Thursday Evening Bible Study

May 13, 2010

Introduction

Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision

Between the time that God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to the time that they first entered their Promised Land, was a period of forty years. The first year was spent at Mount Sinai, where they received God’s commandments and built the portable worship center known as the Tabernacle.

The next thirty nine years were spent wandering in the wilderness. They are at the end of this time period and before they cross into the Promised Land, they are going to get a “refresher course” on the basics of their worship, beginning last week with a reminder of some of the basic offerings, and now we’ve begun a review of the major feasts.

The Feasts were important for several reasons:

1. They taught the people history.

Sometimes a feast was tied to an historical event, and the yearly celebration helped the people remember what God had done in the past, such as the Passover, when God had delivered Israel out of Egypt.

2. They were opportunities to pass on the faith.

These were times to make the children ask questions and learn about their family’s faith.

3. They brought the people together.

These feasts were often called “holy convocations”, we call it “fellowship”.

4. They had prophetic importance.

(Col 2:17 NKJV) which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

We’ve already looked at two of these holidays:

1) Passover – which was prophetically fulfilled when Jesus died on the cross and God “passed over” our sins.

2) Feast of Weeks / Pentecost / First Fruits – when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church, the church was the first fruits of Christ’s work.

The next batch of holidays have not been fulfilled prophetically.

29:1-6 Feast of Trumpets

:1 ‘And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. For you it is a day of blowing the trumpets.

:1 holy convocation – a time when the people gathered together. Like going to church.

:1 blowing the trumpets – t@ruw‘ah – alarm, signal, shout or blast of war or alarm or joy

There are different kinds of “trumpets” in the Old Testament.

Silver trumpets were blown on the first of each month for the “New Moon” festivals (Num. 10:10)

(Nu 10:10 NKJV) —10 Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am the Lord your God.”

The trumpets blown for this “Feast of Trumpets” was the ram’s horn, known as the shofar.

:2 You shall offer a burnt offering as a sweet aroma to the LORD: one young bull, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, without blemish.

The offerings made on this holiday involved various sacrificial animals, grain offerings and drink offerings.

:3 Their grain offering shall be fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram,

:4 and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs;

:5 also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, to make atonement for you;

:6 besides the burnt offering with its grain offering for the New Moon, the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, as a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD.

Historical

While some of the feasts have roots in an historical event (like Passover), there is no specific historical event that this feast represents.

There are some rabbis who have declared that this was the day that the world was created in Genesis 1:1.

Others have declared that this was actually the day that man was created, and that the world was created five days earlier.

Either way, this has become a sort of “New Year” for Judaism.

The Jews has two different calendars.

The “religious” calendar starts with the month of Passover (March/April).

The “civil” calendar starts with this day.

Today it is known as “Rosh Hashanah” (“The Head of the Year”).

Rosh Hashanah for the Jewish Year 5771 (2010) will fall on September 8.

The Mishnah, based on the oral tradition of the Jews, calls this day the “day of judgment”. We do not take the Mishnah as Scriptural truth, but it is quite interesting. The Mishnah states that on this day books are opened and the fate of people are recorded.

The “righteous” have their names written in the book of life.

The “wicked” have their names blotted out of the book of life.

Those in the middle have ten days to repent and become righteous. It is ten days until Yom Kippur, the “Day of Atonement”.

Prophetic

There is no clear purpose given for the Feast of Trumpets. But the very nature of its name, and the placement of it in the calendar seem to point toward it being a sort of “wakeup” call.

It is a call to get ready for the major “Feast” season – the upcoming Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles.

There doesn’t seem to have been any sort of fulfillment of this as of yet. There hasn’t been any kind of trumpet blast yet to get people ready.

But one is coming!

(1 Th 4:16–17 NKJV) —16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

(1 Co 15:51–52 NKJV) —51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

What’s the “last trumpet”?

1. Some think it could be the last of the seven trumpets in Revelation, putting the rapture at the end of the Tribulation period.  I wouldn’t agree.

Keep in mind, Paul wrote 1Cor. thirty years before John’s “Revelation”.

2. Could it be the “shofar”?

In some Jewish traditions, the Feast lasts for two days instead of one.

Jewish tradition has an elaborate service laid out with various prayers and readings. These are all interspersed with various blasts from the shofar.

Could it be that the Rapture will occur on Rosh Hashanah?  Hmmm.

Lesson

Be ready

The two feasts prior to Trumpets have already been fulfilled prophetically. This is the first one to be unfulfilled.

The principle of the Feast of Trumpets is to be ready.

We don’t have to wait until September to be ready.

