Leviticus 27:1-34


One way that the children of Israel could express their gratitude for a blessing that God had given them was through a vow that they would make dedicating themselves or something that they owned to the Lord.  These vows were often made prior to the blessing being received as a promise that if the Lord would provide a certain blessing then the person would be bound to dedicate whatever was vowed to the Lord.  These vows were to be taken very seriously and were binding before both God and man.  However, there was provision for the person to purchase back his vow if for some reason he changed his mind and wanted to redeem his vow with silver or if the thing that was vowed was of no use to the priest, payment in silver could be made in place of the person or thing.  This chapter is dedicated to help the priest know what value to place on possessions or properties that were dedicated to God through a vow.  These are a few of the thoughts that came to me as I was reading through this chapter.

VOWS ARE NOT REQUIRED BUT MUST BE KEPT: God is very concerned about the honesty of His people and their willingness to keep the promises that they make.  No man is ever required make a vow to the Lord out of gratitude for what He has done or as a promise to be kept if God gives a certain blessing.  However, if the vow is made it must be kept or redeemed according to the price that the Lord had established.  God takes these things very seriously and made provision for them in the Law.  We must be careful with the words we say and promises that we make to the Lord.  It is better not to make a vow than to make it and not keep it.  We should not make vows as a means of manipulating God but from grateful hearts gladly fulfill that which we have dedicated to the Lord.

GIVING TO THE LORD IS REQUIRED AND MUST BE PRACTICED: Giving of the tithe for the children of Israel was like paying taxes to our government.  It was required by law.  When a person was counting his herds, every tenth animal belonged to the Lord.  There was no way to manipulate which animal was to be given to the Lord.  Simply using the tithe as a way to cull the sick or injured animals from the herd was not an option.  God wants us to give Him our best and not our leftovers.  We are not under the law, but the principle of giving to the work of the Lord continues to hold true in our lives and we must be very careful to give with the proper attitude and motives.

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