Episode Details

Pray

Read: Ecc 5:1-7

Meditation

We’re going to talk a little about vows. Now it must be said, this topic is not really something that comes up at all for modern evangelical or even reformed Christians. It is pretty much off our radar. That is not because we do not make vows, but more because we do not think about them.

In Solomon’s day, vows were a specific aspect of temple worship. There are multiple passages in God’s law dealing with vows, and there are multiple examples of vows in scripture, including in the New Testament.

But where do we start to get our heads around this curious topic? A vow in Solomon’s day, generally speaking, was a specific commitment that someone made to God. We see Jacob vowing to serve God in Genesis 28:20. We see Hannah asking God for a child, and vowing to offer the child as a servant to God if he granted her request in 1 Samuel 1:11. Leviticus 7:16 speaks about the vow offerings in the temple. So vows were commitments and offerings, generally made publicly in the context of temple worship. This is why Solomon refers to the messenger in verse six. This was a person from the temple who had come to collect on the paying of the vow.

Solomon’s warning here is that if you commit something to God, you had better be prepared to pay it. Because if you do not, it is a sin. In fact, this is so serious that Solomon says, “why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the works of your hands?” There are serious consequences for not paying vows. God is angry with it. He may even discipline you by destroying the works of your hands.

Now, maybe you hear that and think: “Phew! Glad we don’t have vows today!” Well, don’t speak too soon!

The temple offerings connected with vows have all fallen away, that is true. That which foreshadowed Christ has now been revealed in him. But this does not mean that the principle of vows or vow-making has simply evaporated.

Let me show you what I mean.

Forget about vows for a second.

Let us completely drop the word for a minute.

Forget about the offerings and the ceremony.

What is really at stake here in what Solomon is saying? The real issue here is speaking the truth. Now that is true in a general sense. In Matthew 12:36 Jesus said that on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak. That is sobering, is it not? Every word we have ever spoken is on record, and it will be put to the test and shown up for what it is. Our words matter, and what we say matters. If you lie to someone, that is a serious sin. Proverbs 6:16–17 says that God hates a lying tongue. He hates it. It makes him burn with anger.

Now. Here is where vows fit in. It is one thing to speak the truth generally, it is another thing to keep our commitments and speak the truth to each other. But when it comes to making a vow, what we are really talking about is our commitment to God.

If you make a commitment to God, if you tell him you will do something, then speaking the truth becomes so weighty that the Bible has a whole category for this kind of commitment. That category is called a vow. The temple ceremonies surrounding vows have passed away, but if you commit to God himself that you will do something, then you had better believe that God will take that seriously, and he will expect you to do what you have committed to do.

“When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.”

God takes what we say to him with absolute seriousness. And this is not just Old Testament teaching. Whether you are in the Old Testament or the New, God hates lying. Look at Ananias and Sapphira in the Book of Acts. They publicly committed to give their wealth to the church. They made a vow. But then they held