give us eternal life by receiving and accepting Your Son as our Savior You promised that we would be united for eternity. You never go back on Your promise, I am trusting in You completely to save me from death and hell. While I never intentionally try to break my vow to You, I know that while I carry this flesh with me I will disappoint You sometimes. Thank You for Your love for me and for not forsaking me no matter how many times I break my vows. Lord, help me to look beyond the surface and trust You with everything, I know You know what is best for me. Show me any sin that separates us and give me Your power to repent and forsake them and live in complete obedience to You. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Enjoy the rest of your day/night.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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