Read Numbers 28,29,30
Pastor Skip is going to walk us through chapters 30 and 31. You can sum up both of these chapters with three words… Vows, vengeance and victory.
A vow is an oath or a promise. Two things compel people to make an oath – the recognition of human nature and the response to the divine nature. Recognize that in a human, there is a tendency towards not telling the truth. We also need to realize and respond to God‘s nature toward us.
God never commanded the people to make a vow. But, if you do make a vow, you need to keep it. We see oaths throughout the Bible. God made an oath in Genesis 22. God does this to produce our loyalty.
The beginning of chapter 30, we see Moses reminds men that if they make a vow, they must keep it. Ecclesiastes 3:5. What about a woman making an oath? The father or husband could annul a woman’s vow if he felt indentured to the vow. He would be made liable. He would be her covering. He is the head of the home.
Promises are holy and sacred. In Judges 11, we see unfortunate vows. What about King Saul‘s vow?
The Lord is saying, it is more important that the young women obey their fathers or wives obey their husbands than the promise that was made without their covering or their agreeing on it. These verses may help us understand a little more about what happened in Genesis 3.
The New Testament also had oaths with crazy formulas. The spiritual infants at the time were more interested in keeping the formula then keeping their oaths. And Matthew 5, in the sermon on the mount, Jesus says “let your yes be yes and you no be no.“ Have verbal integrity. Say what you mean and mean what you say. If you say to someone, “I’ll pray for you.“ Then pray for them.
What about the marriage vow? Don’t make that vow unless you keep it. God can help you with that.
Chapter 31, the Lord has Moses fight one last battle before he dies. You will fight battles until the very end. You won’t have heaven until you get to heaven. Until then, there are battles to fight. Learn how to fight them well. They may get harder as you get older. Understand that in this story, we are watching a spiritual battle.
Remember the scheme of the false prophet Balaam. The people take vengeance for the Lord. Jesus said that we are to be peacemakers. For the last 1600 years Christians have believed that certain circumstances justify war. Many Christians feel that there must be certain criteria to fight. We love peace, but we must love peace enough to fight for it.
Augustine‘s criteria for just war…
– There has to be a just cause.
– There must be an a just intention.
– It must be the last resort.
– There must be a formal declaration of war.
– There must be limited objectives.
– There must be a proportionate means and limited force.
– There must be non-combatant immunity.
In the book of Judges, we see judges that were warriors raised up by God. In the New Testament, we see Jesus recognizing the Centurion for his faith.
Paul said, “if it is possible, be at peace with all men.“ Sometimes it’s not possible. If need be, you must use force to enforce peace. Remember that Phinehas was jealous for the Lord.
Balaam is killed. If you don’t live the life of the righteous, you can’t expect to die the death of the righteous.
Moses is angry because the women were kept alive. Who were the ones that caused the children of Israel to be seduced?
These passages are difficult. We have difficulty with the extermination of a race. When you don’t know the lowest level of immorality, it is hard to comprehend.
The plunders of war must be purified by fire. Any man fighting must also be purified. The spoils of war are divided equally. The fighting men are counted and not one man was killed. This is a supernatural battle. God gave them the victory.
Vows
Vengeance
Victory
https://youtu.be/noOcOHQOSkc?si=y_7-9KSkcaywpEem
https://biblenote.topmusetech.com/shared/20c8e882c4bd464eb9d4b76db07eca60
Leave a Reply