Jesus said,

(Mt 24:42–44 NLT) —42 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.43 Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into.44 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.

Play “Rapture” video clip.

Are you ready to meet your Master?

29:7-11 Day of Atonement

:7 ‘On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall afflict your souls; you shall not do any work.

:7 holy convocation – another time to gather

:7 you shall afflict your souls

Traditionally this phrase carries the idea of fasting, not feasting.

:8 You shall present a burnt offering to the LORD as a sweet aroma: one young bull, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year. Be sure they are without blemish.

:9 Their grain offering shall be of fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the one ram,

:10 and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs;

:11 also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, besides the sin offering for atonement, the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

:11 besides the sin offering for atonement

This array of sacrifices would be in addition to the special offering that would be made on this day, the actual sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the nation.

The Day of Atonement, or, Yom Kippur.

Yom = Day, Kippur = Atonement (same word used in Num.29:11) or “covering”

It falls in the September/October time frame.

Historical

Though this day was not tied specifically to an historical event, it was one instituted for a reason – the death of Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu when they rushed into the Holy of Holies and were killed (Lev. 10).

The rituals on this day were to resolve the issue of how the people were going to approach the throne of God symbolized by the Ark of the Covenant, without dying in God’s presence (Lev. 16:1)

(Le 16:1 NKJV) —1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before the Lord, and died;

As a result, there was only one day a year when the High Priest would actually enter into the Holy of Holies. It was only on this one day a year that the High Priest would make atonement for the sins of the nation upon the mercy seat (God’s throne).

After getting properly dressed and washed, the High Priest would make a sin offering for himself, sprinkling the blood of a bull in the holy of holies upon the mercy seat while burning incense.

Then, the High Priest would make a sin offering for the people, and take the blood of a goat and sprinkle it in the holy of holies on the mercy seat.

Then the High Priest would confess the sins of the nation over the head of another goat, which would be set free in the wilderness, to carry the people’s sins away from them.

Purpose

(Le 16:30 NKJV) For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.

It was a day to atone for the sins of the people.

For today’s Jews, the day is handled quite differently.

There is no Temple. There is no Holy of Holies. There is no altar of sacrifice.

Today a good Jew will spend the day thinking about all the good things and all the bad things he’s done over the year.

If the good things outweigh the bad things, then everything’s fine. If not, then you’ve got some work to do.

But where’s God’s purpose of atoning for sin? Where’s the blood that is supposed to be spilt?

Prophetic

In one aspect, this has been fulfilled. In another, it hasn’t.

Fulfilled:

The Great High Priest has entered into the Holy of Holies once for all and offered His own blood for our sins.

(Heb 9:24–26 The Message) —24 For Christ didn’t enter the earthly version of the Holy Place; he entered the Place Itself, and offered himself to God as the sacrifice for our sins. 25 He doesn’t do this every year as the high priests did under the old plan with blood that was not their own; 26 if that had been the case, he would have to sacrifice himself repeatedly throughout the course of history. But instead he sacrificed himself once and for all, summing up all the other sacrifices in this sacrifice of himself, the final solution of sin.

Not fulfilled:

(Da 9:24 NKJV) “Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.

Even though atonement for sin was accomplished by Jesus on the cross, the whole package of the seventy-weeks isn’t over until Jesus comes again.

Sin is still around. It hasn’t ended yet.

The seventy weeks end with the return of Jesus Christ.

Some have theorized that the day of Jesus’ coming could be on Yom Kippur.

29:12-40 Feast of Tabernacles

:12 ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work, and you shall keep a feast to the LORD seven days.

:12 holy convocation – one more time to get together

:13 You shall present a burnt offering, an offering made by fire as a sweet aroma to the LORD: thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in their first year. They shall be without blemish.

There is quite an elaborate array of sacrificial animals, flour, oil, and wine.

Each day the same sacrifice is repeated except there is one less bull sacrificed each day.

:14 Their grain offering shall be of fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each of the two rams,

:15 and one-tenth for each of the fourteen lambs;

:16 also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

:17 ‘On the second day present twelve young bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs in their first year without blemish,

:18 and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance;

:19 also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

:20 ‘On the third day present eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs in their first year without blemish,

:21 and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance;

:22 also one goat as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

:23 ‘On the fourth day present ten bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in their first year, without blemish,

:24 and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance;

:25 also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

:26 ‘On the fifth day present nine bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in their first year without blemish,

:27 and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance;

:28 also one goat as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

:29 ‘On the sixth day present eight bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in their first year without blemish,

:30 and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance;

:31 also one goat as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

:32 ‘On the seventh day present seven bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in their first year without blemish,

:33 and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance;

:34 also one goat as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

:35 ‘On the eighth day you shall have a sacred assembly. You shall do no customary work.

