Numbers 30:1 says, And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded. Moses this time spoke to the heads of the tribes of Israel. The leaders of the people of Isreal were called on to carry out God's law, and they still are today. Verse two adds, 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. Moses told them that if a man made a vow or took an oath to God that he should carry it out. We are never required to take any additional oath to God than to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord and to live by the leadership of the Holy Spirit, but if we do promise Him more, we should do what we promise Him we will do. Verse three states, 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; If a young woman made a vow, she was to be brought to her father’s house. Verse four adds, 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. If her father heard her vow and said nothing, her vow would stand. His silence would imply consent, even if he didn't voice it out loud. Our silence can also imply our consent today, whether for something good or something bad, as Christians, especially for the leaders of the church. Verse five continues, 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. God then said through Moses that if her father didn't agree with her vow on the day that she told him about it, that she would be released from the vow and God would not hold her accountable. We can debate the fact that a daughter was treated differently than a son, but in that time period, daughters were dependent on their father and then their husband to meet their everyday needs, whereas a son was expected to grow up and meet his own needs and those of his family after he married. Verse six says, And if she had at all an husband, when she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul; If the young woman was married, then she was to tell her vow to her husband instead of her father. Verse seven adds, And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it: then her vows shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. If her husband did not say she could not fulfill the vow on the day that he heard about it, her vow would stand. In both cases, neither the father nor the husband could at first agree and then later change their mind. Verse eight continues, But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it; then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect: and the LORD shall forgive her. If her husband disallowed her oath, then she would be freed from it and God would not hold her accountable. If we today make a vow to God, whether we are male or female, we alone are responsible for fulfilling that vow, and no one else can relieve us of the responsibility of fulfilling it.
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