The Vows of a Widow or Divorced Woman
30: 9
The vows of a widow or divorced woman DIG: As far as being protected from making a rash or foolish vow, what was different with the widows or divorced women? Do you have to be perfect to be an ambassador of Messiah? Why? Why not?
REFLECT: Why is speaking truth and keeping your word so essential? Why do you think God places so much importance on vows? What does that say about God and His promises? What does it mean to be an ambassador of Messiah? What is your mission?
The principle for today is that vows and oaths are meant to be kept,
because we are ambassadors of the Messiah (Second Corinthians 5:20).
The vow of a widow, however, or of a divorcee, including everything to which she has obligated herself, will stand against her (to see link click Fi – The Fulfillment of Vows and Oaths). If a woman was widowed or divorced, she would usually return to her father’s home, if he were still alive (Gen 38:11; Leviticus 22:13; Ruth 1:8), or be cared for by one of her sons. But in that situation, her vows could not be annulled by her father or her son. That woman had no higher authority to cancel her vow. If she were living alone, she was no longer in her father’s house and she is no longer under the authority of her husband. She must stand by her vow in the same way as a man (see Fj – The Male Vow), and her vows and oaths were unbreakable and must be kept. As a result, because she had no protection from a rash or unwise vow or oath, she needed to be very careful. Rushing into unwise commitments could be devastating (Proverbs 20:25; Ecclesiastes 5:1-6).
The reason today that vows and oaths are meant to be kept, is because we are ambassadors of Messiah. The lost are looking at us. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he summarized his message, saying: We are ambassadors of the Messiah; in effect, God is making His appeal through us. What we do is appeal on behalf of the Messiah, “Be reconciled to God” (Second Corinthians 5:20)! This is equal to the Great Commission (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Mo – The Great Commission). Because we are His ambassadors, it is though God the Father makes His appeal to the lost on behalf of the Son, Yeshua Messiah, to be reconciled to the Triune God.696 This appeal for people to be reconciled makes it clear that the sinner is never delivered from wrath and judgment to blessing and reward without a personal response to the truth of the Gospel through the means He provided: We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Messiah alone (see the commentary on Galatians Bc – We are Not Justified by Deeds of the Torah). When our sins are forgiven, we get a new purpose driven life, and we are promised an eternal home in heaven.
We were made for a mission. God is at work in the world and He wants us to join Him. This assignment is called our mission. God wants us to have both a ministry in the Body of Messiah and a mission to the world. Our ministry is to believers, and our mission is to unbelievers. This is God’s purpose for our lives. The English word mission comes from the Latin word for sending. Being a believer includes being sent into the world as an ambassador, a representative, of Yeshua Messiah. The mission Yeshua had while on the earth is now our mission because we are the Body of Messiah. What He did in His physical body, we are to continue as His spiritual body, the Church. What is that mission? Introducing people to the Lord! The Bible says God is making His appeal through us. If we cannot keep our vows and oaths, our God is not taken seriously. Guilt by association if you will.
ADONAI wants to redeem human beings from Satan and reconcile them to Himself (at His expense) so we can fulfill the purposes He created us for: to love Him, to be a part of His family, to become like Him, to serve Him, and to tell others about Him. Once we are His, God wants us to reach others. He saves us and then sends us out. We are ambassadors of the Messiah. We are the messengers of God’s love and purposes to the world. Hence, we must represent Him well by keeping our vows and oaths.697
Dear Heavenly Father, praise You for being so wise and loving! Thank You that You use women in Your mission field. You used Priscilla (Acts 18:26) to help Apollos understand more clearly the way of God. You used Philip’s unmarried daughters to prophesy. Philip, the proclaimer of Good News, who was one of the seven, and we stayed with him. Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:8c-9). You used Miriam as a prophetess to lead Isra’el in praise of Your mighty work. Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing, as Miriam sang to them: Sing to ADONAI, for He is highly exalted! The horse and its rider ADONAI have been thrown into the sea (Exodus 15:20-21)! Deborah was a prophetess (Judges 4:4), important in Israel’s deliverance from the Canaanites. Elizabeth gave birth to John the Baptist (Luke1:57-60) who prepared the way for the Messiah (Matthew 11:11). You used the Virgin Mary, to mother Your Son, the Messiah. It is such a joy to serve You. In Messiah Yeshua’s Name and power of His resurrection. Amen
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