:36 You shall present a burnt offering, an offering made by fire as a sweet aroma to the LORD: one bull, one ram, seven lambs in their first year without blemish,

And then we are given all the accompanying animal sacrifices, grain offerings, and drink offerings.  The eighth day only has one bull sacrificed.

:37 and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance;

:38 also one goat as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

:39 ‘These you shall present to the LORD at your appointed feasts (besides your vowed offerings and your freewill offerings) as your burnt offerings and your grain offerings, as your drink offerings and your peace offerings.’ ”

:40 So Moses told the children of Israel everything, just as the LORD commanded Moses.

Historical

Also called “Sukkoth”, “Feast of Booths”, as well as “Feast of Ingathering”. It was celebrated at the time when the crops were all harvested and the barns were full.

It had a double purpose:

1. Remember the forty years in the wilderness

It was to remind the people of how the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years, living in tents (“Tabernacles” or “Sukkoth”)

To celebrate this, the people would set up booths made of branches and live outside with their families, kind of like camping out.

2. Celebrate the harvest

The farmers’ growing season was over, the crops have all been harvested and the farmers had a chance to rest.

The people didn’t always celebrate this feast. But when they returned from their exile in Babylon, one day somebody was reading the Bible, and they discovered something!

In Neh. 8, Ezra gathered all the exiles together during the Feast of Trumpets and they began to read from the Law of Moses.

When they got to the part about the Feast of Tabernacles, they thought, “Hey, why don’t we try this?”

(Ne 8:17–18 NKJV) —17 So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness. 18 Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner.

Note in verse 17 that there was “great gladness”.

The requirements here had to do with sacrifices.

On the first day of the feast the sacrifices involved thirteen bulls. (Num. 29:13)

(Nu 29:13 NKJV) You shall present a burnt offering, an offering made by fire as a sweet aroma to the Lord: thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in their first year. They shall be without blemish.

These animal sacrifices were accompanied with grain offerings and drink offerings (wine was poured out).

There would be sacrifices every day for seven days. The only difference was that each day there would be one less bull offered as a burnt offering.

In total, there would be 70 bulls sacrificed over a period of seven days (that’s a lot of bull), and according to Jewish tradition, they saw this as a bull being sacrificed for every nation of the world. (In Gen.10, seventy families of the world, from the sons of Noah).

By the end of the celebration, 199 animals would have been sacrificed, along with lots of grain and wine.

The first seven days of the feast were to symbolize the forty years in the wilderness.

But as you know, there came a day when they actually made it into the Promised Land, and apparently that was what the eighth day represented, when they left the wilderness and entered the Land.

On the eighth day there was only one bull sacrificed (Num. 29:36) , and to the Jews, this was a bull sacrificed for them, the nation of Israel.

(Nu 29:35–38 NKJV) —35 ‘On the eighth day you shall have a sacred assembly. You shall do no customary work. 36 You shall present a burnt offering, an offering made by fire as a sweet aroma to the Lord: one bull, one ram, seven lambs in their first year without blemish, 37 and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance; 38 also one goat as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

Through time, there became a couple more additions to Sukkoth.

On the evening of the first night, a golden candlestick was lit in the Court of the Women at the temple. This was a picture of the pillar of fire by night that led Israel in the wilderness.

There was a ceremony was added to Sukkoth that had to do with water.

Every day of Sukkoth, at daybreak, a priest would lead a procession of people from the Temple to the go to the pool of Siloam.

The choir would sing a song from:

(Is 12:3 NKJV) Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation.

It was a time known as extreme joy.

It was said that “Whoever had not witnessed it had never seen rejoicing at all” [Lightfoot].

We saw in John 7 how Jesus tied this all to Himself and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39).

Prophetic

This is the only feast that we know for sure will be celebrated after Jesus returns.

(Zec 14:16 NKJV) And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

Why is this feast going to be celebrated during the Millennial Kingdom?

Because the Kingdom is when Jesus will live and rule among us. He will permanently “tabernacle” (“dwell”) with us.

The Kingdom is when God has done his final “Ingathering” of his people.

So, the Feast of Tabernacles speaks of the Kingdom Age.

It will be a time of great joy.

(Ps 16:11 NKJV) You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

What greater joy could there be but to live with Jesus face to face.

30:1-16 Vows

:1 Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded:

:2 If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

:2 vow – neder – a promise to do something

:2 oath – sh@buw‘ah – oath, curse

A “oath to bind” was a promise not to do something

Sometimes these were made in kind of a “deal” with God, like Jacob did at Bethel:

(Ge 28:20–22 NKJV) —20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. 22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

Sometimes a vow was made simply to devote yourself to God for a period of time like the Nazirite vow (Num. 6).

There have been some famous Nazirites:

Samson, Samuel the prophet, John the Baptist.

 :2 he shall do

Lesson

Be a person of your word.

One of the reasons people swear an oath or take a vow is to help people believe what they’re saying, kind of like putting your hand on the Bible in court and swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. It’s like the person who says, “May God strike me dead if I’m not telling the truth”.

James said,

(Jas 5:12 NKJV) But 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,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.

Jesus said,

(Mt 5:33–37 NKJV) —33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.

The whole point is that we should be men and women of our word.

You shouldn’t have to go through some elaborate oath to convince someone that you are telling the truth.

If you say, “Yes, I will”, that should be enough.

Your life should be enough to validate your word.

Lesson

Be careful what you promise.

(Prov 20:25 NLT) It is dangerous to make a rash promise to God before counting the cost.

Take the time to consider what you’re doing.

Make sure you are going to be able to fulfill your promise.

If you promise your kids a trip to Disneyland tomorrow, you’d better come through with it.

As our kids got older, we began to learn the hard way that they will remind you about your promises.

It’s better not to promise something than to let them down by not keeping your promise.

If you borrow money, you had better really be sure you are going to pay it back. Credit cards, loans, these are all things that follow the rules of these “vows”.

(Ec 5:4–5 NKJV) —4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed— 5 Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.

God wants us bound together in love, learning to trust one another, and this doesn’t happen when we lie or break promises to each other.

I know that sometimes we have good intentions and make promises that we intend to keep, and then for some reason we are not able to keep that promise. I think we can be gracious to each other over these kinds of things.

But sometimes we make promises only to manipulate people into doing what we want with no intention of ever following through. This is what’s wrong.

30:3-5 A Young Girl’s Vow

:3 “Or if a woman makes a vow to the LORD, and binds herself by some agreement while in her father’s house in her youth,

:4 and her father hears her vow and the agreement by which she has bound herself, and her father holds his peace, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement with which she has bound herself shall stand.

:5 But if her father overrules her on the day that he hears, then none of her vows nor her agreements by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the LORD will release her, because her father overruled her.

A dad has a responsibility over his daughter.

If a daughter makes a commitment and the dad either agrees to it or simply doesn’t say anything, then the daughter is still obligated to her commitment.

If a daughter makes a foolish commitment, a dad had the ability to nullify it.

30:6-8 A Wife’s Vow

:6 “If indeed she takes a husband, while bound by her vows or by a rash utterance from her lips by which she bound herself,

:7 and her husband hears it, and makes no response to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her agreements by which she bound herself shall stand.

:8 But if her husband overrules her on the day that he hears it, he shall make void her vow which she took and what she uttered with her lips, by which she bound herself, and the LORD will release her.

A husband is responsible for his wife’s decisions.

A husband could get his wife out of a foolish vow.

Some would look at some of this and think that the Bible is all about men ruling the world and women being their servants…

Illustration

One man was from Texas, one from Florida and one from Kansas. They got acquainted and started talking about their problems with their wives. The guy from Texas began by saying “I told my wife clearly that from now on she would have to do all of the cooking. Well, the first day after I told her, I saw nothing. The second day I saw nothing, but on the third day when I came home from work, the table was set, and a wonderful dinner was prepared with wine and even dessert.” Then the man from Florida spoke up “I sat my wife down and told her, that from now on she would have to do all the grocery shopping and all of the house cleaning. The first day I saw nothing. The second day I saw nothing. But the third day, when I came home, the whole house was spotless, and in the pantry the shelves were filled with groceries.” The fellow from Kansas was married to a woman who had grown up in Kansas all her life. He sat up straight on the bar stool, pushed out his chest and said. “I gave my wife a stern look and told her that from now on she would have to do the shopping, cleaning, and cooking. Well, the first day I saw nothing. The second day I saw nothing. But by the third day, I could see a little bit out of my right eye.”

I have come to look at these kinds of Scriptures in a little different light…

Interestingly enough, it doesn't seem like a wife could get her husband out of a foolish vow.

It doesn't seem fair to me!

This goes to prove an idea I've had about the relationship between a man and his wife from the Scripture.

In our passage we see that a man is stuck with his word. Nobody gets him out of it.

A woman on the other hand can be bailed out by her husband.

I believe that what God's intent all along is for husbands to learn how to make good decisions.

(1 Pe 3:1–2 NKJV) —1 Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.

I have learned by observation that it appears that the female of the species makes decisions easier than do the male. They also make decisions better.

Yet what sometimes happens in marriage is that after the husband makes his fourth or fifth Bozo-headed decision, the wife is tempted to just step in and take over.

Some husbands may put up a fight over this.

Some of us just step back and let her fix things.

Ladies have the ability to help train their husbands to make good decisions.

Sometimes that means letting him make a few Bozo decisions, and then having to pay for them as well. God is going to keep him at his word.

The best way to make good decisions is to know that you have the support behind you. Even if you make a bonehead decision, you know you’re going to be loved anyway.

This doesn’t mean you don’t offer advice or give your opinion. Yet hopefully after a few stupid mistakes in a row, a husband might possibly learn that he ought to listen to his wife’s ideas.

30:9-12 Widow or Divorced Woman’s Vow

:9 “Also any vow of a widow or a divorced woman, by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her.

A widow or divorced woman is accountable for her decisions.

:10 “If she vowed in her husband’s house, or bound herself by an agreement with an oath,

:11 and her husband heard it, and made no response to her and did not overrule her, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement by which she bound herself shall stand.

:12 But if her husband truly made them void on the day he heard them, then whatever proceeded from her lips concerning her vows or concerning the agreement binding her, it shall not stand; her husband has made them void, and the LORD will release her.

Any agreements that she made when still married fell under the “married” rules.

30:13-16 Waiting too long

:13 Every vow and every binding oath to afflict her soul, her husband may confirm it, or her husband may make it void.

Keep in mind, these are the laws for the ancient nation of Israel.

Even though there are principles we can learn from, these are not legally binding in the year 2010 in the United States.

If a gal signs up for every new credit card offer that comes in the mail, and then charges each card to the limit, you can’t get out of the credit agreement just because you did it without your husband’s okay.

:14 Now if her husband makes no response whatever to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all the agreements that bind her; he confirms them, because he made no response to her on the day that he heard them.

:15 But if he does make them void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt.”

:16 These are the statutes which the LORD commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter in her youth in her father’s house.

:14 her husband makes no response

If a husband heard about a vow that his wife made, and simply doesn’t say anything about it, but then later on down the road decides that it’s wrong, too bad! It’s too late! He has to pay the price of her vow!

He’s watching the ball game on TV. She tells him she’s going shopping for a new wardrobe. He nods his head and grunts. A month later he gets the VISA bill and gets upset. Too bad. He should have said something earlier.

Lesson:

Speak up

We get into more trouble because of bad communication.

Sometimes things just get lost in translation:

Illustration

A Mexican bandit made a specialty of crossing the Rio Grande from time to time and robbing banks in Texas. Finally, a reward was offered for his capture. An enterprising Texas Ranger decided to track him down. After a lengthy search, he traced the bandit to his favorite cantina, snuck up behind him, put his trusty six-shooter to the bandit’s head, and said, “You’re under arrest. Tell me where you hid the loot or I’ll blow your brains out.” But the bandit didn’t speak English and the Ranger didn’t speak Spanish! Fortunately, a bilingual lawyer was in the saloon and translated the Ranger’s message. The terrified bandit blurted out, in Spanish, that the loot was buried under the oak tree in back of the cantina. “What did he say?” asked the Ranger. The lawyer answered, “He said, ‘Get lost, you turkey. You wouldn’t dare shoot me.’”

Sometimes we get into trouble because we just don’t speak up.

Illustration

A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment. Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight. Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper, “Please wake me at 5:00 AM.” He left it where he knew she would find it. The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn’t wakened him, when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, “It is 5:00 AM. Wake up.”

Don’t let things go unsaid. We need to keep communication clear between us.

If I have a problem with something you’re doing, I need to begin talking about it, and not wait until it becomes a bigger problem.

(Eph 4:25 NKJV) —25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another.

Truth is spoken to each other.

Nobody can read your mind.

David’s example:

David’s son Amnon raped David’s daughter Tamar.

Here was David’s response:

(2 Sa 13:21 NKJV) But when King David heard of all these things, he was very angry.

That’s it. That’s all we’re told that David did. He just got angry.

Well, Tamar’s full brother, Absalom didn’t settle with that. He let his bitterness build up inside for two years. Then he finally plotted and killed his half-brother Amnon.

If you let things go unsaid, you will pay a price later on, just as in these vows.